About a year ago I subscribed to Consumer Reports to research a new car. Their reports were great – very helpful. I bought a 2008 VW Rabbit and have been quite happy with it. But then things turned sour.

Sometime last summer I received a solicitation from them. They said they need to raise something like $16 million because they purchase all the products they test on the open market and never take freebies from manufacturers. Fair enough, I thought, so I sent them some money. I think it was like $30 or so.

Biggest mistake ever.

In the 6 months since that donation, I’m convinced they’ve spent nearly the entire amount soliciting me for more money. I get snail mail from them at least once a week asking for more money, and email every couple days. It got so bad I sent them an email last month telling them they’re wasting their money and will never get another dime from me and to please stop sending me anything. They apologized and said they would.

They haven’t.

Sure, the mail has slowed down a bit, but I’m still getting it. Now it’s maybe every 10 days or so. The emails haven’t stopped either, even though I’ve gone through the email unsubscribe process several times. I’ve finally started marking it as spam in gmail.

I’m so disappointed in them. Actually, strike that. I’m angry. I’m angry they would solicit me for what looked like a good cause and then turn right around and spend all or most of it soliciting me for more.

Word to the wise: never donate to Consumer Reports. You’ll regret it.