Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 23, 1990 TAG: 9003232832
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FREDERICKSBURG LENGTH: Short
James N. Demotses is among those who wanted to be tested as a potential donor after The Free Lance-Star published a story in January about Jackie Lindsay, who has leukemia.
But he said continued efforts to make contact with Life Savers Foundation, a non-profit bone marrow transplant organization in California, have left him infuriated.
He began by repeatedly calling a toll-free number provided by the organization.
"After trying for weeks on end to get through, I finally got a recording that gave me another 800 number," Demotses said.
Eventually he got to talk to a person instead of a machine. But after being promised three different times that information would be sent to him through the mail, none ever arrived.
Demotses finally called and asked for a supervisor.
"I learned that the telephone answering people are part of a [commercial] firm. The supervisor refused to give me the name of her company. I told her I had asked for literature three times and gotten none. And she said, `I don't have time to talk to you' and hung up on me. I can readily understand why they have a problem.
"It's virtually impossible to become a donor, from my viewpoint," Demotses said.
by CNB