Bluestem Brands Suing Merkle Over Database Errors

Bluestem Brands Inc. alleged in its lawsuit that Merkle, a database marketing firm, made various errors in creating and managing a database for Bluestem's Fingerhut and Gettington.com catalogs. The errors resulted in Bluestem sending "millions of catalog mailings" to "the wrong prospective customers," according to the lawsuit filed Jan. 17 in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. The incorrect mailings cost Bluestem more than $10 million in printing, mailing and other costs, the suit said.