A reader writes: "I'm with you on this.. I get four or five letters a month from United Mileage Plus offering me a Mileage Plus Visa & "signed" by Carter Franke. I too have written back asking to be removed with no effect... the really annoying thing is that I already have a United Mileage Visa Plus card and they seem too lazy or inneficient to cross check..."
The reader continues: "I'd cancel the account but I like getting the miles! ..a mass mailing to Carter Franke or Robert Sahadevan (his cohort it appears) seems to be in order..."

I'm getting increasingly suspicious of these apparently fictitious people involved with the credit card customer service sector, so I Googled Mr> Sahadevan and found out that Robert is a real person! In fact, here's a picture of him:

This picture comes from The Freddie Awards site, where they host parties and events for the credit card industry.

Inspired by this, I decided to Google Carter Franke too. What the heck, right? Well, according to a press release from BankOne, Carter is actually "chief marketing officer for Bank One's card services division". Impressive. But, confusingly, another match lists Mr. Franke as chief marketing officer of Chase's card services division.

And a bit more digging and surprise! Mr. Franke is actually Mrs. Franke, and she's a real person with a husband and kids. As an article in Workforce Online (password protected) states:

"Work/life balance at the senior level is not about cutting hours, it’s about flexibility, says Carter Franke, 47, chief marketing officer for Chase Card Services in Wilmington, Delaware, a division of JP Morgan Chase & Co. Franke’s mission is to be home every night at 6:40 to cook dinner for her husband and three teenage stepdaughters. That means she gets to the office by 8 a.m., works after hours and puts in the extra time whenever needed. She says that her boss, Bill Campbell, understands her schedule. "When he has me in a meeting or on the phone he will say, ‘Hang up. I know you need to catch that train.’"

So we'll have to lay aside the myth that Carter Franke is not a real person after all.

And now you know.