Whenever I go to a web site, the site usually has something that automatically opts you in for some automatic e-mail: Offers! News! Related sales! The Latest!
Whatever.
More stuff to fill up my e-mail box and more opportunity to have my e-mail sold by that company to some other company giving me even more crap in my e-mail box.
Even though I carefully check, some stuff still slips through – or is just sent. Such is the case with the “new” AT&T, the old SBC. Somehow, I am on their list to receive their “Onward News,” that is “bringing new momentum to small business.” Like a business the size of AT&T would know that much about a small business…
I can opt out through the privacy policy – but only on companies that I recognize because opting out through clicking on the unsubscribe link will, in fact, verify the e-mail address is accurate. That’s why I never opt out of anything labeled spam – it corroborates my e-mail address to spammers.
But opting out of AT&T should be OK – I’m sure they can illegally spy on me anyway if they wanted to so opting out of a newsletter ought to be a piece of cake.
It’s not.
Instead, every choice on the opt out link telling them my e-mail address to remove everywhere – you know, the one that they used to send me the newsletter in the first place – doesn’t cut it. I can’t opt out because it doesn’t recognize my e-mail address.
Sure, it’s easier to delete the e-mail, but this stuff frustrates me to no end. E-commerce is supposed to work and make life easier. But big companies miss out on the details all the time and then wonder why people write bad stuff about them on blogs. This is why.
More details? Check out the copyright data for the privacy policy. I rest my case.
This, people, is some context around my policy with your e-mail addresses if you ever send me something: I will do nothing with your e-mail address except respect the privacy associated with it.
Scot
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Scot
I’ve also noticed some company emails don’t have an unsubscribe option.
Checking their site doesn’t help and after I’ve spent more time than I should hunting for it, I just block them as a sender.
If they are legitimate, this should be enough.
It’s the spam that comes to you courtesy of a computer generated email address that I’m not sure how to handle.
Any ideas?
You have to attack computer generated Spam with some sort of program. Outlook comes with it, of course. Most ISP’s have spam fighters as well. All tend to block out legitimate e-mail.
The best I have seen with spam is a program called Postini. The program sends you your e-mail, but also sends you one e-mail a day with everything it marked as spam. You can then go to the web site and help it learn for your mail. It’s really a fabulous program.
Hope that helps!
Hi Scot
That “learning” part of things sounds interesting… saves having to keep deleting the same old spam each time.
I’ll check it out.
Thanks
Yvonne