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I think everyone here understands the economic argument for why this happens; it's the same reason spam still exists. That's not the question; the question is,

I think everyone here understands the economic argument for why this happens; it's the same reason spam still exists. That's not the question; the question is, is it right? While the rightfulness question is interesting, I'll leave that to others to discuss and go right on to the pragmatic consequences: I am very, very, very unlikely to sign up for a service "just to check it out", precisely because of tactics like this. Even if I do, I will give them a unique email alias that I can disable at will (reject at SMTP envelope stage), and that I keep records of, so that if I get annoyed enough (typically, if their unsubscribe doesn't work or doesn't exist), I will keep a record of them as company, never, ever to do business with. I don't believe it should be marked as spam (I opted in), but it's also not something I feel should be encouraged.

Spooky23 13y ago
Spam and customer engagement are totally different things. When you sign up to evaluate something, you're kicking off a sales and evaluation process. If you are at a restaurant and a good waiter notices that you're picking at some crackers instead of eating your meal, it's normal for them to approach you and see if everything is ok with your meal. You may not want to talk to the waiter, but his job is to make you satisfied with your meal, tip him, and return to the restaurant. If you ask to waiter to leave you alone and he persists, that's a problem that should be addressed. Likewise, if you don't want to hear from <Vendor X>, you should make your feelings known and get an appropriate response.
- pessimizer 13y ago
  You've made a great case for popups and tooltips while using a site. But what if the waiter visits your house, asking you why you haven't been to the restaurant in a week? I'm sure that I haven't opted in to that, even if my address is on my checks.
- rmrfrmrf 13y ago
  If you are at a restaurant and a good waiter notices that you're picking at some crackers instead of eating your meal, it's normal for them to approach you and see if everything is ok with your meal. 1. the waiter is a real person. 2. the waiter was able to identify a potential issue (the customer was not eating), unlike the e-mail script, which only triggers after a set time period of not logging in. The situation would be more analogous to me taking 30 minutes to eat my meal at a restaurant when the average sit time is 20, and the waiter coming over at exactly 30 minutes and telling me 'did you know that it's been 30 minutes and 7 seconds since you've been seated? if there's anything I can do to help you finish your meal, please don't hesitate to contact me!'
minimaxir 13y ago
Exactly. I have nothing against the use of e-mail marketing, just the abuse of it.
- taigeair 13y ago
  They do seem to be pretty aggressive with the email. Not great for branding for sure.

Spooky23 13y ago

Spam and customer engagement are totally different things. When you sign up to evaluate something, you're kicking off a sales and evaluation process. If you are at a restaurant and a good waiter notices that you're picking at some crackers instead of eating your meal, it's normal for them to approach you and see if everything is ok with your meal. You may not want to talk to the waiter, but his job is to make you satisfied with your meal, tip him, and return to the restaurant. If you ask to waiter to leave you alone and he persists, that's a problem that should be addressed. Likewise, if you don't want to hear from <Vendor X>, you should make your feelings known and get an appropriate response.

pessimizer 13y ago
You've made a great case for popups and tooltips while using a site. But what if the waiter visits your house, asking you why you haven't been to the restaurant in a week? I'm sure that I haven't opted in to that, even if my address is on my checks.
rmrfrmrf 13y ago
If you are at a restaurant and a good waiter notices that you're picking at some crackers instead of eating your meal, it's normal for them to approach you and see if everything is ok with your meal. 1. the waiter is a real person. 2. the waiter was able to identify a potential issue (the customer was not eating), unlike the e-mail script, which only triggers after a set time period of not logging in. The situation would be more analogous to me taking 30 minutes to eat my meal at a restaurant when the average sit time is 20, and the waiter coming over at exactly 30 minutes and telling me 'did you know that it's been 30 minutes and 7 seconds since you've been seated? if there's anything I can do to help you finish your meal, please don't hesitate to contact me!'

minimaxir 13y ago

Exactly. I have nothing against the use of e-mail marketing, just the abuse of it.

taigeair 13y ago
They do seem to be pretty aggressive with the email. Not great for branding for sure.