More Unsubscribe Madness
Why is it so hard to be removed from even
reputable company's mailing lists? I've bought a number of Dell computers over
the years. In general, I've been pretty pleased with their hardware. However,
I've gotten signed up by default to their marketing mailing lists, and receive
email constantly from them. During my recent crusade to remove myself from all
these "legitimate" emails, I attempted to unsubscribe from Dell's
lists.
Like Microsoft, when you click on the convenient unsubscribe link in the email, you're taken to a form, the first half of which is offering to send you less email: "We know how you feel about too many e-mails. All the same, we'd hate to lose you. So we want to offer you the chance to remain a subscriber, while receiving our updates less frequently." No offense here guys, but I requested to unsubscribe from your lists. That should be the first thing on the form. They even want you to chose how many times per month you want contacted: once, twice, or three times. At least there should be a "No More Emails" option there and it should be checked by default. That is what I wanted to do in the first place after all.
The second half of the "Dell Subscription Center" form lists the email address you want to unsubscribe, and has two options: "Manage My Subscriptions" and "Take Survey and Manage My subscriptions." There is no "Just Freaking Unsubscribe Me, Please" option listed. In my case, not wanting to waste my time with a survey, I clicked the Manage button. This takes you to yet another form, where again, unsubscribing isn't the focus.
The first part of the this form is asking for more information so that you can - get this - subscribe to the many wonderful newsletters they have on offer. Didn't I want to unsubscribe? Damn it - unsubscribe me? Down below they have (with not nearly so large a title as the subscription section) a little form for you to enter your email address. Wait a second - didn't they just list my email on the previous page? I have to type it again? So I enter it and notice that again there are two links, one to unsubscribe and one to "Change my subscriptions." Again with the stupid choices. I WANT TO UNSUBSCRIBE YOU IDIOTS. I clicked the unsubscribe button. And get a "Sever Error in '/Subscription Center' Application"
So why do seemingly reputable companies put you through hell like this? Obviously this is all inclined towards keeping you subscribing to their marketing materials. This doesn't make much sense, however. It's far easier to just hit delete on the emails than dragging myself through a bunch of forms so I only get email once or twice a month. So why provide it as an option? I'm here at these forms because I don't want the emails. Period. So just let me opt out of them. It's not like I'm going to stop buying Dell machines because I don't get their email any longer. I buy them when I need them (which is quite frequently.)
So in the end, I'm still subscribed to their emails. The form is still broken. I'm still screwed.
Like Microsoft, when you click on the convenient unsubscribe link in the email, you're taken to a form, the first half of which is offering to send you less email: "We know how you feel about too many e-mails. All the same, we'd hate to lose you. So we want to offer you the chance to remain a subscriber, while receiving our updates less frequently." No offense here guys, but I requested to unsubscribe from your lists. That should be the first thing on the form. They even want you to chose how many times per month you want contacted: once, twice, or three times. At least there should be a "No More Emails" option there and it should be checked by default. That is what I wanted to do in the first place after all.
The second half of the "Dell Subscription Center" form lists the email address you want to unsubscribe, and has two options: "Manage My Subscriptions" and "Take Survey and Manage My subscriptions." There is no "Just Freaking Unsubscribe Me, Please" option listed. In my case, not wanting to waste my time with a survey, I clicked the Manage button. This takes you to yet another form, where again, unsubscribing isn't the focus.
The first part of the this form is asking for more information so that you can - get this - subscribe to the many wonderful newsletters they have on offer. Didn't I want to unsubscribe? Damn it - unsubscribe me? Down below they have (with not nearly so large a title as the subscription section) a little form for you to enter your email address. Wait a second - didn't they just list my email on the previous page? I have to type it again? So I enter it and notice that again there are two links, one to unsubscribe and one to "Change my subscriptions." Again with the stupid choices. I WANT TO UNSUBSCRIBE YOU IDIOTS. I clicked the unsubscribe button. And get a "Sever Error in '/Subscription Center' Application"
So why do seemingly reputable companies put you through hell like this? Obviously this is all inclined towards keeping you subscribing to their marketing materials. This doesn't make much sense, however. It's far easier to just hit delete on the emails than dragging myself through a bunch of forms so I only get email once or twice a month. So why provide it as an option? I'm here at these forms because I don't want the emails. Period. So just let me opt out of them. It's not like I'm going to stop buying Dell machines because I don't get their email any longer. I buy them when I need them (which is quite frequently.)
So in the end, I'm still subscribed to their emails. The form is still broken. I'm still screwed.
Posted: Mon - January 24, 2005 at 08:53 AM
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Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
- H.L. Mencken
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