Email marketing - harrassment?

Chubbcakes

I sent an email marketing newsletter advertising my business (all addresses were bcc)
One lady has gone crazy about it - she emailed me twice to ask where I got her details from. I removed her from the list (as i do when people ask for it).

This was THREE weeks ago. I have woken this morning to 6 missed calls and 6 voice messages from her AND about 4 emails, demanding to know how I got her email address.

I called her and told her to calm down and to stop making a deal about it. She said she will report me to the Data Protection Comissioner.

I blocked all 3 different email addresses she wrote me from and then she just sent an email from another one. I know people don't like junk mail, but i emailed her ONCE, is she crazy?

Now, she has become a fan on my FB page. Do i have a stalker on my hands?
Or should I inform her employer of how she is using their company time?

blue4ever

first off - you did break the rules - and you'd have to put you hand up there!

She sounds like a bit of a head case.

Was it a private or company email you used to contact her?

As for FB - jeese what can i say. You can't remove her (a failing IMO of Facebook) but you can block here from posting on your page - which I would suggest you do.

And - how did she get so much info on you?

Chubbcakes

blue4ever wrote: »

first off - you did break the rules - and you'd have to put you hand up there!

She sounds like a bit of a head case.

Was it a private or company email you used to contact her?

As for FB - jeese what can i say. You can't remove her (a failing IMO of Facebook) but you can block here from posting on your page - which I would suggest you do.

And - how did she get so much info on you?

Oh I know! I do put my hand up, but we ALL get junk mail..I wonder does she contact Mr. Superquinn for dropping catalogues in her letterbox??

She got my email address off the newsletter I sent. She copped that I had blocked her and then sent an email to me from another of her 2 email addresses!
I deleted and blocked her from the business FB page, but it's just a bit unnerving that someone would be so bothered. I think she is trying to show me how I invaded her privacy by sending one email.
I am guessing she sits at home patting her cats and thinking of schemes to get back at junk mail companies!!:rolleyes:

blue4ever

"Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned
Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned"

NathanKingerlee

How did you get all the email addresses? Are they all previous and existing customers of yours? I'm guessing they didn't opt in to receive it?

Sonnenblumen

Chubbcakes wrote: »

Oh I know! I do put my hand up, but we ALL get junk mail..I wonder does she contact Mr. Superquinn for dropping catalogues in her letterbox??

She got my email address off the newsletter I sent. She copped that I had blocked her and then sent an email to me from another of her 2 email addresses!
I deleted and blocked her from the business FB page, but it's just a bit unnerving that someone would be so bothered. I think she is trying to show me how I invaded her privacy by sending one email.
I am guessing she sits at home patting her cats and thinking of schemes to get back at junk mail companies!!:rolleyes:

Let it be a lesson. Privacy is very important for many people, and comparing email spam to letterbox leaflets would indicate to me that you haven't fully grasped the importance and differences.

Causing anger and any upset no matter how 'trivial or innocent the circumstances' might be is bad business practice. Everybody knows spam is not only illegal and bad, so why do it?

Better to play by the rules and not take unnecessary risks.

-Chris-

NathanKingerlee wrote: »

How did you get all the email addresses? Are they all previous and existing customers of yours? I'm guessing they didn't opt in to receive it?

+1

Where did you get her email address?

LauraOrlagh

Ok I know she mightn't have wanted to get the e-mail you sent, but it really sounds like she's gone way too far to the point of harrassing you on the foot of one e-mail - I mean really.. if she didn't like what she saw in the e-mail you sent all you have to do is hit delete and it's gone - we all get e-mails every day which we delete straight away, we don't go stalking whoever sent them to us...

Conor J

OnlineM wrote: »

Simple rule
Send flowers if you have to!

Is good advice, one unhappy customer can put off many more.
as noted if she is posting on your FB page and so on.

El Camino

This is a really sensitive issue with some people and as Sonnenblumen suggests maybe you haven't grasped the magnitude of it. As you can see from the other posts the key question is where you got the lady's email address in the first place.

If a complaint is raised with the Data Protection Commissioner they are obliged to investigate and may cause unnecessary issues and inconvenience on your part. It would be best to rectify the issue with your customer without their involvement...

Buttercake

its not cool to spam people who have not subscribed to an actual database

the difference between getting a leaflet from superquinn is that it is not addressed to you personally nor did they come to your work and hand it to you specifically, if you receive a superquinn leaflet addressed to you at home its because you signed up for it

people have this attitude that because there is so much spam out there that its ok to spam with their business information, in fact it only puts you into the same category as vicodin, porn and viagra emails

this sort of activity will only show you and your business in a very negative light and is defiantly not cool

mlumley

SO, how do you like spam???? Thats what she is showing you. You spammed her, she's spamming you. DONT SPAM.:mad:

TheGooseLicker

Serves ya right for spamming her?

IMHO, e-mails should be fairly required.. you can purchase a mailing list of about 80,000 people for about 1,000 Euro..

You'd prob be better off doing that mate!

mneylon

OnlineM wrote: »

Simple rule
Business emails are readily available and fine to send to (although opt in is best).

No. That's not correct.

Under Irish law you *can* email a business email address without having received explicit permission, but you have to stop as soon as you are asked to do so.
In reality you'll also find that a lot of ISPs will block senders who send unsolicited bulk emails to their users.

OnlineM wrote: »

Personal emails should always be opt-in.

That is the law.

The only exceptions to the above are:
- where you have an existing business relationship with the recipient (though you still have to allow them to the option to optout)
- where you are obliged to send them non-marketing emails / communications in relation to a service you are providing (so you could stop the toll company from sending you a marketing email, but they'd be negligent if they didn't inform you of your monthly balance, just to give a silly random example)

mneylon

-Chris- wrote: »

+1

Where did you get her email address?

+1 as well
Where did you get the email address??

leomessi

As long as they double opted into your newsletter (do you use aweber) you're fine

smokingman

Seeing as the OP doesn't seem to want to answer the question of where he got the address from, I assume he's the parasitic marketing scum type.

Clearpreso

smokingman wrote: »

Seeing as the OP doesn't seem to want to answer the question of where he got the address from, I assume he's the parasitic marketing scum type.

Wow, well that's a tad over the top. Blessed is he who has never sent a prospective email or made a cold call without "permission".

mneylon

Clearpreso wrote: »

Wow, well that's a tad over the top. Blessed is he who has never sent a prospective email or made a cold call without "permission".

There's a very big difference between a prospective email and sending someone your newsletter

-Chris-

Clearpreso wrote: »

Wow, well that's a tad over the top. Blessed is he who has never sent a prospective email or made a cold call without "permission".

Fair point, but if I got a cold call and I asked how the caller got my number, I'd expect an answer.

I hate junk mail, and bin it straight away (cursing the senders under my breath). I have a No Junk Mail sticker on my letterbox, but some idiots still put junk through. It boils my blood.

I also get a certain amount of spam. I get different levels of irate depending on who it's from and how they got my details.


If it's to my work email address, I'd ask how/where they got the address. I'd also hope the offering was relevant to my business & job.
If someone automatically subscribes me to a newsletter, I'd presume that it's one of many that I'll receive and that would wind me up. I'd unsubscribe if it's not relevant and I'd properly complain if I received another newsletter after unsubscribing.


IMHO, if I were doing a mass-email of a newsletter, I'd probably send an email to everyone in the list I gathered/bought that said "This is who I am, this is what we do, we're starting a newsletter next month that we believe may of interest to you. THis is what it contains. If you wish to receive it, please click here and we'll sign you up, if not please ignore this email and you'll receive no further correspondence".


If I receive spam/newsletters to my personal email address I take it as a much bigger deal than my work email address. I'm sure my work email address is on certain websites etc., but I only give my personal email address to specific people.

I have it set up with my own custom domain, so my email address is chris@domain.com but when I give my email address to Aer Lingus I give them aerlingus@domain.com and it still comes into my inbox.
This makes it very easy to identify who's selling my email address to other people.
I've received spam (not just affiliate companies, but proper Ph4rmacy Cial_is spam!) from some surprising organisations. It instantly ruined my relationship with them and they've lost a lot of trust & goodwill from me as a result.


Just because mass-emailing is cheap and easy doesn't mean it's not very powerful - both positively and negatively.

Clearpreso

Blacknight wrote: »

There's a very big difference between a prospective email and sending someone your newsletter

Fair enough, you're correct, I think it was the "Parasitic scum of the earth" bit that I found over the top is all.

jimoc

smokingman wrote: »

Seeing as the OP doesn't seem to want to answer the question of where She got the address from, I assume She's the parasitic marketing scum type.

Clearpreso wrote: »

Wow, well that's a tad over the top. Blessed is he who has never sent a prospective email or made a cold call without "permission".

I wouldn't say she's the parasitic markiting scum type, just someone who doesn't realise that cold emailing marketing BS is similar to cold calling someone who's on a 'do not ring' list at eircom.
Unless someone has opted in to recieve your marketing BS then you have no right to use their address for that purpose.
And as others have said, she still hasn't said where she got the email addresses that she sent the marketing BS to.

mneylon

Clearpreso wrote: »

Fair enough, you're correct, I think it was the "Parasitic scum of the earth" bit that I found over the top is all.

Spam provokes a visceral reaction from a lot of people

Thepones

Also I would look into how you are broadcasting your emails. You should look into using an email broadcasting system. That way you can use a noreply@business.com email to deter people from emailing you back with abuse.

You will always get the odd person who will not remember whether they have given you permission to email or not. Best thing to do is unsubscribe them, apologise and let them know this will not happen again. There are some free online tools you can use.....

If you did not have her permission though - this is not good!!! This can cause many headaches for you and your business reputation.... and obviously the recipient.

seanaway

Hi Guys. New here and found this discussion interesting. I was wondering why send unsolicited emails anyway. Facts are that it's a waste of time. If someone was serious about business, wouldn't it make sense to go the route of building a proper list to have a warm market to pitch to?

Still curious where the chap got the woman's email though. It can be scary for some to feel their email is being bounced around.

Just my two cents worth.

John

Unsolicited mail is a complete pain in the ass and people that spam should simply find something else to do.

I mean life is short, is earning money worth it when you're being such a prat? It's hardly going to make you happy...