Think Customers: The 1to1 Blog

The email I received began “ACS Introduces our new e-Billing service!” That was my first clue something was amiss, since I knew the e-billing service had existed for some time. In fact, every time I made an online payment, I had to specifically check a box saying I declined enrollment in the e-billing before I could submit it. The email continued, “You have been selected to receive your payment reminders via email.” I’d been selected? I went out of my way to avoid receiving email reminders since I began repaying my loan, but that didn’t seem to matter. What followed was a list of all the “advantages” I would benefit from by getting my statements electronically, then a small note at the bottom that annoyed me most of all.

It read “If you are not interested in taking advantage of this opportunity, please visit www.acs-education.com to register and ‘opt out’ of this service.” I have two major problems with that statement. The first is that it offers an opt-out, when I had never opted-in in the first place. I had plenty of opportunity to opt-in, and chose not to. The second is that the address they give leads to the company’s homepage, not to the page where I can actually choose to opt-out. It took a good 10 minutes of searching to actually find the page where I could change my communication preferences.

When we write about cautious email practices, usually we’re referring to spam or sharing customer information without their permission. However, it’s important to remember that the opt-in requirement that applies to any marketing communication with potential customers should also apply to current customers’ preferences.

I understand the movement to get rid of paper, and how expensive it is for companies to mail out monthly statements. I’ve chosen to only receive my credit card statements by mail, but that’s because I check the balances often. Because the loan has a variable interest rate, I like getting the paper statement to keep track of how much I’m actually paying every month. I have no problem with companies that offer incentives to only receive electronic statements, and I don’t mind having to choose not enroll in e-billing when I do pay via ACS’s website. But I had a major problem with this forced enrollment disguised as a benefit.

What do you think? Should the same principles contained in Can-Spam apply to customer preferences? Or should companies like ACS have the right to unilaterally switch customers to electronic statements without their authorization?