Congratulations! We’ve opted you in.
Email is a great communications tool; it’s environmentally friendly, costs next to nothing, and reaches the masses instantly. But because it provides instant gratification with little risk, email can very easily be misused. I recently got an email from ACS, the company that handles my student loans. Since I’m blogging about it, you can probably guess that I wasn’t thrilled with what the company had to say.
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?
Related Entries
- Guest Blogger Jeanne Bliss: Decide to Believe -- The First Decision of Beloved and Prosperous Companies
- Guest Blogger Jim Champy: Developing Values-Based Relationships
- United Eliminates Communications Channel....to Improve Customer Experience?
I read your blog post the day it came out, shaking my head in bewilderment. Why can't companies understand that they will lose customers / readers /etc when they do something like that?
And then, I got this email today from CIO Insight (a Ziff-Davis publication) that started off with:
"Dear subscriber,
Starting this week, you'll receive the CIO Minute newsletter three days a week -- Monday, Wednesday and Friday -- instead of one."
I understand why they're expanding their service, and the email notes this information in great detail "Expanding the frequency helps us bring you more: more articles on the big ideas and strategies you need to know, more blogs, analysis and commentary, and more compelling stories from our network. We hope you'll continue to find CIO Minute as the go-to source for all things IT management."
But the fact remains... I signed up for the CIO Insight because I wanted once a week emails.
Sadly, no option exists for getting a digest version once a week. I can either get 3 emails a week or none.
Goodbye CIO Insight... My inbox simply doesn't have room.
I just covered something reasonably similar as part of an article at http://timtrent.blogspot.com/2008/06/not-another-sales-prevention-law.html To me it doesn't matter at all whether someone is a customer or a potential customer.
I give my business to those who treat me with courtesy.
Jeremy,
Interestingly, I've had both similar and completely opposite experiences.
I recently shopped online for a wedding gift at Crate & Barrel. I hadn't opted in to receive emails; I simply purchased a gift through its registry. The next day, however, I began getting C&B's emails blasts. I opted out after a few days.
Other retailers I've encountered have taken the same approach; sometimes with email, sometimes with direct mail. I ordered some supplies (flashlight, cordless fan, etc.) for my daughter's summer at camp and am now receiving catalogs for hiking and camping gear I have no interest in.
On the other hand, I opted in to Verizon's email billing notification program and it never quite went as I expected. At first I got the email notifications that my bill was available online, followed the next day by the paper statement. After a few month the emails stopped, but the paper statements kept coming. I had tried to reset my preferences to email, but it didn't seem to take, so I gave up and stuck with the paper statements.
I also opted in to receive email reminders and online statements for my credit card. At first all went fine. Lately, I've been getting a single sheet of paper in the mail telling me my statement is available online--in addition to the email notification. Sigh.
Jeremy
I think this is the thin edge of an inevitable wedge
paper media are more expensive and with carbon factored in - well I think those wishing to continue to receive paper - will soon be asked to pay for that 'service'
I think these folks did a poor job of communicating to you what was going to happen and for that they deserve to have their knuckles wrapped.
They could have positioned this as a green initiative - donating "50%" of their postal savings to some initiative etc...
it strikes me that enterprises still fail to recognize that we are in a Share of Life era
(those interested might wish to follow the link:
http://miroslodki.wordpress.com/articles/share-of-life-a-new-marketing-paradigm/)
and that means consumers are partners in the business not simply buyers/consumers of services.
cheers
Miro