Disingenuous Subscription Renewals

Hands up if you like receiving junk mail… Let’s count. Oh, no one. Why is it that when a product or service is purchased from a company, the supplying company assumes that this means it is OK for them to send you junk mail? And not only that, it gets better, they also assume it is OK for them to invite 3rd parties to send you junk as well?

I just renewed my Word subscription. On the final checkout screen I get the junk opt-out form shown below. Here’s the problem: the customer - i.e. the person who is keeping your company alive by paying for your content - has to opt-out of junk reception. You’re placing the burden on the customer to say “No don’t send me annoying ads”. Surely the customer is the last person you want to annoy. It’s disingenuous. You know no-one wants to receive junk mail.

Notice how sneaky it is at the end. The sense is changed. The first two questions you check the boxes if you do not want to receive junk. The last question you check the box if you do want to receive junk. To me this seems like a sneaky way to get approval from the customer to send junk email without the customer noticing what they just approved.

The only decent way to do this is to assume no-one want to receive junk and only send if they explicitly opt-in.

The text of the above screenshot reads as follows…

From time to time we may also wish to send you details of special offers and promotions.

Please tick here if you do not wish to receive such offers by

• Post
• Phone
• Email

We may also pass your details to other reputable companies whose products and services may be of interest to you.

Please tick here if you do not wish to receive such offers by

• Post
• Phone

Please tick here if you wish to receive such offers by

• Email