posted on December 20, 2000 03:32:09 AM
I just got this email from Ebay -
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Dear XXXXXXXXXX,
Several times a month, eBay sends out valuable email communications with news, offers and special events that help you buy and sell.
Unfortunately, we have noticed that an error occurred during your registration process that prevented you from receiving these communications.
Many of your Notification Preference defaults were set to "no" rather than to "yes", which means that unlike other eBay members, you're not receiving these types of communications.
We'd like to resolve this problem quickly and efficiently.
Therefore, on 12/19/00, we returned all your Notification Preferences to the standard default of "yes" to put you in line with the rest of the eBay community.
However, we want you to choose your Notification Preferences rather than rely on our standard defaults and will therefore not include you in any communications until 1/04/00.
This will provide you with some time to evaluate these choices and modify your Notification Preferences. You will, however, continue to receive certain administrative emails that are part of executing your eBay transactions.
Of course, you can review and change your Preferences by clicking here.
You can also change your Notification Preferences at any time by selecting site map.
As always, your privacy is extremely important to us. To learn more about your relationship with eBay, refer to the User Agreement and/or Privacy Policy today.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. Thanks for being a valuable part of the eBay community.
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I'm so glad Ebay decided to change all of my preferences - I only THOUGHT I didn't want all those Ebay Emails, when, actually, I DID!! SHEESH!!
posted on December 20, 2000 04:22:12 AM
Clearly, ebay believes although you checked "no", it was your - um, intent to check "yes". After all, you DID sign up for ebay, so it's clear you LIKE ebay. And nobody in his right mind would decline an invitation to receive "news, offers and special events that help you buy and sell"...right?
I must say this is one of the most disingenuous marketing email I've seen to date.
posted on December 20, 2000 04:52:43 AM
HCQ - didn't you folks just go through another agonizing "No means Yes" type of scenario awhile ago? Something about an election in Florida
btw - you never did tell me if you ship your quilts to a cold Canadian ... it's -33 here this am!
posted on December 20, 2000 07:27:05 AM
Pay no attention to the man behind the gavel. He knoooows what's best for you. You are getting sleeeeepy. You will choose Featured Auction on a $2 item. You will never say anything negative about ebay. You will wait until 1 hour after Free Listing Day has ended to post your auctions. When you hear the gavel bang you will awake feeling refreshed.
On the legal side of things... You chose to not accept those kinds of emails and they chose to override your decision. Does that now constitute unsolicited email and able to take legal action?
posted on December 20, 2000 09:32:38 AM
HCQ ... aw crap. First, eBay kicks me off. Second, I can't afford to buy (myself) a PlayStation. And now, I gotta freeze (if I turn on the heater, my igloo will melt)
Have a great holiday and continued success with your biz
posted on December 20, 2000 11:12:19 AM
Sheesh indeed. Check out eBay's wording here: we returned all your Notification Preferences to the standard default of "yes" to put you in line with the rest of the eBay community."
"to put you in line" -- like not wanting extra mail is out of line or just plain wierd. Poor wording, but it shows their attitude.
They're acting just like direct marketers do: assuming you want to receive extra mail or calls. DMs quietly add you to lots of lists and make it hard for you to get off even a majority of them; eBay just happily assumed melstep's opt-out selections were some sort of "error" and forced a return to "standard defaults." Here's a perfect example of another of the problems of opt-out systems: opt-outs expiring (happens more often than you think) or being overridden for some reason.
Earlier this year, I received some letter from eBay about preferences, not quite like this one, but nonetheless prompting me to check my settings -- and finding that I was back to "yes" on most or all of them. I think their explanation of what happened was somehow convincing; but if I had gotten something like the email sent to melstep, I'd have sent in a complaint for sure.
At least they didn't make their forced change fully active until 01/04, but really, they shouldn't have changed anything at all! If they thought there was an actual error, they could have sent most of the same letter but left it up to you whether it sounded like an error or not, pointing where to go if you wanted to change the settings -- not forcing defaults down your throat. I think that would have been a much, much better way for eBay to handle the "error" (whatever that meant), at very least.
On a lighter note, I loved all the witty replies.
----
What's being done in the name of direct marketing nowadays is crazy.
The above are all just my opinions, except where I cite facts as such.
Oh, I am not dc9a320 anywhere except AW. Any others are not me.
Is eBay is changing from a world bazaar into a bizarre world?
posted on December 20, 2000 11:51:15 AM
Thanks, I haven't laughed out loud over a thread for months.
Yes, a bright future. For sellers that means yellow highlights for the auctions you meant to Feature. For buyers a winning bid will be placed on Watch items you have forgotten.
And a new eBay Division will determine how many people within a State intend to vote and will allow canidates to bid for votes directly rather than go thru the messy pratice of campaigns.
eBay brings an modern revision, suitable for the 21st Century, to the meaning of "Big Brother". How fortunate we all are to be included in this brave new world.
posted on December 20, 2000 12:27:30 PM
Outbid notices and Privacy Policy change notices are the (only) two things I do have "yes" answers to (even though I rarely add to my initial proxy bid), so I guess that since at least one of my settings was a "yes," eBay figured there was no "error," and left the rest of my settings alone this time -- though this thread prompted me to check again.
posted on December 20, 2000 01:49:21 PM
We've also noted that you haven't SOLD anything on Ebay.com recently, so, to remedy this, we'll be coming over to your house on 1/4/01 to go through your things, and pick out one or two items that we think you might want to sell.
The items that we choose, which, of course, are items that we THINK you would like to Choose, is based on items that you previously sold on Ebay.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.
Please make sure that any and all animals are either fenced in or tied up, so as to not cause any complications.
Thank you for your attention in this matter.
Also note: We will be confiscating your computer to ascertain if you've visited any other auction sites recently, and permenantly delete any and all links to those sites.
edited - just cuz I can.....
[ edited by melstep on Dec 20, 2000 01:57 PM ]
posted on December 20, 2000 10:13:23 PM
Melstep - any chance I can get a copy of that email with full headers showing? If yes please send to my [email protected] email addy. Thanks - Rosalinda
TAGnotes - daily email synopsis about the Online Auction Industry http://www.topica.com/lists/tagnotes
posted on December 20, 2000 10:19:30 PM
How about sending a full copy with headers to safeharbor letting them know you didn't authorize the change and demand ebay be suspended?
posted on December 21, 2000 10:48:37 AMHCQ... I've been trying to take a look at your quilts but can't find you on eBay. Could you email your seller ID? Or post it here if you don't mind doing that.
posted on December 21, 2000 06:59:51 PM
Here's my webpage, which'll take you to my auctions as well.
Haven't got any quilts up for auction right now because I haven't got a machine to quilt on. The "new" one (c.1935-1940), an ebay purchase, is presently in transit from THERE to HERE. I've got 3 or 4 tops ready to go, probably available after the new year. Thanks for asking!
