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US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

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Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Swedish legislation has it right here. You can unsubscribe by any means you prefer. Mail, email, phone call, a notice in your local newspaper, carrier pigeon. The choice is completely with the party who wishes to terminate the agreement. It incentivises companies to make it as simple as possible, because if they don’t the cost of manually handling requests coming in through all kinds of different channels quickly bec…

> Mail, email, phone call, a notice in your local newspaper, carrier pigeon. How would that even... work? Doesn't this obligate every company to read every local newspaper in every customer's area? And a customer who feels like a company a hard time could just put a notice in the paper and then collect money because the company obviously won't read every newspaper? Also, what about companies wanting to give customers…

> Doesn't this obligate every company to read every local newspaper in every customer's area?

In my US state, a lot of important legal notices get published in the newspaper, so companies should already be effectively doing this.

What most do (and what I've always done) is to subscribe to a clipping service that will scan the classifieds, nationwide if you want, for you and forward to you the types of items you want to be made aware of.

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#152

Disclosure: I only read up until it was revealed what the policy was. This was always my opinion on this. "As easy to cancel as it is to sign up". It's simple, and completely shuts down this malicious behaviour without making it harder to operate for the honest companies (or worse for customers in any way I can think of). Usually these policies have downsides but I can't really think of any. This kind of behaviour is…

Swedish legislation has it right here. You can unsubscribe by any means you prefer. Mail, email, phone call, a notice in your local newspaper, carrier pigeon. The choice is completely with the party who wishes to terminate the agreement. It incentivises companies to make it as simple as possible, because if they don’t the cost of manually handling requests coming in through all kinds of different channels quickly bec…

> by any means you prefer

I prefer to unsubscribe by writing it on a post-it note and sticking it in a public bathroom under the sink. That way I can always sue for them not doing it!

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#153

Re: hidden fees, I still do not understand why most US purchases treat tax as if it does not exist until you're at the cashier. You have to sort of know what the state tax is (I'm not a US resident, so I do not have that information at hand), and then do the calculation mentally. I think this is quite disfavourable to consumers.

That's exactly why it's done that way. Because the tax is different in every state, county, city, and sometimes an even smaller region. There is something like 2,500 different tax jurisdictions in the USA. It would be difficult for national brands (or even local brands) to do any marketing or advertising that includes prices, because they would either have to put a range on their ads, or possibly eat all their profit…

Many other countries have all-inclusive prices. Most of Europe from my experience. I wonder, how do they handle it? One solution could be to price things such that any amount of tax is included in the margin so the price is standard but profitability varies in minute ways between locations (which it does anyway due to labor, transportation, advertising density, etc.).

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#155

Rather than adding additional regulation (which rarely works, just look at Apple vs EU), the only change needed is to allow individuals to sue under the CANSPAM act. Fairly certain you'd see an immediate change in behavior. Right now, only State AGs can sue. While we're at it, extend CANSPAM to physical mail as well so we can clean up the massive environmental burden of companies abusing the US Postal Service for mar…

It’s not abuse of the USPS. It’s literally a product they sell: to spam everyone in an area with analytics and all.

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#156
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I won't do business with companies that spam me. Here I am, already giving you money, and you want to spam me?! Even after I clicked unsubscribe? The worst are the BS claims of "account status emails", which are just spam. I moved my entire portfolio to another bank, filed a complaint, then filed complaints as I closed each account/card. The goal to have plenty of record as to why. Screw that.

Ugh my student loans went to a new servicer who I swear to god is paid by the email sent to me. I get an email letting me know when the payment is coming out (hint: it's the same numeric day as last month, plus or minus a day to account for non-banking weekend days) and the amount (hint: it's the same amount it always is, because that's how payments work) and then I get an email from them after my payment completes a…

This is what gets me. Are you going to take out another student loan, because of engagement? EG, spam, and their name on your mind.

Of course not!

Yet there's a marketing (eg, engagement) department thinking up this junk.

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#157

Disclosure: I only read up until it was revealed what the policy was. This was always my opinion on this. "As easy to cancel as it is to sign up". It's simple, and completely shuts down this malicious behaviour without making it harder to operate for the honest companies (or worse for customers in any way I can think of). Usually these policies have downsides but I can't really think of any. This kind of behaviour is…

> As easy to cancel as it is to sign up

I think that’s not enough in some cases. Signing up requires inputting a bunch of data; unsubscribing should be 2 clicks at most, no logins.

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#159
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I won't do business with companies that spam me. Here I am, already giving you money, and you want to spam me?! Even after I clicked unsubscribe? The worst are the BS claims of "account status emails", which are just spam. I moved my entire portfolio to another bank, filed a complaint, then filed complaints as I closed each account/card. The goal to have plenty of record as to why. Screw that.

Ugh my student loans went to a new servicer who I swear to god is paid by the email sent to me. I get an email letting me know when the payment is coming out (hint: it's the same numeric day as last month, plus or minus a day to account for non-banking weekend days) and the amount (hint: it's the same amount it always is, because that's how payments work) and then I get an email from them after my payment completes a…

With respect to the first part of your comment, I'd much prefer overcommunication of financial transactions about to happen and acknowledgement that they did rather than the other way about. And some communication about changes in Ts&Cs is often required. Those often come by physical mail. A lot of people here probably prefer more notifications about things like credit card transactions. I don't personally but many do even if it means a lot more routine email.

Re: US Government wants to make it easier for you to click the 'unsubscribe' button

#160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same goes for all services. I was able to sign up for an ISP service (in the UK) online very easily, with a few clicks and entries onto a form to enter my details, choose my installation date, choose my speed, etc. Fast forward a few years, I'm leaving that house and need to cancel the internet - snail mail letter needed.

There is zero incentive for a company to invest in tooling and tech to make processes that lose them customers more efficient. This is something that has to be regulated and enforced. I just don't see a c-suit clamoring to spend money on making it easier to leave.

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