

Ask HN: When Did It Become Professionally Acceptable to Spam? - unclebucknasty

Recently, I've been getting a ton of e-mails from "legitimate" companies. These are usually sales reps trying to sell some online service (TriNet, Gigya, etc.), and they invariably ask you for "15 minutes". They get your contact info as a business owner from some DB in the ether.<p>I get that they're just making a living, but the thing is, they don't give up. They just keep e-mailing with meeting requests, etc. and some even act annoyed that you aren't responding--as if you know them and you're the one who's being unprofessional.<p>Did I miss something? When did this become cool?
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1123581321
I have no problem with anyone e-mailing me. It's highly professional of them
to solicit my business -- really! However, most of these aren't compliant with
CANSPAM and I have a big problem with that, because even the most personal,
friendly e-mail from a company to me is something that should come with an
unsubscribe mechanism.

I find in practice that replying with a quick, "no thanks," gets rid of most
of the unwanted e-mails. There are some who ask if they can follow-up, and I
either say yes or no as I like and my wishes are almost always followed.
Again, most of these people are professionals. The repeat offenders who don't
listen to me, or those obviously mass-emailing, I send to the spam folder, and
I find those messages were the least professional in the beginning.

~~~
unclebucknasty
I think I could deal with a single email from each vendor. Maybe even two if
the second catches me on a good day.

But, this incessant, "we will force you to reply and act increasingly
irritated if you don't" bit is out of control. Like I owe them my time? It
also doesn't give me much confidence that they will actually stop.

My gripe is why should I be forced to make an effort to get someone to stop
bugging me?

~~~
1123581321
It's a good question, but it's simply the nature of human communication that
one party can initiate it and the other party needs to communicate back to
prevent future initiations. E-mail just makes it easier for more parties to
initiate communication with you.

I think a B2B do-not-solicit database will never happen, but it would be quite
useful to have a database of businesses that promise to report to spam anybody
who does not meet a certain standard of conduct.

~~~
unclebucknasty
Except that a non-reply _is_ a form of communication, especially in this
context.

Sorry, I'm just not buying that it's acceptable human behavior to bug the heck
out of someone because you want something from them, then act as if they owe
you.

~~~
1123581321
What I actually said is it's okay to send an email if it's CAN-SPAM compliant
and the sender complies with a quick, "no thanks."

~~~
unclebucknasty
Right. I'm saying that choosing not to reply is a form of response and that
should be sufficient to prevent future communications in this context.

That, rather than me exercising my right and preference to _not_ spend my time
trying to determine who is CANSPAM compliant, replying, etc. devolving into
harrassment.

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mead5432
The worst I have experienced is from the Duke MBA program. I took the GMAT
which is where they got my email from... now I get 3 emails a week despite
completing the MBA at another school over a year ago. Their emails do not have
an unsubscribe. I tried responding and requesting to be taken off the list...
nothing. I even tried calling but their office appears to be open only between
the hours of 2:30 - 3:30 EST. I have marked it as spam but every once in a
while they change up the email and it sneaks through.

It's incredibly annoying but a bit funny at the same time.

~~~
unclebucknasty
Ha! Funny how effortless it is for them to bug the heck out of you.

------
gesman
Report all these emails as spam. One click.

Telemarketing phone calls are best treated by putting spammer on an infinite
hold in expectation of sale. Their time is valuable and they'll absolutely
hate wasting it unproductively. Rinse and repeat.

------
donohoe
Its only been a recent experience for me (last 12 months).

The ones that grate on me the most are where their one core product is
completely irrelevant to me - and some basic research on their part would have
revealed this.

~~~
unclebucknasty
Yep. It's definitely picked up for me in the last 12 months or so.

That's why it seems like there's some new edict for SaaS providers only that
says, "Spamming is now proper business etiquette. Go forth now, and spam with
impunity".

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ibudiallo
Spam has always been from big companies. Check your spam folder a lot will
take you to AT&T, Amazon, best buy, eBay and so on.

~~~
unclebucknasty
Some I get from companies because I've done business with them. That's OK (as
long as they let me opt out). For instance, I've not really had a problem with
any of those you listed above.

It's the business-oriented SaaS providers in particular that are suddenly out
of control. They spam relentlessly and refuse to be ignored.

