
Cleartrip fires PR agency after “three strikes” of spamming - shrikant
http://thenextweb.com/2012/12/05/fired-cleartrip-discharges-buzz-pr-after-three-strikes-of-spamming/
======
NameNickHN
Original article:

[http://blog.cleartrip.com/2012/12/05/why-we-fired-our-pr-
age...](http://blog.cleartrip.com/2012/12/05/why-we-fired-our-pr-agency/)

Why the PR agency didn't stop after the first "talk" from their clients is
beyond me. They're either really dumb, incompetent or really brazen. Or an
unholy combination of all three.

~~~
mikeash
I'd guess a lack of responsibility within the organization (i.e. procedures
are set up that result in spam, and nobody is really in charge of it) or a
lack of organization (the customer contacts have no control over the people
doing the spamming). Either one fits into your "incompetent" category, of
course.

------
stfu
I'd love to see an honest discussion on startups and PR firms:

a) at which stage they are most useful (e.g. are they already helpful at an
early stage for those founders who are not that great self-promoters)

b) what to expect/what to look for

c) experiences with different agencies

d) rough numbers on what they are costing

e) what are good/bad uses them for (e.g. for example the article mentions that
they used them for blogger outreach, which in my eyes would seems much more
authentic if it came from within company)

~~~
wtvanhest
It would be interesting to understand how agreements are reached with PR
Firms, and how to negotiate those contracts in the most beneficial way also.

I'm sure there are some good books on the topic right?

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Brajeshwar
It is unfortunate but the problem lies in the general issue with the Indian
Judiciary where actions takes lots of time and money to be executed.

Let me explain that.

Spamming is 'illegal' in India too but like most other 'illegal' things,
specially in the new media, the IT and Internet, there are no quick way of
punishing the culprit. As victims, we have no clear ways to tackle or resolve
the problem. This escalates to an attitude of 'let it be', popularly termed
"Chalta Hain" here in India, by these gullible spammers. None have seen no
spammer lose anything for spamming - court orders, fine, no nothing.

So, these spammers continue to do so and we, the victims, suffer either
silently or through our own ways of filtering them as spam. I was once told
very blatantly by a spammer that they are doing a social call by feeding me
and others 'useful information'.

Here, your email will be just added to a mailing list without your consent
any-day. To this date, I receive 'Press Releases' from PR Agencies all the
time with no option to 'unsubscribe'. I've been threatened for proactively
suggesting to them to 'shove it up their a __.' The only option is to set a
filter them to spam, which is an irritating and time consuming task.

These are the notes rendering the fate of spam victims in India and I don't
really see any respite anytime soon.

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mnicole
I don't understand the backlash they got for this story coming to light; when
customers are being exploited (and especially repeatedly after asking them not
to), the offending company deserves the heat. If this means certain brands
decide to work with this company after this to cross-pollinate addresses, it
just saves us the time of recognizing their legitimacy.

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crgt
Perhaps getting fired was their best PR stunt. No news is bad news and all
that..and it did make the front page of HN. And Cleartrip comes out looking
OK.

