A while back I contacted Samsung to ask them a question about one of their widescreen LCD monitors. Specifically, I wanted to know if it had a 16:9 (AKA 1:1) mode; without it, signals from your cable box get stretched and/or cropped.
Three months later they send a reply that has nothing to do with my question. Some standard “check your drivers” bullshit. Clearly, the dumbass tech didn’t even bother to read my question. So I dropped it. But they didn’t.
They are now SPAMMING me! I actually got an unsolicited marketing email from them. Apparently my question gave them the right to put me on their spam list. So I marked it as such in Yahoo mail and hope others are doing the same.
Bastards.
Hmmm…. I should send in a question about my Samsung refrigerator and see if same happens to me. If there is no disclosure to prevent their use of my e-mail address, I believe I have a bonafide grievance against them, that I can use somehow.
A new, free, HDTV from Samsung would be nice.
By the way, the fridge broke right after the 1-year warranty expired on non-compressor problems. It was a stupid *fridge light* that failed and sent the system into a tizzy. Now that the compressor warranty has also expired, I expect it to die soon.
Yes, I think they are taking unfair advantage of the “previous business relationship” clause in the CAN-SPAM act. Appears desperate to me.
Well, if they couldn’t find a way to insert a loophole big enough to drive a truck through, they probably wouldn’t have passed the law in the first place. 😛 The Do Not Call registry has a similar provision in it; in both cases, if you request information, you’re off the list for, I don’t know, 18 months or so.
Now, here’s the fun part: Samsung also has the right to pass your contact information on to other companies with whom they do business, but who don’t necessarily have to have anything to do with your original query.
I’ve seen this type of response before. I recently had problems with Myspace and after wasting my time explaining what was wrong, I ended up with a reply (days later) that had nothing to do with the question. Just a generic list of things to try for common problems. HOWEVER way at the bottom hidden amongst the legal crap was a small link to use if this email didn’t help you. This just forces you to write your inquiry all over again but this time include a reference number included with the generic reply.
I guess they just want to void out all the email’s like “Hi. How do I change my background color on my page? You have to use some special interweb code or something, right? Myspace rulz! Thx in advance. <3 <3 <3”
At least I’m using Yahoo mail, so any obvious spam will get filtered. And I only use Yahoo for non-personal use, like signing up on sites.
As for the stupid response, that I half-expected. Customer support is not a priority with most companies. But the spamming was new.