Fancy a Curry? The Morning After

I don’t really want to go into the details of curry after effect. No, best not eh. So how are things in unsolicited email land? If that sentence means nowt to you, you can enjoy the Currys experience and song here first, then pop back and continue…

After five months of trying unsuccessfully to unsubscribe from Currys email database, the first Currys blog post, song and complaint letter to the ASA went live on Jan 12th. In 24 hours the song and blog post together received just shy of 400 views.

On Jan 13th some Twitter conversation started when @dixonsdelivery made contact

dixons tweets

On Jan 15th I shared my frustration with the CEO of Dixons Stores Group Retail (who own Currys/PC World). And I contacted @dixonsdelivery. That same day I heard from the previously silent @dixonsops. Coincidence? You decide.

dixonsops tweet

I dropped a line to @dixonsops saying I think everything is under control. Then on Jan 16th I got a follow on Twitter from @MarkWebb_Dixons. I followed back on the 17th and this happened:

Mark Webb Tweets

Yep – we had a conversation, a straightforward, honest and quite enjoyable chat on twitter. Well done Mark. And have the emails stopped yet? Well I had one on Monday – nothing since – fingers crossed.

So once again the power of the song and the social web prevails. And whilst I admit I quite enjoy bashing out these songs about poor service, it doesn’t reflect well on the world of customer service when we have to go to such lengths just to make something simple happen.

 

Fancy a Curry?

Sadly I’m not talking chicken jalfrezi. Currys, the pushy high street retailer has finally pushed me too far.

Rewind to July 2011 and after seeking advice from my Twitter buddies I went shopping for a netbook. I ended up in the Currys/PC World on the outskirts of Croydon. They had the item I wanted in stock at an acceptable price. I bought it. I left, not before asking the cashier to ensure that I wasn’t added to any email marketing lists…please.

Since the date of purchase I’ve been receiving regular sales emails from Currys and PC World. Each time one arrives I click unsubscribe and their web site tells me:

Currys unsubscribe messageThen a day or two later another email arrives trying to flog me a TV, DVD player, microwave, washing machine…I click unsubscribe, they acknowledge, they ignore. You get the picture.

I put up with this for months, man how lame is that? Anyhoo – before Christmas I had a go at contacting Sebastian James, one of the company directors who has a twitter account. I expressed my frustration and asked for help. I got no reply. Maybe in the run up to Christmas wasn’t a great time to contact him so I tried again in the New Year. Nowt, nada, not a sausage. Sebastian clearly uses his Twitter account, though seemingly not to direct and help resolve customer complaints.

A few days ago I hopped onto the Stop Doing Dumb Things to Customers Facebook page and asked for help. Julia suggested that Currys might appreciate a rocket up the backside (my interpretation of what she actually said), courtesy of the Advertising Standards Authority. So today – I’ve registered a complaint with the ASA. How tedious, and if it gets Currys off my back well it will have been worth it.

I’ll keep you posted – and if anyone can suggest a suitably mischievous way I might repay Currys for persistently ignoring my requests, I’m open to suggestions.

Update: Thanks to Julia for suggesting the ICO as another place to get help with removing unwanted email

A play for today

Act One

Doug is sat at his desk. He is telephoning Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to check his Accounts Office Reference number, how exciting!

HMRC  “Hello this is Bert [names have been changed to protect the innocent] can I take you through security?”

Doug “Yes”

HMRC “What is your accounts office reference number?”

Doug “Ahh, well funny you should ask – that’s what I want to know. I am calling to check that I have that number recorded correctly.”

HMRC “I can’t give you that information over the phone”.

Doug “Why not please?”

HMRC “That’s not how we do it here.”

Doug “OK……so how about I tell you what I think my accounts office reference number is as part of the security questioning and if I pass security, I must’ve got it right?”

HMRC “What is your accounts office reference number?”

Doug “XYZ123blah”

HMRC “Company name?”

Doug “What Goes Around Limited.”

HMRC “Address”….etc etc

…eventually…

HMRC “right, you have passed security.”

And without another word, HMRC puts the phone down.

The end. (at least I hope it is…)