A few months back a couple of friends recommended I try the Naked Wine service. I’ve had trouble in the past with Virgin Whine so I was a little nervous but decided to give the folks at Naked Wine a try. I registered, asked not to be sent any marketing bumph or receive any telesales calls and ordered a case of wine. The wine arrived. It was good wine. I enjoyed it.
Shortly afterwards I received a call asking what I thought of my purchase. We had a polite brief conversation during which I asked that my records be marked so I didn’t receive any more calls. I know where Naked Wine are, I know how to get in touch, I know how to buy and drink wine and I’d really appreciate being able to manage this relationship from my end. The guy was OK with this said the records would be amended and we parted company.
I bought another case. The wine arrived. It was good wine. I enjoyed it.
Shortly afterwards I received a call asking what I thought of my purchase. We had a brief, to the point conversation about my preferences. I stressed, without being rude, that I didn’t want Naked Wine to call or email me. Thanks very much your records will be marked sorry about that good bye.
Several months of peace passed. Then I received this:
I replied to the email, pointing out the previous phone calls. I received an apologetic email back from Lewis confirming I am not on any mailing lists and this won’t happen ‘going forward’ (his words not mine – can it happen going backward??). I heaved a sigh of relief – no more shall I receive unsolicited unwanted stuff from Naked Wine.
Or so I thought.
I (just about) appreciate why this note was sent but given the nature of our previous correspondence it just amplified the sense of me talking with a company which ain’t listening.
I chatted through this scenario with friends at the weekend. Some told me to shut up and stop being a grumpy git, fair enough 🙂 Some said that Naked Wine are just trying to build a relationship with me and understand my wants and needs and service me better. That’s all very well but surely that should be on terms which suit us both? I run an email newsletter and everyone on that mailing list has given permission and/or asked to receive it. Sometimes folks subscribe out of the blue, and sometimes they unsubscribe. That’s cool, it’s their choice eh. I’m pretty sure if I just started adding people to my list willy nilly there’d be some grumbles and complaints – and quite rightly too.
What do you think? Am I being unreasonable to expect Naked Wine to want to do business with me as I wish or is it OK to get grumpy when a supplier repeatedly ignores your preferences?
Update
The conversation this story sparked here on the blog has been very interesting and offered different points of view. I’m grateful to everyone who retweeted the tale and who has contributed to it. I appreciate the fact that Rowan Gormley, the founder of Naked Wine has also been in touch. I wanted to share some of the twitter reaction to his participation – just to show that I’m not always a grumpy git 🙂
