..for example, 15 years ago, our trash company had the men lift cans into the backs of the trucks (Spare me the virtue signal about men, they only hired men to lift the cans - and this man probably wouldn't have been up for it, either, despite being stronger than the average male).
My spouse was complaining about our can size, which was already over the limit they provided (at that time, it was 35 gallon cans, we had one that was 45 because we only wanted one can).
With two kids, we've outgrown it thanks to the absurd amount of packaging with everything (even after you take out the stuff that can be recycled). So, I called the garbage company to ask them what size can we could use "any size is fine now" (two guys have been replaced by one and an automatic lifter). Well, our local services page doesn't state the limitations in the terms like it used to, but one can never assume that doesn't mean there aren't any, I used the artificial intelligence widget which was like a maze to finally have it give up and tell me to call customer service - somehow the AI widget on a refuse company site doesn't recognize "maximum garbage can size" " can size" "container size limit" or anything remotely close to the actual service, and now after getting a 5 second answer, 3 emails asking how they did. All different.
Are they really even survey emails or has someone decided internally that they're a chance to spam a customer and market ancillary services (which is what's attached to the surveys).
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Example 2 - The electric company - I'm captive to them. Billing is electronic so there is no way for me to avoid them having my email address. But, now, more than getting anything useful, I receive "warning - severe weather expected today - what to do in the event of a power outage". It's 80 degrees. Nothing. If it's at night, we'll sleep.
This isn't necessarily a bad message to get once in a while ( a list of preparedness items, a reminder to call the company if there's an outage or 911 if power lines are down), but we don't get it once in a while. It's automatic any time there is a chance of thunderstorms. With a link to the webpage at the top. After a couple, I will go back to their page and work through account services and remove any email notifications that aren't related to my service account (as in bills, or warnings of credit cards that have expired). Within a month or two, these things come back. I have no idea how.
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Example 3 - retailer that I go to here that requires a membership fee (I guess you guys have costco there). I have now and again done the same thing when I get an email - go back and reset account options. If I buy something online, please only the receipt (i have that from the purchase page, anyway). Within a short period of time, I get a "how did we do" or "how did you like the product" email. I literally got two emails asking me to rate cocoa.
WTF!
I'll bet early on, attaching emails to accounts was useful because you had digital records and that was about it. Now, it seems like no matter how fast and how often I go back and check off the options, they come back. Albeit in lower volume than they would if I never checked the options off - they'd be intolerable if that were the case. All of the spammy extras seem to come from the same email address that account-related reminders come from, so I can't just easily make the emails spam by email address rule.
We are all well aware of the "deals" emails that come from woodworking retailers unless the rules are different there. Some of them hide a checkbox in the mice type at the bottom of the page when you buy something, and others don't and force you to decline future emails later. One small purchase to Rockler here will yield daily emails if you're not careful, and for the dumbest of items.
Everything is data driven now, though, so I'm sure they know that for every person it irritates, some percentage will follow a link, anyway, and then the type of person who watches TV only to see the commercials will ask if they can get more deals and more deal emails more often.
My spouse was complaining about our can size, which was already over the limit they provided (at that time, it was 35 gallon cans, we had one that was 45 because we only wanted one can).
With two kids, we've outgrown it thanks to the absurd amount of packaging with everything (even after you take out the stuff that can be recycled). So, I called the garbage company to ask them what size can we could use "any size is fine now" (two guys have been replaced by one and an automatic lifter). Well, our local services page doesn't state the limitations in the terms like it used to, but one can never assume that doesn't mean there aren't any, I used the artificial intelligence widget which was like a maze to finally have it give up and tell me to call customer service - somehow the AI widget on a refuse company site doesn't recognize "maximum garbage can size" " can size" "container size limit" or anything remotely close to the actual service, and now after getting a 5 second answer, 3 emails asking how they did. All different.
Are they really even survey emails or has someone decided internally that they're a chance to spam a customer and market ancillary services (which is what's attached to the surveys).
---------
Example 2 - The electric company - I'm captive to them. Billing is electronic so there is no way for me to avoid them having my email address. But, now, more than getting anything useful, I receive "warning - severe weather expected today - what to do in the event of a power outage". It's 80 degrees. Nothing. If it's at night, we'll sleep.
This isn't necessarily a bad message to get once in a while ( a list of preparedness items, a reminder to call the company if there's an outage or 911 if power lines are down), but we don't get it once in a while. It's automatic any time there is a chance of thunderstorms. With a link to the webpage at the top. After a couple, I will go back to their page and work through account services and remove any email notifications that aren't related to my service account (as in bills, or warnings of credit cards that have expired). Within a month or two, these things come back. I have no idea how.
---------
Example 3 - retailer that I go to here that requires a membership fee (I guess you guys have costco there). I have now and again done the same thing when I get an email - go back and reset account options. If I buy something online, please only the receipt (i have that from the purchase page, anyway). Within a short period of time, I get a "how did we do" or "how did you like the product" email. I literally got two emails asking me to rate cocoa.
WTF!
I'll bet early on, attaching emails to accounts was useful because you had digital records and that was about it. Now, it seems like no matter how fast and how often I go back and check off the options, they come back. Albeit in lower volume than they would if I never checked the options off - they'd be intolerable if that were the case. All of the spammy extras seem to come from the same email address that account-related reminders come from, so I can't just easily make the emails spam by email address rule.
We are all well aware of the "deals" emails that come from woodworking retailers unless the rules are different there. Some of them hide a checkbox in the mice type at the bottom of the page when you buy something, and others don't and force you to decline future emails later. One small purchase to Rockler here will yield daily emails if you're not careful, and for the dumbest of items.
Everything is data driven now, though, so I'm sure they know that for every person it irritates, some percentage will follow a link, anyway, and then the type of person who watches TV only to see the commercials will ask if they can get more deals and more deal emails more often.
