The opt out wouldn’t necessarily need to go through the CRM system. It could be handled by the IN platform so you would be unsubscribed from the service immediately. The preference could then be updated in the CRM system at a later date. EE tend to do things on the cheap though.
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I can never tell if that’s a fallacy, or just a lie that marketing flacks tell themselves to sleep better at night. “I’m not a universally loathed abhuman scumsack who should do the human race a favor and end myself, I just haven’t found the consumer who understands me!”
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That’s sort of the same excuse that we on this side of the pond drag out whenever some inconveniently photogenic ‘collateral damage’ occurs…
Sure, once you start on the premise that spamming is A-OK and pretty awesome, some false positives are inevitable, and you can’t make an omlette without breaking some eggs and stuff.
That’s not the problem. The problem is that you are a spammer. Since you started from there, you’ve already adopted the assumption that bothering strangers for money is just ducky. Sure, your systems’ every imperfection will likely lean in that direction, since you’ve already decided that costs borne by your lucky victims are just fine. The precise efficiency is just an implementation detail.
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A perfect example of how Scott Adams will never suffer from writers block.
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Name and shame, but you have to do it big.
You need to make it flashy. You need to make it ugly. A BoingBoing virtual billboard of which terrible marketing skunks have worked their way into your pocket through Orange’s terrible, evil decision. Perhaps with animated gifs.
You have to make them look bad, and in a way that makes them notice. A weekly list of companies that offered you deals you won’t do it.
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Unless it does.
maybe just donate his time to a website dedicated to documenting any complaints about the company. message boards for customers/ex-employees/(anonymous)employees/investors. then again, it is just spam.
Reminds me of the ‘Cat Facts’ prank http://i.imgur.com/rsQ93.png how does Orange come to conclude that anyone wants those texts? I use Three mobile and they don’t spam via text - phone Orange up and point out it’s possible to change network in about 24 hours - if they don’t resolve the spammy text issue immediately during that call then vote with your feet.
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adverterrorism
What a perfect opportunity for Orange UK’s competitors to offer deals that can’t be resisted. Losing customers will be a well-deserved dope-slap.
Just block 'em. Google Play Store. Get Mr. Number. Free, and it works.
Games Without Frontiers…War Without Tears…
This is probably illegal, or at least it’s pushing at the boundaries. (The existence of an opt-out makes it technically legal as far as I can tell from the link below, but I’ve no idea if three weeks would be considered reasonable.) So I would say handle it by the book, following the instructions here: http://www.ico.org.uk/for_the_public/topic_specific_guides/marketing/texts
That is, write or email Orange to say that you think their messages are against the Information Commissioner’s regulations; if and when you continue to receive them, report them to the ICO. If you use your geek influence to encourage others to do the same it might actually have some kind of effect.
I hear you. But I think they are all as bad as each other to some extent.
I was last with 3, they sent spam messages, to opt out was hell. Even then they kept mucking up and starting them again. I know this was them marketing their services, but I really found it intrusive.
Now I am with giff gaff, only been with them 3 months they seem great.
The other thing I did was to put cyanogen on my phone.
Those 070 scammers are all now blocked!
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If enough people complain to the companies that have their advertisements broadcast this way, this will stop very quickly.
Long time ago one journalist, Maureen O’Gara, wrote an extremely vicious article about PJ - the famous blogger that wrote for Groklaw. Linux World, the magazine that published that article, had to pull it down very quickly when hundreds of extremely annoyed geeks started to complain loudly to advertisers. Advertisers started pulling their contracts with Linux World and dear Maureen was thrown overboard very quickly. One advertiser said that they typically received a couple of emails per week regarding ads, and suddenly they started to receive hundreds of complaints per day. This got their attention very quickly.
You can look up the case here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groklaw#Media_controversy
So when enough people complain to advertisers, and send them a link to a popular blog (BoingBoing is a good example) that colorfully describes an almost illegal SMS spamming …
I am on Orange here in my country. I have no choice, because the mobile is paid for by a company I work for. I started to receive SMS spam enticing me to send a [paid] SMS somewhere to take part in a competition or a lottery or something. I immediately called person responsible for the management of mobile phones for the company. I didn’t stop complaining very loudly and colorfully until she talked to an Orange representative regarding the ads. Our dear Orange representative told her that Orange has no means to stop the SMS adds. I have asked our management again and again “do you really want me to send those expensive SMS messages from a company phone?” and “do you really believe that Orange can’t stop the spam, when it HAS to go through their servers and network?”. I persuaded them to call the Orange again and again and complain.
I think I was not the only one complaining very loudly and incessantly, because the practice stopped very quickly.
Just as a nerdy clarification, the text doesn’t come from Orange, it actually comes from Weve, the mobile wallet joint venture between O2, Ee and Vodafone.
Actually, you’ll find that the three week time period is often ironically motivated by the threat of the ICO and not mitigated by it. Since ICO fines were recently massively increased, Compliance departments across the country have rightly shat their pants and insisted that the law be followed.
If Orange were to tell you that your reply would be processed the same day, or instantly, they would have to deliver on that promise or they probably would face a fine. So the timescale they tell you is the absolute worst-case scenario for how long their rubbish corporate processes take to make completely certain you’ll never turn up on a list. It’s fear of the ICO’s fines that motivates them to high-ball the number in the first place.
I withheld moving to Three because their customer service is legendarily crap. However, I then realised that O2’s customer service was similarly abysmal, but I was paying several times as much for it.
I moved to Three about 3 months ago and haven’t looked back. The coverage is good, the 3G network is MUCH faster than O2’s ever was, and I’m paying about a third as much each month, or less, for a better service. Yesterday I learn that Three are rolling out a 4G service, but unlike EE, who charge colossal amounts for limited data, I’ll be eligible to use Three’s 4G without even changing my already-good-value contract.
So vote with your wallet.
Fortunately most smartphones nowadays can do a blacklist for messages and calls so you never see them.
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Just for fun, you should forward this and any other messages onto their own SMS Spam Reporting number: 7726 (SPAM) and see how they reply.
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