Can you hear me?

     Everyone has pet peeves. That being said, one of my pet peeves is spam. Not the fake ham substitute, but the junk email anyone with an email account receives on a daily basis. It is unsolicited and I waste my time deleting it. Sure, it only takes a few seconds, but those are seconds I could use doing something I actually enjoy doing.

     The worst spam, in my opinion, is spam I receive from businesses I purchased products from. This is especially aggravating when I make a point to un-check the "I want to receive special offers and updates" box. With the disclaimer that I am a Chicago Cubs fan, I present the following case study:  

BUYING ST. LOUIS CARDINAL TICKETS

Not too long ago, I purchased a group of St. Louis Cardinal tickets. Why I was willing to subject myself to Busch Stadium is a long story, and beside the point. The point was, a group was attending and we wanted to sit together.

As I dutifully proceeded through the process of purchasing the tickets, I was prompted to enter my email address. This was nothing new. In the world of e-commerce, it is only natural to provide an email address in order to get an almost instant confirmation and receipt of your purchase.

During the purchasing process, before I was subjected to outrageous "convenience" fees, I made sure to un-check the box indicating I wanted to receive updates from the Cardinals. (I usually only care to know that the Cardinals lost to the Cubs) Even after taking this precaution, I began receiving very frequent updates from the Cardinal organization. This was the first time my wishes were disregarded.

After I continued to receive these emails, I scrolled all the way to the bottom of the email and clicked the "unsubsribe" button. This took me to a subsequent page, where I confirmed my desire that these emails cease.

 The emails from the Cardinals did not cease. In fact, they began arriving more frequently. My wishes were disregarded again. I was not a happy customer.

     It is obviously easy to rail on an organization that I really did not like in the first place, but I think all businesses could learn a valuable lesson from my experience. If a business does not listen to its customers or clients, those customers or clients are not going to be happy.

     Sure, I am not going to influence the two people that read this post to boycott the Cardinal organization. (They are likely Cardinal fans anyway) But, the lesson is there, and I think it is valuable.