Why Did PWS Newsletters Go to Opt-Outs?

[jwpamp]

Just saw this on CS...I know some are not on there, so thought I would share.

I thought it was odd when I got a very angry e-mail from a customer who was ticked that she got a newsletter when she had opted out -- I showed her opted out and didn't have her e-mail info in P3.

Yikes!

The CS'er said that she was almost fired over it (I can see how that would happen, I had issues with my employer when I was working about doing my business).

Hope this helps answer any questions that your opt-outs may have!

 

[Nanisu]

I think this is another example of a simple thing that NEVER should have happened. Here's the deal. I think that although all companies have a "storm" period where new website issues/technology issues in general have glitches to work out, this is getting ridiculous. These issues for the most part are issues that are ridiculous--not being able to edit show info, everyone having to have an email address (sorry, what about the person who lives in Bumfart North Dakota that maybe loves to cook but doesn't have an email?), not being able to send/transmit stuff--this is ALL stuff that should have been worked out in the Beta Testing.

I KNOW Home Office is addressing the issues. And I KNOW they are working hard. I try to be patient, I try to be grateful for their work, this is my take: This is my BUSINESS. Not my hobby, MY JOB. This is the second biggest retail buying month of the year, it is Help Whip Cancer month, it is Excellence Award month, and the amount of issues they are having--most of which are basic feature issues that are just flat designed poorly or just not working--should have been much much less than what we are experiencing.

We as consultants and directors shouldn't HAVE to come up with "work arounds" on our own. Maybe 2 or 3 but not as many as we have. And why on earth they released this in Excellence Award month is beyond me. Many of us are scrambling to get sales in. June for Directors, when things are a little quieter, and July for consultants would have made a lot more sense. I think we are all pretty darn accepting considering all the nonsense issues.

Now, before everyone gets on my back and emails me or posts "oh what a wonderful job they are doing trying to fix the problems. And aren't they great in communicating what they are doing to fix the issues? And isn't it wonderful that they listen to us?" responses, to this I reply: well, yes...and I'm pretty sure I am PAYING for this website. And I'm pretty sure I NEED to submit sales to take care of my family. So Heck yes, they should be responding to us. Most of these issues shouldn't have happened in the first place. I called tech support yesterday with an issue, had the tech support verify my problem when he went into my website to do something, and was told "yes, we will add this to the list." Yhen I found out that many others had complained about the same issue previously on day 1 of the release. This is bordering on a debaucle.

Don't get me wrong--12+ years and I still LOVE this job. And I still respect this company. And YES, they are working hard. And so am I. But honestly, 15-20 glitches, maybe. But a couple hundred, um, no, this is unacceptable. Once again (to quote Tom Hanks), it's not personal, it's business.

 

[cookingwithlove]

Nancy, I think you expressed your frustration well. Everything you said is valid and I think many of us feel the same way. I really do not like the new ordering system. I find it cumbersome and tedious.

 

[pamperedlinda]

Amen Nancy! This system was NOT tested properly before it was rolled out to us. 90% of the issues we are experienceing SHOULD have been discovered and rectified in lab-testing. Marla should be pissed.

 

[pamperedbecky]

Ugggg, this is terrible. How frustrating. I haven't heard from any irate customers yet, but I already feel guilty and ashamed that this happened because they'll think it was US that totally disregarded their requests to opt-out.

 

[akaskydebil]

To avoid this ever happening, I completely delete the customer from my PWS contacts and in P3, I leave their info in but delete their email address and then hit save. There is no way for it to accidentally happen when its not there for the system to pull from.

A year ago I had this happen because of user error on my end. Somehow when I resynced my PWS from P3 it put the customer back in there and boy did she let me know it. Won't EVER happen again unless there is no way with the new web for me to delete their email address all together.

I get they can't order without the email address, for those who want to be opted out, I will simply give them a bogus email address.

Not sure if that helps anyone but that's what I have been doing.

 

[Sheila]

I don't use the HO Newsletter, but I think I read that they changed companies this month? Could explain why this happened if it's a new company doing it.I was glad that I'd stayed with iContact when HO first rolled out their newsletter & there were so many issues. This is the THIRD Company that they've used which has reinforced my decision to continue to stick with iContact.

 

[Nanisu]

I don't like paying for IContact, but it DOES work, every time. Anyone had luck with Mail Chimp? My church uses it and it looks good and I don't even notice the little ad at the bottom each week, and its free. I know Noora uses it and swears by it. Anyone else?

 

[baychef]

I can't afford icontact but interested in this Monkey mail...I mean Mail Chimp!! :veryfunny:

 

[Sheila]

I love that I can personalize my own newsletter. That was a big deal in Japan since we didn't use traditional 10 digit phone numbers, we had 11 digit numbers for our cell phones & 7 digit numbers for our base phone. I could format the phone number the way it's supposed to look there.

It takes a lot longer to do it myself, but I can add what I want to add! LOL

Here's the current one that I just sent out this month: http://www.icontact-archive.com/0gzEEq-Cw8jxryQCNSAW3vNf8cUNydo7?w=2