One of the things that gets to me is advertising or promoting. I have no problem with people who listen. I only have a problem with advertising that are pushed upon you. I am a firm believer that no means no. For example, when a person approaches me and advertises credit cards for a certain bank, I would directly say "No." But when the person continues to promote the credit cards, as if I didn't obviously decline, I would get really cross and say loudly "No!"
I am fine with Youtube ads that offer you a choice to close the ads after five seconds, because you are given a choice. Another choice would be to simply turn off Youtube, which means you are still given a choice to decline watching the ad.
And because I know how much advertising gets to me, every time I create an account for something, I will always tick "No" for promotional SMS, calls and emails. What I have realized is that most companies do not respect my wishes. Most of the accounts that I have signed up for has sent me promotional SMS, if not emails as well. And do not get me started on the disturbing phone calls.
When I say it gets to me, I mean it really, really gets under my skin. It crawls under my skin and gets me frustrated every time I receive an SMS advertising something.
So I emailed the customer service centre of all those companies, and NOT ONE listened to me. NOT ONE bloody company respected my wishes, even though I had ticked "No" for promotional contact in the first place AND emailed them again to stop.
A few months ago I started to get really frustrated and decided to try harder. So I mentioned CIMB on Twitter and asked them to please stop contacting me for promotions or advertising. They assured me that I will no longer receive promotional SMS, but it was no surprise that I kept receiving them. Hats off to them though, because when I kept on complaining, their staff actually called me and helped me until all the SMS finally stopped (it took a few months and so many frustrating conversations, but the SMS actually stopped).
When I complained to Courts via email, they replied asking me for my IC number. After I gave them my IC number, I kept receiving promotional SMS so I kept on complaining. The thing is, they still asked for my IC number as if it was a new complaint. Keep in mind that I ticked "No" for promotional contact when I filled up the delivery form of my purchase (as usual). After my continuous complaint, they sent me FIVE exactly identical SMS in one day, advertising their current sale. A few days ago I emailed them saying I will lodge a police report for disturbance if they kept sending me promotional SMS, and honestly I don't know if that will even work. We'll see.
Yesterday I called Watsons Customer Service and told them to stop sending me promotional SMS. The lady said to simply change my preferences for promotional contact to "No", which I had done when I signed up for an online account AND had sent them a screenshot of it when I sent a complaint via email. The lady said they can't help me and why don't I just change my email? This got me frustrated because firstly, if I changed my contact details, how are they going to contact me in case there was a problem with the delivery of my purchase, and secondly, I didn't receive any promotional emails, I only received SMS. I wish they would actually pay attention and come up with a better solution. So she said the only way is to close my account, which I can't perform myself; only they can do it. So I said yes, please close my account. She was surprised that I said that, and said to just change my contact details. I was so angry by then because the solution doesn't even make sense, so I asked, "What if I lodged a police report for disturbance? Would that stop all the SMS?" to which she quickly replied "Okay we have changed your number in your account". I could not, for the life of me, understand this solution, or why they can't respect my wishes from the beginning, that I simply said "Thank you, bye."
Do I need to call EVERY SINGLE company to stop receiving all these SMS? Do I need to get cross in order to be listened to?
Why everyone, why?
I mean, it's 2016, people. I can't simply live without a phone just to stop getting disturbing SMS.
Privacy needs to be respected.
I am fine with Youtube ads that offer you a choice to close the ads after five seconds, because you are given a choice. Another choice would be to simply turn off Youtube, which means you are still given a choice to decline watching the ad.
And because I know how much advertising gets to me, every time I create an account for something, I will always tick "No" for promotional SMS, calls and emails. What I have realized is that most companies do not respect my wishes. Most of the accounts that I have signed up for has sent me promotional SMS, if not emails as well. And do not get me started on the disturbing phone calls.
When I say it gets to me, I mean it really, really gets under my skin. It crawls under my skin and gets me frustrated every time I receive an SMS advertising something.
So I emailed the customer service centre of all those companies, and NOT ONE listened to me. NOT ONE bloody company respected my wishes, even though I had ticked "No" for promotional contact in the first place AND emailed them again to stop.
A few months ago I started to get really frustrated and decided to try harder. So I mentioned CIMB on Twitter and asked them to please stop contacting me for promotions or advertising. They assured me that I will no longer receive promotional SMS, but it was no surprise that I kept receiving them. Hats off to them though, because when I kept on complaining, their staff actually called me and helped me until all the SMS finally stopped (it took a few months and so many frustrating conversations, but the SMS actually stopped).
When I complained to Courts via email, they replied asking me for my IC number. After I gave them my IC number, I kept receiving promotional SMS so I kept on complaining. The thing is, they still asked for my IC number as if it was a new complaint. Keep in mind that I ticked "No" for promotional contact when I filled up the delivery form of my purchase (as usual). After my continuous complaint, they sent me FIVE exactly identical SMS in one day, advertising their current sale. A few days ago I emailed them saying I will lodge a police report for disturbance if they kept sending me promotional SMS, and honestly I don't know if that will even work. We'll see.
Yesterday I called Watsons Customer Service and told them to stop sending me promotional SMS. The lady said to simply change my preferences for promotional contact to "No", which I had done when I signed up for an online account AND had sent them a screenshot of it when I sent a complaint via email. The lady said they can't help me and why don't I just change my email? This got me frustrated because firstly, if I changed my contact details, how are they going to contact me in case there was a problem with the delivery of my purchase, and secondly, I didn't receive any promotional emails, I only received SMS. I wish they would actually pay attention and come up with a better solution. So she said the only way is to close my account, which I can't perform myself; only they can do it. So I said yes, please close my account. She was surprised that I said that, and said to just change my contact details. I was so angry by then because the solution doesn't even make sense, so I asked, "What if I lodged a police report for disturbance? Would that stop all the SMS?" to which she quickly replied "Okay we have changed your number in your account". I could not, for the life of me, understand this solution, or why they can't respect my wishes from the beginning, that I simply said "Thank you, bye."
Do I need to call EVERY SINGLE company to stop receiving all these SMS? Do I need to get cross in order to be listened to?
Why everyone, why?
I mean, it's 2016, people. I can't simply live without a phone just to stop getting disturbing SMS.
Privacy needs to be respected.
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