January 9, 2001

6:28 PM

If you've suddenly started getting a lot of telemarketing calls, this may be the reason why. So go look at your EBay options; you may find they've been helpfully changed for you.
posted by Steven Den Beste (12 comments total)

Where is this setting in a user's ebay options? I logged into my account and can't find anything about sharing my information with telemarketers (or anything remotely related to that, actually).
posted by mathowie at 6:42 PM on January 9, 2001

So that's what this email was about...

I guess they weren't being deceptive about an error occurring. But they should have made it clear that they knew that someone on their end screwed up their default settings. They should have asked customers to verify that their settings were in order according to their individual wishes instead of the borderline "scare" technique that they used.

eBay's email didn't mention the fact that they were going to go in and change your settings if you had too many "no, don't send me any of your crap" boxes checked.

At first I thought this link may excuse the email I received from eBay, but the more I think about it, the more annoyed I get... What's worse is that, like mathowie, I can't find the place to check out my current options. I know I opted not to receive "deals" etc from them when I registered, but since preferences for most accounts opened last year (that would be me) have been so kindly changed, that might explain why I've been getting as much spam as personal mail in the past few days... Grr!

not really self promoting, but self-linkage warning anyway: the above link points to my weblog-type-thing, where I posted the offending email from eBay and the response I sent them on December 19.
posted by champignon at 7:36 PM on January 9, 2001

Try this Opt-In Preferences page (found link deep within the privacy policy).
posted by dhartung at 7:42 PM on January 9, 2001

It's pretty hard to find. Here's the change notification preferences login page. When the next page loads, scroll on down to the "other contacts" table.


or, look at this e-quill page
posted by Avogadro at 7:47 PM on January 9, 2001

damn, beat me to it.
posted by Avogadro at 7:48 PM on January 9, 2001

ack. Both of mine were set to Yes. ugh.
posted by mathowie at 7:50 PM on January 9, 2001

dhartung, thanks... I had just looked at the privacy policy page. Don't know how I missed that one word link amidst the reams of text... ha.

Isn't it such a sinking feeling when a you find out that a company you liked is no less slimy than the rest... sigh.
posted by champignon at 7:51 PM on January 9, 2001

And it's a sinking feeling to realize you posted a broken link... This should work. Sorry.
posted by champignon at 8:13 PM on January 9, 2001

Be aware, this problem may exist even if you didn't first register late last year. I registered in 1998 but changed something in November of last year. When I went to the "change notification" page I found that it showed I WAS interested in getting spam and phone calls.
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 8:14 AM on January 10, 2001

Same here -- two year old registration, but I was "assigned" yes on both counts. I don't recall changing anything during the aforementioned period, though it's possible.
posted by dhartung at 1:42 PM on January 10, 2001

Obviously it's a plot!
posted by Steven Den Beste at 9:14 PM on January 10, 2001

[whirring sound of black-helicopter rotor]
posted by baylink at 7:03 PM on January 11, 2001