Comments on: Comments on 5178

Post number 5178

Steven Den Beste — Tue, 09 Jan 2001 18:28:47 -0800

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.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Tue, 09 Jan 2001 18:42:28 -0800

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).

By: champignon

champignon — Tue, 09 Jan 2001 19:36:43 -0800

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.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Tue, 09 Jan 2001 19:42:36 -0800

Try this Opt-In Preferences page (found link deep within the privacy policy).

By: Avogadro

Avogadro — Tue, 09 Jan 2001 19:47:55 -0800

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

By: Avogadro

Avogadro — Tue, 09 Jan 2001 19:48:21 -0800

damn, beat me to it.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Tue, 09 Jan 2001 19:50:47 -0800

ack. Both of mine were set to Yes. ugh.

By: champignon

champignon — Tue, 09 Jan 2001 19:51:18 -0800

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.

By: champignon

champignon — Tue, 09 Jan 2001 20:13:05 -0800

And it's a sinking feeling to realize you posted a broken link... This should work. Sorry.

By: Taken Outtacontext

Taken Outtacontext — Wed, 10 Jan 2001 08:14:32 -0800

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.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Wed, 10 Jan 2001 13:42:32 -0800

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.

By: Steven Den Beste

Steven Den Beste — Wed, 10 Jan 2001 21:14:48 -0800

Obviously it's a plot!

By: baylink

baylink — Thu, 11 Jan 2001 19:03:35 -0800

[whirring sound of black-helicopter rotor]