Unsolicited mail

By: Angie

There's been a theme for me this week. I have probably received 3-4 emails that aren't technically from spammers but the sender didn't have my permission to email me regarding their products or services. To say the least, it's really irritating. The one I received most recently had this little disclaimer at the bottom:

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If you can't read it, here's what it says:

Disclaimer: We respect your Online Privacy. This is not an unsolicited mail. Under Bill 1618 Title III passed by the 105th U.S.Congress this mail cannot be considered Spam as long as we include Contact Information and a method to be removed from our mailing list. If you no longer wish to receive e-mail from us, please click here

So here's the deal...

1. Clearly my online privacy was not respected. Had it been, I wouldn't have gotten this email in the first place.
2. Dictionary.com defines "solicit" as "to seek for (something) by entreaty, earnest or respectful request, formal application, etc.". In other words, to ask for something. In this case, commercial email correspondence. The particular email I received was from a Prudential Northwest Properties realtor whom I have never met or spoken to or even seen before. And, I didn't ask her to email me. So, yes it is unsolicited.
3. While it is not technically spam in the eyes of the law, I don't care. It's spam to me (and probably a bunch of other people who got this email). In the eyes of the recipient, the technicalities matter very little.

All that considered, here's what my impression of the email's sender was: not very good. And I can guarantee you that many of the other folks who received the same email felt the same way. Is that the kind of impression you want to give?