On Unsubscribing

Let me preface this by saying that I have no issues with Spotify as a service. I have friends who swear by it. I tried it right when it came out. I happen to prefer Pandora, but that's not a strong indictment of Spotify. All this aside, I've had an atrocious experience as a Spotify customer.

Let's start with the emails. No offense, but I Do Not Care if a high school classmate who I rarely spoke to then and probably won't ever speak to again added a track to the playlist "Listened to on the radio and liked it!" I have better things to fill up my inbox. I especially don't need to be informed of this at multiple times during my day. Ok, deep breath. There are laws about this. Any marketing email must have an operable unsubscribe method at the bottom. Further, this unsubscribe cannot require you to do anything more complex than enter your email address. I don't make the rules--I just follow them. Spotify doesn't.

I follow the link in the bottom of the email to change my "email preferences"--as if I prefer receiving any email at all. Not so fast. Log in. Don't remember your password because you haven't used the service in a year? Click here to retrieve your password. I log in and unsubscribe from all updates. The friendly little green man informs me that my changes may take up to 10 days to take effect. That makes sense. An entirely digital service running on hardware that makes millions of decisions a second is going to take 10 days to realize that I don't want email. Whatever. At least I won't get any more emails.

Wrong! 10 days go by, and I still get 1-2 emails a day about meaningless crap. Spotify, we're through. And it's not me... it's you. After wading deep into the support section to find a contact form, I inform the kind customer service rep in measured terms that--thank you but no thank you--I will not be continuing with your service. Please delete my account. I don't know why you need to know my zip code, the name of my unborn firstborn child, and my deepest darkest secrets in order to delete my account, but after what you've put me through I guess I'll do it because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. "We're sorry to see you go. Hopefully we'll see you again some time." Don't count on it.

A few more days pass. ANOTHER EMAIL! This must be a joke. My zombie Spotify account is exacting revenge from beyond the grave. I'm done with measured responses. An unfortunate customer service agent is going to get a piece of my mind. I go to Spotify.com and find the link to the contact form. "Please log in to submit your question." This is a sick, sick joke. Spotify, why do you hate me?

Now you might be thinking snidely to yourself, "You have no idea what it's like to run a software business! Why would you allow people to easily unsubscribe from your service?" I would respond to this straw man by saying that I do know how to run a software business--and further, I've been doing just that for the past year now. If you're my client, I don't want you to subscribe simply because you can't figure out how to unsubscribe. If you aren't in love with the software I create, I don't want your money. Simple as that.

In pursuit of this goal, we've implemented a self-service mechanism for our clients at Waiter d' to activate and deactivate their account on a monthly basis. Pick a random ski resort town with highly seasonal traffic--say Park City, UT. Restaurants don't want to pay for an electronic wait list during the summer when they never have a wait. Responding to this feedback, we inserted a "Suspend Account" button into the account administration screen. This allows customers to activate and deactivate their account at their leisure. The kicker? We'll save all their data until they decide to come back! They can pick up right where they left off (we also allow all data to be easily exported in a variety of formats).

You may think that I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill here, but I think that the two approaches to unsubscribing are more than just a difference in execution--they are a difference in attitude. Taking the stance that your customers will flee if you let them doesn't seem like a successful or fulfilling way to run a business. I'd rather treat my customers with the respect they deserve--like the very lifeblood of my business. Because they are.