Unsubscribed/ Re-subscribed Contact

[#1]

I've been told by one of my contacts that I have unsubscribed their email address.

I certainly haven't done this consciously, but is there a way to unsubscribe a contact's email address in Plusnet's Webmail?

Boz

[#2]

No.

What do they mean by “unsubscribe”? What are they seeing to articulate that statement?

The usual context of “unsubscribe” is where a party has an email list … and you REQUEST THEM to stop sending emails.

Anything else - such as mail rejected as spam is something quite different.

[#3]

@Boz Assuming this is to a mailing list - the answer is no. The only two ways I personally know how this is done are (1) you explicitly click an unsubscribe link in the email sent to you, or (2) some organisations say 'if you do not respond to any mail after x months/years' we will assume you no longer wish to hear from us and we will delete your subscription'.

@Townman types faster.

[#4]

Thanks for all your replies.

I belong to a club that periodically sends out information emails to its members via a mailing list.  The club tells me that I'm on the mailing list, but that emails aren't getting through to me because I've "unsubscribed" their address - their word not mine!!  I certainly haven't done this consciously,  and from what your telling me it doesn't seem possible.  Any other thoughts?

Boz

[#5]

The club tells me that I'm on the mailing list, but that emails aren't getting through to me because I've "unsubscribed" their address - their word not mine!!

Rubbish! If you had unsubscribed , then you wouldn't be on the mailing list! More likely that one or more of their emails have been tagged as spam and the  PLUSNET  anti spam system is rejecting their emails.

[#6]

I've just been told that they are using a facility called "Mail Chimp" to send out mass emails.  I've had a look at Mail Chimp online, and it seems to me to be inappropriate software for a small social club to use. 

However, they are using it, and I don't think they'll change the system in the foreseeable future.

Is it possible that my entry in the mailing list has been tagged in some way - thus preventing emails from reaching me? 

Boz

[#7]

@Boz What's wrong with MailChimp? I have had communications from a number of people/organisations of various sizes who use it, and never had a problem.

I can't see your entry as being 'tagged' - I think @MisterW has probably got the right idea - a number of people who used to receive the mailings decide they don't want them, so instead of unsubscribing the correct way via the 'unsubscribe' link which is presumably in the footer, they just mark as 'spam' and trigger the Cloudmark anti-spam filter.

[#8]

@jab1 

I don’t have any experience of MailChimp, apart from the obvious; but, from what I’ve seen on websites, MailChimp appears to be a software tool used to send marketing information to customers and analyse the responses – IMHO, not suitable for a small social club.

Its drawbacks seem to include a lack of flexibility, poor customer service, unable to sort contacts by last name, emails going to spam, security issues etc. And, if the object of using MailChimp is to send bulk emails to a list of all recipients, then it has clearly failed.

Boz

[#9]

It sounds like it is largely doing what it is meant to do and is required to by law.

Do you check your email on apple device, with their default mail app?  When they detect that the email is from a mailing list they give an unsubscribe option at the top.  I know on a few occasions I've accidently hit that and it gives me some kind of warning about unsubscribing.  I've always cancelled it at that point.  I've not idea what happens if you confirm it.  Could something like that happen?

As someone said earlier though if you've unsubscribed then they should stop all messages, unless the ones that are coming through are sent by other means, such as an individual sending directly to you rather than using MailChimp for that.

[#10]

@pjmarsh – I use Plusnet’s Webmail by going through the login procedure, and in all the various functions available, I haven’t seen any way of “unsubscribing” a contact.  The only thing I can do is “delete selected contacts”, and I can’t believe I would have done that to my social club by mistake. 

When discussing this problem with the secretary of the club via email, I use the club’s standard email address. It was her last email that told me about MailChimp.  It would be useful if I could learn something from the community, which would enable me to advise her on how to solve the problem.

Boz

[#11]

In that case to unsubscribe it would be clicking on a link at the bottom of the email to unsubscribe, if that is indeed what they are meaning.

[#12]

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@Boz wrote:

... enable me to advise her on how to solve the problem.

Boz

---

The problem is solved by re-subscribing to the club's mailing list.

There is nothing within either the Plusnet email server nor the webmail client which could have activated a MailChimp unsubscribe action.

As advised above, some email clients do detect that a mail item is from a mailing list and offers the option to unsubscribe - but that needs clear affirmation from the user, as does clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of such emails.  The cause of this experience is likely to remain unknown, given what has been shared, but the following are potential causes for the experience...

1. MailChimp coughed
2. Someone administering MailChimp did the un-subscribe
3. Someone else has access to your email and they did the unsubscribe - see About Unsubscribes | Mailchimp

[#13]

@Townman – Thanks for your comments and the link at the end.

I think option No. 2 is correct, but I don’t believe anyone will admit to it.  I should have thought re-subscribing would do the trick, so it’s a mystery why this course of action wasn’t taken – maybe something to do MailChimp’s customer service!!  At £50 a month, the club is paying good money for them to sort out these anomalies.

Anyway, I’ll study the link and hopefully find an intelligible solution.

Boz

[#14]

£50pcm - ouch!!

How big is the club!s membership / how many mailings per month. The free version offers a limit of 500 contacts and 1000 emails per month … there are also free services - see https://moosend.com/blog/mailchimp-alternatives/

[#15]

@Townman - Since I don't receive any emails, I can't tell you the frequency.  But you're right, why are they "monkeying" around with MailChimp!! 

Boz