Retailer left red faced after sending dodgy emails and $5 vouchers to consumers
Consumers late last week received emails (and a $5 voucher) for subscribing to Harvey Norman’s VIP electronic newsletter – even though they had not signed up to receive it.
Harvey Norman is currently looking to encourage consumers to sign up to his newsletter, offering a carrot in the form of a $5 voucher.
Harvey Norman quickly issued an apology email and invitation reissue saying:
“We apologise for our earlier email.
“Sorry, we accidentally sent you a welcome email today. We realise that you haven’t subscribed yet and want to reassure you that we will not continue to email you in the future unless you opt-in.
“We take email opt-in requirements very seriously and are sorry for our mistake.”
The retailer reissued the VIP invitation email saying: “we hope you will sign up and take advantage of your $5 voucher.”
However, consumers need to spend $25 in or more to avail of the credit.
It is not known where the retailer got the email addresses from but it appears the action could be violating the Spam Act 2003 which forbids unsolicited emails and those recieved without consent.
The email also asks consumers for their name, email and postcode, and claims it is ‘easy to unsubscribe’ according to the invitation to sign up, which is a legal requirment under the Spam Act.
Singing up to Harvey Norman VIP email offers “Great competitions and VIP invitations” ‘Exclusive product offers and VIP events’, the company says.
