How NOT to treat your list

Couple of weeks ago I came across a marketer whose blog I really enjoyed and could relate to in a number of ways, so contrary to my behavior of late, I joined this person's subscriber list.

The nature of the Blog was very personal and the whole style of writing was very friendly and he invited and encouraged discussion in every post. All in all, here was someone who was offering not only well written and interesting content, but was open to discussion and two way communication.

So, I started to get his emails, fairly regularly on a daily basis and for about two weeks they were nothing, but thinly disguised affiliate offers. To give the marketer his due, the emails though promotional in nature were well written and engaging enough for me to skim through and remain on his list.

A few days ago, he sent an email out that appeared to be quite inspirational in that it relayed a personal story that most people and certainly myself could relate to. (As it turned out later, the email was to "warm up" for his forthcoming new membership site). Anyway, this email was like a breath of fresh air in that it wasn't obviously trying to sell anything and I decided to reply and relate my own story and tell the marketer how I was touched by his personal recount.

Well, will it shock you that the link inside his email did not allow me to reply. It shocked me! I can't recall the exact wording, but the gist of it was that these autoresponder emails can't be replied to. I couldn't believe it.

I know in the whole big scheme of things it's not really a big deal. I mean, I just unsubscribed. Like I've done from at least a couple of dozen lists lately (highly recommended, btw ). But for some reason, it really irked me to have wasted my time on reading his sales pitch after sales pitch and then on one occasion when I actually received something of value, I was not able to respond.

Now for those who are wondering, yes, I could have gone back to his blog and (probably) found the contact details there, but I just didn't feel like I should.

As I said, I found the whole incident very disappointing and annoying, enough to come here and post about it. And I am wondering what others think. Am I overreacting or is this just a stupid way to treat your list?

Vlad