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MailChimp is a haven for spammers? - discuss

by markowe
5 replies
I must have reported about 10 spam emails recently, from "lists" I never signed up for, all emanating from MailChimp.

There were a whole series of them with this subject title: "2011 Fall Seminar: The Irish at Gettysburg"

(oh yes, ring a bell with someone else too?)

Most of them have been sent to an address I use in the IM field, for opting in to lists, etc. Oh yes, and the From:/Reply-to: email is typically a Gmail address! C'mon...

I know MailChimp has some sort of free trial, but doesn't it require double opt-in? You can't just import a list of email addresses and mail them, surely? I hate to think a product seller is abusing my opt-in by promoting across some other list.

Either way, I will lose absolutely NO sleep if I block all email from "The Chimp" at my mail server level - just got to figure out how to do it. I am surprised they tolerate or allow this.

Thoughts?
#discuss #haven #mailchimp #spammers
  • Profile picture of the author robestrong
    MailChimp doesn't like IMers, and they'll kick them off if they join. They said in their TOS (if I'm not mistaken) that you can't use their services for money making products or affiliate links or something like that. Just report them to the support and they should get banned.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by robestrong View Post

      They said in their TOS (if I'm not mistaken) that you can't use their services for money making products or affiliate links or something like that.
      All of that ... and many other exclusions, too.

      And it isn't just that you can't use their service for those things: you can't do any of those things (i.e. even without using their service for them) and be a Mailchimp customer, and they say that openly: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post3762385

      Reading Warriors' comments about them, in general, strongly suggests that they attract a lot of "the kind of marketers who don't bother to read the terms of service" before entrusting their business's primary asset to them for safekeeping. That doesn't necessarily make those people "spammers", of course, but it's hardly a shock to the system if there's some degree of overlap there, is is? People who habitaully don't read the TOS of those with whom they do business quite often pursue less than optimal business practices in other respects, too, I think? :rolleyes:

      This is what can happen, with free autoresponders, though.

      More comments here ...
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  • Profile picture of the author PassiveIncomeTeacher
    I don't think they require double opt-int. I think I remember there being an option for importing a list, even on the free account. Not 100% sure.
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  • Profile picture of the author markowe
    Hmm, I still don't really get what's going on, but I presume MailChimp would want to put a stop to it as their deliverability is going to be seriously compromised by people abusing the service. Bit odd offering a FREE trial really, presumably you still have to give your credit card details for that, so the bar for entry is the same as for aWeber really...

    Anyway, I sure as hell am not going to go through the hassle of filing a spam complaint every time, I'll just block it and be done with it.
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    Who says you can't earn money as an eBay affiliate any more? My stats say otherwise

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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by markowe View Post

      Bit odd offering a FREE trial really, presumably you still have to give your credit card details for that
      Not at all ... there's a service they call "forever free", not just a free trial - and no credit-card needed.

      Originally Posted by markowe View Post

      Anyway, I sure as hell am not going to go through the hassle of filing a spam complaint every time, I'll just block it and be done with it.
      Many recipients of email from free autoresponders end up doing this, it seems, one way and another. Which is, of course, yet another reason for staying well away from them, as a marketer.
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