If you think about using Vocus PR, think again

by Volker Weber

This is a company which prides itself as

Our on-demand software addresses the critical functions of public relations, including media relations, news distribution and news monitoring.

Quite some time ago, they started sending me unsolicited messages. Each of them contains in very small print a link to unsubscribe. This won't let you unsubscribe from all of their messages but only from those a particular customer sends.

vocus pr spam

Each time they sign up a new customer they spam you again. You can't even block them by sender since the messages always claim to come from their customer. All efforts to get myself off their list have not worked.

Enough is enough. From today on I am going to reject their messages and send a reply to their customers. No more unsubscribe attempts. My mail server will now educate their customers:

vocus pr spam

Comments

Plenty more of those multiple opt in, single opt out PR companies exist.

Weblock them on sight at the MX. You can usually just use the network address range as resolved names of sending hosts vary as do sender envelopes.

Chris Linfoot, 2008-04-16

Vocus PR is "no opt in, can't really opt out". Blocking them does not help. Talking to THEIR customers does.

Volker Weber, 2008-04-16

If you had lots of time at hand, you could of course sue them. If you really didn't opt-in in any way, that is. And lawyers may tweak almost any arbitrary one of your actions as an opt-in...

Ragnar Schierholz, 2008-04-16

Love the idea of sending this to the customer! Applause!

Benjamin Stein, 2008-04-16

In all fairness to Vocus, you dont know that you are being spammed by Cision and other PR companies as they dont have the opt out link in their email. Hitting their customers is a good idea as it may teach them to do better PR. Its the customer spamming you, not Vocus, Cision or any other software provider. It is a small few doing bad PR that is ruining it for the rest of us trying to do good PR.

Connor Mathews, 2008-04-17

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