I keep getting unwanted spam from Black's Magic Group, e.g., "We miss you!"

Unlike most websites, there is no obvious way to email Black's Magic Group or James Black to request to be taken off their email/spam list.

Do you know of the secret method to accomplish this?

Thanks....

Steve H

Reply back "I miss you too!"


no really: try logging in to the forum and turn notifcations and such off in preferences. let us know if that works

There is a "Spam" button in your email, if you "check" the box next to the email, then hit "Spam" it will delete the letter and your email will block there messages.

Or are you trying to say your provider does not have this option?

Piz: I wish it was that easy. Among other things, not all email programs have a spam button. Thanks for the suggestion, though. It could have been useful in the right circumstance.

Joshua: They are very clever (deceitful?) The style they use hides the reply address. I also tried to get my password from them to try the Preferences gambit but the "click here to get your password emailed to you" page hung up. I also tried that directly on their webpage but got the message "Your email address is not registered with us".....so that's when I gave up and posted here.

Steve:

Just PM James here (and give him your email address), or email him directly and I am sure he will persoanlly take care of it.

Tony Iacoviello

Thanks, Tony. Good suggestion!

I had to figure out James' last name and username ("jclark"). He also has no email address in his profile here but I did PM him. That should do it.

I also figured out that Jamie Grant works with Black's, so that's a backup contact, too.

Thanks again.

Steve

I heard back from James that they track IP addresses (not email addresses??) when we sign up at their Forum. Since they didn't have any record of my email address, I wasn't able to change preferences to opt out of receiving emails, if there is such an option.

In any event, James removed me from the mailings list, so I presume that all is now well. I appreciate that service but I also wish it wasn't so difficult to go through all this.

- Steve H

How could they send you e-mail if they had no record of your e-mail address?



Curt

That's quite a mystery, isn't it, Curt?

I'll send you a PM describing everything step by step. But I've wasted over an hour on this today, James apologized, and I'm ready to let it go.

Check your PM when you have time.

Steve

Thanks for the heads up. I'll definetly not be logging on thier website/forum.

What is the purpose of making it so difficult to not get spammed by them? Seems it would irritate potential future customers.

Edh: No comment.

Steve "Not to comment is to comment" Hook

Steve, agreed.

For clarification, spam is unsolicited email. We don't spam anyone.

We have two email systems built into our site. One is an opt-in list that is situated on the front of our site giving anyone the opportunity to join. When we send out emails via that system, it is done so in complete compliance with federal law. There is an opt-out disclaimer at the bottom allowing anyone to remove themselves with the click of the mouse at anytime for any reason.

However, Mr. Hook isn't talking about that, as he never joined that system. He's talking about our forum notification/reminder system. Yet another OPT-IN system in place on our server. In order to get those notices, you have to go through a rather detailed process of signing up to become a forum member, including responding to a code that prevents spiders and other bots from adding accounts without authorization (among other safe guards). Then, you have to be approved by a moderator for your account to be activated, so we can be sure it is a real person.

At no time did I ever intimate that we do not track emails; that is illogical at best. What I told Mr. Hook is that we track IP addresses (on both systems) when people sign up so we can indeed identify who joined and when. The reasons for that are obvious.

To add to this, Mr. Hook is responsible for reading our terms of use, which expressly indicates that if you sign up to our forums you may on occasion get email and PM from our staff or system. Again, that cannot be considered spam when you must make the decision to sign up. Further, he didn't turn off his notifications choices, which we would have honored, in the forums under his user control panel. So, it is not only logical, but it is generally deemed good practice that he would get occasional messages sent by our staff and an inactive member reminder inviting him back, because he himself allowed it.

The process to turn that off is rather easy, but my guess is he signed up, forgot his login, and wasn't sure how to use the system he signed up to. That, I am affraid, isn't something we can fix other than instruct him should he ask. However, that's not how it went down...

For Mr. Hook to suggest that we are being "deceitful", especially in a public forum without giving all of the details of his situation, is inappropriate in my view. He made the choices that brought him emails, not us. And therefore, he is responsible for the chain of events. Understand something, we didn't hunt Mr. Hook down, put a gun to his head, and force him to join. He did that on his own accord. Now, whether or not Mr. Hook understands the technology he engaged in, I don't know. But ultimately he had all the same options that every other user at our sites does but turned to the Café as his weapon of choice.

Further, Mr. Hook seemed to be upset that there was no blatant contact email listed on our site or here on the Café in my signature line. Well, that's simple really, it is because spiders harvest identifiable addresses and eventually those addresses become unusable due to real spam clogging them up with all kinds of junk related to a variety of topics we have no interest in, unlike someone who specifically signs up at a magic site... for instance. My contact details are more than accessable for anyone who look for more than two seconds to see them.

Additionally, he said to me that there was no way to contact our company on the website. That one is perplexing to me, as there is this MASSIVE support button at the top of every single page that allows anyone to contact us within a matter of seconds online, and my staff would have responded to his concerns right away.

Perhaps I should have the button changed to "Hey, if you need to talk to us to get off a list you signed up for but can't figure out how to use the system, then click here and send us a quick message and we'll walk you through the steps because we don't want you to be on a list you don't want to be on, and we care about our customers, so let's see if we can get this taken care of for you."

Though, that might be a bit long! LOL

BTW, that was my tongue firmly planted in my cheek.

Aside from the support section, our phone numbers are listed on the bottom of every single page on the site, including one that is toll free. So even someone who has no long distance on their phone could call us and we'd pick up the charges.

Of course, when he PMd me I immediately removed his profile from the forum per his request without hesitation or reservation. There wasn't a debate and I apologized for the difficulty, despite knowing that he was complicit in getting the messages. I would have moved on, and I'm only responding now in this manner because I vehemently object to the characterization of our company in a public forum as being deceitful, when I know, for some reason, he isn't providing all of the facts and then, to add to this insult, engages in poking fun several posts after I helped him.

That to me is utterly unacceptable and serves no positive purpose at all.

At a minimum, an objective and accurate description of what actually has taken place would serve to allow people to make more informed decisions, rather than polarizing the discussion by omitting critical components in one's favor.

Beyond that, I am sure Mr. Hook is a great guy who may have simply over-looked the obvious and then got upset about it. However, in all instances, I do not feel it is okay to trash a company by leaving out the truth.

Respectfully,

James

James:

The most telling truths about your company's emails, and the difficulty encountered trying to get them stopped, are 1) the efforts I had to go to to get them stopped (admittedly with, finally, your able and prompt assistance) and 2) the length of your explanation!

As a certified network administrator, I assure you that I recognize when the steps alluded to are "above and beyond reasonable".

In the simplest terms, <since your web contact software said that it didn't recognize my email address> (which would have made all this a lot simpler), the process is cumbersome and annoying.

This is my final word on this. I won't respond anymore to your accusations or denials. And I certainly won't sign up for anything again at your site (which, by the way, does not easily identify you and your TMC username). That should make both of us happy!

You're so busy protecting you and your company from web and email bots, you created a painfully obtuse user experience for us, the users! You can deny that all you want but........I refer you to the content of this thread!

Regards,

Steve H

It's called being thorough and providing a proper explanation, given that you failed to share all the facts. And since I type some 90+ words a minutes, it's rather easy for me to do so in a few minutes. Aside from that, your arguments clearly captures your unwillingness to take responsibility for your own actions, while trying to create a false impression of the events that transpired for those who read the posts here. That's also known as lying where I come from. Obviously, your use of your profession as a "network engineer" in this post is designed to deflect any burden from you while latently suggesting you're an expert on the web. Anyone with an ounce of IT experience also knows that these are two areas (networks and web development) are very different departments, and being skilled in one does not translate to being fully skilled in the other. In that respect, your argument is pretty shallow. The defacto proof of that is that if you were you'd be acutely aware that the technology we employ is standard around the globe; there' s no monkey business going on when 1,000,000s of professional websites use the same system in a variety of industries for the same purpose. We didn't create it or modify it, we purchased it like everyone else. You simply wanted a quick fix for something you did, and you couldn't figure out how to do it, so you got mad. Given that we have thousands upon thousands of unique visitors each month, and yours is the first experience of this nature I've been made aware of thus far, I'm going to err on the side of not accepting your side of events as presented here. The fact is, you acted inappropriately here and I called you to the carpet for it, and you don't like that either. Well, get used to it. If you say something in public about someone or a company that is untrue, expect someone to correct your story. Beyond that, ibid and good day.

I have found James Clark to be one standup, very cool guy and HIGHLY accessible. Anyone that has a question or issue with anything about him or his site or magazine ( Street Magic ), only has to write James and he will answer immediately.
His genuineness and creativity is only eclipsed by his integrity!

I have to agree with Chris. I have had no problems with Blacks Magic. The couple of times I needed to contact them it was VERY SIMPLE. James is very straight forward and goes far beyond and above the call of duty to serve his customers.