Newsletter Shut Down Due to Single Spam Complaint A San Francisco-based newsletter was shut down last week after a single reader filed a complaint with the company that distributed it. When Mailchimp (which San Francisco Weekly kept erroneously referring to as the Bay Citizen's internet service provider) got the complaint, it immediately suspended service, demanding they prove the reader, Richard Knee, had opted in to the newsletter. Knee was angry because his subscription to the non-profit Bay Citizen included fundraising appeals. Why he took it upon himself to complain to Mailchimp instead of the paper itself is unknown, but as a result, the newsletter's 20,000 subscribers were cut off. Although he claims he never wanted the newsletter to be shut down, he's shown little remorse for his actions. Mailchimp says they'll restore service after Bay Citizen fills out the requested paperwork to prove they aren't spammers, but when they do, Knee will find himself permanently banned from the newsletter's mailing list. Ironically, Knee himself admits to sending out high volumes of mail through his work as a political activist but says he's no spammer: "I'm not asking you for anything. I send out e-mails if I think they will be of interest to people or entertaining. And, sometimes, I send out e-mails urging action on things. But I am selective." The Bay Citizen's story is great reminder to make sure that when you send out a newsletter its unsubscription directions are clear and easy to spot. Of course you may still run into a vindictive and ignorant subscriber but hopefully you'll be protected! Source: http://www.allspammedup.com/2012/02/newsletter-shut-down-due-to-single-spam-complaint/
That's horrible the guy subscribed to it originally if he does not like content unsubscribe. Then I read he reported to mailchimp then the ftc what a jerk. This does say more about mail chimp more than anything else. How can you trust your newsletter to mailchimp if a person who subscribed to your newsletter can shut down your entire account.
That is not very professional of Mailchimp to shut him down. Especially if they have been using the service for a while. If anything, ask for the subscriber info and if none is provided within 24 hours, you may shut down the service.
Someone from Bay Citizen should sign up for his newsletter and complain to his ISP, threatening legal action if they don't shut him down to see how he likes it. Just sayin.
"The service checked the FTC database and saw that baycitizen.org had been added to the blacklist of spammers because of Knee***8217;s complaint." How the hell do you check that?
