Samsung? Really!? You are idiots!

It has been a while since I posted an offense.  Mostly because it really is pretty rare that a legitimate company emails me real SPAM.

I have also decided to take a gentler attitude – I would email the company first for a response before I posted and I would refrain from calling people assholes directly anymore.

Well it happened last week – I got spammed from Samsung!

First – here is the email:

Hello,

We hope that this mail finds you in good spirit and health.

We would like to grab just a short period of your precious time to introduce our

company and one of our most innovative Service Offerings : Digital Space Convergence (DSC)

1. SAMSUNG SDS 

– Samsung SDS is a global ICT service provider with over 13,000 employees and USD 3.8 billion in revenue.

– Average annual growth rate of 10% over the last 5 years is a key indicator towards our capablities and competencies.

– We are the 3rd largest IT service company in the Asia Pacific Region & No. 1 IT company in Korea

– Our IT services to SAMSUNG affiliate companies such as Samsung Elec. and Samsung Heavy Industries

have been key to their success.

2. Digital Space Convergence

(Please Click the following link if you cannot see the DSC introduction video : http://youtu.be/QT82QJxv_QQ)

– DSC is an innovative convergence of the digital and physical environments.

– SDS provides the full set of comprehensive services needed to create added value through the convergence

of design and latest technologies.

(1. Space Planning/Consulting -> 2. Design/Layout -> 3. Digital Device/U-Service -> 4. System Integration)

– Our service not only enhance the User eXperience(UX) but offers new means of marketing and revenue to our customers.

3. Major DSC Business Reference

– Yonsei University U-Library

– Samsung D’light Space

– King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture

We hope that this mail has not been intrusive and that there is an opportunity for

us to provide you with our Services in the near future. More information about

both SAMSUNG and DSC can be found in the attached Brochures.

If you need additional information please contact us through our information below.

Sales Rep : Sung Soon Park, John Byun
e-mail : dscsales@samsung.com (or ssoon71.park@samsung.com , sj80.byun@samsung.com)

Thank you once again for your time!

Best Regards,

Samsung SDS

I was shocked – no opt out email, no address, no indication of whom the email was to in the first place.

And worse it had an attachment of a PDF of a PPT file!

So I went over to Samsung.com and looked up some of their marketing people and found this site:
http://www.samsung.com/us/business/oem-solutions/about-us/press-room.html

So I emailed all of them: Sung Soon Park, John Byun, Chris Goodhart, John Lucas, Lisa Warren-Plungy, and Daniel Munoz.

I wrote:

Hello,

Yesterday I received the following email from an employee of Samsung
(via an actual Samsung.com email address) that was in clear violation
of the 2003 CAN SPAM act.

1) The email does not clearly indicate who the recipient is – you are
not allowed to BCC people in this type of email. In fact I would have
to dig through the header to find which of my email addresses this
email was sent to.  This is a violation.

2) The email does not include a physical mailing address indicating
where the originator is located.  This too is a violation.

3) The email does not indicate how to opt out of future emails – this
is a HUGE violation – and not only are you required to have an opt out
but you would need to remove me in a timely fashion AND keep my name
on a list so that I would not be added again in the future.

4) The law also makes it clear that people who operate on behalf of a
company are the responsibility of the company (which is why I CCed the
marketing and communication people who while might be ignorant of
these actions are still responsible for them).

Each separate email in violation of the law is subject to penalties of
up to $16,000, and more than one person may be held responsible for
violations.

That is just the federal side of things – I could also sue you in
small claims court for personal damages.

I am shocked by this and would like a response from Samsung as to this
clearly inappropriate behavior!

How do you respond to this?

Well it has been four days and no reply.

Now to post this to twitter.