New York Times Spams 8.6 Million to Say Subscriptions Were Canceled
EmailThe New York Times sent an email out to 8.6 million people today erroneously informing them they had canceled home delivery of the newspaper.
Some who received the email had registed on NYTimes.com in the past, but had never subscribed to the at-home newspaper delivery.
The email, titled “Important informatio
The Times apologized for the mistake, and tweeted: “If you received an email today about canceling your NYT subscription, ignore it. It’s not from us.”
The Times sent out a second email three hours after the first that read: “This e-mail was sent by us in error. Please disregard the message. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.”
Originally, Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha said the email was spam. But spokeswoman Eileen Murphy clarified later that the email was sent not by the third party Epsilon Interactive, the service the Times uses to communicate with subscribers, but accidentally by a Times employee, according to the paper.
“We regret that the error was made, but no one’s security has been compromised,” Murphy said, according to the Times.
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Unfortunately, I subscribed to the paper last night, so when I got this email, I spent two hours of my day trying to figure out what had happened to my new subscription.
For the spokesperson to officially and publicly blame hackers without confirmation is a serious lapse for the entity that considers itself this country’s newspaper of record. I also love the spineless and unaccountable use of the passive voice in the above statement that “We regret that the error was made…”
I called to cancel my new subscription because I really don’t need drama from my newspaper. Pamela, in customer service said that she was very sorry that I wanted to cancel my subscription “because you read something you didn’t agree with.” Puh. You’re so done, NY Times. Your epitaph will likely include a typo.
Posted by: Irene | December 28, 2011, 8:35 pm 8:35 pm
“Some who received the email had registed on NYTimes.com in the past, but had never subscribed to the at-home newspaper delivery.” Yep, I’m one of those 8.6 million people today received two Emails from New York Times and I hit the delete button right away without even peeking into their contents.
Posted by: Get_Down | December 28, 2011, 8:36 pm 8:36 pm