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Comment by xist | Hacker News Reader

From a comment below from the other side of the equation it sounds like the email in question WAS indeed marketing for a lifetime promotion.

People should have every right to unsubscribe themselves from that, and thus should have some sort of feedback loop attached to the email being sent (to the detriment of your bottom line I fully understand and sympathize with).

If this was indeed a marketing email, then I don't think it matters if it comes from a "legitimate, paid service" - the receiver still should be able to choose if they want to receive sales related emails wouldn't you agree?

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"People should have every right to unsubscribe themselves from that, and thus should have some sort of feedback loop attached to the email being sent (to the detriment of your bottom line I fully understand and sympathize with)."

I agree.

We have a flag for such a thing and set that flag when people ask us to. They ask us in a nice email exchange between human beings. We're very responsive to this since they are our paying customers.

That's the big disconnect here: it's inconceivable to many people (including abusix, et. al) that healthy, straightforward interactions like this occur in 2022.

In their mind there are nothing but robots and newsletter subscribers forever locked in an arms race.

I'm sorry that is the case.

Did they request this marketing message through a "nice email exchange between humans"? Or did you automatically sign up this person for marketing then expect them to manually contact you?

You are wayyy to smart not too see the abusive asymmetrical theater of that scheme.

The flag for marketing etc. should be automated, I understand account-related emails like billing not having "unsubscribe" links but promotions definitely need one. Clicking that would then toggle the flag (and maybe have one in their account panel).

Atleast in my country, to send legitimate marketing e-mails, a user has to be given a choice to opt-out *before* the first e-mail.

So it's not enough to allow them to opt-out with an e-mail exchange or an unsubscribe link, you must allow the user to opt out when you initially gather the contact information.

If that wasn't done, it's illegal (and unethical) to send marketing e-mails, even from a paid service.

Your earlier argument about unsubscribe being effectively an informal termination only works if you properly separate that side from all promotional/marketing/new features/etc material, otherwise it seems you are avoiding the main point and purpose of the unsubscribe button

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