Woolworths have just committed a major gaffe and public relations nightmare.
On Thursday they sent out the following email:
Dear valued customer,
Woolworths Homeshop (or Greengrocer as applicable) is conducting market
research, to identify how we can further improve the service we provide to
our customers.The research will consist of group discussions with customers at our
research agency in Surrey Hills. Each group will be 1.5-2 hours in
duration. Participants will be compensated for their time and travel
expenses.If you are interested in taking part in one of these discussions, please
reply to this E Mail with:Your name:
Daytime contact number:
Postcode:
Our research agency will then telephone to check your availability.
We would love to hear your feedback – let us know if you would like to take part as soon as possible.
Kind Regards,
Marketing Manager
GreenGrocer/HomeShop
There’s nothing really wrong with this email – except for one thing…
THEIR ENTIRE MAILING LIST WAS VISIBLE IN THE CC: FIELD !!!!!!
So I now have the email address of around 400 people who use Woolworths Homeshop.
Now that is not only bad form, it is quite possibly illegal too, either way it goes against every privacy policy ever written.
I’m sure it was an honest mistake, but it is an incredibly bad mistake to make – and I know of at least one person instigating legal action as a result (they sent an email out to the entrie list inviting us to join in the action).
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