3

Whenever I unsubscribe from a mailing list, I see that they say something like 'The change will take effect in 10 days/30 days/etc'. I would assume unsubscribing is just removing my email from some database. What is the idea behind making me wait so many days?

Edit: Since this question is close here as off-topic, I have opened it here in Superuser.

Closed in Superuser too. So rephrasing the question here.

Community
  • 1
chitti
  • 139
  • This is really not related to being a programmer. It would be better asked on http://superuser.com/questions – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner Aug 02 '11 at 14:42
  • @Frustrated - it's not a suitable question for Super User. – ChrisF Aug 02 '11 at 14:47
  • @ChrisF: I think it would have been OK there, I've seen questions in a similar vein there. – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner Aug 02 '11 at 14:48
  • 1
    "just removing my email from some database" may be more complicated than the SQL query you're thinking about. A reason could be that those queries are resource hungry so they processed them in batches later dayly or weekly. but this is more for legal reasons I suppose. – BiAiB Aug 02 '11 at 14:49
  • 1
    Why don't you phrase the question as, "What programming issues require a delay in processing a request?" Email cancellation is one example. You may want to do this in a batch, so you're not processing this transaction every time some disgruntled user sends 5000 requests. – JeffO Aug 02 '11 at 15:02
  • @Frustrated - It was closed as off topic in Superuser too! I have rephrased the questions like Jeff mentions. Does the question fit into this forum now? – chitti Aug 02 '11 at 15:10
  • Mailing lists are often bought, sold, or given to third parties. You need a certain amount of time to ensure that the most recent list has been circulated and that any old lists are no longer being used. – John Wu Feb 14 '17 at 00:53

3 Answers3

3

There are laws against them sending you unsolicited emails. All vendors are actually supposed to stop immediately (by that i mean about 24-48 hours) upon request of unsubscribing from there mailings. Many companies do not follow the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 but should. Just send there support an email that you unsubscribed and request that you be removed immediately or you will report them for abuse, they usually take that serious if there in the USA, and not so much if they are over seas. Final thought, most email clients or services can designate an email as spam and move it to the trash or junk mail folder if all else fails.

Random Developer
  • 131
1

The company sending you the spam doesn't really want you to unsubscribe so they are in no hurry. If on the other hand you wanted to give them some money for their product I bet it would not take 10 - 30 days.

mpenrow
  • 1,653
0

Why would they remove you imediatelly ? They're just losting money due to unsubscribing.

genesis
  • 205
  • 1
  • 10