No, I'm really not Christine

Got this to one of my accounts recently.

Congratulations and welcome to emailinform.

Dear Christine
Welcome to emailinform – the program that brings you some of the best offers, discounts and competitions around. All offers have been chosen specifically for you and give you something useful, entertaining or just downright cheaper than usual.

When registering with our partner Intermedia you kindly gave your permission to receive information and special offers from selected third parties.

emailinform and our partners take your permission seriously. Should you wish to unsubscribe from our service, you can do so at anytime using the link at the bottom of this email or via the link on any future emails from us.

Here’s just a sample of some of the great offers we have!

We hope you enjoy this service and look forward to bringing you more great offers soon.
Kind regards,
Jane Stevens
The emailinform Team

I’ve tried, in the past, to tell companies that Christine gives my email address to that I’m not her, she’s using my address and to please stop mailing me. They mostly ignore me, or tell me that I must have opted in and forgotten. Really?!?!?!
My name isn’t Christine. I don’t live in the UK. And whatever you think I am interested in? You’re Wrong.
And that’s the marketing fail here. The companies collecting this address are putting a lot of time an effort into collecting demographic and interest data from Christine. But despite all that, they do nothing to verify that the email address is correct. As a result all their time and money is wasted. I’m never going to purchase whatever it is their selling.
What’s more, that’s an address I have had for 20 years and gets a lot of spam. I stopped using it regularly more than 10 years ago. I often share mail to that address with ESPs looking for evidence their customers are spamming. I share mail to that address with blocklists that may need extra evidence for a listing. I share mail to that address with my clients who have affiliate programs causing delivery problems.
The stupidest bit? The absolute dumbest thing about this whole thing? I have given this address as a spamtrap address to the affiliates. Those affiliates knowingly are mailing spamtrap addresses and don’t care. All these affiliate companies are ones that my clients have told me are “the best and cleanest in the business.” If this is the behaviour of the best, I’m afraid to ask how incompetent the worst are.
 
 

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