Tuesday, August 27, 2019

As a Reminder, Some of Us Don't Need Reminders

I recently bought three pairs of eyeglasses from Warby Parker. I visited one of their retail establishments in San Francisco. 

The prescription was incorrect on one pair. I was informed that the problem would be corrected promptly, and I that the glasses would be ready in a week.

Five days later, I received an email that the glasses were ready and I could pick them up. As I was out of town, I made a note to do so when I returned.

The next day I received another email reminding me that my glasses were ready for pickup. 

Later that day, I received a third email about the same pair of glasses.

Three emails about one pair of glasses! Yes, I did unsubscribe from Warby Parker’s email list after the first email. That was the second time I had done so. Apparently, the need to inform me about my new pair of glasses superseded an earlier request to “unsubscribe” from all emails. 

The bottom line: I got the message the first time; I usually do. I don’t need reminders. Dates go immediately into my calendar. Tasks, with deadlines, get entered into Todoist. It’s the app I use for managing personal and professional responsibilities. 

Organizations seem to thrive on sending out reminders and other vacuous messages. They refer to them as “customer service.” To that end, raising the issue with an organizational representative often meets with a cold stair. You know the one that says, “how dare you even ask.” What follows is one of the following lines:

“Well, we consider it a courtesy to remind you.”

“We remind all our clients.”

“That’s our system, and we can’t change it for one person.”

This rationale is complete nonsense. The technology exists to accommodate such requests. If you can’t accommodate a relatively simple customer request why should I ask you for anything else? 

Listen up, people. Some of us don’t need reminders and other equally pointless email. Please heed our call. 



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