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I noticed that even though the menu bar said, “Welcome, [my name]” there were two links on the screen that said “Log In.”

Further, I noticed that I couldn’t directly follow the “Manage Subscriptions” link — it took me to a login screen. Apparently I was in some mysterious “half-logged-in” state where some of my personal information was available, but I wasn’t really recognized by the system.

So I logged in. Sure enough, the menu changed:

And now I could access the “Manage Subscriptions” link. Somewhat to my surprise, the information displayed on this screen was very different from the unsubscribe link I followed from the unsolicited email itself:

First off, subscriptions are clearly shown as active on this screen that were not clearly shown as active on the unsubscribe screen. After careful review, I think this is partially due to nonstandard (perhaps deliberately misleading) use of the checkbox.

The screen text is also quite interesting. It’s almost a tacit admission that TicketMaster knows most people would really rather not get their ads — it starts with a very defensive posture: “You have agreed to receive the emails checked. . .”

(I stress again that I knowingly agreed to no such thing. And I actually read privacy and terms-of-use statements.)

I think the text should start like this, instead: “You have failed to correctly execute the byzantine ritual necessary to convince us to stop sending you the unwanted email traffic checked below.”

I’ll stop just short of insinuating that the unsubscribe page linked from the emails is deliberately broken.

I unsubscribed again to the listed ticketAlerts(R). For good measure returned to the page to also click their “Receive customer service emails only” box (which would seem to be analagous to the “Unsubscribe from ALL” option on the original unsubscribe page):

So, any bets as to whether any of this will work? Or will the flood of unwanted messages continue?

I think my next step will be to change my subscription to an email address that will bounce. Or mebbe a spamtrap address.

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Posted in jeers, usability. You may comment on this entry.