Spark NZ customers have voiced frustration after failing to receive the last two editions of CathNews.
Spark has also been unable to assure their customers that they will receive today’s edition.
Complaint ‘sparks’ investigation
The issue first came to light when a CathNews reader complained about the missing newsletter.
Initially, the focus was on potential issues with the user’s computer. However, when multiple readers reported the same problem, it became clear the issue was more significant.
CathNews uses a professional email list service that serves over 300,000 international clients including major companies like Microsoft, Dell and Amazon.
According to a CathNews investigation, the newsletters were successfully sent to all subscribers, including those using xtra.co.nz email addresses.
Josh, a representative from the email list provider, confirmed that the emails had been sent but were rejected by Spark’s system due to concerns about potential spam content.
“This is a content-specific bounce, and I unfortunately don’t have any more information about why they have rejected this” Josh explained.
He added “I have reviewed the messages with higher bounce rates and do not see anything I can suggest to resolve this”.
Spark’s response frustrates customers
The New Zealand telecommunications giant refused to take responsibility for the issue preferring to ‘point the finger’ at the email list manager.
Spark could also not explain why only xtra.co.nz addresses were flagged while other email domains received the newsletters without issue.
Many customers expressed their frustration with Spark’s stance.
Mary, a long-time Spark customer, commented “I pay Spark to receive my email, not filter email that I’ve signed up to receive”.
Another subscriber, James, added “I’ll get on to Spark, and it should be sorted before Christmas… ah, but which one?”
Some progress was made late last week when a customer complained directly to Spark. After a simple investigation while the customer was on the phone, a Spark representative acknowledged the issue and said the emails would be released.
No time frame was given.
A call for action
Many are asking for more transparency in how emails are filtered, with some suggesting that flagged emails should be sent to spam folders, allowing users to decide whether to keep or delete them.
“Rather high-handed on the part of Spark, in my opinion. I think they should go no further than identifying as possible spam and drop the material into my spam folder (as they do with lots of emails) and let me decide!” said one correspondent.
“Who do they think they are? My email is my email. I don’t want Spark’s values filtering my legitimate interests” says Tracey.
Spark apologised to customers in May last year after another delivery problem saying that, after four days, it had fixed most of the foul-ups caused by “routine maintenance” that went haywire.
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News category: Great reads, New Zealand.
