Opps!

I've said it before and I've have to say it again. I love our customers. Not only do they obviously love our Mongrel Socks but they also good folk.
This week I buggered up.....big time. I sent off an email to some of our customers to let them know of our current special online offer of free socks, managed that OK, but also disclosed all those email addresses of every recipient, a big fat no-no. Discovering my mistake too late, after the email was sent, ARGH!, we all know you can't unsend, if only. Ignorance is no excuse. I really am truely sorry for compromising the privacy and security of my customers, unfortunately I can't undo whats done, but can make sure it doesn't happen again. I had customers email back letting me know of this muck up, taking the time to tell me how to do it right in future, Amazingly, none unleashing the torrent of abusive emails I deserved and I expected. They were all so good about it, it is quite humbling. Here are some of the emails I received.

Thank you for letting us know about your special offer for your online customers. My wife was delighted with our previous order: they were quite the best socks she has ever had.

I am concerned though that the email header showed the names and email addresses of some of your other customers and presume that they have been made aware of mine. To minimize SPAM mail I am very careful to give my email address only to those who really need to know it.

Most email programs allow mail to be sent to several people without showing the names and addresses of all the recipients. In Outlook Express, which I think you used, you should open the View Menu and select All Headers. This will open an extra field in the Header labelled Bcc: (for Blind carbon copy). Addresses entered in this field are not sent to the recipients.

I doubt if any of your customers will misuse the address information that you have inadvertently provided. However the privacy of customer information is an important, even critical, issue in online shopping so that you need to modify your email procedures urgently to prevent any further breaches of this sort.

Yours sincerely
Hxxxxx Sxxxxx

Hey guys,
thanks very much for this offer. I just thought I'd let you know that when emailing people who don't know each other (eg. for business purposes), it's normal to enter their email addresses in the BCC field, rather than the To field or the CC field. BCC means Blind Carbon Copy, and it means that their email addresses are not shown. These days many of us are quite protective of our contact details, so it's good for customer privacy.best wishes for the business (my arm warmers and socks are just about to make another London winter more bearable)
Nxxxx.

Hello Mongrel socks folks,

Thank you for your email about the specials. I love your socks so I will take a look.

On your email I notice that you have listed my name and the names of the other recipients on the top of your email. If you are going to send me any future emails I would like you to make sure that my name is listed as “undisclosed”. The way you are currently using the list means that anyone you have corresponded with can now access my email address and I am uncomfortable about this. My privacy is important to me and I go to great lengths to keep my email address private. I am sorry to complain because I love your socks.

With respect,

Txxxxxx

So thanks to our customers, I will get it right next time and thanks too for your understanding.