Pottery Barn prevents email opt outs

May 2 Pottery Barn email

After buying some pillows from Pottery Barn a few months ago, I landed on their catalog and email marketing rotation. I receive a catalog from them at least once a month, but the emails arrived every two days. "Summer Savings! Save 20%"; "Best Sellers with Seaside Style"; and "NEW Outdoor Furniture." So let's leave aside for the moment that living in a New York City apartment means that I do not need nor care for outdoor furniture or "seaside style." An email every two days is too bothersome for me, and I would venture to say, too much for even the most ardent fan of Pottery Barn. Yet it seems that an email every two days (or at least twice a week) is the going rate at a number of retailers, including Nordstrom and J Crew whom also crowd my inbox.

I reacted as any overwhelmed consumer would and reached for the unsubscribe button. But Pottery Barn wasn't going to let me go so easily.Typically when I unsubscribe I'm either met with a feedback form (Why are you unsubscribing? Content not relevant? Too many emails?), or they simply let me breeze through with a "sorry to see you go." Not Pottery Barn. Here's what I saw instead:

Dear Pottery Barn Subscriber,

We understand how daunting a full inbox can be. If you would like to receive fewer emails from us, simply select from the options below. To completely remove your email address from our list, please select the unsubscribe option.

Sincerely,

Pottery Barn

I would like to:
Receive up to 1 email per week
Receive up to 2 emails per month
Receive up to 1 email per month
Unsubscribe from your email list
You will still receive email notifications regarding the status of your order when you provide your email address with each order

I opted for the "Receive up to 1 email per month," because after all, I do like what Pottery Barn is selling and once a month fits much more nicely into my email marketing threshold. And just like that Pottery Barn had saved one more email subscriber.

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