This is an update to my previous post, Zynga, A Text Message Spamming Company.
After going to bed last night hoping that I won’t be awakened by another text message in the middle of the night, I was delighted this morning to wake up and have an email from someone named Wendy Bean from Zynga waiting for me. The email reads as follows:
Hi Mike,
We are truly sorry. Please reply with the phone number that the text was sent to, and we will immediately remove it from our list.
We’re new to iPhone app development and we’re learning in real time. We will be making changes to
ensure that SMS alerts are an opt-in feature. We will continue to incorporate feedback from the community, like yours, as we
build more and better social games for iPhone, the web and beyond. Thanks for your patience as we iron out these kinks.
Best,
Wendy
Zynga Inc.
There you have it, the end to a problem that should have never exsisted, but at least it ended the best possible way. If you have this problem, please email Wendy at wendy {at] zynga [dot} com and give her a quick synopsis of the problem (texting spam) as well as your cell phone number.
I am extremely glad this got resolved. I really wasn’t expecting to hear back from anyone and for this thing to kind of just be forgotten about. I’d like to thank Zynga for actually contacting me to get this situation resolved.
This is still unacceptable to me. I should not have to do anything to get my number off the list considering I NEVER agreed for it to be on in the first place! If they do not take everyone’s number off of the list and then implement a system for asking if people want to be on the list, then they’re still committing the same illegal practice.
I wish we could get Apple to take down their apps from the App Store or get the FCC to do something, but that’s unlikely. Nevertheless, I’ll make sure I give them as much negative press as possible.,
Totally unacceptable. I should never need to unlist myself from something that i never signed up for. I am still looking for the right place to make a formal complaint. And why should i be charged for the text message for their company’s advertisement? So if they have 1 million user base without a unlimited texting plan all a sudden att is making a 200k profit?
ok, here is the update.
i have been contacted by their employee as well, whom of course offered me some “virtual money”. now, i don’t even have their game, unless there’s a way to cash out to my bank account, i really wouldn’t care less if they have offered me 100000000 chips. from the tone of the conversations, they have no intention to fix the way they do business since they just kept asking for my phone number supposedly to take off the list. which in turn made me question them “why would i need to take off of your list if you just told me you will not send another message until there’s an opt in list established?” to which they cannot answer.
i have filed a complaint with ATT whom directed me to apple of course, and quite frankly i have no idea how much revenue was generated through these spammings so i kinda understand why they would be hesitant to help. they did offer me a $5 a month option to screen SMS, NO THANK YOU!
i got through several departments at apple and they eventually led me to the developer relations department which is just plain ignoring me. which is ok because i live in cupertino and i have a lot of friends working for apple so i will probably just pay them a visit to see what’s going on.
I have also filed a formal complaint with FCC which i received a letter response today stating that FCC has no regulations as to SMS spamming so i am out of luck.
They’re still at it – after about a dozen attempts to stop them from sending SMS spam (texting STOP, setting my preferences in Facebook, etc), everything always mysteriously goes right back to the “Spam Me” settings.
Zynga = SMS spam, plain and simple.
I keep getting them too. It’s driving me nuts. I get 5-10 text messages a day
I get charged 10cents each. It’s been going on for months now. They send email notifications to an account that I canceled long time ago. How do I stop this?
I have tried to contact MSN and they can’t help.
I’m ready to scream
Hmm, the original msg. was in March 2009, it’s now September 2011, and still going on??? The 2009 response blamed it on being “new to iPhone apps” and “truly sorry,” but still persist in texting at night. It baffles me.
Is it because they’re all 20-somethings who don’t sleep at night?
Is it an ill-conceived marketing strategy, figuring if they annoy people enough, they’ll get attention and create sales?
Are the text messages from India with no concept of timezones?
Is Zynga trying to save money by texting at night?
Haven’t they thought that people use smartphones on their nightstand?
WTF?