Keeper of Secrets said:
I think that is actually one of the first complaints I have ever heard about overstock, actually.
Consider it two, then. I won't do business with 'em, either. I got a book from them a while back. They automatically signed me up for their Auctions site. The site was having a "drive" to get networks of "friends" set up. The gist of the program is that they make your email public and reward other Auctions members for petitioning you to join their networks. So, expect spam.
Okay, maybe I clicked on the wrong thing when I created my basic Overstock account. No big. I emailed customer service and explained that I really had no interest in their auctions, had never bought anything on an online auction, and had no plans to do so. Please cancel my Overstock Auctions account or, failing that, just keep my name off anything remotely public because I'd like to opt out. I was nice about it, etc. I even asked if there was a different email/dept. where I should direct my concerns.
Got a form letter back. It was obvious that the responder hadn't read past the first half of the first sentence. So, I wrote back with the "I have a problem" bit at the top. The response was pretty much gibberish that amounted to, "Sorry, you're screwed. You might as well buy stuff from our auctions site. Oh, and please spam others, too."
After a few volleys back and forth, I ended up posting a note on my "personal auctions page" that I wasn't participating in the friends program and customer service was being uncooperative about removing me. Please don't send me any email, or I will boycott your auctions on the off chance that I ever consider doing business on this pathetic site again, thankyouverymuch. That seems to have helped.
So, world-class crappy, patronizing customer service and actively encouraging spam. Yeah, I think it's a company that needs to be avoided. Even if it wasn't pretty much the worst service I'd received (and I've got some other doozies); the spam is enough reason, in my book, to avoid them.
