# People who post "unsubscribe" to mailing lists piss me off. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 18, 2002, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224 "2002-11-18T00:14:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/1 "2002-11-18T00:14:36Z")
This is the message tacked onto the end of every single message on the list: _To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [nov2002wls-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com](mailto:nov2002wls-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com)_ In addition, in the headers it says: _List-Unsubscribe: \<[mailto:nov2002wls-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com](mailto:nov2002wls-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com)\>_ And yet people still send messages like this: \*please have this notification serve as evidence that I wish to unsubscribe. thank you! marianne\* WHAT IS SO FUCKING HARD HERE, PEOPLE?? ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/2 "2002-11-18T00:23:12Z")
Even worse: A couple times I’ve seen people post a rant about how much they hate the listserve (it gets political and heated sometimes), then end the message with “take me off this listserve”. It sounds to me like they’re bluffing. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/3 "2002-11-18T00:25:26Z")
But if they send a message like the one in the OP, they still will get unsubscribed automatically, right? So, WHAT IS SO FUCKING ANNOYING ABOUT PEOPLE NOT UNDERSTANDING AUTOMATED MAIL SYSTEMS IF IT’S NO SKIN OF YOUR NOSE? Heh. ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/4 "2002-11-18T00:31:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > **But if they send a message like the one in the OP, they still will get unsubscribed automatically, right?** I don’t believe so; that’s not the way it works in my case. Instead, they send out a message to the entire listserve. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/5 "2002-11-18T00:32:11Z")
No, they won’t, because they are sending it to the LIST and not to the UNSUBSCRIBE ADDRESS. Invariably, they then start complaining after every single new message “I SAID TAKE ME OFF THIS LIST!!” etc. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/6 "2002-11-18T00:36:57Z")
Ah! Righto. I thought you meant they sent an e-mail to the unsubscribe address, where it doesn’t really matter what the e-mail body is (right?). Pardon me, I misunderstood. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/7 "2002-11-18T00:47:55Z")
I’ve nothing to say except that I concur entirely. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/8 "2002-11-18T00:49:41Z")
Btw, coldie… couldja fix my broken i in the op? _batting eyelashes_ ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/9 "2002-11-18T00:53:38Z")
[joelavin.com](http://joelavin.com) discontinued his mailing list because a test message that he made accidentally got sent to the list, and between the 50 people who posted indignant “unsubscribe me!” messages _to the list_ and the 200 people who posted (again, to the list) that they should follow the unsubscribe instructions… well it was just ugly. He ended up just shutting off the list ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/10 "2002-11-18T00:53:47Z")
What’s worse is flaming rants from people saying they never wanted to be on the list, who are all these people, stop sending me messages, and so on-- when the list software makes it impossible for someone to be subscribed without his consent! Attention idiots: If you’re getting messages, it’s only because _you_ got a verification message from the list, clearly explaining that someone tried to subscribe your address (either you or someone else), and that you will be added to the list if you respond. Then _you_ responded and were, of course, added to the list. ---
**Author:** ![Phoenix\_Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Phoenix\_Dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phoenix_Dragon)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/11 "2002-11-18T02:37:26Z")
One of the mailing lists I was on recently had to change providers (Because Yahoo was screwing with the mailing lists constantly…). Well, this was planned and VERY thoroughly announced for a full month before hand, updates every few days, etc, enough that the people that read the mails regularly were just about tired of hearing about it. Sure enough, the list changes over, and in the first week, 30 or so members start bitching about why this new mailing list is filling their mailbox with “all this crap,” bunch of complaints about the admin adding them to this list without their permission, etc, etc. People are morons. ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/12 "2002-11-18T02:43:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr2001 \* > \*\*What’s worse is flaming rants from people saying they never wanted to be on the list, who are all these people, stop sending me messages, and so on-- when the list software makes it impossible for someone to be subscribed without his consent! > > Attention idiots: If you’re getting messages, it’s only because _you_ got a verification message from the list, clearly explaining that someone tried to subscribe your address (either you or someone else), and that you will be added to the list if you respond. Then _you_ responded and were, of course, added to the list. \*\* That might be true in most cases, but on a couple of occasions I have received mail from lists I did not sign up for. Worse, those lists did not provide any unsubscribe information a a reply-to address. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/13 "2002-11-18T02:45:15Z")
Well that is why they included the disclaimer “when the list software makes it impossible for someone to be subscribed without his consent” ---
**Author:** ![tygre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@tygre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygre)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/14 "2002-11-18T03:40:53Z")
ooh, one of my biggest peeves. I’m on quite a few mailing lists and this aggravates me to no end. The other annoying post is the “help, I forgot how to unsub” one when the subscription info is Right.There. Gahhhh… Tangent rant: on one of my lists, someone went on vaction and her autoreply sent an email to the list every time she received one from the (rather high volume) list, triggering a spate of “what’s this auto-reply message mean” and then replies to THOSE. Admin finally unsubbed her, but it took a day or so and about 300 messages to do that. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/15 "2002-11-18T03:42:08Z")
I’ve also heard that spammers use the “click here to unsubscribe” to tell if they have a real person at the end, and then spam you even more. Or so I’ve heard… ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/16 "2002-11-18T04:12:14Z")
bernse: that is for spam. We’re talking about mailing lists (discussion lists) … two completely different animals. ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/17 "2002-11-18T04:43:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OpalCat \* > \*\*Well that is why they included the disclaimer “when the list software makes it impossible for someone to be subscribed without his consent” \*\* I read “when” in that context to mean “considering that.” How could the person know how the software that the administrator uses works? ---
**Author:** ![ScoobyTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@ScoobyTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScoobyTX)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/18 "2002-11-18T05:08:27Z")
unsubscribe. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/19 "2002-11-18T05:13:08Z")
UNSUBSCRIBE ME OR I AM REPORTING YOU TO YOUR ISP!!!111!! ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2002, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224/20 "2002-11-18T06:23:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by chula \* > \*\*I read “when” in that context to mean “considering that.” How could the person know how the software that the administrator uses works? \*\* Because they subscribed to the list! They received a verification message, which clearly explains exactly what to do if they don’t want to be on the list. Then they replied, making sure to include the verification code, and received a welcome message with instructions on things like how to unsubscribe. If after all that, they still don’t understand who these people on the list are, why they keep getting messages from the list, or how to unsubscribe from the list, they are fucking idiots and should be made into sausage. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-post-unsubscribe-to-mailing-lists-piss-me-off/137224.md?page=2)