Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Gevalia is a dirty spammer... stear clear!

Spam -- it's not just for no-name obscure jerks anymore.

Let's give a hearty raspberry to Gevalia, the supposedly gourmet purveyor of coffee and teas, who -- through a partner -- is now knowingly spamming me dozens of times a month.

How can I be sure that Gevalia is responsible?

Well, a couple of months ago, I signed up for a Gevalia membership directly on their site and ordered a couple of teas, using a newly generated (and non-dictionary-guessable) e-mail address ONLY for that signup.

The teas were decent but not exceptional, and certainly more pricey than comparable products I can buy locally, so I called to terminate my subscription.

Then, starting last week, I started getting two spams a day at that Gevalia-specific e-mail address.

And I'm not talking about "Rejoin Gevalia!"-type promotional mailings. No, sirree, I'm getting typical bogus spam crap like:
- "You Qualify for our 5000 Dollar Scholarship"
- "Take Two Minutes to Improve Your Financial Future"
- "Are You Paying Too Much for Health Insurance - Find Out Now!"

And charmingly, Gevalia (and its partner gleaned from Whois, "PeaksNetwork.com") clearly know that this is spam, taking care to beat spam filters by varying the unsubscribe URL domain in every single message (bimudu.com, sinunu.com, etc.)

* * *

I'd expect unethical behavior like this from shock-the-monkey sweepstakes sites and porn sites and such, but a supposedly reputable company like Gevalia?!

Ahhh... wait a minute! I just did a search for Gevalia Spam on Google, and found thousands of hits. Guess I'm not alone, eh?

In fact, I just learned that there's an attorney who has filed a class-action lawsuit against Gevalia. I'll be hopefully joining the group soon and I invite you to do so also. We need to teach corporate America that spam does not pay... no matter what 'stature' of company is involved.
Written by at 4/19/2005 07:23:00 AM
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25 comments:

  1. Hi,
        Just a quick heads up. I read your post tonight and wanted to clarify that we did not file a class action against Kraft. We had considered doing a class action with the members of the class being composed of our customers that received Gevalia spam.  But in the end, we decided to keep it simple and just sue us as the only plaintiff, Hypertouch, Inc. On the other hand, we know of at least one customer of ours who is about to file their own lawsuit. If you’ve gotten illegal Gevalia spam and happen to live in one of the states with its own anti-spam law, you can always file your own small claim lawsuit(s) against Kraft and Gevalia.  We’ve sued Discover for their credit card spam last year in small claims and won a total $10,000, all without a lawyer.  They even appealed, and lost, getting sanctions for a bad-faith appeal.
    ReplyDelete
  2. My problem with Gevalia is not that I was spammed, but that I ordered a coffeemaker, coffee, mugs, and scoop on 12-27-06 @ 6:31pm and gave them my credit card info.  I immediately received a notification of my order in my e-mail.  I then noticed that my checking account had been charged for the $14.95 order.  I then went to my screened mail and saw a e-mail from them for another model of coffeemaker which I prefer over the one I ordered. The one I ordered is like the one I already have that shorted out due to the buttons located under the carafe on the bottom of the unit.  The one I prefer is the stainless steel model with the buttons on the top over the carafe.
    I immediately called Gevalia and was advised that my order was not in their “system” yet and that I needed to wait and call back the next day, which I did, and was advised again that I needed to call back today 12-29-06.  I spoke with their so-called “customer service” (ha) representative and was told that I could not change my order and when I tried to cancel, that I could not (too late).  But, when I talked to the other reps the two other occasions, I was told that when I showed up in the system, I could change or cancel my order.  Now my only option is to refuse the order when it arrives by UPS, contact my bank to protest the charge and try to get it reversed.  All of this will take time and in the meantime, I have no coffeemaker.  I was amazed at the lack of customer service. I wish I had enough money to just order the new one and refuse the first one when it comes but how long will I have to wait for a refund or is that going to be a hassle.  $14.95 might not seem like very much, but when you are on social security disability and do not get paid until 1-3-07 and only have 25.00 left in your checking account, it is a major problem.  I hope that someone can help me resolved this problem. I am very, very, disappointed in what Gevalia calls “customer service” and by law, don’t you have the right to cancel any contract within 3 days?  Please advise.

    Thanks
    ReplyDelete
  3. My gripe with Gevalia:
    We have been customers of their coffee program for almost 20 years.  I called their 1-800-GEVALIA line to get some extra coffee sent, but was REQUIRED by their system to press 1 to get anything in English. I was thoroughly irritated by this, but did so just so I could (nicely) express my opinion that English should at least be the default language. I was (very curtly) effectively told to put my opinion where the sun doesn’t shine, and I cancelled our service as a result.
    ReplyDelete
  4. Very dissatisfied w/Gevalia.
    I placed an order & was promised a free gift.
    I was charged for and received the coffee, but no gift.
    I sent an E-Mail & was told none was on their order.
    I’ve responded twice since then with no response from them.
    Stay clear of this company….
    ReplyDelete
  5. During vacation in Sweden i purchased 10 kilogram (aprx 20 punds )  per 2.5 US dollars for 1 kg.(2 pounds)Gevalia and i will newer suport Kraft.
    ReplyDelete
  6. hi! your blog is dated 2005.  i guess it is a bit old.  i am a happy member of gevalia.  i think they have the best coffee anywhere, even if it is a bit overpriced.  but i am not writing to dispute your disgrunteledness (!!!) i want to let you know i have never recieved spam from gevalia.  i use aol, and i don’t get spam, so that could be the answer. or, maybe your actions have worked and I am reaping the benefits. if so, way to go and thanks a million.  i think people should always stand up for things like this, you’re right, the stature of the company does not make it permissable for them to use underhanded or just down right annoying business tactics.  my mom and i are currently in a dispute with TRACFONE.  so i understand where you’re coming from. (they screwed up our minutes yet again, but that is a long story and i will only waste your time if you want to know)
    anyway, crusade on, mad spamblocker! :-)
    ReplyDelete
  7. I’m dumbfounded by reading the comment by the user above stating his/her anger toward having to press “1” for English. They obviously are
    1) Too lazy to press a button
    2) Don’t realize that there are other languages widely spoken in the country, none of which are an official language of the country (including English)
    3) Both

    Am I a native English speaker? Yes. Am I angered by hearing other languages? No.

    I’m an American living in Spain, and believe me, it’s very comforting in customer service situations when SOMEONE speaks your language…and Spaniards here are never upset when there’s an English setting on customer service lines.

    That’s all I have to say
    ReplyDelete
  8. Seriously, get a life. Whenever you call a 1-800 number you press 1 for English. What are you talking about?
    ReplyDelete
  9. So here it goes.when you place an order with Gevalia it goes directly to processing therefore it can not be changed. It is not the reps fault if you did something wrong on your order and have to change it or if you want to cancel. If you want to cancel the order then why did you order it in the first place. I just dont get it. Call the bank or your credit card company to stop the transaction then the order will not be shipped. Second of all whenever i hear some one upset about pressing one for english and 2 for another language it makes me angry. What do you think there is only one language in this world. In my opinion that people like that are the reason some wars or racism got started. So seriously get over yourselfs and stop bitching!!!!!!
    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi I get 3 to 4 emails aday from Gevalia
    I have asked them on more than one occation
    to stop sending them but without success and
    am now considering changing my email address
    koebes
    ReplyDelete
  11. omg how stupid can americans get i am a white american but i am married to a half mexican not the point i have been a customer of gevalia for a long time and they have been nothing but kind and great to us we have never been spammed by them i think you need to get a life sir and on a side note the man mad about press one go to mexico you still have to press one there are many ppl from diffret country living here and hello on the wider picture you not really an american everyone of are from some family that has came here from over seas when our family came from the third world countrys for a better life and the only way you can be a 100% american is if your a native american indian which i do come from i love my country and my freedom and i dont take it for granted like most red blooded americans do now you need to be thankful that you are free and not living in a war zone get over your self mr baldam and mr allen
    ReplyDelete
  12. I am also getting the gevalia spam. Like the original poster - I signed up with a unique email address. We went with their coffee service for a few months despite the coffee being mediocre quality and over priced.  Then - a couple of months after we terminated the subscription the spam started - all coming to the special email address I had set up.
    ReplyDelete
  13. I would like to just say that I am a very satisfied customer with gevalia.  They have excellent customer service skills.  All companies will have their bad reviews and im not saying that any of the above people havent had bad experiences because we all do with different companies time to time but my personal experience was excellent.  Also the above comment about pushing 1 for english at 1 800 gevalia… I do find that very ignorant that you are too lazy to push a button.  Are you that miserable that you have nothing else to complain about….its very pathetic.  I think it is great that they give the option for spanish even though most spanish speaking people know how to speak well english but they might be comfortable speaking spanish more than english.  Also if you were to dial 1-888 gevalia instead of 1-800 gevalia it would go straight to english for you lazy miserable people that are too lazy or bothered t push that extra button.
    ReplyDelete
  14. Spam?  Delete button.  End of problem.  No big deal!
    ReplyDelete
  15. My goodness, Liz, I can’t let that go by without comment ;-).

    Tell you what:  I’ll let you run a small business whose server is besieged by millions of spams a month.  Spam that you pay for in bandwidth, in processor time, in the cost needed to buy additional hardware.

    Or how ‘bout you rewind back to where I was a few years back when the e-mail to me from a top notch recruiter almost went permanently missing… because it was thrown into my SPAM folder with a zillion messages from low life cretins.

    Just delete it?  You’ve got to be kidding.

    (Oh, and I think it’s interesting that you didn’t happen to leave your e-mail address when you left this note.  Hmm ;-))
    ReplyDelete
  16. Yeah I work for Gevalia and we do not send spam. Quit writing these stupid articles. Are you sooo bored that you have to stir up trouble. Get a life and learn to spell. Thank you Stear.. hahahah your hilarious. People need to acquire a life.
    ReplyDelete
  17. Hows that class action lawsuit going.. LOL. Kraft foods will laugh at you. They own so much stuff. Imagine the money they make. You wouldn’t even dent their wallet..HAHAHAH
    ReplyDelete
  18. glad to see adam like to send out spam ihave never asked to be updated about this stupid site but i keep getting email everytime someone post a comment to his stupid blog. he needs to grow up and get a life. good for the Gevalia rep you tell them like it is.
    ReplyDelete
  19. i will NEVER buy from them ever again!!!
    ReplyDelete
  20. I also have been receiving gevalia spam along with dishnetwork spam from the same forged address.

    If gevalia cares about customers, they wouldn’t send this spam. Just delete spam?  Since I pay for my internet, they are stealing/trespassing as they access my email account despite my requests to stop.

    I hope the economic recessing takes a toll on them. Or better yet, nationalize kraft!!
    ReplyDelete
  21. Yeah, I believe they sold my email information. I can’t be sure it was Gevalia, though, but I’ve gotten some spam since I signed up.

    Best way to fight it is to go to a local supplier or someone like Camano Island Coffee instead. I just get the feeling they are more honest than a large corporation anyway.
    ReplyDelete
  22. I want to reply to Customer Service Rep Chris Butler. YOU are telling someone how to spell? Do you not know that when you say “YOUR hilarious” is actually stating that the hilarious belongs to them like a book or a car? The word you should have used is “YOU’RE”. This happens to be a CONTRACTION in the English language…it is two words: YOU and ARE being put together with the apostraphe. Yes, it sounds like “YOUR”, but is not spelled the same way. Go back to school and learn English!!
    ReplyDelete
  23. Whatever happened to that lawsuit?  It is December 2009 and we are still getting Gevalia spam.
    ReplyDelete
  24. get real!!!! this is the united states.if u want to live here then speak the damb language.
    ReplyDelete
  25. I realize that my post is not about spam but could not help explaining my situation regarding Gevalia. I will say that I have used them in the past without any problems. However, when I ordered from them on 4/26/10 through another site this time, I was charged a $45 fee from Top Notch Advertising for absolutely nothing. Gevalia then charged my account the same day for my order, withdrew the charge and then posted it again twice today! (5/6/10). When I called to dispute this, I’m sure I was outsourced and the lady just talked in circles. She admitted she also knew of Top Notch Advertising but then realized her mistake and would not say anymore. I cancelled the monthly order with Gevalia and will not use them again. I have tried to contact Top Notch to no avail by email and phone. Luckily I disputed it with my bank and they will reimburse me for this bogus charge.

    I wondered if anyone else has heard of Top Notch Advertising and had this same problem? And why on earth would Gevalia charge my account, withdraw the charge and then double charge me a week and a half later? Grrr….this may well put me overdrawn with my standing withdrawals and all Gevalia said was that my overdrawn account was not their problem. Charming!
    ReplyDelete

All respectful and non-spammy comments are welcomed :-).

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