Dan Lane looked over the VoxSciences service just over a year ago and signed off his review with ‘Overall this looks very promising’.
Right now, many would disagree.
Earlier today I, along with (I would guess) a fair few thousand of others, received this SMS from Vox Sciences –
Obviously what with all the troubles that the (now Nuance-owned) voice-to-text company, SpinVox, went through last year, someone there obviously thought it would be a good idea to sell their entire UK database of numbers.
Worse still, someone at VoxSciences thought it would be an even better idea to spam each of these numbers in an attempt to build their user base.
While Twitter is obviously not the be all and end all of civilised society, it’s safe to say that a quick search for ‘SpinVox‘ or ‘VoxSciences‘ reveals a LOT of very unhappy people.
Dear VoxSciences, users don’t like spam. Neither do ex-SpinVox employees.
Thanks,
James
Did you get a message? Please feel free to vent in the comments below…
VOX defaults to ‘Cox’ with the predictive text on iPhone . . . irony?
Yes, slimey at both ends. I just got spammed.
Massive Vox Sciences fail. May you burn in hell or at the very least, learn a valuable lesson from all the shit that’s coming to a fan near you..
You can add a tick for me. Not sure how this was ever deemed a smart move.
You can add a tick for me. Not sure how this was ever deemed a smart move.
Yep I got one. Nothing more likely to make me NEVER EVER buy a product than spamming me by SMS – so rude
Isn’t this illegal, now, or at least against industry regulations?
Cheeky buggers!!I just got it too: http://www.flickr.com/photos/camoby/5032836845/
I got my SPAM today too. Are there any links between the old SpinVox and Vox Sciences? It’s such a shame as I value the voicemail-to-text service but it seems the companies that try to run it can’t spell the word ‘reputation’. I suspect the business model requires volume and this may have been the last resort in pursuit of custom – but surely doomed to backfire.
Disastrous idea for both sides. Though sadly it no longer surprises me.
Richard Cohen Reply:
September 29th, 2010 at 03:17
Hi Matt, when you click on your name, you go to Nuance (SpinVox) website. Is that your intention?
Matt Heath Reply:
September 29th, 2010 at 07:36
Show’s how long it is since I used Disqus; still had a link to the SpinVox website from when I used to work there which it seems Nuance has switched over to their site recently. Thanks for pointing it out though, changed it now.
Interesting. I’m an ex-SV customer and I haven’t received one. Yet.
I was one of the first to receive a “Spinvox are closing” SMS – so I wonder if they had different “classes” of customers.
Incidentally, I’m using https://www.ribbit.com/ for my Voicemail – Text conversion needs.
Well said, James. Me thinks its all pretty shameful. Let’s hope the evil-doers have more scruples in guarding all the voice content that voice message depositors unknowingly gave up to SpinVox.
Fair enough — poorly executed, considering the privacy hoohah that surrounded SpinVox’s demise. Privacy is one of those issues that people are only too ready to complain about publicly. Thanks to Twitter (and the comments on this list and Charles’s blog post) I now have the names and some contact details of >200 people who used to be SpinVox customers…
Suspect that agreements about personal data from privacy statements go out the window when there’s a buy out. Would be interested to know.
Ben Smith Reply:
October 3rd, 2010 at 09:05
How did you collect those details?
mediaczar Reply:
October 3rd, 2010 at 20:44
Was intended a joke, but working on the (fairly sound) premise that anyone who cares about the old SpinVox contact database being shared is a former SpinVox customer, and not simply a concerned citizen, all you need do is search the comment streams on Whatley and Arthur’s posts, and Twitter for people complaining that they’ve been spammed. Pretty specific. Facetious, but hardly rocket science.
Ben Smith Reply:
October 5th, 2010 at 00:40
Fair point!
How did you collect those details?
I think that everyone who received this text message has the right to be upset with SpinVox. They sold everyone’s numbers out in order to further their profit by advertising through this text message. It should be illegal for VoxSciences to spam potential customers this way. Cell phone numbers are private. Only yourself, your cell phone provider, and your friends that you give your number to should have access to your phone number. It is a breach of privacy to give away your cell phone numbers. They have violated your personal business. It is no different than your doctor giving away your home address to one of their friends so they can solicit their business at your home. It is morally incorrect of SpinVox to do this to you. They should be punished for this wrongful action.