Really? Is this an acceptable unsubscribe screen?

I attended one business gathering sponsored by my local council a few months ago. Prior to that meeting I had received only one email from them. After the meeting the emails started arriving.

The emails I started receiving from the council were poorly targeted including inviations to irrelevant industry technical briefings and seminars for those just entering the workforce. And there were just too many of them. I don’t recall at any stage opting to receive future communications on any subject other than subsequent quarterly business gatherings similar to the one I attended.

The email that broke this camel’s back included this line “Looking for empployment, apprenticeships, training or career advice?” (including the poor spelling of employment).

When I clicked the unsubscribe link, the image above was what greeted me.

Perhaps it’s just me but that is a very sad form. I have no idea if I am unsubscribing from one type of council email or everything. The missing radio option is “Did NOT subscribe”. I think an option to provide free format feedback would be good.

It happens that only a few days ago I re-read a post from Bernadette Jiwa called Well-Designed Moments Build Brands. When I saw the unsubscribe form I remembered one part of that post in particular “Cancelling subscriptions should be as easy as signing up. They rarely are. The trick is to see the moment when the bubble bursts as an opportunity to deepen the relationship.”

Perhaps someone in council should start reading Bernadette Jiwa at The Story of Telling.