Hi,
I was browsing these forums and reading this thread about whether the store was broken/down (I have an order in for the usb hub)…
I clicked on the first link and it brought me to the store and auto-added a vero4k+ to my basket. This was unexpected since I didn’t think I had an account for the store. I think I signed up for the support forum after I bought the vero4k+
Minutes later, I got an email claiming to be from OSMC saying thanks for visiting and just click a link to go back to my shopping basket. This was very unexpected.
So I went back to the support forums pages and clicked on the account button in the top right of the page and reviewed my permissions. I didn’t see any option where I gave permission for ‘the shop’ side of this website to send me sales emails and I can’t see any option to stop it either.
How do I stop osmc sending me sales emails every time I visit the shop?
There is only one reminder if you add an item in your basket and visit the shop and checkout pages, which would’ve happened if you clicked the purchase Vero link.
You can empty the cart for peace of mind – but you won’t receive another message.
Are you saying that you received several messages?
No. Just the one message this time. I guess I was surprised omsc ‘chases’ their existing customers in this way. I didn’t put anything in my basket since I didn’t think I had a store account. And even if the ‘support forum’ knows my email, I didn’t expect it to share it with the ‘store’ side of the website.
The last time I visited the store, I bought the usb hub straight away.
P.S. Thanks for the answers. I have to log-off now so I won’t see any messages until tomorrow.
There is a single-sign-on for all services under a My OSMC account which is used by the forums, the store and other OSMC services.
If you go to the checkout page with an item in your cart and have provided your email in the past, a single follow up message is sent if the order isn’t completed within a specific timeframe. This type of follow up is standard across a number of online retailers.
An email will not be sent unless you add an item to your basket and go to the checkout pages. The link in the thread that you clicked is a direct link to add an item to the basket and go to the checkout page. Browsing the store / not putting anything in your basket won’t trigger / not going to the checkout won’t trigger any follow up messages.
The email would have been triggered by you adding a Vero 4K + to the cart, rather than the purchase of the USB hub.
You won’t receive any more emails from the store – with the exception of a dispatch email when your USB hub has been shipped.
Do the mods & admin on the ‘support’ side have access to my financial details, real name, address & phone number that I gave the ‘store’ when I recently bought the usb hub?
Any of the information we collect from you may be used in one of the following ways:
To personalize your experience — your information helps us to better respond to your individual needs.
To improve our site — we continually strive to improve our site offerings based on the information and feedback we receive from you.
To improve customer service — your information helps us to more effectively respond to your customer service requests and support needs.
To send periodic emails — the email address you provide may be used to send you information, notifications that you request about changes to topics or in response to your user name, respond to inquiries, and/or other requests or questions.
I’m not a lawyer, and I guess line 4 (my emphasis) is your justification, but they way I read it is that I didn’t request or inquire about anything.
Anyways, I don’t want to make a big deal out of it - it’s your website. But if you can confirm that my financial details are secure & not shared, I’ll consider the matter closed.
No. Forum moderators cannot see your orders; address details etc. The My OSMC account system simply functions as SSO. A good comparison might be the Login with Facebook feature you can use on some websites. The website will have some basic information (such as your Facebook user ID); but they won’t be able to access your Facebook account, private messages etc.
If you would prefer, I can cancel your order and delete your account. We have to store some data for a period of time, such as order information for warranty purposes and tax purposes (HMRC).
You added a product to the cart and went to the checkout page. A follow up email accounts as a legitimate business interest under GDPR laws. If you hadn’t added anything to your cart, then this would be unsolicited email.
No need to delete my order. I was just concerned about my personal info was being used. You’ve clarified how your website works.
I consider the matter closed for me. But, just to re-iterate, in this instance, I did not deliberately add anything to any cart/checkout. I clicked a link on the support forum, (things happened that I didn’t expect), and, because I was logged into the support forum, I got a sales info email. Personally, I think the two should not be connected but I get it now that that’s how your website works.
Anyway, thanks for your patience and understanding in all this
P.S. Funny you should mention Facebook. I recently deleted my FB account because I’m getting more concerned about how much tracking is done on the internet. Just another 2 months (!) before my data is finally deleted. I’m not naive that it doesn’t happen - the internet wouldn’t work without some tracking. But the amount of stuff Facebook collects & is shared by websites was shocking to me. As a side note, osmc was on my ‘Your Off-Facebook Activity’ list.
Facebook tracking pixels are used on so many websites now, that Facebook can profile and track users that don’t have an account. Fortunately we still live in a world where information can only be collected if we volunteer it. Unfortunately, many people are happy to do so without consideration of how this data may be used in the future.
Just to clear the last bit of confusion that link that another forum member posted and you clicked on was a “buy now” type link. That link was not something posted by us to trick anyone into anything. If you read the thread it should be quite clear the link was to try to purchase something. I honestly don’t know why someone who is not staff here would have clicked on that link in the first place.
I understand your concern with privacy but there seems to be some confusion with what exactly ‘this site’ is. The support forum is standard message board software and the mods (like me) do not have access to anything outside of that (including the store).
So you’re basically saying that if someone asks someone else to do something on a website, you do it as well even if the question was not directed to you? You’re afraid of companies that collect data but clicking on every link on the web will not certainly help…
The link that added the product to your cart directly was posted by a normal user and not an admin or a staff member. It is used for a very specific button on the OSMC website that clearly states “grab your vero 4k+ today”, so it wasn’t a trick or something fishy.
One way to get to this forum is to click on support → community where, I dunno, people help each other? OP posted a link, company owner didn’t delete it, kept it in a public forum, asked for a double-check. In a public support forum, not a PM. I tried to help, but couldn’t, so didn’t.
I could ask you the same thing. Why are you posting in this thread? I didn’t direct any questions to you personally. Is it because it’s a public-facing, community support forum?
Why should have the owner deleted a safe and working link?
Anyway, as explained, the link is not meant to force you to buy something you don’t want or trick you in any way, you just clicked a link that was supposed to do something specific and you clicked it without knowing where and why it was used and got a wrong impression.
You’re safe, your data is safe. But please don’t go clicking on random links on the web without knowing why they’re there and where they lead you, that’s not safe at all.
Which is why I asked a question (maybe stupid, maybe not) on a community support forum and got comprehensive replies from the company owner (kudos to Sam)… which I accepted and said I considered the thread closed from my POV.
(Afterthought: There’s no such thing as a stupid question. It’s only a stupid question if you ask the same question a second time.) (Or the teacher is bad which is why well-supported community support forums are so good)
