Mainsleaze? You Decide

I recently booked a motel room via Best Western's web site. Since they are a large, well known company and I wanted my reservation confirmation, I gave them one of my "non-junk" e-mail addresses. Imagine my surprise when shortly after my lovely stay at one of their motels I received this email (personally identifiable links removed):

Best Western is committed to making our brand your first choice for every hotel stay. Your honest opinion helps us discover how we can best meet your travel needs at anyone of our more than 4,000 independently owned and operated hotels around the world.

Please take a moment to complete this brief questionnaire about your recent visit to a Best Western hotel. If you are a Gold Crown Club International member, you will receive 50 GCCI bonus points upon completion of the survey. If you're not a GCCI member, you'll be given a link to join once you complete the survey and to receive your 50 GCCI bonus points. GCCI members earn points towards exciting vacation getaways, retail and restaurant gift certificates, and airline miles. Thank you.

Click here to take the survey.

Click here if you would not like to receive promotions and marketing materials from Best Western, its affiliates, and subsidiaries.

Click here if you would not like to receive promotions and marketing materials from Best Western's third party business partners.

To view Best Western's privacy policy, click here

Customer Care
Best Western Survey
P.O. BOX 7079
Boca Raton, FL 33431-9959

In fairness, this e-mail appears to be CAN-SPAM compliant. Also, I did not take the time to read the long-winded privacy policy, clearly meant to protect them and not the consumer, before I gave them my e-mail address.

Here is the sleazoid part, buried in a mountain of fine print:

BWI may send marketing information about BWI, BWI Properties or the GCCI program as well as marketing information about offers or information about third party products and services to GCCI Customers and Travelers based upon the Personal Information BWI has collected for such GCCI Customers and Travelers.

So I missed that. After all, I was trying to accomplish a task. However, I do not expect mainstream companies to turn over my e-mail address to third parties on an "opt-out" basis. I can accept that in establishing a business realtionship, I may recieve e-mail from that company unless I opt-out, though I much prefer, and truly believe that reputable companies use opt-in.

So many companies are doing it the right way these days. I'm very saddened that my wonderful stay at one of their properties was marred by this sleazoid move. I as a customer should morally, if not leagally, have a resonable expectation that my e-mail address will not be given to just anyone a company feels like. It is not a way to garner customer trust or confidence.

So technically Best Western, may not be "mainsleaze", the term used to describe corporate spammers, but the line was cut very fine. If I, as a customer see their actions as sleazoid, the damage to their reputation is done. Beyond that, if I as a small business person can respect my customer's e-mail privacy, why can't a large corporation do the same? It is so sad to have one's trust in a company broken. Oh, and no, I certainly did not answer their survey; and yes, I spent some of my precious time opting out.