Vertical Response. Awesome.

I got some spam earlier today from someone who used Vertical Response’s mail service to send it out. On occasion, if I think the mail provider might actually do something about it, I’ll report the message. That’s what I did with this one.

Most of the time I’ll get a form letter back from some autoresponder telling me that they’ll look into it but that they can’t give me any specifics. That’s the mediocre response I was expecting here, too.

Instead, George and Vertical Response blew me away. (emphasis added below)

First, let me apologize that you encountered this kind of problem with a company using our service. That is simply unacceptable. I have opened a full investigation into the account as a result of your complaint. We have no tolerance for the sending of unsolicited mail, and we will not allow this sort of behavior to continue. I can verify that your address has been unsubscribed from their account with us.

Please also note that VerticalResponse does not maintain mailing lists of any sort for sale, rent, distribution or any other purpose. We are an Email Service Provider, companies use our service to send email the same way an individual might email someone through Yahoo. Our clients provide the addresses (limited to their own use) and must sign an agreement that everyone on their list requested information directly and specifically from their company - meaning no purchased, rented, borrowed, harvested or third party lists of any kind are allowed under any circumstances whatsoever. Clients who violate this policy are banned.

We hate spam and work extremely hard to keep it off our network. Thanks for bringing this problem to our attention, and please let me know if you have any comments, concerns or questions. All my direct contact info is below.

Nice to see a little customer service in the world.