A Direct Marketing Agency - Helping Brands Acquire and Retain Customers

Back at the end of January, I signed up for Overstock.com's "OText" service to receive promotional messaging (specials, discounts, product information, etc.) via my PDA.  It was my first foray into the text messaging arena and I was pretty interested to see how it worked.  I went through the sign-up instructions and agreed to pay the $2.95 monthly service fee through Sprint to participate. I thought Overstock did a great job in walking me through the instructions and getting me excited about the service.

I eagerly checked my SMS every day.  Two weeks went by, and no messages from Overstock.  After three weeks (and a little help from an associate here at the office), I realized that there was a double opt-in and I needed to respond to the "Welcome to OText" email with a "Go" message back to Overstock to really get the program going.  That now taken care of, I assumed I would start getting the text messages.  Well, it's now been almost three more weeks, and no promotional messages yet.  There is, of course, the possibility that I somehow did not sign up properly, or the alternative is that they are not actively delivering the program to me, but I can't really figure out how to double check and find out which is the case.

Has anyone else out there signed up for the Overstock OText service?  If so, is it working for you? I am wondering if text-based promotional programs are really working or not, and if so, who is doing it well and actively using it to drive sales.  I am also concerned about ease of use by the average consumer out there and whether there are people like me who are feeling frustrated with the experience (e.g. the double opt in feature). and could dampen enthusiasm for future programs like this one.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.