How Not To Do A Great Apology

Poor American Honda ...

Either they were hacked or there was unauthorized use of a list by a vendor who was misusing the Honda Email list for owners of Acura and Hondas in the USA.

The intro paragraph immediately sets the tone of the whole mail. I am going to paraphrase what went through my mind when I read it.

"Sorry mate not our fault that we let your personal data get misused - so that makes it alright OK???"

They really did a poor job of communicating what the problem was and what the impact could have been. Further they did an ineffective job of communicating that this was bad or not so bad.


So you be the Judge. But I think they did a bad job. And I REALLY like Hondas - I have 3 of them!



Dear Customer,

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. recently became aware of unauthorized access to an email list used by a vendor to create a welcome email to customers who have an Owner Link or My Acura vehicle account. The data that was obtained included your email address, your name, Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) and User ID. Your password was not included and no other sensitive information was contained in that list.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. As a company, we believe that all customer relationships must be built on trust. That is why we believe it is important to inform you of this incident. You may be aware of attacks on email marketing systems, therefore we want to assure you that we take the safeguarding of your information seriously and that the appropriate authorities have been contacted regarding this incident. Additionally, we have taken steps to minimize this type of exposure in the future.

As a Company, we encourage you to continue to be aware of the increasingly common email scams that may use your email address to contact you and ask for personal or sensitive information -- Be cautious when opening links or attachments from unsolicited third parties. Also, know that American Honda Motor Co., Inc. will not send you emails asking for your credit card number, social security number or other personal information. If ever asked for this information, you can be confident it is not from us.

Again, let us reassure you that we are taking necessary steps to safeguard your personal information.

If you would like further information on this topic please visit honda.com/info/b

Thank you.

American Honda Motor Co., Inc.