RA sends out hundreds of repeat emails to Summer Exhibition applicants

If today you tried to buy an application form to enter the 2019 Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, you've doubtless been facing down by a barrage of hundreds of repeat emails for a significant part of the day.

It's not you - IT'S THEM!

Below is the small message on the Summer Exhibition 2019 - Call for Entries Page - which indicates they had a problem.

The RA Admission they had a bit of a problem with sending their emails

The first I knew of the problem was when an artist contacted me to ask if I could put up a message on my Facebook Page to see if it was happening to anyone else

Help! Can you please ask if anyone else who has purchased an entry for the summer exhibition has been getting the same email titled “summer exhibition 2019- submission deadline reminder” every minute or so for the last hour??? No idea how to stop them!!

and

I tried a few numbers but it’s Saturday! If you can think of any number please let me know! Still coming in thick and fast, I’m not on twitter but i might see if there’s anything about it. Must have deleted 150 emails since 11.30! Could be my server too but it’s only one email continuously coming in.

Conversation from my FB Page Inbox

The message went up on my Making A Mark Facebook Page and lo and behold the messages came back that this was NOT an isolated incident

Multiple people were affected - including Jen Gash, the winner of the Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2018!

People were having to delete HUNDREDS OF EMAILS from the RA!!!

Comments on my FB Post

So - in case you didn't know and you applied for a form today and then went off to do other things, you might find a bit of a surprise when you open your inbox! 

The notice indicates the problem has now finished. Let's hope it doesn't happen again!

As my correspondent noted.....

I just spoke to them- they’ve finally fixed it. After 150 emails in 20 minutes of the final flurry!!

For those of you who diverted all emails from the RA to your spam box, don't forget to undo the filter so they can write to tell you that you've got selected for the second stage! :)