Readers' Comments

Reader Comments on Aardvark Daily 9 June 2003
Note: the comments below are the unabridged submissions of readers and do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher.
From: Allister Jenks
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Ignoremail a NZ trait?

I've been a victim of ignoremail quite a bit recently.  I
am looking for a job and have emailed quite a few
businesses on this subject.  Probably slightly less than
half have ignored me.

But I wonder, as I drive to work in the Wellington traffic,
whether this is a NZ trait - along with refusing to let
people change lane, cutting people off and failing to
indicate.  Also people in supermarkets who don't have the
common courtesy not to completely block the aisle with
their trolley.

NZ'ers, in general, are impatient and self-centred.  So why
would they bother answering the email if there's nothing in
it for them?

Apologies if this starts a flame-war.




From: Ian Orchard
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Ignoremail

There. there, Bruce, they're not ignoring you, it's just that their dick-
wit IT staff  have left their antispam filters on the default setting and
everything sent to them is being trashed.

Or maybe you are sending something in your emails that is
diverting your efforts directly to the bin. My Apple Mail app. was
Junking everything sent to me by a friend. I finally tracked it down to
the rejection of  "E & OE" located in his sig. Considering it's a standard
business term, it's a pretty daft thing to object to, but it shows silly
things can happen.




From: Wade
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Vodafone response time

You might just have to wait a bit longer for your response
from Vodafone... I sent them a query on the 17/04/03 using
the  contact form on their website, and received a reply on
10/05/03.




From: Daniel
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: I'm a victim

Yes, I too have been victim to ignoremail.

I emailed the sales depts. two US hosting companies last
month enquiring about dedicated hosting, and never got a
reply from either.

I then went to one of their live chats and asked how they
make sales when they don't respond to the enquiries of
potential new customers.

I also emailed an Auckland-based signage company with a
slick website. I emailed both the directors of the company
and never received a reply.

I am hesitant about making contact with companies via
email these days. I would rather pick up the phone and be
sure of getting a response than wondering how long, and if
at all I will get a reply.

Same thing happened this morning when I wanted to book my
car for a service. I could have used the form on their
site, but I figured it would be safer to phone them.

Who knows, maybe some IT firm decided an online booking
form would make use of their website, but it was never
tied in with their existing operation.

These days email is only really good for one thing....
spam.




From: Max
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: The large companies are the worst

I email two major IT companies Sony and canon from time to
time, and they don't repond unless I send them another
email reminder a couple of days later. I have heard that
some companies want a 'little commitment' from the email
sender, so unless the sender chases them up, they will very
unlikely send a response. This is partly due to emails
success as being a very easy medium to send, so more people
do it, and companies don't have the resources to deal with
them.
I always get responses from companies, if I chase the email
up a few days later. I have noticed that this non
responding is getting worse.




From: Peter
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Ignoring E-mails

Outfits do not just ignore E-mails, they also ignore faxes
and snail-mail.  The problem for them is that it costs a
lot of money to compose and send a written response.  It
also does not fit in with their business processes which
are centred on call centres.

In the early 1970's the State Services Commission asked
public servants to minimise toll calls to saving money
comparing the cost of (say) a 50 cent toll call with a 4
cent stamp).  The writer was oblivious that it cost $5 to
compose and type a letter or inter-office memo ($50 in
today's money), and that a 50 cent toll call would often
save two such letters.




To:     aardvark.co.nz
From:      vodafone.co.nz
Subject:   Prepay roaming
Date sent: Mon, 9 Jun 2003 14:52:00 +1200

Hi Bruce

Thanks for your recent query regarding prepay roaming.

Setting up prepay roaming required credit card details and an account
credit because charges were delayed from foreign networks, and are not in
'real time'.

However Vodafone networks around the world have been working on a new
billing system called 'AutoRoam', which enables immediate real time
charging for prepay customers.  This service allows prepay customers to
roam without having to go through the set up process.

We have just implemented AutoRoam in Australia (as of last Tuesday), and
are rolling this out in the near future with other countries including the
United Kingdom.

AutoRoam means customer's will share your experience with the UK prepay
sim card of roaming with ease.

Vodafone UK may have AutoRoam agreements with networks in Thailand and
Australia, which is why you were able to enjoy the benefits of this new
service in these countries using the Vodafone UK sim card.

Many more countries will become available in the next few months on
Autoroam, keep in contact with us if you need further info.

Thanks
Sarah
External Communications




From: Sarah Nelson
For : The Editor (for publication)
Subj: Emailing for Jobs

re: Allister Jenks emailing companies for jobs.

I would ignore you too if you emailed our company for a job
too.  I would consider you a lazy spammer.  All CV's
emailed to our company get deleted by our filters.
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