[thelist] OT: Adobe doesn't want your feedback

[Chris Blessing]

Check this out... now hold on to your hat because this is gonna be big news:

A human actually reads your emails.

Whoa hold the phone!

Yeah I know you got a 404 so it didn't actually make it to its intended
destination as you had hoped, but let me tell you those folks on the other
end who are the would-be receivers of your message are 99% more likely to
delete your sarcastic blather rather than actually take the time to forward
it to the appropriate people.

How do I know this?  Well I work with a small customer service group (hey
they also specialize in "user experiences") and I am said person who
receives those types of messages from customer service.  Guess which ones
actually make it across my inbox, and which ones are posted up on the
corkboard next to the water cooler for shits and giggles baby?

So in conclusion...

<tip type="How to email a company" author="Chris Blessing">
Be nice or be evil, don't be condescending or facetious.  Get your point
across but be aware that you are still going to be "talking" to a human, not
the mysterious often-spoke-of-but-never-seen company email reading robot
with no emotions.  Be humorous if possible, and witty if you can.  If you
absolutely must get angry, get angry at the manager.  You won't get anywhere
with the representatives that way unless they are WEAK AND MEAGER.
</tip>

That is all!

Chris Blessing
webguy at mail.rit.edu
http://www.330i.net

> So I decided to write to Adobe and tell them to fix their site so that
> http://adobe.com actually goes to their site.
>
> I dutifully visited their "contact us" page at:
> http://www.adobe.com/misc/webform.html
>
> and filled this in:
>
> <quote>
>
> I would imagine that a company that "gets it" like Adobe would at least
> ensure that http://adobe.com also goes to the web site, but it doesn't.
> Only the "www.adobe.com" version works. Did you know that your company is
> ridiculed for this on web development mailing lists? It doesn't help your
> company image at all.
>
> </quote>
>
> ... and I hit the "Submit" button.
>
> What do I get?
>
<snizip>
>
> OK, I got a... wait for it... 404 "page not found" error. (
> http://cgi1.adobe.com/misc/webformthanks.html )
>
> That's right, this is what I got:
>
> <quote>
>
> We're sorry! The page you were trying to view is no longer here. If you
> reached this page from another part of Adobe.com, please let us know so we
> can fix the problem.
>
> Use our search engine to locate what you're looking for
> Where to search:
>
> Entire site
> Product Information only
> Technical Support documents only
>
> </quote>
>
>
> I guess Adobe doesn't want your feedback after all. ;)
<snizip>
>
> Regards,
>
> Madhu
>
> <<<   *   >>>
> Madhu Menon
> User Experience Consultant
> e-mail: webguru at vsnl.net
>
> Weblog: http://madman.weblogs.com