Hey guys,
Something is going on here that is starting to have a negative effect on my business (and others I am sure). Let me preface this by saying that I know you guys hate spam! I hate it too, BUT in the last two weeks I have lost several hundred dollars in sales because someone emails me with an order, then when I respond with pricing and availability, MY RESPONSE EMAIL it gets thrown into a junk box by the spam filter on my clients computer. Consequently, my client thinks I am a jerk (because I never responded to their email) and I lose the sale.
Guys, this is not my fault, you need to make sure that at the very least you are checking your spam filters log to make sure there are no legitimate emails in there. And for Pete's sake, if I (or another sponsor) don't respond to an email, at least pick up the phone and give us a call to make sure we are doing our job.
AND by the way, I know many of us receive emails from folks wanting technical help on some aspect of rodbuilding. I know we are all willing to help, but when I try to respond to an email and receive a reply asking me to visit some website and fill out a form just so the receiver can be assured that I am not sending spam....well I know most of us just don't have the inclination to mess around with that kind of hassle.
If it comes down to it, I'll get a 1-800 number so you guys can call me toll free with orders and for technical help. I will not and cannot afford to lose business because I am at the mercy of some ridicoulous filter.

I'd hate to think I'd have to go out of business just because you guys are afraid that I am one of those scumbags that spams everybody with ads for Viagra. The fact is, I have met some of you, and it's obvious you could probably benefit from a cycle or two of Viagra anyway...(haha)


Regards,

Andy Dear
Lamar Manf.

Funny you should mention Viagra, as I was about to foward you some of the various doctors who will perform an "Texas, bigger is better" Enlargement surgery. Some good rates too, lol. I think that same Doctor, will also give you a Mortgage.

I often get emails asking for help and when I reply, I'm faced with a return email telling me that I'll have to click on a link and go do something or other so that the recipient will know that my email is not spam. At that point I usually just discard that email and move on to the next guy.

If you're going to initiate the email conversation, you really do need to make sure any response you receive can get through. The #1 problem with failed registrations on this site, is that the validation email that the software sends out cannot get though the registrant's email spam or junk mail filter.

.....................

IMO, Spam filters as well as Pop Up blockers cause way more problems than they solve. By taking control of your cookies and Spyware( both of which causes 99% of junk mail/popups), you can eliminate both without the problems caused by thos types of programs.
An explanation is way to long (and off topic) for this forum, but if anyone wants more help with this, shoot me an E-mail

Mile

I never am on the internet without a firewall being up, pop blocker being up (default on Firefox), and never have the virus potection turned off. Doing so opens your computer to possible attack by some bad bugs indeed. Some email clients (thunderbird) now treat ANY email whose return email address is NOT on the recepient's email address list as spam and is filtered out.

Spam generating engines sometimes use a "dictionary attack" or "brute force" technique by trying a list of likely email possibilities, often a list of words derived from a dictionary, sequentially incrementing letters and numbers. Any email not bounced back indicates a possible good email address and it is recycled back through the dictionary attack engine to solve for more variants of this email addresses. There is no protection against this except for having a spam filter up and running. Allowing or disabling popup, allowing or disabling cookies, will not stop this type of attack.

For a good read on spam is go to [en.wikipedia.org]

Lou

Lou,
I am sure your info. is correct and accurate, however your missing the point.....which is: Be aware that if you have a spam filter up and running, and are not receiving replies to emails you have sent, it may not be the other parties lack of a reply...it may be YOUR PROBLEM (the spam filter not allowing it to come through).


Andy Dear
Lamar Manf.

I "allow" all persons in my address book. Still, the spam filter grabs one of these once in a while (Doc's especially-???) and I just don't understand that. I wish I was thoughtful enough to check my spam folder each day, but it's usually more likely every third or fourth day at best. And then there's my internet service provider's spam grabber; that thing is even more unpredictable than my Norton is!!

Putter
Williston, ND

Control cookies and spyware and you will NOT have that problem. My computer is on the internet 18 hours a day. I use no SPAM filter or Pop up blockers and get no more than 3 or 4 pop ups a month and rarely (couple a month) get junk mail. Haven't had any problem in several years.

I agree with Lou on the firewall and virus protection but the rest just hides the symptoms, NOT the problems. Eliminate the spyware, data miners, etc and control the cookies and you will have no problems

Mike