Why Are Businesses So Bad At Responding To Email?

[KingRazor]

It seems like calling a business will get you results right away, but if you send them an email, expect to wait a loooong while before they get back to you.

It just surprises me in this day and age with the internet being around as long as it has that companies aren't more on top of things like email.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I've found that it really depends on the company.

Some are useless over the phone, but reply quickly and fully to emails.

Some are the other way round.

Some are just useless!

[EricF]

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

I've found that it really depends on the company.

Some are useless over the phone, but reply quickly and fully to emails.

Some are the other way round.

Some are just useless!

All of this.

[Fassa Albrecht]

Depends on the business. I work on reception in a largish sized company and one of my jobs is to answer emails sent both through the internal system (from other staff) and from customers and external contacts. I have to deal with what can amount to thousands of calls, emails and letters a week. Sometimes it's just not possible to put loads of staff on to deal with calls/emails.

We try our best!

[KingRazor]

I've emailed about 4 or 5 different companies and I was expecting to hear back from at least one of them today, but no, nothing. :\

[MJ5150]

I know what you mean. Why bother with an e-mail address or website if you're not going to respond to inquiries from it?

-Mike

[TheSuzie]

If the same support people must handle both email and phone calls, email will get the short end of the stick. It is difficult to answer emails if your phone keeps ringing. Unless they reserve certain individuals or certain times of the day for catching up on email, it will never happen or be painfully slow.

Peace,
S

[Stumbo]

Originally Posted by MJ5150

I know what you mean. Why bother with an e-mail address or website if you're not going to respond to inquiries from it?

-Mike

These small companies are probably overwhelmed (meaning-they're not staffed to handle) with emails requesting general information and/or some specific information on how their product fits an individual's needs.

Fassa: I work on reception in a largish sized company and one of my jobs is to answer emails sent both through the internal system (from other staff) and from customers and external contacts. I have to deal with what can amount to thousands of calls, emails and letters a week. Sometimes it's just not possible to put loads of staff on to deal with calls/emails.

There it is^^. Thousands of contacts - internal and external. Even it was a few hundred per week, it would take a staff of a few people to do the job correctly. In addition, IME, the internal contacts get more attention because you have to deal with them everyday.

Also, many companies have cut staff to increase profits (and blamed the recession) and push the remaining staff to cover everything left behind. Obviously the remaining staff can't do it and much (customer support/inquiries) gets thrown under the bus and ignored, as long as the company is making sales and manager's receive nice bonuses.

http://www.pissedconsumer.com/

[waleross]

+1 on "it depends on the company". I emailed Ampeg and it took over two weeks. I then had to ask Genz Benz a question about an issue and it was answered overnight by the Owner/Pres. of the company, won me over ......

[TheSuzie]

One other thing to consider if one never gets a response. Your request may have ended up in the spam filter especially if you are sending form services like hotmail, yahoo etc.

Peace,
S

[KingRazor]

Originally Posted by TheSuzie

One other thing to consider if one never gets a response. Your request may have ended up in the spam filter especially if you are sending form services like hotmail, yahoo etc.

Peace,
S

Since most consumers use email services such as those, that's a REALLY bad idea.

[DwaynieAD]

i worked in a relatively small office doing a relatively small job and recieved between 20 and 80 emails a day, none of them being junk or spam.

do this or the company is out 50K kinda takes priority over "hey, ur company is cool"

[mpdd]

if companies don't want to hire a real person to answer the phone, they are certainly not going to be too keen on hiring people to answer emails

low down sound and dr bass were very responsive and nice though ime

[hdracer]

Originally Posted by TheSuzie

One other thing to consider if one never gets a response. Your request may have ended up in the spam filter especially if you are sending form services like hotmail, yahoo etc.

Peace,
S

I find over 20 real e mails a week in my business junk folder. All are hotmail & yahoo with hotmail being the most common. There is a lot of spam generated from hotmail accounts. Subject line phrasing has a lot to do with being picked up by the spam filters too. Don't use Hi or Hay Dude. When I get busy it is to hard to reply to every e mail, 90% are tire kicking anyway. Just pick up the phone and call.

[Selta]

Originally Posted by KingRazor

Since most consumers use email services such as those, that's a REALLY bad idea.

So do pretty much ALL spammers. Do you want them to have to sift through a few thousand junk e-mails before getting to yours, too?

[KingRazor]

Originally Posted by Ray Salamon

So do pretty much ALL spammers. Do you want them to have to sift through a few thousand junk e-mails before getting to yours, too?

So how on Earth are consumers expected to get any support if the most commonly used email services are the ones most likely to be blocked as spam?

[Selta]

Originally Posted by KingRazor

So how on Earth are consumers expected to get any support if the most commonly used email services are the ones most likely to be blocked as spam?

Don't make your e-mail (especially subject line) spam-y. Try to not use links or attachments unless absolutely necessary. Those are good starts... a lot of company's filters work off of subject line, domain it's coming from, content of the e-mail, and language used in the e-mail as weighted metrics.

[MatticusMania]

Customer Support at my office gets email regularly, and as Im in the marketing side I dont deal with them too often. But, on occasion, an issue arises that I need to take care of, and I take over the email conversation directly.

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

I get easily 50 to 75 messages a day caught in my spam filter. I try to check through it every few days and sometimes find legit messages caught up. Many of them are hard to distinguish from the actual spam messages, though.

[KingRazor]

It's a little different for me, at my job ALL emails are internal. I never speak directly with customers.

So, I'm expected to look at every single message I get. Luckily, spam is VERY rare as it's difficult for a spammer to get a hold of my email. I don't have a phone I have to answer either, all my work is centered around emails.

When it comes to home, it's actually easier to get a hold of me by email than by phone. I live in an apartment that is almost like a black hole when it comes to cell phone coverage, I'm rarely able to receive calls at home. But I have my email open all day. If someone emails me, I know right away.

You'd think in this day and age we'd have this all figured out by now.