I had one annoying day last week. We all have annoying days now and then. But when it involves a critical service like email not working when you need it to, it tends to stick in your craw, scratch around awhile, and leave a bitter aftertaste; especially when the whole situation is unwarranted and the end result pointless, leaving no one a winner.
Here's what happened. I opened my Yahoo! Mail Plus and tried to send an email to two people. Not a big group, mind you, just two people. But the email didn't go through. Instead, an error message popped up denying me access to send anything because my account was suspected of being a spam-producer, a bottom-feeder exuding commercial excrescence, a lowly marketing sot on the prowl for payola skimmed from Nigerian and UK lottery winners--or worse. No such blatant accusations of guilt, of course, just a hint of suspicion was enough to shut me off; a swift whack on the hand; a gentle but firm kick in the keister for something They thought I did or was trying to do.
The message said to try sending again later. Much later. Like I had the time to wait? I was paying for this Plus service, you know.
I was stymied. No one accused me of being a spammer before: for having bad taste, yes; poor judgment, sure; slow to spark the plug at times, definitely. But never have I been suspected of sending spam to the masses, to gullible little old ladies and over-text-messaged teens looking for the next jolt to stay awake. Yahoo! Mail Plus didn't accuse me of any of this, of course, but the implication was there between the lines. I didn't know what to do. I googled the problem. Not much help. I searched Yahoo! to find a FAQ or any information that would guide me. Not much help there, either. I finally came across a forum note that said Live Chat was available to Yahoo! Mail Plus users. I found Live Chat and hope for resolving this annoyance welled within my breast. Sadly, it wouldn't grow beyond the sternum.
I initiated Yahoo!'s Live Chat. Within a few seconds a message appeared indicating Ben was available to chat with me. I waited expectantly for Ben's Hello, can I help you? or Hi, or any indication he was actually poised and ready to respond. I waited some more. After about a minute, a message from Ben appeared. It said If you are not available at this time to.. or something like that. I frantically typed back, I was waiting for a howdy-do, hello, or what's up, or something like that to indicate you were ready for me. I initiated this chat, remember. I wasn't trying to be surly, but I was stupefied at the lack of proper chat etiquette. How could I possibly know he was waiting for me to respond? I didn't even know where he was typing from: India? China? North Dakota? A simple hello, what can I do for you would have been appropriate and professional.
Ben asked me what was wrong. I told him. He asked if I could write down the exact error message. I copied it into the chat window. He then wrote an extensive captcha explanation, like I was in school and he was writing on the blackboard for my benefit. Yahoo! Mail Plus kept insisting I enter the captcha mumbled-jumble before I could send my email, but each time, even after doing that, it refused to send my email. I suppose Ben thought if I knew all about captcha I would be a better emailer for it.
Ben requested to log into my account and check it out. I let him. He did so, then deduced what was wrong. For some inexplicable reason, known only to the Yahoo! Mail Plus Spam-blocking mechanism, my email was blocked because I had HTML links in my signature. The links were to my Twitter, blog, and Facebook websites. I was flabbergasted. Ben reiterated he had asked if I was using HTML, sort of chastising me for not being on the up and up with him. I had said no because I didn't consider links in my signature to be a problem. I've been paying for my email service through Yahoo! for years. I had been using HTML links in my signature ever since They allowed it. Let me repeat these three key words: They Allowed It.
He told me I should add my links as an attachment instead. Come again? I reread his suggestion. I heard Rod Serling saying Picture if you will...and started thinking very nasty things. When I told Ben this whole situation was absurd, that Yahoo allows HTML links in signatures, it's a--you know, feature--he didn't get the irony of the situation. I wondered if he used Yahoo! for his email?
I thanked him and told him I was dropping my paid service immediately. I did. I expected better service and more rational support than this. No one from Yahoo! followed up to find out why I left, or seems to care they lost a paying customer. I guess they're too big to notice. I am now using Gmail. I like it. Now that exclamation mark after Yahoo! holds personal meaning for me. Maybe I did come out a winner after all. I still like Yahoo!'s movie section, though.
Comments