Communication Skills, Part Two – We get Mail

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I recently purchased a mini-14 scout mount and the rear U – shaped mounting bracket which secures the mount to the barrel seems to have the threads on one side either cut crooked or damaged.  Is it possible to get another bracket and screws?

Thank you,

Neil

 

Neil (last name)

(e-mail address at Earthlink dot com)

 

No address.  No phone number, and an Earthlink mail domain.  He wants me to send him a part, but doesn’t give me his address.  This happens a lot.  I find his original transaction (assuming there’s only one Neil with that last name in the country) and get the address, but I don’t know if it’s current.  I then reply to the e-mail so I can get him to verify the address, but as with all Earthlink users, my reply e-mail is rejected because I’m not on his white list.  I have a phone number on the original transaction, and try that.  No answer.  I left a voice message with someone who has the correct name.  We’ll have to wait and see what happens.  All this for a five dollar set of parts.

 

Teach your children; when asking someone for something, you might want to include some usable contact information.  Just sayin’.

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4 thoughts on “Communication Skills, Part Two – We get Mail

  1. I’ve been in business for over 35 years, and most of that was spent selling musical instruments on installment credit. That means going to small claims court, district court, and federal banckruptcy court on something of a regular basis, including running our own, rural collection/repossession program. I’ve spoken with police and sheriffs in most counties in two states, Indian tribal counsels, military comanders and recruitment officers, bosses, attourneys, bitter ex spouses, federal prosecuters, et al, trying to track down and recover product or get paid for it. The local county clerk and I were on a first name basis for many years. I’ve had at least two guys offer to bust up my shop right then and there. I’ve raised my voice and gotten pretty sarcastic with a few customers in the early days, but you learn pretty quickly that it does no one any good. I’ve never pulled a gun on anyone, but there were times when I considered it.

    So really, this sort of thing is pretty humdrum. I’ve writtien about communication skills before. This one just came up and I regarded it as a pretty good example of what happens to any business on a regular basis. As I’ve said often; this has to be put in context. Most people are pretty good and pretty honest. It’s just those few outliers that make for interesting stories.

  2. I am reminded of a recent email I sent with a similar purpose (albeit for a defectively mastered CD, not a firearm accessory). However I provided multiple current means of contact which invariably caused less effort to be expended on the part of the respondent, RykoDisc, who, incidentally, had a most favorable reply.

    I also am reminded of why I scrapped email whitelisting years ago. I was certainly rude for a time, by generating backscatter. When I realized that unintended aspect of the email whitelisting system, I unfortunately only modified my system to not send automated replies to unknown senders, since they would invariably be generating spam in reply to spam. unknown senders’ messages were simply discarded. It was the three year loss of contact with a friend who had changed his email address without notifying his friends that made me give up the futile efforts of email whitelisting altogether.

  3. I can see the appeal of whitelisting, but gee whiz; when you’re writing people asking for a reply, or placing an order expecting an auto-confirmation, it might be a good idea to whitelist the domain. I delete bounced auto-confirmations as part of the daily routine. They’re almost all Earthlink users.

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