Spam Filters Are a Mixed Blessing

Many customers have spam filters which are preventing our communications from getting through to them.  The main culprits are Yahoo, SWBell, SBCGlobal, and other "baby Bell" ISPs that are associated with Yahoo.  But a little over a year ago, I "discovered" the bulk email folder associated with Yahoo's spam filter.  And I also discovered that many of my customer's emails to me were ending up there - and I never saw them.  So I turned off the spam filter, and now use my email program to filter emails based on rules that I set up myself.  I no longer miss a single customer email - they all come to me - and I respond to every single one of them, usually within 24 hours or less.

I also send out order communications on a regular basis - if an order will be delayed, is out of stock, has sold out, or has been discontinued - I send out emails to my customers to keep them informed and to allow them to make a decision about substitution or cancellation.  I also send return authorizations by email.

However, a few don't receive these communications because their ISP routs the email to their bulk folder.  They don't realize I sent it, and I don't realize they didn't get it, until they contact me - again, and again, and again, wondering why I haven't answered their question.

 If our emails are getting routed to your bulk mail folder, you probably have other important emails going there as well - just as I did.  What other important information are you missing when you fail to check your folder at least every couple of weeks?

If you don't know how to check your folder, review the instructions in the "Help" files of your ISP or ask for their assistance.  You can also supposedly "train" the spam filters by marking items within the folder as "spam" or "not spam."  (Personally, I never found the training function to be very effective, since it repeatedly did not recognize items as "not spam" despite being marked that way.)

If you have one of these services and your spam filter is turned on - please, please, please do yourself and your merchants a favor - check your bulk folder!