Friday, September 25, 2009

On Incomplete Emails the 2nd

Once more I got an email that kind of “pushed my button”. Here is the full text minus the individual’s name of course.
Subject: Re: McAfee Sight Adviser
Eike,
The McAfee sight adviser shows up grey in the lower tool bar. The sight adviser also does not work when using the search engine.
Is there an easy fix?
Signed with name
"It is nice that he spelled my name correctly but what do I do with an email like this” I thought for the longest time.
Finally I chose this reply:
Xyz,
With the information you provide there is no fix because
- you don't give any detailed info on what program you are using,
- what version this program is, 
- what you are doing and
- why you draw the conclusions that you draw.
You stir up questions hat I need answered before I even can address the matter at hand.
- How do you tell that it does not work?
- What search engine are you using?
- Have you checked if you have the latest version?
- Have you turned on "Highlight search results" in it's General Settings?
And by the way, it's called McAfee Siteadvisor.
Regards
Eike
Now, what are the lessons to be learned here?
  1. Simply give as much detail as humanly possible if you want useful answers.
  2. Send me a screen shot instead of re-typing lengthy messages.
  3. Spell names correctly (not only mine).
  4. And let me know that you appreciate the free email advice that I offer.
Am I asking too much? Frankly, I don’t think so.
I get many request every week. If I were to remember all technical and environmental details of all the many installations I see every week there wouldn’t be space left for anything else in my scatterbrain. And if I had to hunt down contact information every time I get a request from a customer there wouldn't be any time left to do actual customer visits.
As a reminder: If you read down to here you may want to read my newest rant about incomplete emails as well; thank you.
Please comment with your thoughts right here in the blog.
Thank you in advance.