A Little Respect, Please

A couple businesses have gone overboard lately in posting support request emails in public and then complaining about them. In late March, there was Josh Williams’s Lay Off, They’re Free where he quotes annoying requests from users. Enter 37signals post today Useless, absurd, must, need, appalled, just, infuriating, essential, etc. where again anoying support emails are publicly aired. Not to be outdone, Josh even shows up in the comments of this post, stating:

ROFL — We use Mailroom to tag incoming support email. Some or our tags include: buzz, client, and moron.

Moron? C’mon – do I need to know that? Needmore Designs is a client of both of these businesses and I am disappointed to see such poor form. Let’s hope this trend doesn’t continue.

Sure, we all get frustrated with support emails in all caps, etc. And, there’s nothing wrong with teaching others how to write a helpful support request. Many people don’t know how to get their support needs across well and do resort to sensational words in order to stress their perceived need. However, publicly posting support emails is just plain disrespectful of your client. And, it makes me less trustful of you as a business overall.

Kandace Brigleb

Producer, co-founder of Needmore. Currently residing on the left coast.