> I can’t help them and I’ve learned over the years that just trying to explain how I have nothing to do with the product they’re using is often just too time consuming and energy draining to be worth it. You could write out a form response once, then just send it to everyone, and not respond to follow-ups. Not that you have to, of course, but it shouldn't be energy draining, at least.
I've been in that position before, where people would find my e-mail address as a supposed tech support for something I have no relationship with whatsoever. Usually when you tell them they have a wrong e-mail, they get really angry ("I want to talk to your manager!" kind of angry). So it's better to just not respond at all.
“I have toyota corola”
21–30 of 365 posts
Re: “I have toyota corola”
#22I believe this is karma of every stable open source product, which gained enough popularity.
That would be the opposite of karma, wouldn't it? Unless OSS is unrewarded evil in your eyes
karma
/ˈkɑːmə,ˈkəːmə/
noun
noun: karma
(in Hinduism and Buddhism) the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future
informal
good or bad luck, viewed as resulting from one's actions.
Not all karma is good. The important part is the "resulting from one's actions"Re: “I have toyota corola”
#23I personally just like knowing somebody read my letter instead of going into a black hole. And I kind of expect these things to go into black holes, so it's actually kind of heart warming when I receive any kind of response.
And this response would at least tell me to try a different contact. (I know in this case who Daniel Stenberg is and know what curl is so I wouldn't make this specific mistake, but sometimes hunting for support contact information returns things that are vague.)
If the customer gets angry at the response, it's fine because it just means they don't understand, which means they are just getting angrier at the car company. The car company deserves that since they made it so hard to contact them.
Re: “I have toyota corola”
#24Re: “I have toyota corola”
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've been in that position before, where people would find my e-mail address as a supposed tech support for something I have no relationship with whatsoever. Usually when you tell them they have a wrong e-mail, they get really angry ("I want to talk to your manager!" kind of angry). So it's better to just not respond at all.
What about quietly forwarding the email to the legit tech support mailbox for Toyota, if such a thing exists? Are there problems with that approach (other than the tech support people replying to you instead of their customer).
Re: “I have toyota corola”
#26Turns out that thousands of people every year think they are being super clever by putting my email address in the "From" field. So of course I get zillions of "receipts" for these eCards.
"Sister, I hope you feel better soon"
...is the most popular by far.
I stopped looking at them years ago but there's often some very personal information included and if I were an evil supervillain it would be trivial for me to use a lot of these eCards to blackmail people!
Fortunately for these people there's a highly ethical person at the helm of that email address that filters them all right into the trash.
Re: “I have toyota corola”
#27I've got the feeling I've read this before. Could it have happened to someone else? Or maybe to Daniel himself but under different circumstances?
He previously posted one about someone emailing him about a hacked Instagram after finding his name and the email @haxx.se in the licenses. EDIT: Here's the link: https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2016/01/19/subject-urgent-warnin...
Re: “I have toyota corola”
#28As somebody who has written to companies about bugs in their products (and almost always ignored), I would really appreciate a response even if it was some form letter thing to the effect of "I just make a small component that happens to be used in your car, kind of like the people who make the screws in your car. Please contact your car manufacturer directly." I personally just like knowing somebody read my letter i…
As for "if the customer gets angry at the response, it's fine...", well, what if you're taking the time to reply and then getting angry responses? What a waste of emotional energy.
Personally I'd agree that the correct thing to do is not to reply, there's only so many hours in the day, and there's really _nothing_ he can do to fix anything.
Re: “I have toyota corola”
#29Re: “I have toyota corola”
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've been in that position before, where people would find my e-mail address as a supposed tech support for something I have no relationship with whatsoever. Usually when you tell them they have a wrong e-mail, they get really angry ("I want to talk to your manager!" kind of angry). So it's better to just not respond at all.
What about quietly forwarding the email to the legit tech support mailbox for Toyota, if such a thing exists? Are there problems with that approach (other than the tech support people replying to you instead of their customer).