I don't get it, I don't understand how the world's top search engine company and creator of such techno awesomeness can not stop clearly obvious spam from landing in my Gmail in-box every single day.
Does Google really think that I know anyone who's name includes the word "Viagra"?
But what is worse is that there is no simple mechanism for filtering these stupid spams because the Viagra part isn't the sent from email address, its the name in the quotations and the sent from address is, invariably, my own email address which it would be stupid to filter out.
But I can't filter out the quoted sender? Why not?
And I can't just make a blanket filter that scans all email for Viagra and deletes them sight unseen? Why not? This isn't rocket science, or maybe it is, I don't know, I'm not a coder. But it doesn't seem like it should be rocket science. It seems like it should be pretty basic to filter garbage away.
I'm still a very big fan of Google, I like what they do, I like how they do it but this irritating oversight on their part is, well, irritating. Kind of like when they changed how iGoogle home pages were rendered with the ridiculous nav gutter on the left taking up precious screen real estate. No matter how many complaints they've gotten, they didn't allow users to change it back to the tabs. So I've had to install a flippin' Firefox extension to make it the way I want.
Maybe that's the solution with the GMail problem? But it shouldn't be. I shouldn't be looking to third parties for solutions that Google has to be aware of and just hasn't done a damned thing about.
Its dumb and annoying and that's a really short sighted way to treat your customers.
Perhaps Google's mantra should be amended to read "Don't be evil or stupid" but they'll need to work on that second one before they can own it (remember the total fail of the Buzz rollout with no privacy controls? woopsie).
Showing posts with label bad business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bad business. Show all posts
6.08.2010
12.04.2008
Amazon's iPhone App is Bad
I downloaded Amazon's iPhone app last night because I've been using the site more and more lately and thought the app would be a nice addition. Only Amazon did one really stupid thing that is going to make me delete the app. You can turn on 1-Click buying but you can't turn it off.
And 1-Click purchasing is a dangerous and stupid idea if you happen to have kids that play around on your phone. Before you know it, they've spent a hundred bucks on Dora garbage.
Sorry Amazon, but homey don't play like that and you need to address this stupidity in your application.
I won't use 1-Click buying ever, not on Amazon and not on iTunes.
And 1-Click purchasing is a dangerous and stupid idea if you happen to have kids that play around on your phone. Before you know it, they've spent a hundred bucks on Dora garbage.
Sorry Amazon, but homey don't play like that and you need to address this stupidity in your application.
I won't use 1-Click buying ever, not on Amazon and not on iTunes.
11.18.2008
Messing with Sasquatch or Something
Couture gets restraining order against Beard
Actually, taken another way, this is a pretty hilarious headline. But the Couture isn't UFC champion Randy Couture, its his wife, Kim. And the Beard in question is Todd Beard, the president of Affliction Inc., a wannabe MMA promotion that grew out of a t-shirt company. Yeah, if it seems kind of bizarre, it is.
Kim Couture wanted to get some numbers from the accounting department about the sales of shirts featuring her husband, Randy "The Natural" Couture. Beard, apparently felt that her seemingly reasonable request was completely insane and, according to the restraining order, launched a campaign to intimidate, berate and otherwise be a douchebag, including an expletive laden phone call with Kim and her lawyer.
Of course, it almost goes without saying that, because of his extreme response, the accounting was going to show that the Couture's had not been paid what they were owed. Which is to say, Affliction or some person within Affliction was stealing money from the Coutures. And I'm not sure there's any universe where I'd want Randy Couture pissed off at me. Or, the other and less likely explanation is that Todd Beard is such a raging angry man that he flew off the handle at the suggestion of any impropriety on his part. My guess is he'll eventually be found to have been skimming profits for himself
Beard has a history of intimidation and violence and is, from many accounts, a real piece of work.
And, since the original news posted, there's been two new developments.
One, Beard has resigned his position and entered a rehab facility for alcohol abuse and anger management (wow, those group sessions must be loads and loads of fun).
Two, Affliction is attempting to downplay Beard's role with the company.
Actually, taken another way, this is a pretty hilarious headline. But the Couture isn't UFC champion Randy Couture, its his wife, Kim. And the Beard in question is Todd Beard, the president of Affliction Inc., a wannabe MMA promotion that grew out of a t-shirt company. Yeah, if it seems kind of bizarre, it is.
Kim Couture wanted to get some numbers from the accounting department about the sales of shirts featuring her husband, Randy "The Natural" Couture. Beard, apparently felt that her seemingly reasonable request was completely insane and, according to the restraining order, launched a campaign to intimidate, berate and otherwise be a douchebag, including an expletive laden phone call with Kim and her lawyer.
Of course, it almost goes without saying that, because of his extreme response, the accounting was going to show that the Couture's had not been paid what they were owed. Which is to say, Affliction or some person within Affliction was stealing money from the Coutures. And I'm not sure there's any universe where I'd want Randy Couture pissed off at me. Or, the other and less likely explanation is that Todd Beard is such a raging angry man that he flew off the handle at the suggestion of any impropriety on his part. My guess is he'll eventually be found to have been skimming profits for himself
Beard has a history of intimidation and violence and is, from many accounts, a real piece of work.
And, since the original news posted, there's been two new developments.
One, Beard has resigned his position and entered a rehab facility for alcohol abuse and anger management (wow, those group sessions must be loads and loads of fun).
Two, Affliction is attempting to downplay Beard's role with the company.
9.24.2008
eBay Closes in on Complete Idiocy
Techdirt: eBay Moves Closer To Forcing Users To Use PayPal rather than an open payment system. Forcing users to use PayPal will discourage even more people from using eBay. Seems like a kind of stupid move to me.
I rarely use eBay these days because of their ever-increasing fees and hassles. This move will marginalize them all the more.
Customers don't want to be forced to do things a certain way, especially if they've been able to do it that way before. Just like my My Yahoo! home page was upgraded and improved so much I just stopped using it altogether. It was fine, annoying but fine, when they had notices to give it a try. I tried the upgraded pages and hated them instantly. When my regular page was forced into the new system, I cleared off all the content and abandoned it.
eBay seems to be taking a page from the same playbook. Make your business less open, make using it more annoying (can you say double fees?) and you too can watch your market share diminish even more rapidly than if you'd done nothing at all.
Sometimes an improvement means doing nothing at all just as sometimes the best thing to do is to not do anything at all.
I rarely use eBay these days because of their ever-increasing fees and hassles. This move will marginalize them all the more.
Customers don't want to be forced to do things a certain way, especially if they've been able to do it that way before. Just like my My Yahoo! home page was upgraded and improved so much I just stopped using it altogether. It was fine, annoying but fine, when they had notices to give it a try. I tried the upgraded pages and hated them instantly. When my regular page was forced into the new system, I cleared off all the content and abandoned it.
eBay seems to be taking a page from the same playbook. Make your business less open, make using it more annoying (can you say double fees?) and you too can watch your market share diminish even more rapidly than if you'd done nothing at all.
Sometimes an improvement means doing nothing at all just as sometimes the best thing to do is to not do anything at all.
6.28.2008
Why I Never Use Auto-Renew
About a year ago, I was experimenting with different domains to create my photography site. I registered three, I think. And I always make for damned sure not to select anything that auto-renews the domain when it expires because I don't know if I'm going to use it.
I just got an email notifying me that one of the domains I registered has auto-renewed itself for $10. I did not authorize this, I did not want this domain anymore and the company needs to be making this right or I'll be disputing it with my credit card company.
I don't get why these companies think they can do whatever they want, change settings, bill credit cards and the like and they think nobody will notice or care. I noticed and I care.
I'll be giving them one chance to make it right and then I'm going to unload my digital fury on them. Assholes.
I just got an email notifying me that one of the domains I registered has auto-renewed itself for $10. I did not authorize this, I did not want this domain anymore and the company needs to be making this right or I'll be disputing it with my credit card company.
I don't get why these companies think they can do whatever they want, change settings, bill credit cards and the like and they think nobody will notice or care. I noticed and I care.
I'll be giving them one chance to make it right and then I'm going to unload my digital fury on them. Assholes.
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