Comments on: Hey! Where’s the Contact Info?

By: Janet Johnson

Janet Johnson — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:59:50 +0000

Hi Meryl,

I usually head right to the press section because most companies have a press representative listed on their press releases. Having been in marketing for companies large and small for years, My name was often listed there.

I can attest to getting a ton of inquiries for people, and was generally happy to help out. Especially when email-centric people like you would just ask me to pass along a request for a connection to a colleague.

I agree with you, companies shouldn’t force people to be resourceful in connecting with real people within.

Janet Johnson’s last blog post… Twitter and Business Intelligence

By: Anne Wayman

Anne Wayman — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:58:17 +0000

Well said, and great minds think alike – I said roughly the same thing at http://www.aboutfreelancewriting.com/2008/11/make-contacting-you-easy/

Anne Wayman, now blogging at http://www.aboutfreelancewriting.com

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:36:28 +0000

Hi Meryl,

That’s a good tip for finding an email address (searching for @companyname). I’ll have to keep that one in mind for next time.

Mike

Mike’s last blog post… 300 Movie Scene Done In Lego

By: Meryl

Meryl — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:17:39 +0000

@Karen, we have had bad experiences with T-Mobile and finally switched to another service. Compared to T-Mobile, this service is almost perfect. See past T-Mobile posts, if you dare:

http://www.meryl.net/2006/11/t-mobile-spotty-service/“>Spotty Service

Customer Service

By: Karen Putz / DeafMom

Karen Putz / DeafMom — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:13:54 +0000

T-mobile was so frustrating to reach, both by email and by phone.

I'm going to have to do an audit of my own as I just received info on my contact form saying that I have no email addy on my site-- I guess I have to make it more prominent.

By: Meryl

Meryl — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:04:31 +0000

@Amy, exactly right -- Like you, I avoid the phone. Who wants to go through a voice recording system through the relay. By the time the relay types the directions, the phone hangs up.

@Mike, I agree that some businesses hide it in hopes to encourage folks to find the answer on their own. Unfortunately, the business doesn't realize that some of us do try and it shouldn't be so hard for us to contact them.

I also do a search for @company.com to find email addresses.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:50:13 +0000

You are correct that it is so frustrating when companies don’t include contact information.

A number of large companies try to hide their contact information as a method of cost cutting, hoping that consumers will be able to locate the answer to their question in an FAQ or through another resource.

One of our local companies is notorious for hiding their contact information. It’s not often that I need to get in touch with them, but when I do, I find I need to turn to google and search for “company name + contact” before I find the buried page with the information needed.

Mike’s last blog post… Good Night Eileen

By: Amy Derby

Amy Derby — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 03:12:01 +0000

Hey Meryl… Nothing is more frustrating to me than trying to contact a business and not being able to. It’s SO frustrating that I’ll usually head over to a competitor — and these days, just about every business has a competitor. Who has time to sit around searching for something that should be easy to find?

Also, I like what you say about making different forms of contacting info available. I’m still shocked that in this day and age some businesses don’t have an online contact form or an email address listed for a contact. The phone isn’t exactly my preference.