+magkirk Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 I recently read a couple of comments that messages sent through someone's profile are often not received by them, that it is a very unreliable way of communicating with other geocachers. What about it? Does it not work well? Quote Link to comment
4wheelin_fool Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 It works great. A copy gets sent to TPTB for entertainment purposes. I wonder whose task it is to read them all? Quote Link to comment
Pup Patrol Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 It's worked just fine for me in the past. I haven't done it in quite some time, though. Maybe some people think they are getting spam? I don't know, maybe they just don't want to reply to emails. Quote Link to comment
+mpilchfamily Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 It works fine but most people don't know how to view the messages or ignore them. Quote Link to comment
+JesandTodd Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 I use this feature several times a week. It works just fine... Quote Link to comment
+magkirk Posted November 19, 2011 Author Share Posted November 19, 2011 Maybe kunarion would care to comment? Quote Link to comment
+The Blorenges Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 I think it works fine... as long as the sender ensures that they check the box underneath their email text box, "I want to send my email address along with this message." Then, the recipient can reply directly to them when they click on the 'Reply' button. If the sender hasn't checked that little box and the recipient clicks 'Reply' then their reply email flies off into the ether to the land of <noreply@geocaching.com> never to be seen again by man nor hamster. MrsB Quote Link to comment
+Touchstone Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 I would not characterize it as "often", but on rare occasions I've had an issue or two. Unless there is an alternate system that still preserves the privacy concerns as outlined in the TOU, I wouldn't change things. Quote Link to comment
+GeoBain Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 Maybe kunarion would care to comment? Why Kunarion? Quote Link to comment
+The Blorenges Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 Maybe kunarion would care to comment? Why Kunarion? Probably because I have contacted him/her a threetimes (in english and in swedish), but he/she didn't replied! I really don't know, what to do. The Profile messages don't work. They tend to disappear when you send them, and even more so when someone replies (the TB holder may have answered your email, and you never got it). It's a problem. MrsB Quote Link to comment
+Walts Hunting Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 I have used the profile email many times and never a problem. I would suspect most problems have to do with filters on the received side or maybe the receiver chooses not to answer and says it want received. Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 (edited) Maybe kunarion would care to comment? Why Kunarion? Probably because I have contacted him/her a threetimes (in english and in swedish), but he/she didn't replied! I really don't know, what to do. The Profile messages don't work. They tend to disappear when you send them, and even more so when someone replies (the TB holder may have answered your email, and you never got it). It's a problem. MrsB I captured the effect in progress one day, couple of months ago. I sent a profile message to a member, he sent one to me, neither of us got a message, and neither of us got a notice that the message was sent. I typed the play-by-play right here in the forum, as it happpened (or didn't happen). Documented fact, timestamps, solid evidence, no doubt, it's real*. Still nobody believes me. Which is beside the point. There are so many ways communication can fail around here, you must type your message directly into a log, for the cache or trackable (unless it's for the member's eyes only, in which case, you may still log and mention sending a message). This bypasses mail server problems (or user errors, or anything else that causes a breakdown in communication) wherever they occur. *I also did a nice write-up in a couple of spots in the Feedback Site which has now been shut down. Edited November 19, 2011 by kunarion Quote Link to comment
+GeoBain Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 I have used the profile email many times and never a problem. I would suspect most problems have to do with filters on the received side or maybe the receiver chooses not to answer and says it want received. That's my guess as well. I captured the effect in progress one day, couple of months ago. I sent a profile message to a member, he sent one to me, neither of us got a message, and neither of us got a notice that the message was sent. I typed the play-by-play right here in the forum, as it happpened (or didn't happen). Documented fact, timestamps, solid evidence, no doubt, it really happened. Still nobody believes me. Which is beside the point. There are so many ways communication can fail around here, you must type your message directly into a log, for the cache or trackable (unless it's for the member's eyes only). This bypasses mail server problems wherever they occur. Can we get a link to the thread? I missed it. As a side note, not having seen your thread, you will not get a copy of the message unless you check the box that says you want to receive a copy of it. I have never had problems sending messages via the profile. And as of yet, I've not had anyone not reply to me. However, I do experience that quite a lot in the forums. But that's another issue altogether. Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 However, I do experience that quite a lot in the forums. But that's another issue altogether. You get ignored like me when you post a helpful message? Quote Link to comment
+GeoBain Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 However, I do experience that quite a lot in the forums. But that's another issue altogether. You get ignored like me when you post a helpful message? I found it. LINK For a few days anyway. A lot of folks don't see the message indicator here. (And yes, I suspect some ignore me on purpose. You know who you are. ) Quote Link to comment
+The Blorenges Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 Oh... come on... I read every word you guys type. A veritable fount of useful information. MrsB Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 (edited) However, I do experience that quite a lot in the forums. But that's another issue altogether. You get ignored like me when you post a helpful message? I found it. LINK For a few days anyway. A lot of folks don't see the message indicator here. (And yes, I suspect some ignore me on purpose. You know who you are. ) Can you find the old "new and improved" Feedback site (the recently gone version)? I can't find any posts or anything about this effect (I had all the appropriate links and stuff there). Next time it crops up, I'll perform it live again. Pay attention if you enjoy that sort of thing. I really only did it for the purpose of watching it in action (members not getting profile messages). I thought for sure it was a box not clicked or Spam folders not set up or people deleting messages accidentally or on purpose. Something dumb that people were doing that makes messages go boom. Until I could actually see messages evaporating, I chalked it up to operator error. If there's a message problem, there's nothing in the universe I can do about it... even if I prove it happens (which I'm pretty sure I did). I merely did it for my own edification, your results may vary. I know, I've heard that "it works for everybody" (despite hundreds of forum posts around here like "I sent a message and got no reply!!"). Go ahead and do it as you see fit, but if you don't get a reply, try a more direct route. Edited November 19, 2011 by kunarion Quote Link to comment
+GeoBain Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 I know, I've heard that "it works for everybody" (despite hundreds of forum posts around here like "I sent a message and got no reply!!"). Go ahead and do it as you see fit, but if you don't get a reply, try a more direct route. Ahhhh, grasshopper, "I sent a message and got no reply!" is not the same as "I sent a message and it was never received." Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 (edited) I know, I've heard that "it works for everybody" (despite hundreds of forum posts around here like "I sent a message and got no reply!!"). Go ahead and do it as you see fit, but if you don't get a reply, try a more direct route. Ahhhh, grasshopper, "I sent a message and got no reply!" is not the same as "I sent a message and it was never received." Yes, that was my theory as well. Which is one reason I put it to the test. But if you send a message and get no reply, it doesn't matter where the breakdown happened. Place the message into a log note, and you're done. As a bonus, messages get sent (because it's working fine). If we can all agree that it's working fine now, maybe some behind-the-scenes update happened, then let's drop it. I promise to stop telling people it's broken, since it's not broken now. It got fixed. It doesn't even matter if it ever was broken, because it's not. It's ancient history. So that's settled. And pay attention, cause next time I'll perform it live again. Edited November 19, 2011 by kunarion Quote Link to comment
+GeoBain Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 I know, I've heard that "it works for everybody" (despite hundreds of forum posts around here like "I sent a message and got no reply!!"). Go ahead and do it as you see fit, but if you don't get a reply, try a more direct route. Ahhhh, grasshopper, "I sent a message and got no reply!" is not the same as "I sent a message and it was never received." Yes, that was my theory as well. Which is one reason I put it to the test. But if you send a message and get no reply, it doesn't matter where the breakdown happened. Place the message into a log note, and you're done. As a bonus, maybe messages get sent. If we can all agree that it's working fine now, maybe some behind-the-scenes update happened, then let's drop it. I promise to stop telling people it's broken, since it's not broken now. It got fixed. It doesn't even matter is it ever was broken, because it's not. So that's settled. And pay attention, cause next time I'll perform it live again. Since the other feedback site is no longer available, can you repeat your methodology here? Quote Link to comment
+NanCycle Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 Still nobody believes me. Which is beside the point. I believe you. I have no idea what you're talking about, but I believe you. Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 (edited) Since the other feedback site is no longer available, can you repeat your methodology here? That site's still there, or it was. What's the URL? I hoped it hasn't been wiped. One day someone mentioned his messages were going into limbo. I thought, "yeah right, let's see what he's doing wrong", and I sent him messages, he sent some to me. No messages, no notices arrived on either end. That's not possible if it "works fine". We were on two different ISPs, which makes it less likely it was an ISP issue. At least one of the test messages did get to me a few days later. We sent email directly to each other at that time, as well (those worked fine). I think that about covers the stuff I tried. If an email remains in limbo floating in the Interweb, any servers will eventually discard it. The way GS works, profile message email is not returned undeliverable ("bounced emails"), it's killed. My theory is the messages were somehow trapped inside GS mail servers (and so there's the limbo thing, time limited to delete at some point), but I actually can't tell what was going wrong. It's all well beyond what I can do. I just wanted to see if it was something simple that the guy needed to change. Edited November 19, 2011 by kunarion Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 Still nobody believes me. Which is beside the point. I believe you. I have no idea what you're talking about, but I believe you. Stop that!!! Quote Link to comment
Pup Patrol Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 Serendipity. The system was never "broken" for us. As I said, it always worked just fine. And just now we received a very nice email through the system again. I'm going to use the system to thank the person for their email. Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 (edited) Serendipity. My real concern was, if someone writes to me, they never know I didn't get the message. But if the system is working, all is well, since I can be confident that the lack of a message simply means none was sent. One of my ideas was to have an indicator on the web site when someone attempts to send me a Profile message. But I don't remember actually posting that on the Feedback site due to the fact that now that I think about it, it seems pointless and silly to suggest (if the actual message can't itself be shown on the site). Did I ever mention how sweet the message system is? I don't know what I was thinking. I hope nobody got the impression that there's an issue, because there's certainly not. Boy is it nice. It works fine. Wow, I love it. Sweet! Edited November 19, 2011 by kunarion Quote Link to comment
Pup Patrol Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 My real concern was, if someone writes to me, they never know I didn't get the message. But if the system is working, all is well, since I can be confident that the lack of a message simply means none was sent. One of my ideas was to have an indicator on the web site when someone attempts to send me a Profile message. But I don't remember actually posting that on the Feedback site due to the fact that now that I think about it, it seems pointless and silly to suggest (if the actual message can't itself be shown on the site) You're right, that is a concern. I wasn't looking at it that way. Sorry. Very true, I have no idea if someone tried to contact me, if the system has failed. I only know about the emails that got through the system. And the option of sending a copy of the email to yourself doesn't help much, does it? You know, there is the "new" feedback forum, where features can be requested: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showforum=8 Quote Link to comment
knowschad Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 I think it works fine... as long as the sender ensures that they check the box underneath their email text box, "I want to send my email address along with this message." Then, the recipient can reply directly to them when they click on the 'Reply' button. If the sender hasn't checked that little box and the recipient clicks 'Reply' then their reply email flies off into the ether to the land of <noreply@geocaching.com> never to be seen again by man nor hamster. MrsB Thanks for saving me the time. This is the real issue. Somebody gets an email, they think they replied to it, but it goes to the noreply address. Quote Link to comment
+power69 Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Given up on this as nobody ever writes back. only time i use it now is if someone initiates contact through it first. Quote Link to comment
+larryc43230 Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Given up on this as nobody ever writes back. only time i use it now is if someone initiates contact through it first. My experience is very different. Might be a regional thing. I'd estimate that I get a 95% response rate when I send a message to someone, even a total stranger, when I send them a message through their profile. --Larry Quote Link to comment
+JesandTodd Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 (edited) My real concern was, if someone writes to me, they never know I didn't get the message. But if the system is working, all is well, since I can be confident that the lack of a message simply means none was sent. About a month ago, I sent an email requesting a small hint on puzzle to the CO. I had solved the puzzle, came up with a solution (which was the hardest part of the puzzle) but didn't know how to convert the answer to numbers. I simply asked if I was on the right track. No reply. I found it strange. Even if you replied with, "sorry, I don't give hints" it would be better than no response. This is a measly 2.5 puzzle, and since I'm new to puzzles, I just don't have a big list of puzzle-solving tools under my belt. I now wonder if he just didn't get my email? To be completely honest, this is the ONLY time I've ever had someone ignore a simple request for help. It just seemed strange. Given up on this as nobody ever writes back. only time i use it now is if someone initiates contact through it first. My experience is very different. Might be a regional thing. I'd estimate that I get a 95% response rate when I send a message to someone, even a total stranger, when I send them a message through their profile. --Larry Same here. I email people using the system all the time! I had nothing but success with people emailing me back, and usually within a few hours! (with my one exception above) Edited November 20, 2011 by JesandTodd Quote Link to comment
+The Blorenges Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Given up on this as nobody ever writes back. only time i use it now is if someone initiates contact through it first. Feel free to sent a test message to us via our profile. I promise to send a reply... if it arrives! MrsB Quote Link to comment
+JesandTodd Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Given up on this as nobody ever writes back. only time i use it now is if someone initiates contact through it first. Feel free to sent a test message to us via our profile. I promise to send a reply... if it arrives! MrsB I sent you a test message 30 mins ago, just when you posted this.... Quote Link to comment
+The Blorenges Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Given up on this as nobody ever writes back. only time i use it now is if someone initiates contact through it first. Feel free to sent a test message to us via our profile. I promise to send a reply... if it arrives! MrsB I sent you a test message 30 mins ago, just when you posted this.... Safely received... and replied. (Slight delay in sending reply due to daughter on the phone requiring Motherly advice on some cooking utensils! ) MrsB Quote Link to comment
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