I have a feeling some of you were expecting good news this month. That is not the case and to some extent it’s a re:run of similar scenario’s with bad outcomes that occur on the web.
Don’t get me wrong, Lipcrack’s Music is still great and the new visitors we’ve reached this past month are a delight to behold when we check back end systems and see who’s given us a moment of time from their day.
When it comes to those companies that are in part an extension of the infrastructure we’ve been using to host and run mail out’s it’s a different story. I hate to say this but the moment someone else has an influence on system operations your business becomes an easy target for malpractice which could be easily described as professional discrimination which causes you some loss. Now that’s not the same as a business that runs at a loss because it just can’t make money. Very different.
TO BREAK THE BAD NEWS
I did mention last month that we received a warning from the mail out company which read’s as follows :
Your current complaint rate is 0.53%. This is measured over the last 4,384 eligible emails you sent, spanning over approximately the last 220.2 days. We expect our senders complaint rates to remain below 0.1%. Senders with a complaint rate exceeding 0.5% risk suspension.
Initially I thought this was in relation to bounces something that was improved to fall within guidelines. Once the account was suspended obviously I took a closer look and just couldn’t believe that the account had been suspended with that type of ratio. Basically if you look at any business out there which runs as a publicly traded company on the share market or private for that matter you’d be lucky to find a company with complaints running at less than 5% that’s 5% not .5%. Realistically that number reads “we don’t want you using our service to run your mail”.
When I took a closer look at it as per the attached image, we’re running at .3% even less than the .53% they mention.
Following that because in actual fact their business deals with the complaints and as they requested further information, (some of it Lipcrack proprietary) as to how I would respond to the complaints, I informed them of steps I would take. All of which I personally believe would keep our customers happier and improve that rate.
Fact is they weren’t interested in that other than perhaps how they could capitalize on that information for their own business. Obviously you have to remain guarded to some extent .
The issues that came up from my point of view were :
1. I receive no information in relation to the nature of the complaint something they were not prepared to address. e.g Is it because they don’t want the mail (we were sending to overseas business groups or was it some other issue e.g in relation to matters listed below.
2. This company is in direct competition in relation to the services it offers online customers and is a publicly traded company. Regardless of what percentage I came in with realistically they were not looking for anything other than a way to keep the mail service unavailable to Lipcrack.
Following that they maintained that the right to disallow mail outs fell under their Terms of Service “Service Terms specifies that this distinction is at the sole discretion of Mail Out company listed”.
Regardless of the fact that mail out’s were in line with the Federal Act in relation to the matter, ( I will admit I could improve the overall letter presentation, which current complaint numbers wouldn’t even justify), the issue of them not allowing others to operate which is a breach of that Act seemed something that they are oblivious too.
The final outcome as I pointed out to them “is that if I were a publicly traded company shareholders would expect me to take them to court”. Fact is I’m not an American Company and I’m not an Australian one. It’s easier just to walk away from the matter for now.
With that in mind obviously given that the process of renewing the account was underway with the current hosting company, I thought “well I can still send mail through them and will take up all issues prior to doing so”.
Unfortunately it’s time for Bad News Section Number 2.
Once again I’ve been fairly guarded when dealing with the hosting company. While realistically I could say, “well their service is great”. I can’t because issues came up which I needed to keep a watch over.
1. When they changed all management systems over to the other server which administers the Control Panel functionality in relation to accounts. While it was explained and to some extent isn’t a bad idea when I went to renew the account theres been issues.
Those issues are :
a) In relation to renewing the Static IP which hosts the site in their panel maintains “the field doesn’t exist”. That tends to read either a programming error, a deliberate deception or a system of process which is questionable in relation to accounts management.
b) Problems resurfacing in relation to the SSL (Security) Certificate on the site and it’s renewal.
In the process of completing this task it came to my attention which had previously been discussed with a technical representative the certificate date was not aligned with the initial time of purchase. They maintained they had no idea why that was the case. As it’s run via accounting and as per additional information which was made available I believe that to be correct. Thing is when the system was changed accounts side, they ended up having to manually enter those accounts which changed the date of the purchase of the certificate as I have been informed. While it is due to expire in the next few days the panel states in a few months from now.
Obviously I’m somewhat dubious to the whole matter because despite being told that another certificate purchase was debited from my account which they did (without my permission (fraud) and refunded it, they say. That’s a rerun of what occurred last time the certificate was purchased for the site so significantly more distrust in the hosting company has resulted at this stage. Fact is some week previous technical support stopped responding to technical requests and some week later I have no idea why that is. I’m aware that mistakes can be made and corrected currently that is not indicated by their actions.
As it stands my credit card was put online which they’d been informed perviously I didn’t want to do but was required for part of one purchase the Static IP which still has not renewed despite the prompt of requesting to do it manually. Other gear that’s not worth going into other than to summarize as…..
1. “There is possibly going to be some issues with the site and the SSL certificate in just over a week.”
2. Mail outs are currently on hold because of problems that have come up even though there is process for maintaining the good complaint ratio. That is not in relation to customers so much as it is to the business groups running mail out companies.
3. Site hosting with the current company appears to have become an issue which may be resolved if further information on their behalf is provided. When the Static IP issues came up information in relation to statistics which monitor the site in relation to recent mail outs showed some questionable figures which were forwarded. As yet there’s been no response. Currently they indicate some questionable hosting practices however that needs to be assessed in relation to the current outstanding matters.
Lipcrack is in a holding position while the implications of all matters are assessed.
That’s the update for the month. The photo update well that tells another story…..
Lipcrack
