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a while back i posted about my feelings about gmail and the report spam feature.  well, i decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.  rather than complain i thought i'd submit a support ticket about the issue and see what they say.

here is what i submitted:

Problem: i consistently get russian spam and despite EVERY time i click report spam on them, they keep coming in...isn't gmail intelligent enough to recognize a pattern and see that my russian email should be flagged as spam?  can't i put a setting to say 'anything non-english is spam for me'

here was their first response:

Providing you with a spam-free inbox is very important to us, so we're continuously working to improve our filtering system. To help with this process, we ask that you report any unsolicited messages you receive in your inbox. To do so, check the box next to the unwanted mail and click 'Report Spam.' If you decide an email is spam after it has been opened, simply click 'Report Spam' along the top of the message.

um yeah, okay, *please* tell me this is an automated response, because if it isn't, then i'm more frustrated.  READ THE FRIGGIN PROBLEM IDIOTS!  i already told you i was using the 'report spam' feature!

my response:

kind of a stock answer -- i have been reporting spam...that's my point. every russian email i get i report as spam -- shouldn't gmail wake up and smell the coffee that it is a pattern i want to repeat and automatically start marking my spam?

and the final response from them:

To help us investigate your situation, please send us the full headers from the most recent message(s) affected by this issue.

yeah, okay, enough with that...i've already wasted enough cycles on them.  why is customer support/service so unsupportive?  seriously.  take a moment to read the issues and intelligently respond.  let's just not use automated scripts and waste each others' time!

and another thing...(this goes to all mobile search operators)...

if i'm on my mobile device, and go to your search engine -- AND YOU KNOW I'M ON MY MOBILE DEVICE, then don't show me regular search results.  here's what i mean.  i'm driving in to work today and needed the number of my dealership to take my car in for service.  (why don't i call 411?  because i pay for internet on my phone and don't feel like paying the $1.50 411 charges.)  i go to google.com first (yeah, i know, why not msft...wait).  it knows i'm on a mobile device and adapts the ui.  i type in my dealership.  it shows me normal results to web pages.  what was i looking for?  well, the number.  they should change it and adapt and make it default to include a clickable link to phone listings that match as well -- that's what i needed...not to navigate through a normal web site on my little pda screen!

so why not msft?  well, i tried it.  i went to mobile.live.com and basically had the same experience.  it was only until i went to the local mobile live.com experience did i get exactly what i needed.  it showed me "local" results first with a "Call" link to the number...then normal web results.  why isn't that the default view?  no idea.  it should be.  mobile means mobile...make the anticipated experience the default one!

Please enjoy some of these other recent posts...

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