From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Thu May 22 09:08:47 2003
Subject:Re: BT Productions (Was: carrying case for Korg BX-3?)

All,

Interesting thread. I bought my BX-3 and ATA road case from Tony at BT, and I've found him to be a stand-up guy, particularly when I have had problems. As another online businessman, I'd like to add $0.02 to this topic ...

>Maybe you didn't type in the email address correctly?
>Maybe it got lost on the way to them?
>Maybe their email system ate it?
>Maybe it got lost in the shuffle?
>Did you try contacting them again?
>Did you try calling them?

This list could easily be twice as long. Now that the Internet is part of our daily lives, we all take the process for granted. However, those of us who understand how Internet email really works are often amazed that it works at ALL! There is no "Email, Inc." that processes your posts. Unlike the phone company or the USPS, email isn't the responsibility of a few large entities. When you send an email to me, you are placing it in a huge network of servers, each one only responsible for a very tiny portion of the email chain. There are literally thousands of points where the process can break down, resulting in unreceived emails. Just because you sent an email is no guarantee that someone at the other end received it. In fact, just because you didn't receive a return receipt on an email is not a guarantee that someone DIDN'T get it. I occasionally get a testy (or even belligerent) email from a potential customer saying that the sender "sent a question last week," and I nev
er replied. The underlying assumption is usually that I'm either not interested in their business, or too lazy to respond. Neither is the case -- I just didn't get the email.

Another thing that messes up the process is spam. I get 40-50 spam messages on an average day, enough that I've had to install anti-spam software on my system. Many ISPs have added similar filters, so your email may be filtered without you even knowing it. Although these programs try to be as benign as possible, the occasionally hold back a legitimate email or two because of wording in the email that makes it look like spam to the program. I try to browse my filtered mail each day, but I might miss a message or two sometimes.

Like most businesses, the music business isn't doing fabulously lately, so I doubt that any vendor is so busy with "famous" clients that he or she doesn't want your business. I know I'm not. I doubt that Tony is.

Regards,

-BW
--
Bruce Wahler
Ashby Solutions™ http://music.ashbysolutions.com
978.386.7389 voice/fax
bruce@ashbysolutions.com