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Friday, October 10, 2014

An Open Letter to Microsoft

[This message was also sent via the "Feedback" option in Outlook. The Feedback box had a character limit, so I'm completing my thoughts here. I am nothing if not persistent.]

Dear Microsoft:

In the past two months, your spam filter has turned from relatively reliable to nearly worthless. I now have 500(!!) word-search junk filters set up, and that is still not enough. I wrote to you because 500 filters is your "legal limit," and the garbage keeps coming in. I am not going out to a lot of websites to get my name put on special lists just so I can enjoy the attention of the world's online entrepreneurs. My name and email are in the public domain, so I am just getting bombarded. Your spam filter appears to have given up the ghost unless a junk message runs afoul of a rule that I set up for it. I am an independent contractor, and new business can come in from unknown sources, so I can't just block everyone who's not on my contact list and call it done.

Also, because I have my Outlook tied to my iPhone, I must ask: does the junk filter even work on iPhone? I ask because if a junk mail message hits my iPhone first (as opposed to the webpage), more often than not the message will go to my inbox, not the Junk folder. If the message gets to the website first, it's a tossup as to whether the message will go to Junk or the Inbox.

I am not happy with this situation. I have been using Hotmail for 17 years because the service has been worthwhile. I might stop now.

Bart Leahy
Heroic Technical Writing
Orlando, FL

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