BrianKrebsDec 8

via Hackernews. It really is comical the lengths to which companies will go to avoid being contacted by their customers.

What the fuck is a ‘fuck off contact page?’

"A “fuck off contact page” is what a company throws together when they actually don’t want anyone to contact them at all. They are usually found on the websites of million or billion dollar companies, likely Software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies that are trying to reduce the amount of money they spend on support by carefully hiding the real support channels behind login walls. These companies tend to offer multiple tiers of support, with enterprise customers having a customer success manager who they can call on this ancient device we call phones, whereas the lower-paying customers may have to wrangle various in-app ticket mechanisms. If you solve your own problem by reading the knowledge base, then this is a win for the company. They don’t want to hear from you, they want you to fuck off."

https://www.nicchan.me/blog/the-f-off-contact-page/

The f*** off contact page - Nic Chan

How to get people to NOT contact you

Show threadBrianKrebsDec 8
By extension, a lot of these same companies with "fuck off" contact pages tend to also hide how to get in touch with them if you're a reporter, directing all inquiries to a generic address like info@ and omitting any email addresses or phone numbers from press releases.
Show threadCatelliDec 8

@briankrebs I just ran into this trying to figure out hiya.com

Ironically, because our corporate outbound phone number is registered as spam, preventing us from contacting our customers.

The solution to this problem is supposedly a company with a "Fuck off contact page"

Show threadDarrenDec 8
@Catelli @briankrebs in my experience most companies outbound semi automated dialing services are spam operations. I get maybe low single digit numbers of inbound calls from companies a year that I actually authorized. it’s quite shocking now to answer a call from an unknown number and it actually be useful.
Show threadKévin ⏚Dec 8

@dplattsf @Catelli @briankrebs this can happen regularly, most enterprise voip providers resell Twilio’s access and number pool. Those numbers can have been assigned to a number of other resellers, some less reputable than others.

These services also recycle numbers more rapidly which increases the chances of getting a dirty number.

I’ve even received numbers recycled mid campaign, so you can imagine 400 of not my client calls blowing up a clients line

Show threadCatelliDec 8
@kc @dplattsf @briankrebs As far as I know, we've had this same outbound number for over a decade. It's our office number, and it's our phone system. I'm not certain because I don't know how the pool of lines was setup (or if it's been changed) but this is is just a traditional office number for a facility that has been around since before the internet and VoIP. Hell, since before cell phones. I was just trying to register our number with our firm as was suggested as a solution to the "marked as spam" problem.
Show threadCatelliDec 8
@kc @dplattsf @briankrebs All beside the point really. I just found it hilariously good timing to read that post about "fuck off contact" pages as I just experienced it within this context. I can't even talk to them to find out if their service applies to our situation.
Show threadDarrenDec 8
@Catelli @briankrebs @kc I think one of the quiet victims of that kind of thinking is product quality. There are actual people out there who could help you improve your service and generate more revenue, but they have no way of reaching you.
Show threadDarrenDec 8
@kc @briankrebs @Catelli twitter once upon a time served as a back up customer service portal, but those days are long gone
Show threadKévin ⏚
@dplattsf @briankrebs @Catelli I remember the days, twitter contacts were always the worst
Dec 8 at 7:43pmWeb
Show threadDarrenDec 8
@Catelli @kc @briankrebs actually found the opposite - no point contacting airline support line but @ their social media account with a complaint and they would call you (fun till all the spam bots piled on and started reaching out to „help“ you) but for a brief moment in time, public shame got the job done.