A lot of senders get frustrated with the time it can take to get a response from some ISPs. It’s totally understandable, for a lot of companies delivery problems are all hands on deck level problems. They want them fixed and they want them fixed IMMEDIATELY. They want feedback that their issue is being addressed. They want to know someone at the ISP knows there is a problem.

I’ve talked before about visiting my friend Anna and watching her laptop screen explode with IMs from senders who wanted help with an AOL issue. She’s awesome and conscientious and tried to address all of those issues as fast as she could. She did want senders to feel like their issues were important and that someone inside AOL cared about the mail blocks.

I was always a strong advocate for following the official pathways for addressing problems. That was the whole point of the 2009 blog post. These days it’s easier to do than it ever was. Many ISPs have forms and process around handling delivery issues. This is good! In the past getting an answer to “why is my mail blocked” required knowing the right people. Now, it’s not about who you know. The ISPs and filtering companies who are open to senders have postmaster pages, unblock forms and official request channels. Those that don’t have those channels have made certain business decisions to not provide support for senders.

Despite the availability of webforms and knowledge bases and detailed information, a lot of people still think that the only way to get attention or get an issue addressed is to get someone on the phone. It’s not, though.

ISPs have their processes. If you want things handled quickly use those processes. Even in the places where very helpful reps are, they can’t (on order of lawyers and executives) help people unless there is a ticket already open.

Always, always use the recommended processes before trying to find “a real person.” Most of the time your issue can be solved faster if you fill out the form than if you hunt around for a person. In the worst case, all that time will be wasted as the person in question will tell you to fill out the form.