No easy answer. You don't want to reward people for not going through appropriate channels. For that reason, I disagree with the guideline that says "Whenever you can address the user's comment within the text of your reply, you should do so".
On the other hand, unanswered tech support like comments leave the impression that there are problems, and the developer doesn't care. People thought that long before replying was ever a possibility. Users more often read the comments than they do the description, and quite often regard them as the gospel truth. Someone comments that "Don't work on my HTC One", and I can expect messages from other users asking when I plan to release a version that is compatible with the HTC One. Perhaps a middle ground is a response like "There is an article about this at the help desk. If it doesn't help, please contact us there." Enough of those and people get the idea. Nathan On Monday, May 13, 2013 8:02:55 AM UTC-7, b0b wrote: > > > One thing I've observed recently is that reponding to comments to help > users is a recipe for getting more comments with low ratings. > > I'll explain. > > Responding to comments that are in fact support requests, will trigger > more support requests. > And since people seek developer attention, they will not hesitate to > attach a bad rating to their comment just for that. > > Conclusion: I'm more and more reluctant to respond to support requests > (which frankly, have nothing to do with the purpose of comments). > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
