XxEDGExX wrote:
[this is more of an ISP business issue, and there are mailing lists just
for that, but I'll give it a go once here for summary sake, and suggest
that the points be followed up on other lists as appropriate. Much of
the observation here comes from just such discussions on such lists.]
> Honestly, I agree with you 100%, but pointy haired boss's get a strange
> look on their face when you give them the "we'll just get rid of them"
> answer. So, what is an admin to do when your boss doesn't want to remove
> the user, but also doesn't want to be getting 1000 hate mail messages from
> your customers selling the get rich plan.
It's time for the techie to go to the PHB and start talking business.
The summary is that it is NOT in the best interest of an ISP to keep
absolutely 100% of their customers. They should NOT bend over backwards
(or forwards for that matter) to keep every last one of them. Perhaps
the clearer example (to the PHB) will be the slow-pay and no-pay customers.
Accounting and collections can only spend so much effort for such a
customer. You don't spend $100 worth of time to collect $100 worth of
debt. And you most certainly don't try to get that customer to stay with
your service. Let some other ISP deal with their poor payment history.
Abusing your systems is no different. It degrades the service you offer to
everyone else. It costs time. It loses profit (or delays the date of
becoming profitable).
Make a business case. Itemize the time you spent dealing with the spam
effects. Count the customers actually lost for a week or two after that
event and compare to your average customer losage for as much a time.
Don't explain it as technical. Explain it as business ... money ... loss.
> This user was warned, and I did what I could to remove his messages in the
> queue, but I'm still seeing an occassional bounce back. What sucks is a
> lot of these guys don't care what you tell them as long as they're on long
> enough to get their 100,000 messages out the door.
The spammers won't care. In many cases they get an account, and start spewing
overnight, and by 9 AM have written off the account and any more time they get
from it is "icing on the cake". They are not loyal customers, and in most
cases never pay.
Trying to appeal to the customer is pointless. Go for the PHB, or revise your
resume.
--
Phil Howard | [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
phil | [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
at | [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
ipal | [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
dot | [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
net | [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
