Have you noticed that if you send an e-mail to a Web site address labeled “Info” (for example, info@company.com), you will never, ever hear back from a real person?  It seems that this “Info” address is akin to a black hole, and it’s particularly upsetting if the site lists no other person or entity you can contact with a question or concern.

If companies don’t respond to mail to this address, then why have it there at all?  You could also take this question a step further and ask why even have the Web site?  After all, a critical benefit of the online medium is that it allows a company to have a two-way dialogue with consumers.  Putting up a site with no mechanism for people to communicate with you seems to defeat the purpose.

I’ve gotten burned several times recently by sending detailed messages to “Info” addresses, and I’ve come away with terrible impressions of all of these organizations.  And it set me thinking that there’s a lesson in here for all of us.  When you’re at work and you’re thinking of volunteering to help your boss with a difficult project or asking a roomful of co-workers to provide ideas to incorporate into your new initiative, decide in advance if you really mean it.  Are you just paying these people lip service, or do you really intend to follow through? 

Those of us who offer assistance or request feedback often do so in the spirit of generosity, and at the time, we genuinely intend to keep up the interaction.  But please keep in mind that dropping the ball after you’ve proactively picked it up makes you look worse than if you’d never played in the first place.