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Hi Ms. Netiquette,
I have a question. I have a friend on my Friends List who loves to pass on chain letters. One day I logged in to find two chain letters in my inbox from a player I have never met. So, I messaged a player who I have become good friends with, and she told me she did not know this player either. So, I just ignored it. Then the next day there were more, so I deleted them and went on my merry way.
Eventually it just became annoying, so I messaged her asking her “please stop as I do not know you and if you keep doing this I will report you to Pogo.”
Now, my question is this: is it true that chain letters are against Pogo’s Terms of Services? And did I seem threatening? I did not know her and it’s obvious she got my name off the forwarding message.
Please help.
I Don’t Want to Report
| Dear I Don’t Want to Report,
To be sure, taking names off of one chain letter so that you may use it in your own chain letters is the epitome of poor manners. The player who did this did not take your privacy into consideration at all, so it should not surprise her to hear from you, and I suspect others. It sounds like you were blunt, but polite, and also stern. You said “please”, explained that you did not know her, and let her know that there would be consequences if she were to continue to send you forwarded e-mails. It sounds like she got the message, so the interaction was successful. While I always encourage people to be as polite as possible, in cases where you are dealing with someone who takes such liberties with e-mail addresses, I don’t think one need spend a great deal of time crafting a super polite message. In fact, I think being polite, but short and to the point gets the message across just fine. As for whether or not it’s a Terms of Service violation – it is. Or, rather, it can be. There are players who do enjoy sending and receiving “chain” e-mails and so long as they keep these messages within their circle of friends, it’s likely they’ll never be reported. However, if you are the recipient of an unwanted forwarded message, then I recommend you do as you did and communicate once with the offending player, and then if the behavior continues, report it. |
Good afternoon, Nettie,
Hope you are enjoying your tea. (I prefer cocoa myself). I have a question.
About a week ago I reported a player for profanity and rudeness. I know that the report was received because I got an email in my Pogo box stating that it was, then another saying that my report had gone to “level 1”.
My question is, am I going to hear back again with a resolution? I totally understand if that is NOT the procedure, to inform me of it, that is. I just was wondering, because after the first 2 messages, I have not heard anything else.
Thanks, Nettie. Keep up the good work.
Just Wondering
| Dear Just Wondering,
Indeed, you are correct in your assumption. It is company policy not to discuss customer’s accounts with those who are not the owners of the account. So, while we do send messages to folks who make reports, we won’t discuss what actions were taken. But, I can tell you that if the Abuse Report was valid, the player likely had one of three things happen – a warning, a suspension, or an account shut-down. |
Dear Ms. Netiquette,
“Confused Congratulator” is the one who is completely wrong here. She was wrong to be annoyed that the other team “deliberately” caused her side to lose their bid.
Why would she expect her opponents to do anything else? They are supposed to try to keep her from making her bid – if they didn’t they would be trying to lose the game and I assume most people play games to win, politely of course. For one opponent to congratulate the other on achieving this goal is perfectly acceptable, normal behavior.
I think “CC” is just a sore loser and is trying to justify it by claiming her partner was rude to congratulate her when they did the same thing later in the game. It was nice of her partner to congratulate her and it was nice of her opponents to congratulate each other. Pinochle is no different than other card games where one side gets a bid and the opponents try to keep them from making it, bridge for example.
Unconfused
| Dear Unconfused,
I’d like to thank everyone who wrote, both on the Message Boards, and with letters. Nearly all of them stated what you’ve said in your letter. I will cut Confused Congratulator some slack if she’s fairly new to the game. I’m more inclined to believe that she was simply not used to seeing the behavior she described and mistook it for being rude. |
