You know, at first I thought this new "auto-delete" feature was going to
be a big help.  After months of dealing with the fallout from it, though, I
have to say that it's simply more trouble than it's worth.  I spend as much or
more time helping people re-subscribe, and explaining why their listserv mail
suddenly stopped, than I would have if I'd just had a few more transient error
messages to deal with.
 
  A typical "auto-delete" headache:  Twice now, a transient hiccup at the
University of Delaware has caused listserv to auto-delete over a dozen
subscribers at once from both of the listservs I manage.  The problem there
is cleared up the next day, but then I have to either let everyone know or
quietly add everyone back on.
 
  But today was the last straw--when I discovered that listserv had two days
ago auto-deleted ME from my own lists!  What's more, it didn't let me, as
listowner, know that I'd been deleted as a subscriber.  Heck, I just thought
the list was going through a quiet period during finals week ;)
 
  Opinions will differ, I'm sure, but from here it looks like "auto-delete"
is one of those "improvements" that must have looked good on paper but turns
out to be a pain in the neck in practice.
 
Patrick Leary
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