On Sun, 9 Jul 1995, Kathleen Bruce wrote:
> Hi. Sorry if this question has been posted before. I am co owner of a list
> with 200+ subscribers. We have a LOT of problems with AOL subscribers
> getting full mailboxes. With the help of our sysop, we have now set ALL AOL
> subscribers to DIGEST in order to reduce the number of bounced messages.
> Does anyone else have a problem with this? And other solutions?  Right now,
> with vacations and such, we have our hands full with errors.
 
With all the hoopla about the "information superhighway" the past few
years, and all the new "service providers" popping up you are going to see
more of this, not only on AOL.  These new people are totally clueless as
to how things work and what happens when they decide they're too busy to
check their accounts, which they've used to sub to 20+ "neat" lists.
 
Don't set them nomail, delete them and be sure you have confirmed
subscriptions.  They'll get tired of resubscribing and keep their accounts
clear, or they'll say forget it.  If they give up that easily they're
probably going to try to sign off anyway once the novelty wears off and
they realize that trying to keep up with all those lists is *work*.
They'll settle down to just a few lists they're truly interested in.
 
Lectures don't work, nomail doesn't seem to either, but if you keep
deleting them when their accounts overflow they'll eventually get the
message.  May seem cynical and hard-hearted, and I don't like doing it
myself, but I do do it.  If you have to deal with hundreds of error
messages every day you look for what works on a practical basis.
 
And keep in mind the enormous amount of net resources wasted by the
error messages generated by those who consistently let their accounts
overflow.  If you can reform them you're serving the entire net.
 
Delete 'em.
 
Douglas
       Douglas Winship   Hays County, Texas  [log in to unmask]
                    Secondary AUTOCAT Listowner
                              MEDLAB-L