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Does anyone send e-cards? This is the second year I've send e-cards for Christmas, and haven't gotten a single reply. Only one card was even opened! I suspect they go to spam without ever being seen
I keep a subscription with American Greetings, its just $20/year, cheaper than just a few cards and stamps, anyways. I also send other e-cards, such as birthday, Thanksgiving, Easter, etc, etc however, I notice most are not even opened. What's the problem? Do they just go to spam, or people don't open them thinking they are just an ad? BTW, I do take care to send a Happy Holiday or non-religious e-card to those I know are not Christian. I send a nice Seasons Greetings card to those who practice Christmas but aren't very religious.
Perhaps I'm wasting my money....my subscription is up for renewal, its only $20/year but hey, that's $20 I could use for something else....
BTW, I NEVER send a condolence card via e-card. That's one time the effort and expense of an actual card is merited. I always figured----either go to the funeral, or if you can't attend send either flowers or a nice card, depending on your relationship to the deceased family. I don't know where that came from, just one of my "rules for living".
My FIL always does this. I hate to say this, because you may not be this way at all, OP, but I think it is the most thoughtless thing ever. Literally, the place sends the subscriber a message that it's somebody's birthday. Then the subscriber scrolls through the cards or maybe just grabs the first or lowest-price or subscriber-free one, enters your name and the company sends the card. I mean it just means nothing at all. When my FIL does this (and this is the ONLY way he sends us cards) it definitely feels that he could not even be bothered to think about us enough to write a single sentence of his own, much less address and put a stamp on a real card. We're not worth the cost of a stamp or the time it takes to write our name or even to have our name on a current mail list program to print out a label.
I try to open them eventually to show him I did, since the place sends him a message about that too. I used to send him an email telling him I loved the card, and thank you very much, and he wouldn't even answer that. I suppose if the company did the answering for personal emails too, I'd have gotten something back.
It is like...literally the subscriber does not even think about the person. It's kind of offensive that that's how much we mean to this guy. My FIL is the only person I know who does this so he's my example. EVERYBODY else in my life can at least muster the interest to send me two sentences they've written themselves, in an email if not via actual mail.
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BTW, I NEVER send a condolence card via e-card. That's one time the effort and expense of an actual card is merited.
Here's where you nailed it, OP. People KNOW they're not worth the "effort and expense." Therefore, you're not worth the effort of them opening your generic "happy holidays, you're worth less than fifty cents and one mail label" card.
I would say, don't send cards next year. It would actually be less of a bother, IMO, for them as well as you. Only send a card if you really love the person and feel s/he is worth your effort, and in that case make it a real card.
OTOH, thank you for reminding me, OP. Our thoughtful generic ecard from FIL is sitting in my inbox, unopened. Once again, I have to drag myself to open this thing. But I do have to. The company has already sent me a reminder. It does THAT for him too. Sigh. Guess I better open it.
No we do not send ecards besides the fact that not everyone we know is attached to electronics we see no reason to be cheap and generic. Real cards are more personal and the effort to write a note and mail them is much more appreciated and shows our love for those we send cards to.
Well at least I made an effort to reach out to them with a greeting, None of them replied nor initiated a greeting, so who's the cheap, insincere person? And how are the e-cards any different than a "personalized card" sent with a printed label, a printed return address label, and a printed message inside? And I always put a personalized message in my e-cards, specific for the recipient. I really think the e-cards are just not being read. They either go to spam, or they look like and ad and are deleted by the recipient. I think I will cancel my subscription, its not worth $20 to either have my greetings ignored, overlooked, or considered a cheap insult.
Well at least I made an effort to reach out to them with a greeting, None of them replied nor initiated a greeting, so who's the cheap, insincere person? And how are the e-cards any different than a "personalized card" sent with a printed label, a printed return address label, and a printed message inside? And I always put a personalized message in my e-cards, specific for the recipient. I really think the e-cards are just not being read. They either go to spam, or they look like and ad and are deleted by the recipient. I think I will cancel my subscription, its not worth $20 to either have my greetings ignored, overlooked, or considered a cheap insult.
Well, you can argue all this and that's fine, but you can see what the end result was, so either they are all wrong, or this action does come off as uncaring. Either way it doesn't seem like it earned the response you wanted and that probably won't be changing in the future. Therefore, it's up to you whether to keep doing it.
My FIL always does this. I hate to say this, because you may not be this way at all, OP, but I think it is the most thoughtless thing ever. Literally, the place sends the subscriber a message that it's somebody's birthday. Then the subscriber scrolls through the cards or maybe just grabs the first or lowest-price or subscriber-free one, enters your name and the company sends the card. I mean it just means nothing at all. When my FIL does this (and this is the ONLY way he sends us cards) it definitely feels that he could not even be bothered to think about us enough to write a single sentence of his own, much less address and put a stamp on a real card. We're not worth the cost of a stamp or the time it takes to write our name or even to have our name on a current mail list program to print out a label.
I try to open them eventually to show him I did, since the place sends him a message about that too. I used to send him an email telling him I loved the card, and thank you very much, and he wouldn't even answer that. I suppose if the company did the answering for personal emails too, I'd have gotten something back.
It is like...literally the subscriber does not even think about the person. It's kind of offensive that that's how much we mean to this guy. My FIL is the only person I know who does this so he's my example. EVERYBODY else in my life can at least muster the interest to send me two sentences they've written themselves, in an email if not via actual mail.
Here's where you nailed it, OP. People KNOW they're not worth the "effort and expense." Therefore, you're not worth the effort of them opening your generic "happy holidays, you're worth less than fifty cents and one mail label" card.
Well, at least I thought of them, which is more than they did for me. Just open the da**ed thing so I know you received it. It takes no money and very little time & effort to hit "reply" and say something like enjoyed your card.
I would say, don't send cards next year. It would actually be less of a bother, IMO, for them as well as you. Only send a card if you really love the person and feel s/he is worth your effort, and in that case make it a real card.
Also one of the reasons I went to e-cards is that I have severe arthritis in both hands. My handwriting is almost illegible and writing is painful. I thought e-cards would be a nice alternative, guess I was wrong!
Well, at least I thought of them, which is more than they did for me. Just open the da**ed thing so I know you received it. It takes no money and very little time & effort to hit "reply" and say something like enjoyed your card.
I think a few people pointed out that this stuff may just be going to the spam folder. In that case they may not even be seeing it.
Also, when the person hits "reply" to the card she is taken to "In order to reply, join us FOR FREE today! fill out this stuff" area, and nope, most people will not be doing that. Come on. When I have gone out of MY way to answer my FIL's generic greetings, I had to either call, text, or send an email from my email to his. I wasn't about to sign up for American Greetings just to say "thanks for the generic wishes you didn't even have to remember yourself, Dad!" Would you?
You seem really angry...I think what you said about this not being worth your twenty bucks is the bottom line here. Just don't do this next year as it is only causing you aggravation. You can't MAKE someone open your card. That is what it is. I think if you really love someone, call them next year instead. You don't even have to type to do that, much less write. Also, it's odd that you repeatedly say you feel you're wasting effort and time on other people just by acknowledging them, yet you expect an acknowledgement that you sent them something. (???) I don't know...I'm not getting a warm feeling...and I think these people probably aren't getting one either. Really just don't bother next year. It isn't working out. If you love someone, call her. Otherwise, don't bother.
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