Does your ISP let you send "Unlimited Email?"

Better check again.

Okay, let's face it. I'm not an ordinary email user. I literally send THOUSANDS of email messages every week. What does this mean? Well unfortunately, it means I am NOT a desirable customer in the eyes of most ISP's. How do I know? Well, last week I got a call from my ISP telling me that my large quantities of email were tying up their servers. I was told that this activity was not allowed on their servers.

"But you advertise "unlimited access" for $18.95 per month." I replied. Next came an unexpected reply. "We've had abuse reports on your account." My answer to this: "All my subscribers are voluntary. Please email any complaints you have right away so I can investigate." Well, after numerous requests, I never did receive those alleged abuse complaints. Why? Because there were none.

In the meantime I was left without access to my account. Although they would not tell me my account was cancelled, my password no longer worked. Further calls to their support team brought zero response. This confirmed my suspicions. They simply did not want me as a customer any longer.

Perhaps many of you are thinking, "But I thought it was the spammers they were cracking down on?" True, ISP's ARE cracking down on spammers. Unfortunately, many ISP's assume that all high volume email users are practicing unsolicited email. This is simply not true. The ironic part is this: When I signed up with this ISP last year I made it very clear that I had a large subscriber list that I emailed to once per week. They said, "As long as it's not spam, it's fine." What they should have said is, "As long as your subscriber list doesn't get too big, it's fine."

If you work at an ISP and you are reading this now, I would like you to consider a point. Before you advertise "unlimited access", look up the word "unlimited" in the dictionary. My Webster reads: 1. lacking any controls : Unrestricted 2. boundless, infinite 3. not bounded by exceptions.

Although I'd like to reveal the name of the company I've been dealing with, I'll restrain myself. This is not meant to be a personal attack. It is merely an inside view of how lots of businesses operate. They want you as a customer, and to get you they offer "unlimited access". What most of them actually mean is unlimited access for "normal" or "low volume" users. I wonder if any ISP's ever call people who NEVER access their account in any given month and offer them a refund? Yeah, right.

So what advice do we get out of all this? Simple. When you're shopping for a new ISP, be sure to ask them if it's okay to grow your business with them. If they say yes, make sure they know that this means holding them to their promise of "unlimited use".

* Article by Jim Daniels of JDD Publishing. Jim's techniques have helped 1000's of regular folks profit online. Check out his latest book, "Insider Internet Marketing", to learn how you can do the same!