Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Blue Velvet said:
To say a simple 'thanks' to people who take the time out to respond to your queries and pleas for help?

Is it so damned difficult to acknowledge the time and effort that many forum members put into answering your questions that have been answered so many times before?

So you post your problem here and elsewhere, culling the best advice, subscribing to threads here and in other forums, and you never reply just to say 'thanks'. Or you start arguing with those who are trying to help you out...

Ungrateful little wretches.


Well you can count me out of this. I really don't expect a thank you, nor do i desire one.

I help people when i can - its the cycle of messageboard life - help and get helped. It really isn't important in the grand scheme of things.

Many times i have gone right out of my way to help someone on the forums, sometimes i get a huge thanks and sometimes nothing - either way, i know that it helped. thats all that really matters.
 
Blue Velvet said:
To say a simple 'thanks' to people who take the time out to respond to your queries and pleas for help?

Is it so damned difficult to acknowledge the time and effort that many forum members put into answering your questions that have been answered so many times before?

So you post your problem here and elsewhere, culling the best advice, subscribing to threads here and in other forums, and you never reply just to say 'thanks'. Or you start arguing with those who are trying to help you out...

Ungrateful little wretches.

I completely agree. Etiquette is important. The rules of asking for help are fairly simple. Be polite and grateful, for two reasons. 1. You want other people to be polite and grateful when you give them help. 2. A bad reputation travels faster than light.

That said, I try hard not to expect politeness or gratitute b/c then I can be pleasantly surprised every time I receive it.
 
Sorry if i offended some here. I find it hard to lust sometimes answer in a simple way.

Blue, I am sorry if in some way my response was the reason behind your request for closure of a recent thread. My post was really meant in the sense of a fellowship.
 
It's nice to know that your help is appreciated but it seems that most people don't appreciate help, they demand it. It's the microwave generation, for certain. "What's the magic word?" "NOW!"

The usual reason I've seen for saying "thank you" at MacRumors is to increase the post count. I'm cynical, of course, but one person had something like 30 "thank you" posts in threads where he'd not even asked anything. :D

Several people had said Thanks in Advance or at least, TIA, in the original post. That says a lot for how they feel.
 
Chip NoVaMac said:
Blue, I am sorry if in some way my response was the reason behind your request for closure of a recent thread. My post was really meant in the sense of a fellowship.

No... not at all. Something else entirely. :confused:

Chip, you gotta lighten up. :D

And yeah, thanks in advance is cool. But you and I know these are not the people we're talking about.
 
eva01 said:
Dear god do i hate receiving thank-you notes, notice it is some generic stupid card and throw it in the trash within about 8 seconds.

People probably think that is horrible for me to do but i just hate them.
That tends to be the reason I don't like sending thank you cards, but don't mind calling the person. That being said, I guess it would be tacky for me to send people that post helpful replies e-cards (or maybe I could start my own little cottage industry...)

While I think more along the lines of the people that view "thank you"s as post builders and filler (especially when a good discussion about the original topic has started), I hope that my generic thank you below can convey my appreciation for your help and show that I am not doing it just to build my post count :D
 
Applespider said:
Generic cards with a scrawled name under a printed 'Thanks' and I'd agree.

Handwritten message inside telling me that they liked the gift and they're putting to use for x purpose make me feel good, particularly if I went to a lot of effort to select it ;)

Yes that is true the only thank-you card i took to heart is when i had donated 20 dollars to a Doctor's father that passed away at the hospital to the cancer center. The entire lab gathered over 300 dollars for the cancer center and the Doctor sent thank-you notes handwritten to everyone that donated.

It felt nice and the doctor has always been a friend of mine and it was the least i could do to help.
 
Applespider said:
Generic cards with a scrawled name under a printed 'Thanks' and I'd agree.

Handwritten message inside telling me that they liked the gift and they're putting to use for x purpose make me feel good, particularly if I went to a lot of effort to select it ;)

I certainly wasn't referring to a generic thank you. I mean, I still think that's one step above no thanks at all, but I don't particularly agree with that.

That's why I prefer the blank "Thank You" notecards over the generic message ones--no temptation to make it impersonal. If you're going to send a thank you and pay the postage for it you might as well make it worth your (and their) while and let them really know what you're thankful about.
 
Lacreo said:
Is that new? I never noticed it before this thread started.
Now you never have to say "Thank you" again!
How clever. :cool:
I used to have a quote that I heard somewhere but couldn't remember the source - "People expect too much and give too little. That's why they are always complaining" (now if I ever change back, I've got an archived copy :)).

I figured that was the best way to make sure that I never forget to say thank you. Although I hope no 3rd graders read it...could be too formal :p Maybe someone could suggest something more friendly?
 
CanadaRAM said:
My pet peeve is posters who post a hoplessly generic question - without any background or context, or machine, or software, or version --- and then don't bother to return or reply to those who ask for more details in attempts to help them... Blech. Makes me want to teleport a wet mackerel through the IP lines and slap them with.
It's usually clear to us what basic information is needed to get started helping somebody, but many newbies lack that knowledge too. For example, they bought a Mac for the first time and want to use spellcheck in their word processing. So they post and say only "How do I do word processing with spellcheck?" They might not realize that we'll want to know which Mac OS they are using, which word processing application they have in mind, or, if they haven't yet thought about which application yet, what software came with their Mac.

As for never replying to questions, perhaps they posted the same question in a dozen online forums simultaneously and got the answer elsewhere. Just a theory, but maybe it explains some of those cases.
 
mad jew said:
I'll email you the widget. :p

Ha! I knew it! :p


Doctor Q said:
As for never replying to questions, perhaps they posted the same question in a dozen online forums simultaneously and got the answer elsewhere. Just a theory, but maybe it explains some of those cases.

That sounds like it could be a reasonable explanation. I'm not so much bothered by people not saying thank you, but it would be nice to know if their problem was actually solved.
 
Oryan said:
I'm not so much bothered by people not saying thank you, but it would be nice to know if their problem was actually solved.
And to have the answer posted in the thread for others who, in the future, have the same question and find the thread by doing a forum search.
 
Well I always try to use my best manners around here, though I must admit that I'm a "thanks in advance" type of person. I just find that sometimes if I've asked a question and then don't come back for a few days just saying thank you is kind of like bumping/spamming for no reason.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.