I absolutely agree. Bring back the email system. Although I use IM occasionally, I like to make and receive a first contact through email. I need more than a one liner to decide if communicating with someone is worth the effort. Also, once a "chat" starts it can be hard to break off politely.
If the "Instant" Messaging system is for communicating with people in real time. What are we supposed to use for contacting people that are currently offline? An IM system is not useful for this situation. Yes, you can send an IM to someone offline, but it doesn't make sense to. After all, it is an "INSTANT" message system and most people are not going to be online or leave an app open all the time to answer IMs in real time. - Beast.
So . . . they say "don't share personal contact information . . . ." and then force everyone to do just that! IM sucks, Mail gone . . . . so what site should we all migrate too? Is there a better option than the "new & improved" SLS? Maybe voting with our feet is the only way!
I suspect what this change will do is encourage people to exchange other outside sources of communication, like outside email. It costs nothing to create a new email account for this purpose.
I had posted something similar in a prior post that got deleted. Guessing because it had the word k - i - k in it without the spaces. I've held off on getting it but now may reconsider.
It's not too bad on my laptop where I can compose something and cut/paste it into IM, but it also looks like IM doesn't allow for paragraph breaks like email and the forums do, so it sucks to read a longer message. It also split my message.
I'm kind of surprised the forums haven't gone bye-bye since they are a source of maintenance and probably aggravation for the staff. Perhaps that will be the next "improvement" ;-)
Agree with everyone, Bring the mail back!
Well we are in the same boat as everyone else it would seem. We despise the IM feature and its propensity to increase the volume of one liner and in some cases one syllable introductions. Truly a miserable change for the website and its long time users
As a follow up to my post moments ago I imagine that we will get totally frustrated with the constant barrage of one liners by those that don't even read profiles or worse yet disregard what one's profile says. Now that we are tied into this for another 365 days we will try to stay calm BUT will start to use it more regularly so that in a year we can choose to NOT renew in the event that the mail system is not brought back!!
Bring back mail. IM is a juvenile method of communicating developed for cell phones and used to send spontaneous, short messages. If both members aren't online at the same time to utilize the spontaneous nature of IM, it's both a waste and a nuisance. Adults communication complete thoughts require more space to type/write than is typical in IM message systems and is therefore NOT a substitute for mail. I continue to be amazed that the staff of one of the oldest and largest swinger websites insists on making radical changes to the site and the way users interact on it without any attempt to get input or consensus from its members. The cornerstone of any business is "Find a need and fill it". Whenever a business ceases to closely associate itself with the needs and wishes of its customers, it should not be surprised when, at some future date, the customer finds another business that does (associate itself with the needs and wishes of the customer).
Our subscription coincidently ran out today. I paid the yearly fee first thing in the morning and lo and behold, NO MORE MAIL. Ridiculous way to run a website.
IF a survey is being conducted, or you value ANY of your customers' opinions, please place MY vote to the 'switch' to IM-Only communication as a step backwards. My preference? The way it 'was'!
If this was such a "Great idea" let's hear it from those in favor of it.
Open a post how about it......
I have to say that I'm really surprised that we at least got a somewhat comprehensive instruction page, and they didn't immediately kill the mail system for ongoing conversations, which is frankly what I'd expected.
One thing I'd suggest to everyone is to save your mail messages before they go all Judge Crater and disappear. Screenshots if nothing else.
So we sent this to SLS ‘customer service’: The way you're implementing this is alienating your user base. It's sloppy and came without any notification. If you intend to make money, pull this upgrade and allow some users to beta test for you. Get their feedback and make adjustments. It is the WORST approach to make changes like this. *And here was the reply: **
6/26/2019 9:21am
Anything you need assistance is in the help menu. Sandy - Customer Service
(SLS) 6/26/2019 10:37am****. To us it feels like being completely blown off since they never actually answered the note we sent. Oh well SLS!
IM only system can't truly work through this web based system. It could through iOS or Android apps with proper notification s on place. Everyone else has pointed out various reasons why, like not getting email notification when users don't log in for some time, or just simply missing it. And it's difficult enough for single males to get a reply. This just made it worse.
While we HATED the way SLS sorted mail...it was still better to have/use than IM.
At this point all we can do is shrug
Something else that’s gone with the emails is the ability to send a pre written, instant reply like the “thanks but no thanks” a lot of is rely on. Jumping back and forth to Copy/paste will be a pain in the ass.
Thanks SLS for making things more irritating and difficult.
~rabbit ~
The problem with going elsewhere is SLS has the largest userbase - and SLS knows it. If you're a swinger in the US, this is the site to find the most fish on.
Apps like Bumble and 3fun are predatory and just rake in those subscription dollars. It'd be great if there was something that catered to lifestylers without exploiting us.
-Bring back the mail.
-Fix SLS so that it sends email notices on a timely basis, something every other website manages to do like it ISN'T 1996.
-Get rid of video messaging. Many members don't seem to know what looks good in a still image, the last thing I want is to see what state they're in when they're messaging at all hours.
So instead of FIXING email, you got rid of it. Not good. Not impressed.
Of course monthly paying customers leaving is another story. If they start leaving in droves then they will realize they made a mistake.
This change infuriates us. The IM system barely works in our mobile browsers while mail worked flawlessly.
OK Nature Bugs thanks.
No Mr_and_Mrs_W540 - we never saw a message. Most of our recent messages from others were deleted by the way (not something we did).
Based on their message back to us - we're done with this website when our membership expires. There's not that much difference in price between here and other equally represented places. Loyalty to this place is something we've had for a long time. But the deterioration in quality makes us feel like suckers for spending more effort and money to stay. And we're not happy about moving on, it is their business to run into the ground. Not ours.
Naturebugs, we just tried sending one to you. Did you get it. It does not seem to be working on our end.
