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https://adamjones.me/blog/dont-use-contact-forms/
Contact forms are almost always worse for users than just putting an email on your website. I explore why they're terrible, why you've done it anyway, and what to do about it.
Why your contact form sucks
Your contact form is completely broken
It's remarkable how many contact forms are just straight-up broken. A WordPress upgrade here, a change to your CRM there, and your contact form silently breaks.
At time of writing, B&Q's contact form just plainly doesn't work1. I am fairly amazed that a retailer with revenues in the billions doesn't notice written queries have stopped coming in.
[...] Contact forms are hard to get right, and often just a worse experience for everyone involved. Go forth and remove your contact form and list your email on your website now!
[Ed. comment: click through and read the lengthy, but hard to argue against, complaints about web-based contact forms]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Freeman on Thursday May 09 2024, @03:57PM (2 children)
A contact form allows someone to enter their complaint/etc at the point where they found how to contact you. Personally, I think it's better to have a Contact Form with a Support E-Mail available.
Still, it's much easier to get customers to give you useful information by prompting them with a form. As opposed to relying on a user to give you helpful information at the start.
While a contact form may not be "ideally the best thing to use". It's better to have one than not, especially for a larger organization. Anything to potentially get better information from your customer on the first communication and to streamline the process is likely better than just giving them an e-mail and hoping for the best.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday May 09 2024, @03:59PM
Having skimmed the article. It feels very much like someone who just hates Contact forms for whatever reason. Sure, there are plenty of ways to suck at making a website, which includes creating horrible Contact forms. That doesn't mean they are inherently bad.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by zocalo on Thursday May 09 2024, @04:29PM
If you're serious about customer support, you'll give your customers the ability to contact you in the manner that best suits them anyway; a webform, email, app (if you have one), social media, even by telephone or post if you want to get old school. If people want to reach out to you, then they usually have an issue they want resolving, so letting them do so in the manner they feel most appropriate not only ensures they can communicate what they need to (maybe they want to attach a photo of the problem?), but also means they are not even further irked by having to jump through what they may feel are additional arbitrary hoops designed to deter complaints.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!