Pass it along

November 13th, 2012

There is a line in a song by the British rock band Chumbawamba that says “Pass it along by word of mouse”   This is not just a great lyric but a statement that pretty much defines our world today.

Within moments of taking a photo, receiving a video, a joke or a special offer, we pass it along to all those folks on our contact list without a moment’s though.  But should we perhaps give it a moment’s thought?

How many of us pass it along without removing the email addresses of those dozens of people who have passed it along to us?  How many of us pass it along to people we barely know without a moment’s thought as to their political or religious views, their workplace email policies or even the validity of the content?

Over the years I have received an awful lot of emails claiming that everybody from Bill Gates to Costco would send me money or a heap of good luck, if I passed their email along to 10 other people.  I have also received emails claiming that particular products in common usage would be fatal to me or my pets or complete strangers that might happen to sniff a hair product that I used.  I have also been told that I have won or inherited millions of dollars.

Obviously these emails have not all been true.  And while most have us have come to that understanding, there are still many people out there that “pass it along” just in case it may be true.

Accent Inns different in a good way

There are a number of websites available where you can check the validity of email claims that you receive.  Snopes,  Scambusters and Hoax-slayer are just a few of them.  If you are uncertain about something that has been passed along to you, you can simply Google the email title along with the word hoax and you will find a number of sites that have checked out the claim and in the vast majority of cases have found them to be false or only partially true.

Of course there are exceptions – if somebody sends you an email telling you about a wonderful stay at Accent Inns, we encourage you to pass that along to everybody you know.  If (Heaven forbid) you receive word about somebody that is not happy with Accent Inns, we ask you to pass it along to us.  We welcome all opportunities to “right the wrong” and also learn from our mistakes.  We’re not perfect but we’re working on it!

Karen England, Regional Sales Manager, Accent Inns