1. Our cgi software requires a valid email address for all online ad submissions. The software will not allow you to submit an ad without an email address. As soon as you submit your ad, the software sends an automatic email reply to the email address you enter. If the email address is invalid, or if it is blocked by your ISP for any reason, we will not accept your ad (make sure you get upper/lower case right, too, as some mail systems are sensitve to this. If you don't receive our automatic reply shortly after you submit your ad, then you know something is wrong.) If you do not have an email address, you can still get in touch with us by postal service: FPS, Box 234, Sierra Madre, Calif. 91025 USA.
2. Usually we try to post new ads within a few weeks of receiving them. However, since we get a lot of ads, sometimes there is a backlog in posting them of up to two or three months. If it has been less time than this since you entered your ad, we might still post it. If your ad is too long (over 60 words), or if it has a lot of spelling or gramatical errors, we will have to do extra editing, which could delay it. (Sometimes ads that are too long get over shortened to less than 60 words, since I can't take the time to get them to exactly 60 words.)
3. Perhaps your ad did not specify your country or (for US) state. We really prefer that you include your full mailing address in the info ahead of your ad text. That is so we can print your postal address when we print the ads in an upcoming newsletter. If you don't want us to print your mailing address, you can leave it out, but please be sure to include your country or (for US) state.
4. Your ad states that you only want postal mail correspondence, but you do not have a post office box address. If you also have restrictions on your email address, we cannot post your ad on our web page nor in our printed newsletter. (You may want to consider our customized service; send us a letter or email with your postal mailing address and a request for information.)
5. There was some other error in your ad which we don't know how to correct. Normally we do correct obvious errors when we check the ads, but if something doesn't make any sense to us we may just omit the ad instead. Please be careful when you enter your ad. The less editing we have to do the faster we will place your ad.
6. Possibly you do not qualify for a free online pen pal ad. You are not a gay (or bi) male, not age 18 or over, or are in prison. We get a fair number of these, and although our custom pen pal service can accomodate them, our free online ads cannot (You may also try our free online matchmaker page, http://www.coolfriend.net). Or, your ad may have been completely off base -- we get a few of these, too -- explicit sexual content, gay bashing, or ads for a business: we won't post or publish these at all.
7. If after 3 or 4 weeks we still haven't placed your online ad, and if you are sure you qualify (re. above) then please place it again. Remember, too, we usually have more than one page of ads. And we will remove our older ads pages from time to time. If your ad is scheduled to time out we may try to send you an e-mail about it. You are welcome to continue to run/ resubmit your online ad as long as you like.
In all of these cases, we would like to send you an email about the problem, but we usually don't have the time, and anyway, experience has proven that most of the time if we do send such an email message about a problem with an ad, we receive no response. Therefore, it is really up to you to be sure you qualify, and to get it right.