We used to have the following on our jobs page, to try and let people know what to expect: "If you send us your resume, we'll try to get back to you within 5 business days if there's interest. (We'd love to be able to respond to everyone, but we're pretty swamped with email every day.)"
We realised, of course, that this led to a pretty crummy experience (as your friend found out, sorry!). Not everyone saw that message, and those that did likely still wondered if anyone had actually seen their application.
We recently removed that message from our site, and now respond individually to each email (typically within 24 hours) to confirm receipt and let the sender know when we expect to have reviewed their application by. We definitely appreciate the effort that many applicants go to, and want to keep people much better informed throughout the process (we learnt our lesson on this!). Please pass on my apologies to your friend!