Comments on: Avoid These 4 Unforgivable Email Grievances

By: crest whitening strips

crest whitening strips — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 22:47:00 +0000

I haye being told to forward an email or else ………………………..

By: teeth whitening kits

teeth whitening kits — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:45:00 +0000

Manners maketh the man – nothing wrong with saying thank you

By: Diane Shelleby

Diane Shelleby — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:05:00 +0000

I loathe when people send me an “chain” email that I MUST forward to 7 or so people including the sender. They are always corny and superstitious. Nothing makes me hit the “delete” button faster.

By: icewhips

icewhips — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 10:30:00 +0000

LOL! I love what you hate. It irks me when there is NOT a full blown signature with full contact info. Otherwise, I would have to waste my time doing the extra steps to look it up in a contact list within a separate software program. I work in shipping logistics, so I always need addresses and contact info.

By: Maria

Maria — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 19:14:00 +0000

Very true. Some emails become so long winded that I often scan and miss important details that are buried in the excess.
Also, in response to those who don’t like sending “thank you” emails, may I suggest just putting the “Thank You” in the subject line so the recipient knows they are being thanked without having to open the email?

By: Henrietta Jones

Henrietta Jones — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:14:00 +0000

Read receipts are important to cover yourself. Someone will look stupid saying that he/she did not receive an email when you have a read receipt from him/her for that very same email.

As an admin, I appreciate a “thank you” email, especially since this is the type of position that is prone to being taken for granted.

What if someone someone seemed to have copied everyone in the world calling you out in an e-mail (when it isn’t necessary)? You better believe that I am going to hit “reply all” in response.

By: Missjanep21

Missjanep21 — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:22:00 +0000

I agree! OMG!

By: Missjanep21

Missjanep21 — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:16:00 +0000

I like the one about the “High Importance.” It comes off arrogant if it’s from outside the company and is a major turn off. Also, what do you think about people who more into e-mail correspondence than phone correspondence?

By: Mreneedesign

Mreneedesign — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:43:00 +0000

I agree with all of these but I do think a thank you email is ok if not used in excess. The most annoying email habit to me is when someone copies themselves on the email. What a pointless practice. It doesn’t make me email any faster or make me feel obligated to respond.

By: Teeth Whitening Kits

Teeth Whitening Kits — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 13:44:00 +0000

funny, it gets to me too when people simply reply with a thank you, knowing they recieved the message by notification is all i need!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:51:00 +0000

Oh yes, pain felt! All of our other coworkers used to complain about it too.

By: Frustrated

Frustrated — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:49:00 +0000

I HATE this and have a coworker that does it to me all the time. I just needed to find this posted so I could vent and know that there is someone else out there that feels my pain!

By: Scented Candles

Scented Candles — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:47:00 +0000

Completely agree with the read receipt comment. It’s like I need to know when you are reading this and expect an instant reply. Why? Send it and if it had something worth responding to then expect a reply at some time! When we get inquiries for our scented candles, we try to respond as quickly as we can. It’s good business but I really don’t need to tell you I’ve read your mail. As you can probably tell. It gets on my goat! Great post by the way. comments made me chuckle. All the best. N at http://www.busybeecandles.co.uk

By: rn

rn — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:20:00 +0000

thanks for your imformation

By: IsaacShowell

IsaacShowell — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 05:47:00 +0000

Truly. I do not do chain letters (well no one does chain letters anymore), and i do not do chain emails. Straight to trash.

By: IsaacShowell

IsaacShowell — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 05:44:00 +0000

Stationery. Anything other than a plain white page and dark text is a nuisance and likely to go straight to delete.

By: seb@ Used Cars Florida

seb@ Used Cars Florida — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:58:00 +0000

I also like the thank you email. It is polite for one thing – something that seems to be becoming a rarity – and it shows that the email was received and the recipient satisfied with my input.

By: Life's Too Good

Life's Too Good — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:18:00 +0000

Great article, I love list posts and 4 is a nice easy # – too many people have really annoying email habits and it’s something that is a staple of the workplace these days so we could all do with being a little more professional, efficient and most of all polite in our emails,

best regards,
Alan

p.s. another favourite of mine at my company was senior staff signing off with just an initial like they were too busy to even write their name (when all of them knew how to use an email signature)

By: Lkict

Lkict — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:30:00 +0000

Please consider changing your “Reply” Signature to something short and sweet, not the full-blown name, title, address, 2-3 phones,email, logos for your fave sports teams.
Don’t use texting shortcuts. I don’t have time to figure out what your abbreviations mean. And, with all of us, time is a limited commodity and I need to use it wisely.

By: brautkleider

brautkleider — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:36:00 +0000

it is ok sometimes

By: Steff@breakupadvice

Steff@breakupadvice — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:01:00 +0000

People ending their emails with “retards”, instead of “regards”

By: MRowe @ EMR Accountants

MRowe @ EMR Accountants — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:37:00 +0000

I hate being copied into vast amounts of information as a method of circulating large documents. I find my inbox becomes full of PDF files that I never get round to reading and have little impact on my job!

By: Madeline

Madeline — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 02:43:00 +0000

Stop texting. Learn to spell and use proper grammar.

By: Khsamuels

Khsamuels — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:14:00 +0000

Read receipts can have a purpose – try using it on someone you need to TALK to but haven’t been able to reach. This works if you send the note and they hit receipt right away.

Back in the day, Read Receipt was a user defined feature, the receiptent was out of loop which made it great to catch up with folks you needed to reach!

By: Inkscrible28

Inkscrible28 — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:25:00 +0000

They should wait at least a day or two, and then follow up with the call, in my book. That does sound aggressive.

By: Seekingbeauty

Seekingbeauty — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:24:00 +0000

I agree and I disagree with the read receipt option. I rarely use it, but when I do, its for a darn good reason. Such as, networking/email issues and I don’t know if my emails are going out or being read (which has happened more than once in my workplace), if the email is very important, and I want to be sure the person had read it – hence the point of the tool. Often, the people I am emailing are not on their computers everyday, so its helpful for me to know when they got it. I don’t think of it as a stalker too, but as helpful for me to follow up or ensure information is being communicated. However, I don’t use it often because I, too, hate the inbox clog of read receipts. So, I save it for when its important.

By: Juneparis31

Juneparis31 — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:27:00 +0000

forward-forward-forward-forward emails that have things that are cute but tell you to send it to 10 people or you won’t get blessed or whatever. Those usually get deleted first.
And also, emails in all CAPITALS…they are screaming at me and I don’t like that.

By: Elinor

Elinor — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:18:00 +0000

People typing emails in all caps. I cannot believe that adult people do this. I recently got an email that had no text and in the body and just said in the subject line: ARE YOU WORKING ON THIS??. First of all, you just asked me about it a half hour ago; second, I *am* working on it and I’ll get back to you when I have something to tell you. It wasn’t even an emergency. This just makes you look like you’re shouting and does not make me want to cooperate with you!

By: Moo

Moo — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:11:00 +0000

Sadly you are wrong on #4. A little politeness and courtesy is never a bad thing. People like being treated well and acknowledged.

By: Nathalie Winch

Nathalie Winch — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:36:00 +0000

if you send an accidental email (you replied instead of forwarded, for example) would a follow-up email apologizing for that be excessive emailing, i.e. rude, or polite?

By: tressalynne

tressalynne — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:55:00 +0000

Okay, some of these are not unforgiveable, but rather personal pet peeves. As most of the commenters stated, #4 (thank you’s) are completely dependent on the company culture and guidelines. I will say that excessive text slang in emails (unless it’s coming from your iPhone or BB) is unprofessional. And, definitely agree that excessive “reply all” is a time waster. Good post, Jessica!

By: John

John — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:24:00 +0000

Quite honestly, y’all sound bitchy to me. If I have a peeve, it’s all this whining about email etiquette. One person’s complaint is another person’s appreciation. There aren’t really rules that apply to all. Your best bet is to let the person in question know directly what your particularities are. Or maybe just LTFU!

By: LLR

LLR — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:01:00 +0000

My experience with email etiquette is dependent on two main factors: 1) business culture and 2) personal judgement.

By: Katrina Miller-Fallick

Katrina Miller-Fallick — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 23:32:00 +0000

I hate the “Thanks” e-mail, and therefor never send them. (Unless called for, sometimes if someone goes out of their way to do something for me, I’ll send them a note letting them know I appreciate it.)

However, I learned that in the culture of my current workplace, not sending them is seen as VERY RUDE. I had no idea until my boss mentioned this too me in a yearly review. (Yes, it was THAT big of a deal). I send them now, but I DO resent having to constantly thank people for doing their job.

By: Job Search Email Mistakes :: Career-Resumes® :: Former resume expert for Monster.com

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 23:04:51 +0000

[...] are the four “unforgivable” email grievances that Brazen mentions (click through to see Jessica’s [...]

By: Harry

Harry — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:20:00 +0000

Some of these depend on your role / industry

As an Actuary, well organised and extensive records are very important for me. If I make a mistake, it could easily cost tens of millions of dollars to fix. So it is worth hitting reply all and getting a few extra emails, if it means no mistakes. A thank you email might let me know that someone has got my email and acted on it, so I don’t need to follow up on them (though not all of them are helpful I suppose).

So we should be careful to adjust our email style depending on context

By: WW

WW — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:49:00 +0000

Email enables passive aggressive behavior. Do the right thing. Pick up the phone or see someone in person if there’s a beef. Don’t hide behind this tool. That’s not what it is for. Some cowards will say things in an email that they would NEVER say in person or on the phone.

By: erica m

erica m — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:56:00 +0000

It sounds weird but I hate it when people call leave me a message and 2 seconds later send me an email saying, ” I just left you a voicemail but I thought I would email you as well.” It’s just rude, pushy and gives me this feeling as if you don’t trust me to get in touch with you. Don’t bombard me!

By: Chrysta Bairre

Chrysta Bairre — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:21:00 +0000

The only “grievance” I’m guilty of is replying with thanks. I try not to do it excessively, however I find working with people across the country I can’t always express my appreciation in person and I feel it’s important to let people know I appreciate them.

That said, one of my pet peeves is replying all to say “thank you” to the sender. When I want to thank someone for their information or contribution, I reply with thanks to the sender only.

Chrysta

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:09:00 +0000

If the average person only gets 74 e-mails a day I wish I was average! Still, assuming that is true, if it took 10 seconds to read and delete a “Thank You!” e-mail, which is probably grossly overstating how long it really takes, that amounts to *12* minutes a day wasted by an average person–if every single e-mail was a “Thank You!”

It’s probably less than a few minutes a day “wasted” by those e-mails, while the flip side of not saying “Thank You” when someone does something for you is being a rude asshat. I’ll keep sending them, and gladly receiving them, thank you.

By: Renee

Renee — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:08:00 +0000

Copying people unnecessarily. My coworker copies me on so may things I sometimes delete emails without reading them from her.

By: katehuebler

katehuebler — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:54:00 +0000

Is the thank you think really bad?

By: Serena

Serena — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:29:00 +0000

Sometimes due to document retention policies, bosses should be copied. Sometimes the boss should be copied so they know that their directives are being carried out. Like captwasabi said, “if someone doesn’t need to be on an email, they will request to be removed.” And if it helps someone get the job done quicker, because they see their boss was copied, (whether the boss reads it, or cares or not) so be it.

By: Nick@ IT Jobs UK

Nick@ IT Jobs UK — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:32:00 +0000

Agreed with all these apart from the ‘thank you’ e-mail. It is sometimes nice to get the thankyou so you know that the other person has received what they wanted and appreciated it. I especialy agree with the read receipt. It’s like they are saying ‘I know when you have read this so I expect an instant reply’.

By: Jordan Thomas

Jordan Thomas — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 03:52:00 +0000

I would add that the continuous paragraph emails are problematic as well as excessive background on a subject. I like email that has a greeting and asks something specific states why and how he or she will use the email. I read all emails in the following order what do you need and how can I help. The easier I can answer those questions, the sooner I am likely to respond.

By: Hengjun363

Hengjun363 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 01:58:00 +0000

Especially on emails with a large recipient list. http://www.sino-suppliers.com/
China yellow pages, manufacturers, directory, suppliers, exporters, companies

By: Hengjun363

Hengjun363 — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 01:57:00 +0000

Give me a few minutes to read it, and if I don’t respond right away, assume I’m thinking over the best answer! http://www.cn-shibo.com/
Electric Power Tools Catalog, China Electric Power Tools Products Directory

By: MyCollegesandCareers

MyCollegesandCareers — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 00:25:00 +0000

Brevity is best. As Brad Pitt’s character says in Ocean’s 11, “Don’t use 7 words when 4 will do.” -Sarah

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:37:00 +0000

Hmm I still like the “thank you” email. It confirms the other person received what you sent them and it’s a quick, simple gesture to show you appreciate someone’s help/work.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:15:00 +0000

I used to have a coworker who would send an email and then literally walk to my office and say “Did you see the email I just sent?” Give me a few minutes to read it, and if I don’t respond right away, assume I’m thinking over the best answer!