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Are email read receipts rude, and general email etiquette?

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August 11, 2018, 09:38 AM
Black92LX
Are email read receipts rude, and general email etiquette?
I am by no means important in any sense of the word so generally emails I send really are of no important matter. So until yesterday I have never attached a read receipt.

We get a little “stipen” each year for equipment we may need. Of course this stipen comes as a credit to one specific vendor and at that vendor we have a specific contact person.
Have a little bit of gear I would like not a necessity, as those are usually supplied by the employer, but something that would be useful.

I sent the contact an email inquiring about a specific product. A week goes by with no response no big deal it is summer vacation is a possibility.
We 2 rolls by nothing, then a few more days.
So I send another email asking if they had a chance to check on the product. Not sure why but figure I would attach a read receipt. Was that rude??

Not even 5 minutes later I get notification of the read receipt.
No response, nothing.

Would you not at least reply. I am looking into it?

That would seriously take less than 5 seconds to at least acknowledge a second email after weeks of no response.


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August 11, 2018, 09:50 AM
StorminNormin
I don’t think it is rude. I sparingly use read receipts for times I am either sending an important email or for a situation like yours where the person has failed to respond. Read receipts are not 100% reliable because a person can still receive the message and choose not to send the read receipt. The rude person is the one getting the email, which requires or expects a response and they don’t even respond.




NRA Benefactor Life Member
August 11, 2018, 09:52 AM
eyrich
I don't think their rude, not a fan either.

Got tired of being prompted about them
I have my email client setup to automatically reject them.




August 11, 2018, 09:57 AM
smschulz
Why would it be rude?
Unless every email sent has one then that might be abuse of the system.
Other than that no big deal.
August 11, 2018, 09:58 AM
ensigmatic
quote:
Originally posted by eyrich:
I have my email client setup to automatically reject them.

My mail servers filter them out. Delivery receipts, too. They can be abused by bad actors.



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
August 11, 2018, 10:14 AM
ryan81986
Not rude in your situation, and it sounds like it's time to go up the chain at that vendor if you have the ability.




August 11, 2018, 10:24 AM
RAMIUS
Maybe he’s just busy?

I get 90,000 emails each day and some have read receipts. As I briefly scan them first thing in the morning, I always reject the prompt to send the receipt. It might take me another day to actually thoughtfully read the email and prepare a response.

Yeah, I saw the email...I’ll get to you when I get done handling the other emails ahead of you.
August 11, 2018, 10:46 AM
arfmel
quote:
I get 90,000 emails each day a


You popular
August 11, 2018, 10:48 AM
RAMIUS
quote:
Originally posted by arfmel:
quote:
I get 90,000 emails each day a


You popular


It’s called “internal spam”
August 11, 2018, 11:52 AM
deepocean
quote:
Originally posted by RAMIUS:
It’s called “internal spam”


What is that? That's a lot of emails a day.
August 11, 2018, 12:24 PM
ensigmatic
quote:
Originally posted by RAMIUS:
quote:
Originally posted by arfmel:
quote:
I get 90,000 emails each day a

You popular

It’s called “internal spam”

Every time I saw that start up at my old job I nipped it in the bud. Yes, even when management did it.

Had one group of managers, at one point, tell me to stop doing that. Ok, I stopped doing that. Several months, maybe a year, later, they found people weren't acting on emails. They asked employees why. "There's so much email crap I don't read it any more."

They countermanded the order to me to stop policing internal email usage Wink



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
August 11, 2018, 12:57 PM
Paten
I'd rather speak to the contact on the phone then rely on email for getting in touch. A read receipt doesn't mean they actually read the email but if they answer the phone when I call we both know we talked to each other.
August 11, 2018, 03:13 PM
Anubismp
I work an off shift and often have to talk to multiple people spread across the state, some of whom dont check their emails or just skim and delete.

I send an email and if theres no response my next step is based on the importance of the email sent.

If its not a big deal or if it only is a problem for that person then whatever.

If its something big or effecting alot of people then I send a read receipt. I consider it no more rude than not replying to the first email. I've found for the people who skim sometimes the read receipt tells them to pay a bit more attention as well.
August 11, 2018, 03:30 PM
ffips
It was likely a great tool when it first came out. At this point, it probably isn't used correctly. Then new settings come to auto send or auto ignore because of the auto request abuse.

Flip this to a different media. Caller ID was allowed one to see who called. Then blocking caller ID became an option for those seeking privacy. That got abused by those attempting to scam so caller ID unblocked became a service. The only one gaining from any of it was AT&T because they could sell the services monthly.

If people would just do the RIGHT thing, the world would suck less. Sadly the few jackoffs ruin it all for the majority. Pick a topic and plug it in, the result is the same....
August 11, 2018, 03:40 PM
remsig
Anytime I receive one I click "no" to acknowledge receipt.

As far as people not getting back to you, that sucks. I have vendors I interact with on a daily basis. Some are very responsive, some not so much. For the one's who don't answer me I send a second email in a few days to a week. If that doens't work I'll then call them.
August 11, 2018, 05:26 PM
HRK
I use them with a few specific people that always say they never got my email, work related and important, they would always claim we never sent them.

Now, zero complaints, zero missed messaged...

Amazing thing read receipt...
August 11, 2018, 06:32 PM
tatortodd
In the OP's case I'm OK with the return receips.

However, years ago I turned off the ability of my e-mail to return a read receipt after this dipshit sent a ginormous PowerPoint in an e-mail that said, "upon receipt of this e-mail you're considered trained" and used the return receipts as proof of "training."



Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
August 11, 2018, 09:36 PM
mikeyspizza
I didn't know that the person would be aware of the read receipt. Haven't used one in at least 5 years.
August 12, 2018, 10:03 AM
henryaz
 
I hate them, have never used them nor replied to a receipt request. When I was working and creating the images for our Windows deskops, I configured Outlook to turn off all automatic return receipt options. They could still use the feature from the menu, but most don't even know what a menu is. If it's not an icon button on the toolbar, it just does not exist. Smile I also eliminated the "Reply to All" button from the toolbar.
 
August 12, 2018, 10:07 AM
RHINOWSO
Only time we use them is if sending a proposal / price qoute via email with only email contact specified.