simple email courtesy
*begin rant*
Big email pet peeve here:
If you receive an email and forward it on to someone else — that lucky someone that has been deemed by you as being better suited to the task of answering the original sender of the email — take the time to enter the original email address in the “Reply-To” field.
You are saving time by not having to answer the email. You have shifted the burden onto someone else’s shoulders. The very least you can do is not force them to cut and paste the original email address from the body of the message (an email address that may be buried several page-downs away).
Even worse — if that someone else makes a tiny, forgivable slip and accidently hits “Reply” without changing the email address to the original sender’s address, do not send an email back to that person scolding them. It was your fault in the first place, dumb-ass. Politely send an apologetic email, informing them that the email didn’t end up where they meant to send it and inform that you will be more careful to properly enter the “Reply-To” field in the future.
Minor email pet peeve:
When replying to someone, don’t delete the original body text from the reply. It might look cleaner and prettier to you, but some people might actually need that text to know what the hell you are talking about.
*end rant*
Ok. I’m better know.
For more sage email advice, head on over the Open Loops for Bert Webb’s beautiful posts on How to Lose Friends and Alienate People With Email:
- Open Loops: How to Lose Friends and Alienate People With Email – Pt. 1
- Open Loops: How to Lose Friends and Alienate People With Email – Pt. 2
- Open Loops: How to Lose More Friends and Alienate Even More People with Email
