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Do Not Reply To this Email

I am getting annoyed at these kinds of emails

         

Krapulator

10:16 pm on Feb 11, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I am sick of receiving automated emails which tell me not to reply to them.

When I receive an email from a company I have dealings with and I have a question - I DO NOT want to have to go to their site and use a contact form or make any other kind of effort to work out how to contact them. I want to press the "Reply" button on my email client and ask my question.

I cannot see any reason for these kind of emails other than that I am not worth the effort of any further correspondance.

Please webmasters/designers/customer service departments - do not do this to me. If my business is important to you, then surely you can do me the courtesy of reading my emailed replies!

I guarantee if you reply to an automated email sent from my site, that it ends up directly in the inbox of someone who will take the time to either reply or forward it to the relevant department.

Customer service is still as important as it ever was.

/ End of rant.

Mohamed_E

10:31 pm on Feb 11, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



In much of today's business world "customer service" has become an oxymoron. Sad, but a fact of life.

hannamyluv

12:48 pm on Feb 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



We have confirmation messages that says Do Not Reply. It's due to the fact that our sendmail system is different from our email system. I think lots of companies find themselves in the same boat with auto messages like order confimations and such. We do provide an email in the message that you can respond with.

We definatly don't do that with customer service emails though. Poor customer service to send an answer and then leave the customer hanging if they have further questions.

Robert Thivierge

3:03 pm on Feb 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



While sometimes this "Do Not Reply" e-mail is very annoying, sometimes it's in the customer's interest.

Fraudsters often send spoofed e-mails, pretending to be from big-time reputable companies, asking for confidential information. The reputable company will deal with this by telling customers that they should send all customer inquiries through a secure web site contact form. They have to make absolutely clear to customers that *any* e-mail requesting an e-mail response is fake.

The flip-side of this is that e-mail from a customer can easily be spoofed also. The company has no way of knowing somebody claiming to be a customer is not a competitor.

It sucks, but the real problem is how standard internet e-mail works. It was never designed to do commerce.

But, I have to admit. There is a degree of hypocrosy in sending out e-mail, and not taking it.

cfx211

5:34 pm on Feb 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



A lot of it is driven by the fact that no one wants you to opt out.

tombola

6:08 pm on Feb 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Even if they say not to reply to that email, you can always try the "Reply" button.
It's my experience that in many cases the message arrives at the right place. ;-)

mep00

10:27 pm on Feb 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



sendmail system is different from our email system.
You should still be able to change the return-to address.

If my business is important to you, then surely you can do me the courtesy
Reminds me of a story someone told me. They were in the process of depositing around $100,000 cash for a friend at a bank. In the US you would probibly get a red carpet treatment, but not here. After the teller finished counting and wrapping the money, he informed the person that there would be a $200 charge to make the deposit. When he demanded the money back the bank tried to say that it was already counted and wrapped. After institing that he didn't care and wanted the money back, at first the bank tried to haggle with him. In the end they finaly desided to do him a "favor" and wave the charge.