Tell Me Something I DON'T Know

[Dips]

Sometimes I request a read receipt when I email a customer. It's just so I can assure myself that I haven't left them hanging because an email got lost.

This morning I got a receipt from an email I sent on Thursday. It had a disclaimer:

"Note: this return receipt only acknowledges that the message was
displayed on the recipient's machine. There is no guarantee that the
content has been read or understood."

Sure. It's funny ('cause it's true). But if you think about it for more than a few seconds, it's a little scary.

Next thing you know people will sign contracts with "Applying my signature in no way means that I read or understood this contract."

Then they will walk into stores and state, "The fact that you have signs and price tags up does not in any form imply that I will read or understand them."

I suppose we'll just have to fight back with, "The presence of a disclaimer does not protect the signatories/patrons/correspondents from the consequences of refusing to read and/or understand the contract and/or any and all information provided, this notice inclusive."

[po'drph]

"Note: this return receipt only acknowledges that the message was
displayed on the recipient's machine. There is no guarantee that the
content has been read or understood.



Maybe it's to protect them in case they were "reading under the influence"

[Becks]

I'm waiting for disclaimers for the disclaimers on disclaimer's disclaimers. Or something like that.

[blas]

But if a disclaimer's entire purpose is to alert the person that everything isn't as lollypops and puppy dogs as it seems, and there there is indeed fine print, then who disclaims the disclaimer, then has the gall to claim that they never read the disclaimer and argue that the claim was never dissed?

Ow, my head.

[iradney]

Gaaaaaah blas87, that was just WAY too much thinking!
*passes the chocotini*
Still, it's kind of depressing that the read receipt is a friggin disclaimer!

[protege]

Ow, my head.

Mine too. Damn!

[draftermatt]

I always take those read reciepts to mean

"I've read your e-mail, but don't use this against me later. Give me time to comprehend and respond to what you said before I am to be held liable"

Which to me is correct. You don't have a contract unless the forms are signed, so why is sending an e-mail with only a read reciept as proof of being read any different.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I'm waiting for disclaimers for the disclaimers on disclaimer's disclaimers. Or something like that.

Gaaa!! !!!

Well, even with a disclaimer like that, it still tells you that they received the message and opened it. So they still can't say they didn't get it at all. It's not your fault if they're too stupid to read their email.

mmm...chocotini...iradney, I like your thinking

[Spiffy McMoron]

This morning I got a receipt from an email I sent on Thursday. It had a disclaimer:

"Note: this return receipt only acknowledges that the message was
displayed on the recipient's machine. There is no guarantee that the
content has been read or understood."

Alright! Who's the sandy little butthole that gave a computer to a lawyer?!?

[Dips]

April Must Be National "I Refuse to Read" Month

After getting a read receipt with that unintentionally funny disclaimer in my inbox this morning, I thought I wouldn't have anything else quite that good happen for at least another week or so.

Imagine my surprise when I checked the customer email discussion forum this afternoon...

The first one involved a guy who posted a question about setting up his hardware to work with our software. The way this is done is that you select the hardware you have from a drop down list. He didn't see his model in the list.

One of my co-workers saw the question and posted a reply:

"[Hardware devices] are listed aphabetically by manufacturer, then model name. Your model is listed as [manufacturer] [model]."

The guy came back with this:

"It would be nice to have something of note like that in the readme file."

Well, sure. Because we know that the sort of people who won't read a short drop down list are always the sort of people who carefully read the readme file. And, even if they did read the readme file, how could we guarantee they would understand it?

Not an hour later, this was posted by another user:

"Our matter has been solved so there is no need for your futher services so you can stop e-mailing me."

This guy subscribed to a user discussion list with over 300 members to post HIS question and now he's ordering all the other members to stop posting because he doesn't want any more emails now that HIS question has been answered.

The kicker is that the remove instructions are added to the end of every single post, including his own.

[Andara Bledin]

Actually, as someone who gets a lot of email that has return receipts attached to them, I can understand the need for that notice.

Often, I don't read or even look at the emails that contain the receipts. They're usually notices of surplus material becoming available for bid, and I print those out later in the day. However, if one of them happens to be directly after an email I do deal with immediately, then once it's filed, my email program automatically moves to the one with the receipt.

Once it does that, the notice that the sender wants a receipt pops up. I have two options. I can hit OK and let the sender know that I received and clicked on the email or I can hit CANCEL and the sender will never know if I ever received it at all unless I respond to it.

If there was a way to defer those receipts until the email has actually been read instead of just when it has been selected, then there would be no use for those silly disclaimers.

^-.-^