[ilc]

I know emails are becoming frequent in the workplace and the best thing to do is actually talk to the person, however, for record keeping, emails are sometimes the way to go.

In our office (and in many others), people either don't read, only glance or don't read at all! I find it so frustrating. I ensure my emails are of course professional, short and to the point, however, including all pertinent info. Why do some people still get it wrong? I've had some employees claim they never received my emails, however a delivery receipt confirms it! Others just delete my emails when I send a "read" receipt. This is acceptable practice in our office when an email is urgent and requires everyone to have read the email.

One example is asking for credit card statements to be submitted to me as soon as they receive them. Sign and date anywhere on the statement (as not all of them come with that little box on the bottom right corner). I sent this email twice, since I didn't receive any, and then I received a statement within minutes, without the date. Another one submitted the statement without the signature!

Also, the only time I receive a timely reply is when I cc my boss, which I don't like to do as it ties up his inbox, however he's told me to do it, so he is aware of people not responding in a timely manner.

Just venting and sharing my frustration.

[badgergirl]

I share in your frustration. Today alone I have had 6 emails that had the answer explained in the first email. Others never responded to a simple email and I had to call them after a deadline had expired. One co-worker will read an email (a read receipt was attached), never respond to the email, and still gets annoyed when I haven't completed something because I never received their response.
Come on, people!

[lilysunshine]

One thing I have noticed about Outlook Read Receipts: depending on your settings, you can read the email, and then delete the email, but if you have not 'marked as read', it will send a receipt back to the sender stating your email was deleted without being read. At my first job, I got pulled into the top guy's office and yelled at for that, and had to explain near tears that I had read the email. Only being able to repeat it nearly verbatim proved it.

HOWEVER. You are totally right. Most of the people I work with tend to read the first few lines, think they know everything, and completely miss the point. It is particularly frustrating when setting up new procedures. With credit card statements - my last company actually stopped paying them because of a situation like yours. The employees had to pay them, and would later be reimbursed - AFTER they submitted a correct expense sheet.