Be sure that e-mail has been read ?

tightgit_2

How can I be sure that my e-mail has been read ? I know I can request a receipt but I don't think that they have to give one. Please advise.

Mr_Skint_2

No they dont as there is nothing that I have found that makes the recipient
click "Ive read it" so its on trust that they have read it as when a read reciept is sent it gives the option, send reciept or not, so its really a waste of time as most email users click no because they dont know what it does or mean.

cadboll

The only other option is to have a delivery receipt - at least this way you know it has been delivered to the persons account - but as Mr Skint said - its all based on trust when they click "I've read it"!

Quasar

I sometimes receive emails with a request for receipt. If I know the sender I acknowledge it, if not I just read it without opening it and delete it in case it's a dodgy one.

tightgit_2

cadboll wrote:

The only other option is to have a delivery receipt - at least this way you know it has been delivered to the persons account - but as Mr Skint said - its all based on trust when they click "I've read it"!

Can you tell me how I can get a delivery receipt please ?

Mr_Skint_2

when you ask for one they reply with a reciept to enable reciepts
you can do this, open Outlook Express, Tools Options, Receipts tab

matty_c608

Check this out.

It integrates HTML into the email, and triggers a server when its been read. That means when they open it, it tells the server, the server tells you via email. There's other options out there too similar to this..

http://www.msgtag.com/home/

Hope that Helps

mm66

The service that i use for the last 3 years is readnotify.com. pretty easy to use. Once you subscribe to the service then you just addreadnotify.com at the end of the receipients email address and every time they read the email you will get a notification including details of where in the world they are and how long did they read it etc.

Debt_Free_Chick

I think the recipient can work around the delivery receipt gizmo. Certainly in Outlook (not sure about OE).

I have a deep mistrust of those who insist on receipts (sorry tightgit). Often, in business, people get receipts as a way of "proving" something in the future, which is simply not a healthy way to work with someone IMHO.

Also, what do people do with all those receipts? Just leave them clogging up their inbox or archive?

Sorry for the rant ... it's just a pet-hate of mine :mad:

WHA

I have to agree with the others who have suggested msgtag and readnotify - there are a few others out there as well. Outlook and OE are fairly useless as they give the option for the recipient to block a receipt notification. You do need something that the average recipient won't really know about.

I've found receipts to be invaluable.

Firstly, to highlight emails which have never been read - surprisingly a significant number of people very rarely check their emails, and some people put their email address on letterheads, business cards, etc., when they don't actually have them set up! Strange but true in a few cases I've found. If you know that an email hasn't been read, you can make alternative arrangements.

Secondly, to defend yourself when someone "claims" never to have received an email from you. As can often be seen on these boards, a small minority of people do have a tendency to "bend" the facts to suit themselves and it is far too easy for them to say they never received the letter/email etc, to make a complaint, claim compensation, etc.

I regard a system of requesting a receipt for an email as very similar to the post office special delivery or recorded delivery.

I would recommend you use a different email address for the receipt notifications to be emailed back to you. Perhaps one that you don't use for anything else and that you can download independently of normal emails, so that you can keep them all in one place and they don't get messed up with other emails.

Debt_Free_Chick

Interesting ... how do these programmes work?

Message tags notify you the moment your messages are opened

I don't open mine - I use the preview pane in Outlook, which is configured NOT to mark the message as read, simply because it's "previewed".

Readnotify also seems to work on the basis that the message is opened. In particular it states

"It is up to your recipient to let you know if they choose to delete your emails. Sometimes MDN's can record this data, but in most cases deleted emails can not be tracked. Note that ReadNotify does not use any kind of spyware or install anything on your recipient's computer in order to track emails."

So that sounds like I can read the email in the preview pane, delete it ... and you would not know. I've actually read it, but you could accuse me of NOT reading it. (I'm using the term "you" when I really mean "one" - but that sounds a little pretentious)

I've not delved too deeply into the features of either and perhaps I'm interpreting the term "message opened" too literally. But I have plenty of emails that I've read, but not opened.

Whilst I accept your point that people put email addresses on letterhead etc but don't use them ... you can always call them (using the number on the letterhead) to see if they've received the message