Comments on: E-mail Oops! of the millennium (so far)

By: Chris, St. Clair Shores, MI

Chris, St. Clair Shores, MI — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:16:36 +0000

Takes me back to an episode of “The Office”, where Michael (Steve Carell) sends a picture [mistakenly] to packing@dundermifflin instead of packer@dundermifflin, a friend of his named Packer; shows you even need to watch the email address itself.

By: Bob Shelby Twp. Mi.

Bob Shelby Twp. Mi. — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:32:18 +0000

One can only imagine the ooops e-mails the sheriffs around the country scan through; seen on 20-20 programing.

One would wonder if the psychosis witnessed on these programs is organismically or drug induced?

By: Liberty, Seattle, Washington

Liberty, Seattle, Washington — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:32:00 +0000

While working as a Sales Rep for a manufacturing company, I had a client send me an email. Yeah, he sent me attachments that were porn pictures instead of PDF’s of the corporate artwork that our art department needed for the clients order.

So I forwarded on to my friend and head of the art department with a note that said Happy Birthday.

We all laughed including the owner. The client was well known in the company as being a total idiot.

By: Allison, Florida

Allison, Florida — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 02:26:35 +0000

Here’s one that has happened several times at our company. An e-mail goes out to a distribution list with hundreds of names on it. Someone hits “reply all” and requests to have their name removed from the distribution list. It is guaranteed that for the next several hours, my inbox will fill up with dozens of messages, with one of two responses: either “I’m sorry, but I don’t control the distribution list, please contact the original sender” or “stop replying to all!” The last time there were at least 50 people who hit the Reply All button to tell people not to Reply All.

By: Jack Hammond Canada

Jack Hammond Canada — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:19:12 +0000

To all my staff that may have gotten a copy of an order for a penis enhancing drug for me.
That email was not sent by me, it was obviously done by some malicious interloper.

Who invented these damm group email lists anyhow.

By: Bob Upton, Baltimore, MD

Bob Upton, Baltimore, MD — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:11:39 +0000

Check your attachments, too. Once, I had a guy send me what should have been a routine spread sheet. It was not. Instead, he sent me a spreadsheet with the salaries and bonuses of everyone in my department. Unfortunately, the sender was my boss as well as the boss for everyone else appearing on the spreadsheet.

Best advice I ever heard: do not fill in the address until you compose and read your e-mail. Then wait a few minutes; maybe longer if you are in a less than stable emotional state.

By: Jessica St. Cloud MN

Jessica St. Cloud MN — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:43:24 +0000

Bing, I laughed till I almost bust a gut. I WAS fired from a temp job one time for pointing out a correction to a supervisor, but hit the reply all to the entire office, instead of just to her. OMG I hope someone in that office reads your blog. I wasn’t that upset as she was a twit anyway and it was a temp position… Great blog today!!

By: Dave from Mich.

Dave from Mich. — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:16:45 +0000

Here’s another disaster waiting to happen … you know how e-mail “helpfully” fills in addresses for you? I’ve been mildly embarassed thanks to this — well, thanks to my own haste — but this has the potential for true career-ending catastrophe.

By: SuccessHungry, Seattle, WA

SuccessHungry, Seattle, WA — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:38:23 +0000

Hey Bing,
Can you give some advice on the blog business? I’ve been thinking about buying some websites, start blogs and generate traffic. Can you give advice on generating traffic? How did you land the deal with Fortune?

Any advice would be appreciated!

By: The Other Stan - Savannah, GA

The Other Stan - Savannah, GA — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:38:00 +0000

Bing,

Yours beats mine! My trip into the valley of digital humiliation was to reply to a cross-company message that fire alarm system testing, including drills to clock the time from the office areas to the meeting point, would be conducted over the coming weekend. Instead of forwarding to my team with my usual witticism, I Replied to All: “Any volunteers to help with the testing? Anyone who says ‘yes’ won’t get a raise this year!” Several rather indignant senior managers immediately pointed out the absence of wit – and computing skills – in my message. Once was enough!