PSA: stop using the 'reply all' button!!

[HRoi]

i estimate that i get between 100-200 emails at work everyday. today, at least 100 of these emails were as a result of this situation:

1. a monthly email goes out to a distribution list (about 300 people are on this list) that informs everyone of this month's changes to our products' terms and conditions. this is normal and regular
2. someone spots an error in the email and hits 'reply all' to helpfully point out the error
3. the original sender hits 'reply all' to respond that as per her understanding, the original email is correct and invites the bosses and general counsel to weigh in if she's mistaken
4. at least 10 people take her up on her offer and proceed to weigh in, hitting 'reply all' each time
5. a nice little discussion ensues for the next four hours. 'reply all' each time.
6. finally someone gets pissed off enough to say "stop replying to all!!". he sends that message to all as well.
7. 40 ******* people chime in saying "yeah!!" or "stop cc'ing me on this email chain".....you guessed it - all of them reply to all.
8. finallly the original sender sends a message to all to stop the madness, and apologizing for what she started. two high-ups respond (also replying to all) instructing everyone to stop
9. after two hours of relative quiet someone (who obviously reads her email oldest first) sends an email saying she really doesn't think the first email had an error....also replying to all
   

kill me now

 

[Manton]

Take this sh!t to PM damnit!!

 

[ter1413]

send that post to people on the dist list!

 

[bkk]

You forgot to mention the "recall message" button has to be pressed during this time period. It really does nothing beyond highlighting the originator shouldn't be employed.

 

[onix]

Put it on silent mode. Gmail has it. Commercial email clients have it. Problem solved. What's so bothering?

 

[Don Carlos]

Ha. Reminds me a situation back in b-school where all the 'tards outed themselves over the course of a few hours. We had a listserv for a certain organization that was very popular and usually got about 300 new members each year. Signup for this listserv took place on the club's website. Sure enough, about 300-odd people signed up at the beginning of the year. One of the club's rather dimmer offices sends out a welcome email, at the bottom of which is the line "don't forget to sign up for our listserv if you haven't already." Evidently, it didn't occur to her that everyone receiving the email had already done so, and was receiving the email by necessity of having signed up. A few people on the listserv freaked out at this line, assuming they weren't "permanently added" or something, and replied-all "Please add me to the listserv." About five minutes later, the reply-all spam starts rolling in. Literally dozens after dozens of "Sign me up, too!" emails. At this point, the club's officers start sending out urgently pleading reply-alls of their own, to the tune of "You guys are all signed up; please stop emailing the list!" But by now it's too late. Everything's lost in the torrent of replies. When all is said and done, I received well over 500 messages from this episode in the course of a single afternoon -- which is frightening, considering how the club has roughly 300 new members in total.

x

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[unjung]

Originally Posted by Arrogant Bastard

Ha.

Reminds me a situation back in b-school where all the 'tards outed themselves over the course of a few hours.

We had a listserv for a certain organization that was very popular and usually got about 300 new members each year. Signup for this listserv took place on the club's website. Sure enough, about 300-odd people signed up at the beginning of the year.

One of the club's rather dimmer offices sends out a welcome email, at the bottom of which is the line "don't forget to sign up for our listserv if you haven't already." Evidently, it didn't occur to her that everyone receiving the email had already done so, and was receiving the email by necessity of having signed up. A few people on the listserv freaked out at this line, assuming they weren't "permanently added" or something, and replied-all "Please add me to the listserv."

About five minutes later, the reply-all spam starts rolling in. Literally dozens after dozens of "Sign me up, too!" emails. At this point, the club's officers start sending out urgently pleading reply-alls of their own, to the tune of "You guys are all signed up; please stop emailing the list!"

But by now it's too late. Everything's lost in the torrent of replies. When all is said and done, I received well over 500 messages from this episode in the course of a single afternoon -- which is frightening, considering how the club has roughly 300 new members in total.

x

=

Ha! Brown!

 

[brokencycle]

You're complaining about 100 emails a day? I get upwards of 1000 a day.

 

[Matt]

oh i've got one driving me nuts at the moment.

A girl I know has started a food delivery business. She sends out a menu to like 150 people every week with this week's menu. This is cool. No issue with this.

The problem is, because people seem to default hit reply all these days, for the entire week, I am on the CC of people's ******* lunch orders.

I am getting emails all week from people like 'i'll take one serve of the ribs, but you can you do it in a BBQ sauce like last time, and can I have mashed potatoes instead of french fries, thanks so much' (that is a copy/paste by the way)...

Drives me nuts.

I end up at some point hitting reply all and saying 'hey can you guys not reply all with your orders, thanks' and then it gets worse as people reply to that saying 'yup, he's right, don't need to hear it' - and then I am getting 10 of those instead.

She needs to learn how to BCC her mail list, but she says she feels weird and impersonal doing that as we are all her friends. I am on the edge of killing that friendship and any potential future custom just to get off her list totally...

 

[Pantisocrat]

This is a minor annoyance compared to what I have to put up with.

 

[xchen]

One time our receptionist accidentally hit reply all when she was meaning to forward an email from a VP to someone else to make fun of him. She ended up copying the VP and a whole bunch of other corporate people while she mocked him in the email. It was not a good situation for her. I work for a fortune 1000 company so I'm pretty sure a ton of people saw it, although I was not copied.

 

[why]

In undergrad a professor sent an email to the class reminding them of a new due date for lab work to be completed. A girl hit reply all and said something like:

professor i cant do the lab because ive had really bad cramps this past week and i need to get it checked out. i spent last nite in the bathroom vomitting and i have a rash all over my hips im not sure if im allregic to sumthin or what but the nurse in the clinic told me to not go to class becuz it mite be relly contageus and also i have diarea thx

The next day in class the professor said:

"And again, I'm reminding you all that the lab must be completed by the end of the week no matter how bad your cramps are, what part of your body has a rash all over it, and regardless of the consistency of your stool."