e-mail nightmare!

[Larrabee]

I've just sent an e-mail to the wrong person by accident.

Doesn't sound so bad until I tell you there was a rather personal scrabble reference in there, it was supposed to go to my OH and went to my DAD instead!  I'm completely mortified.

Luckily he doesn't check his e-mail all that often, I've sent my mum a text asking her to intercept and delete the e-mail and also a text to my dad saying that there is something in his inbox from me but that its a mistake and can he delete it without opening it.

Anything else I can do?  Besides double check what's in the address bar?  (I hit reply instead of forward, rookie mistake).

[TurtleDove]

Oh no! For me, the bigger deal someone makes about a misdirected email, the bigger deal it is. When I see a message is recalled, it backfires usually because I see the original message also and I may have simply overlooked it otherwise. Just be more careful in the future!

[Larrabee]

You can recall them?!

[Perfect Circle]

Can you recall the message? I know it depends on what service/software you are using, but do check, especially if your dad doesn't read his email that often.

I'm so sorry you have this to worry about. Pesky reply and forward buttons!

[Larrabee]

Its just hotmail, I'm not aware of a recall feature, is anybody else?  That would be wonderful! 

[LadyClaire]

I don't think hotmail has a recall option. Outlook does. AOL did, but only for e-mails sent to other AOL users.

[Aeris]

Outlook has a recall function, but I'm not sure I've ever heard of a person being able to use it to the right end. (I often see <Msg> <RECALL:MSG> 2 minutes apart from one another on my work email, and I can still see the original email just fine, even when I certainly didn't open it before it was recalled.)

[That Anime Chick]

Unfortunately, Hotmail doesn't support that feature. It seems kind of silly since it's owned by the same company that makes Outlook, which does support that feature.

[TurtleDove]

Outlook has a recall function, but I'm not sure I've ever heard of a person being able to use it to the right end. (I often see <Msg> <RECALL:MSG> 2 minutes apart from one another on my work email, and I can still see the original email just fine, even when I certainly didn't open it before it was recalled.)

Yep - me too.  The only thing the "recall" function does for me is call attention to the very email someone wanted me to ignore.

[TootsNYC]

I've just sent an e-mail to the wrong person by accident.

Doesn't sound so bad until I tell you there was a rather personal scrabble reference in there, it was supposed to go to my OH and went to my DAD instead!  I'm completely mortified.

Luckily he doesn't check his e-mail all that often, I've sent my mum a text asking her to intercept and delete the e-mail and also a text to my dad saying that there is something in his inbox from me but that its a mistake and can he delete it without opening it.

Anything else I can do?  Besides double check what's in the address bar?  (I hit reply instead of forward, rookie mistake).

I'd be checking my e-mail so fast . . .

[TootsNYC]

Anything else I can do?  Besides double check what's in the address bar?

Yes. Don't ever write about scrabble in your e-mails again.

[Virg]

TurtleDove wrote:

"The only thing the "recall" function does for me is call attention to the very email someone wanted me to ignore."

To be fair, the recall function was conceived back when email was the way academics communicated.  The idea was that you could recall a message if it contained some factual error or you sent it to the wrong target, and the recipients would ignore a recall because they expected you to remail the correct info (or mail it to the right person) and back then, people (mostly) didn't use email for personal things.  It was never intended to wipe out a message on the far side, although there were some attempts to implement that process among cooperative programs and servers.

Virg

[Arianoor]

It's interesting that Outlook shows someone a recall message!  That's really good to know, our company is switching to Outlook in a few months.  We currently use Groupwise and when you recall a message it is actually deleted the email out of their in-box, even if they have already opened it.  Unless, of course, the recipient is an administrator.   

[SisJackson]

In my office if I am sending email to someone else on the server (i.e. one of the other six employees) and "recall" it before they read it, then it goes bye-bye.  If they've already read it, and I try to recall, it will return an error.  If I send an email to elsewhere in the world, then "recall" doesn't do anything but send a notice to the receiver that I screwed up.

[JonGirl]

Anything else I can do?  Besides double check what's in the address bar?

Yes. Don't ever write about scrabble in your e-mails again.

Definantly.
Live and learn.