How would you reply to an email not intended to be sent to you?

ChickenTalon on 01/06/2015 - 13:43
Last edited 01/06/2015 - 13:46

To set the scene. I was quick on the uptake with Google, and was “fortunate” enough to take my family name as the username. Which then becomes <surname>@gmail.com for my email.

Positives: It’s easy for people to remember, it’s easy to give to people without needing to write it down and they’re less likely to forget it.

Negatives: I often get SPAM; please verify your email address, “welcome to blah” newsletters and site new account emails. Where someone has just signed up using my address as a throw away email. Weirdest one was for Bella Sara, which apparently is a "horse-themed game featuring positive messages for kids 5 to 12" -exciting

But one negative (or positive if you like to have a little fun with people) is that once a month or so I get emails that aren’t meant for me. They aren’t ever deeply personal emails. Mostly just admin crap, like here are our itemised expenses we incurred while on blah business trip, and then the follow-up when are you going to reimburse us. Or we found the following things dissatisfactory with our holiday rental e.g. this arrived today.

From: Sarah

Paul
List of problems Regarding Holiday House:
. Cushions left on lounge room floor
. Corn chips on lounge and on floor
. Dishes and utensils left in dishwasher, sink and benches
. Microwave not cleaned
. Stove top covered in grease and spag sauce
. Lounge room floor near couches, stains where drinks had been spilled
. All beds slept in and 2 bedrooms upstairs doonas and electric blankets left on floor.
. Spill stain on floor in upstairs bedroom with single beds.
. Downstairs toilet not flushed.
. Items left in fridge and in pantry.
. Garbage bag left in tub in laundry.

Up to this point, I have always just replied saying, I believe you have the wrong email address. This is X from Australia.
I am severely tempted to have a bit of fun with people. Reply to Sarah saying it was hard enough to remove the caked-on faecal matter from the kitchenware and we didn't have time to clean the other things before your rental.

Has anyone else had fun with similar?

TL;DR: I get emails that aren’t for me, should I have fun with them? Keep being polite? Ignore?

General Discussion

Comments

  • jaybmate on 01/06/2015 - 13:57
    +25

    Post email here, let the people come up with a reply, you choose the best / favourite one to send back, then post results :)

    • ChickenTalon on 01/06/2015 - 14:39
      +1

      well, there is your first one in the post

  • nocure on 01/06/2015 - 14:13
    +10

    I look forward to getting the Microsoft "you have a computer virus" calls…I keep them on the phone for ages just pretending to mess up there instructions and finally they get suss and let out the expletives.it's fun.

    • pointless martyr on 01/06/2015 - 19:58
      +11

      Sometimes i just keep them hanging while i pretend to go look for my power cord, then boot the computer, then take a toilet break, someone's at the door etc. then after a while, i tell them that i just realised I have a macbook running linux

      • Scrooge McDuck on 02/06/2015 - 11:07
        +1

        I'd do this too if I received malicious calls.

        The more you waste their time, the less efficient their scam is, so it's really an altruistic act.

        • pointless martyr on 02/06/2015 - 14:09

          Thats how i see it too - i just leave them hanging for 5 mins at a time, then pick u the phone and tell them to hold on again. Can usually get 15 mins or so out of them before game is up. Hopefully this saves some older or tech illiterate person from being taken advantage of!

        • ChickenTalon on 02/06/2015 - 14:21
          +1

          @pointless comment: give them Lenny!

    • roiboi123 on 03/06/2015 - 08:07
      +3

      i usually just put porn on quietly, quiet enough so it's not too obvious at first…and tell them i'm just in the middle of something and to give me a minute.

  • retiredfeline on 01/06/2015 - 14:13

    There was an article in the Guardian by someone who has a common and easy to misaddress mailbox. Search for it. You might get some ideas from that. Sometimes it's fun, some of the time it's a drag.

  • garmibear on 01/06/2015 - 14:29
    +4

    I think a lot of people will appreciate it enough to not bother you again, but too lazy for a reply e-mail!! Maybe just say… "wrong address / return to sender" :P

    • ChickenTalon on 01/06/2015 - 14:38

      Yeah, I've only had one person out of about 30 reply back and say: oops, sorry. thanks for letting me know

  • scrimshaw on 01/06/2015 - 14:34
    +9

    Reply to Sarah saying it was hard enough to remove the caked-on faecal matter from the kitchenware and we didn't have time to clean the other things before your rental.

    Please don't do that. It could really ruin the intended recipient's (Mr Paul) day.

    If it is a legit email and the contents seem serious, reply and say they have sent to the wrong address. If it's just mailling list spam, then use your spam filter to block incoming messages from the sender.

    • ChickenTalon on 01/06/2015 - 14:42

      That's what I've been doing.

      Re-your spam advice. that wont work, it's always a different mailing list, site etc. So no way to avoid that. Part of having a the convenient email address I've chosen.

    • Almost Banned on 01/06/2015 - 15:45
      +20

      Sorry - its HIS fault for choosing an easy to remember email address that features his name???
      Geez, I'd hate to hear your views on rape or the holocaust.

    • ChickenTalon on 01/06/2015 - 15:56

      With the email i'd expect a few messages that aren't for me, however, if you send me an email then you've made a mistake. Why shouldn't I have fun with it?

  • Randxyz123 on 01/06/2015 - 15:38

    Or we found the following things dissatisfactory with our holiday rental e.g. this arrived today.

    This sort of thing reply saying

    "Hi
    You have the incorrect email address"

    presumably one of them didn't clean the house or the house wasn't cleaned and if they don't get to the correct person, someone is going to have a ridiculous cleaning fee on their credit card.

    If you get something less serious then you can screw with them haha.

    I have a similar issue I grabbed [email protected] very easy to tell people my email but I do get a lot of s***.

    The mac mail filters things OK but isn't consistent for example a $20 legit voucher from Uber ended up in my junk mail luckily the app automatically applied it.

  • tanoshiiki on 01/06/2015 - 16:28
    +1

    Please just a reply back simply and honest that the person has the incorrect e-mail and to please check back with the person through another method for their correct e-mail address.

    Don't have fun with it, as you will just be wasting everyone's time.

  • ItsMeAgro on 01/06/2015 - 16:32
    +1

    I used to just mark these as spam, as I thought they were - some clever kind of spam pretending to be email address mistakes.

    I just couldn't believe I'd get a few of these a day just from old people and such with similar names to mine.

    It's not a great solution though, as it doubly punishes the poor sap the idiot at fault gave your email too, without stopping the idiot.

    I recommend just ignoring them. The idiot used the wrong address, they deserve to not get the email. The sender was screwed by them, not by you.

    You have already been bothered more than you deserve and have no obligation to help, and won't accomplish much by it.

  • mskeggs on 01/06/2015 - 16:56
    +2

    I was [email protected].
    It became completely unusable as I was getting dozens of incorrect emails every day, and since they were legitimate messages for some other michaels it was impossible to spam trap them.
    I'm not on hotmail anymore.

  • Clivey In Space on 01/06/2015 - 19:10
    +3

    A person in the US with the exact same name as me keeps using my email address, and I used regularly get his emails from his Mum, Uni, work, dating sites, utility bills etc

    For a few months I would reply to the send telling them that they have the wrong person and email address. I kept getting emails so I did a password reset on his dating account, got his personal mobile number and SMS'd them to let them know I was getting their personal emails. Got a polite reply and a thanks, but it still took a few more months for the emails to slow down to a trickle.

    Now 12 months on I still get his emails but I now just bin them.

  • saine on 01/06/2015 - 20:11
    +8

    I have the same problem - a common first-name/surname combination that I got on Google early.

    If it's important, I'll reply and take action. Weekly bank statements were hard to stop, required ringing a US 1800 number. The Power of Attorney document was tempting, but notified. The tickets from New York-Aspen made me envious of my similarly named 'twin'. Once I got an photograph from a man to the woman he was married to who had my name. This man coincidently had the same name as my father. Disturbing; I am still in therapy.

    • ChickenTalon on 01/06/2015 - 22:29

      This man coincidently had the same name as my father.

      That's the story he's sticking to ;)

      • saine on 01/06/2015 - 22:42

        I just threw up a little in my mouth. Thanks for that!

  • [Deactivated] on 01/06/2015 - 21:22
    +13

    I have a similar problem, although it seems to come and go in spurts.

    Important stuff I respond to seriously. ie. "Grandma's not looking well, I think you should come visit her"…got a response from me "Hope grandma's feeling ok now! But you have the wrong email address". And I got a lovely, thankful reply.

    Then there was the "mom, can you pay my car payment I forgot to set it up before I got deployed" from a US soldier in Afghanistan…sent one back explaining they had the wrong person but never heard back.

    Then there was the time I got sent a South African woman's life insurance application, which gave me an unreal amount of personal information about her. I had all her social security details, tax details, income details and health details and was having a look at her home on Google maps. It was actually a bit creepy. I just left that one as it was only a confirmation email and they would have chased her up anyway.

    Then there's the b!tch in America who uses my email address as her 'fake' one whenever she is asked for one. I get signed up for all sorts of crap thanks to her. I have SMS'd her asking her to stop it but she doesn't give a crap and has never responded to me. So I cancel anything she signs up for on purpose and when she looked at new cars in a dealership and they sent me the follow up emails I told them I was REALLY interested and to please call me on my mobile. Multiple times. Then I explained to them (when they followed up again) that she needed a slap across the face and if they would be so kind as to do it for me I'd really appreciate it. They found it hilarious (which was my intent - I explained how she uses my email address all the time) and removed me from their mailing list with a very nice response.

    Anyone else (committee invites, church group invites etc) usually get a tongue in cheek reply, if anything, depending on my mood. I spent about a year on the committee for a garden lot in Canada despite my pleas that I wasn't going to make the meetings.

    • ChickenTalon on 02/06/2015 - 09:06

      re bitch in america. That would be war, did you get her actual email address?

      • [Deactivated] on 02/06/2015 - 14:46

        Nope. Wish I could get my hands on it. I'd have a field day signing her up for EVERYTHING. Thankfully it's dropped off recently, she's probably found an even simpler address to abuse.

  • gummibear on 02/06/2015 - 00:38
    +2

    If they sign up to an online service (such as dating or rental property listing site) I usually recover the password to my email account then sign in and change the listing to be irresistible to readers, then post their mobile number and request direct calls only (I have found in their number in their profile).

    I figure if they deserve some annoyance also.

  • dvsbastard on 02/06/2015 - 10:34
    +1

    I have a reasonably common email address and so I experience the same as you. What I have done is set up a filter with a canned response which "looks" like a bounce email (a bunch of error codes and such) and a bold message stating something along the lines of "Incorrect recipient - Please confirm the email address with the person you wish to contact" and I add any offenders to that filter - it usually works.

    As for people signing up to services, I reset their password, log into their account and either remove my email address (or delete the account if it is possible). I don't ever mess with people - but the temptation is definitely there! :P

  • fruit on 02/06/2015 - 11:06
    +2

    Sorry to whoever owns [email protected] I have never had a Gmail address but my grandpa keeps sending mail to:

    To: [email protected]; correctemail; oldemail;

  • Cluster on 02/06/2015 - 11:18

    Ignore it. I have what appears to be a rather popular Gmail address. Many other people use it with a number tacked on the end, but quite often they forget to enter the number. So I get their emails. Work emails, insurance forms, doctor's appointment reminders, emails from teachers about a child, etc. At first I tried to reply to every sender and politely told them they had the wrong email address, but I never received a response. The emails kept coming.

    I'm guessing the sender was too embarrassed in most cases, or it was a robo email sender so nobody to read my email at the other end.

    Many people were momentarily distracted by the Snowden NSA revelations and took notice of their email privacy for a week or two, but old habits die hard. The amount of private information people are willing to send to complete strangers is astounding.

  • Hessian Sack on 02/06/2015 - 11:29
    +1

    I have <initial><surname>@gmail.com, and all of a sudden started receiving a whole bunch of emails for an accountant in the US with the same name. They seemed important enough to forward on, but I didn't know where to. There was a phone number in one, so I called it and spoke to my similarly named counterpart, and he sorted it out.

  • dojomojo on 02/06/2015 - 11:55

    I have the same problem, although not as frequent as the OP. Once received a catering quote reply. I just ignore them, not wasting my time because of someone else's carelessness. If it was really important to them, they will follow up why they haven't received a reply. Another problem I have with my @hotmail.com.au address is people decide to drop the .au bit assuming that I don't know my own email address, it then gets sent to the wrong person - gee thanks…

  • tomsco on 02/06/2015 - 12:01
    +2

    [email protected]?

  • kolorijo on 02/06/2015 - 12:10

    Had the same problem with op, gave up that email and settled with crappier email address and I am very happy now.

  • ilikeradiohead on 02/06/2015 - 12:32
    +1

    I have <firstname>.<surname>@gmail.com but I seem to get emails addressed to <firstnamesurname>@gmail.com. It hasn't been that frequent so I've ignored them. Although at one point I was getting confirmation emails for an insurance company in the USA. I tried logging on to delete the contact email but they required the password so I just gave up. I think the owner of the account must have realised his folly.

    • BobD on 02/06/2015 - 13:24
      +8

      Gmail does not recognise dots or capitals. Have a read of this https://support.google.com/mail/answer/10313?hl=en
      Partial quote:
      "Gmail doesn't recognize dots as characters within usernames, you can add or remove the dots from a Gmail address without changing the actual destination address; they'll all go to your inbox, and only yours."

      best to read all of the link.

      • vroomkroom on 02/06/2015 - 13:32

        I second it !!

      • ilikeradiohead on 02/06/2015 - 14:43

        Handy info. I had no idea that was the case. I guess it was straight up the wrong address haha.

        • BobD on 02/06/2015 - 15:04
          +6

          Gmail has another handy trick. You can build your own instant aliases. Just add a + followed by your own info to the core of the username and everything beyond the + is ignored by Gmail. Example [email protected] gets delivered to [email protected] It's very handy if you have to hand your email around and you get spam later. If you hand out a different alias to each then you can see the spammer.
          https://support.google.com/mail/answer/12096?hl=en

  • Joshman5k on 02/06/2015 - 12:37

    I've got the same problem with my email address.
    Just remember they may be able to identify you by searching your email address in facebook or something else to that effect.

  • Euphemistic on 02/06/2015 - 13:14
    +1

    Emails like that I might reply to with a bit of fun, I like your idea of cleaning off the faeces. I would however at the end of the email explain that it's gone to the wrong person.

    I got a few text messages years ago from a late night drunk. Replied to a few and eventually the guy worked out that I was next to his girlfriend in his contacts and they stopped. Turned out to be a customer from a job I did once, I hadn't given him my number, but he'd got it from the supervisor.
    Eg:
    SMS: why aren't you talking to me?
    Response: I think we should see other people.

    I did get a stray sms once I'm assuming was a reply to a classified ad. Was a bit weird, so I replied equally and got an offensive reply back. Kinda spoiled the fun on that one, was hoping for a bit of clever humour.

    • ChickenTalon on 02/06/2015 - 13:45

      lol

      I agree, have a bit of fun for the first two lines, but then come clean. You don't want to really irritate someone, you never know what psycho you're actually dealing with.

      • ankor on 02/06/2015 - 19:49
        +1

        Tell them the last tenants made a mess and link them to any number of horrible internet scat videos.

  • BobD on 02/06/2015 - 13:17
    +3

    I have a few gmail addresses and I used to have a Hotmail address. That one was very similar to the address of a teacher in the north of England. The difference was I had a dot between my initial and the surname. She had a dash in the same place. I used to get bucket loads of emails from all of these teachers and I was on distribution lists all over the place. I tried correcting some of them but they were too stupid to work it out. The same ones used to keep sending to the wrong address. I even tried Reply All and embarrassing them and that didn't work either. I gave up reading the emails after a while and just deleted them. Then gmail came along and it was easier to use so I moved over.

    • Davo1111 on 03/06/2015 - 09:40

      I even tried Reply All and embarrassing them and that didn't work either

      goatse

  • Lockieasy on 02/06/2015 - 15:58
    +2

    I also have a one word email address and the amount of stuff people use it to sign up to things gets pretty annoying.

    Recently someone signed me up to Match.com and the only to stop the email notifications that they were receiving new matches was to log into his account and change the email address to "[email protected]".

    I have also had someone send $500 to my paypal which uses the same address. He was trying to buy an iPhone or something so I refunded it and told him to be more careful with his money. He was very appreciative.

    • ItsMeAgro on 02/06/2015 - 16:28

      I have also had someone send $500 to my paypal which uses the same address.

      Trying to work out how to convince the senior citizens who keep using my email address to do this…

  • BobD on 02/06/2015 - 16:18
    +2

    I know I keep banging on about Gmail but this post is right on topic.

    In Gmail if you keep getting mail from an unwanted source and you can't stop it then you can create a filter with a couple clicks which can detect key words in the subject, in or not in the content, the sender, or the receiver. The Filter can do pretty much anything such as Mark it Read, Tag it, Forward it, Delete it. I get a bit of crap mail and sometimes it's just better to ignore it so I just create a filter to auto delete it. Problem solved.

  • vaneska on 02/06/2015 - 17:30
    +2

    No word of a lie, there is a European escort who has my email address on her profile on an escort website. I've had some interesting offers and questions over the years. I've used the contact form and tried calling her listed number to get it fixed, but haven't had any luck. I usually just let the potential clients know they should explore other options!

  • notarealperson on 02/06/2015 - 17:31
    +1

    I had this happen to me - I was lucky to get my maiden name as an email address early on, but I kept getting emails for ladies with the same name who must have registered similar emails. I think I was getting emails from at least three other people with the same name as me, all in America. I ignored most of them, but then I started getting one lady's phone bill and correspondence about another one's wedding (her two weddings, actually). Trying to let the phone company know about the email error was a massive headache, but with the emails about the weddings or from family members I just shot back a polite 'just letting you know this is the incorrect email address, please update your records or let Same Name know'. One of them ordered a lot of pizza hut online.

    In hindsight I should have been ruder because those b*tches filled up that email address with so much spam it became unuseable. Luckily I changed to my married name so switched to another email, but when I stopped using it I just put on a permanent auto responder saying it was the wrong address. I shut the stupid thing down after a while.

  • [Deactivated] on 02/06/2015 - 19:29

    reading the comments above: I would say, sorry we've closed shop

  • altomic on 02/06/2015 - 20:17
    +2

    Hi Sarah,

    Thanks for the nude photos. have shown them to all the guys at work and they love them. keep them (and us) coming.

    Paul

  • [Deactivated] on 02/06/2015 - 21:24
    +2

    I have a similar issue. My email address is <a food>@gmail.com
    I get subscribed to all sorts of rubbish - a lot of it starts with a "please verify your email address", I ignore it, and they already start spamming me.
    I also get emails from some ladies groups thinking I'm from South Africa, and another group thinking I'm from Atlanta.
    Also, I get signed on as the parent of some child playing games, so I have some fun by going into the account and disabling access to the game.

  • Davo1111 on 03/06/2015 - 09:37
    +2

    "Sarah,

    I do not care. I do not own a holiday house.

    Paul"

  • adante on 03/06/2015 - 13:35

    Not email, but my phone number used to be one digit off the local real estate agent. We used to get calls relating to real estate business. Most were innocuous but some would start off with "hi we're just looking for the bank account number to transfer the deposit to".

    For better or worse (probably better, as I imagine it would be quite hard to get away with that sort of wire fraud) I never had the imagination to try and scam that sort of thing.

  • KBZ on 03/06/2015 - 20:24

    At least you have an actual person replying to you, some idiot with my exact name has entered MY email as his email for his Holiday Inn bookings and for the past year I get sent his bloody confirmations. Which I can't unsubscribe from and Holiday Inn won't even reply to me :/

    • ChickenTalon on 07/06/2015 - 14:55

      can you cancel the bookings? :)

  • Orgazmo on 12/06/2015 - 00:09

    I have a firstnamelastname as well. I regularly get other peoples emails. I'm still slightly paranoid something is a miss even though I get login alerts, have 2 step verification and have a strong password etc.

    What makes me paranoid is in the beginning, for several years I get none of this. Then I started getting the odd person trying to send an email to someone who shares my name.

    More recently, I had this woman emailing pics and vids of her in the tub. She would regularly send them and I wouldn't reply and yet she would send another with a subject line like "here you go" or similar like we had just spoken. I would've thought the intended recipient would have mentioned that they didn't get any other emails from her. Ultimately, I emailed her saying you have the wrong persons email as I didn't want my eyes to keep burning and they stopped.

    Then someone in the UK signed up for Twitter using my email address. I ignored the confirmation request and started getting welcome type emails from Twitter. I was able to login into the account and sure enough it was up and running minus the email activation. I've since been able to remove my email address from the account.

    • saine on 17/06/2015 - 11:25
      +1

      I've just started an auto-response with one idiot who I have told several times he has the incorrect address. His emails automatically get told that they're to the wrong address and sent to spam so I never see them.

      http://email.about.com/od/gmailtips/qt/et_templates.htm

  • gidxg03 on 01/08/2015 - 08:37

    So funny reading this thread as I too have the same issue ([email protected]). I have 2 people - one in the US and one in the UK - that keep using my email address. Both for dating sites - one straight and one gay. I had tried logging into their account to change the email address but couldn't login. Had the guys mum in the US email me. I sent her a polite email asking her to get her son to stop using my email. It has tailed off now thank god.

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