Refusing E-mail Return Receipts (RR)

Return Receipt or RR, is an e-mail program functionality that let’s the Sender of an e-mail know that an e-mail they have sent has been received and/or opened by the other side. Notice I didn’t say read… There is no way to prove that the recipient read a single word. Opened does not mean read.

When would you use an RR? RRs should be used on those rare occasions where you need to try to have some form of acknowledgment that the other side has received the e-mail. Such as for very important communications like legal or business issues that you have asked the other side to confirm your RR so you know they received that very important information.

The fact remains that RRs are pretty useless because they can be easily declined.

I decline pretty much every RR request sent my way. I prefer to not expose when I’ve opened an e-mail. That is my choice to make and I really don’t like reporting back to anyone what it is I’ve done or not done and when. None of anyone’s beeswax. See I view unexpected RRs as a privacy issue — one that infringes on my privacy! That’s why this feature has to be used properly and sparingly — if at all — to serve any real purpose.

Do you send an RR request with every single e-mail you send? Stop that!
Do you know someone who sends an RR request with every e-mail they send? Tell them to stop it!

In business communications engaging RRs on every communication you send can be view as intrusive and downright annoying.

What if you are like me and don’t want to deal with RRs going out when you open an e-mail?
In Eudora, the e-mail program that I use, I get asked about acknowledging a return receipt request which provides me the opportunity to decline.

Being I don’t use Outlook but have been asked many times how to turn off RR in Outlook so you don’t have to deal with these ongoing annoying requests — here you go:

• Click on Tools > Options
• Select the Preferences tab from the multi-tabbed dialog box.
• Click on E-Mail Options.
• When the E-Mail Options dialog box appears, click on the Tracking Options button.
• Click on the radio button, “Never send a response”.
• Click on OK.

Done! Now your software won’t be reporting on your actions either!

When the situation arises that has you thinking about Return Receipts, it is recommend that you not send a RR request unless the other side is expecting you to (because you are both on the same page) and is waiting and willing to acknowledge the receipt of your e-mail.

Return Receipt Abuse & Ineffectiveness

Did you know that the RR or Return Receipt request feature in your e-mail program is basically ineffective? Being one can disregard the request for a return receipt as I do for every request I get, what’s the point?

I don’t know about you but I do not particularly appreciate someone wanting to know when I opened their e-mail — that is my business.  Note I said opened. RRs do not not mean that the e-mail was read.

Then you have those who have an RR request with every single e-mail they send as though they have to baby sit you.  One excuse I was given is the RRs allowed this person to organize follow-ups.   I have rarely used RRs and can organize my follow ups just fine.

And even after asking they refrain from having an RR request on every single e-mail so I wouldn’t have to decline the request each time, they continue to do so anyway.   How very considerate of them to completely ignore my request.  Why would you continue to use an intrusive feature that you’ve been asked to refrain from using to keep yourself organized?  How about simply putting a copy of the e-mail you sent in your follow-up folder?

Back in the day, RRs could serve a purpose on important and legal e-mails where it was critical to one side or the other knowing the e-mail was received because they knew the recipient would acknowledge the RR request. However, today, when most simply decline and ignore these requests, know you are being more of a nuisance by having this feature engaged for every single business e-mail you send.

If anyone has found an effective use of Return Receipts that I am not aware of, please do let me know.  I am always open to new ways of e-mail efficiency and  productivity and by the number of RR requests I get daily, I must be missing something!