A literary agent I follow told the story of a long argument her autoreply had with a would-be author. She’d set up the outbound email while out of town and apparently an author who queried her with his book took offense to it. He replied back in frustration that he didn’t get a personal response. Her autoreply sent back another automated message, which he then in increasing anger kept responding to.
I have no idea! He was pretty quirky, but in a harmless way. Like, he didn’t expect other people to spend that kind of time on their VM greetings, and he took our good-natured ribbing about his unusual habits in stride.
.
Workplace ExperienceBusiness EmailsCustomer Service EmailsWorkplace EmailsHR E-mailsPeople ExperienceOperationsBasic Guidelines & TipsProfessional E-mail Responses
I had a friend in high school whose voicemail was him singing that song. However, I didn’t have cable at the time (living in a rural area in the early 2000s) and didn’t get the reference. I thought he was soooo clever!
I’ll be back in the office on [end date] or after I’ve perfected my banana bread (whichever comes first)—and will respond to your message then.
The Uniform Holiday Bill (Public Law 90-363 (82 Stat. 250)) was signed on June 28, 1968, and was intended to ensure three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. It was thought that these extended weekends would encourage travel, recreational and cultural activities and stimulate greater industrial and commercial production. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holidays on their original dates.
Thank you for your email. I am out of the office for maternity leave until ( the date you expect to return from maternity leave).
I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m really tired of the ones that are basically “I’m in a meeting for an hour and I’ll check my messages when I return.”
Thank you for your mail, I am currently out of the office on annual leave, returning October 12th. If your inquiry is urgent, please reach out to (YOUR COLLEAGUE’SNAME);[email protected] for sales/channel-related issues or (YOUR COLLEAGUE’SNAME);[email protected] for technical related questions.
I am on emergency leave for today with no access to emails and phone calls. Hence, kindly expect a delayed response. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
That said, I do realize that I can’t just not use my phone at work. I’m surprised she has not been called on it by her coworkers yet!
Lead generation emails are the best when it comes to driving sales and promoting your content. Here’s an example template to inspire you:
An out of office message could become an opportunity to connect with your client on a more personal level. Consider sharing something about yourself that they might not have known about while working with you.
For any requests you might have, feel free to reach out our [Title] [Name] at [email / phone].
Okay. So, it’s not to my exact personal tastes — to me, it’s overly wordy — but it’s probably fine for their culture and I’d be mildly amused if I got it. I see where you’re seeing condescension, but I think you can read it without that too.
But nope, we’ve created a world where “I have a dentist appointment and won’t be in until 10 today” is cause for alarm.
Thank you for your email. I’m currently out of the office, returning on [return date].