Way too long, but so hilarious. I don’t get condescending at all. I’m drooling while imagining I had this on my work phone when everyone thought their requests were life or death. Actually, I wanted my message to say, “I realize you think your request is vitally important, but I’d like to reassure you: I worked in a hospital years ago, and good news! It’s really not.”
[Tweet: “Are you going on holiday? Learn the best tips for writing your next out-of-office auto-reply email in English.”]
.
I just say “following my return to the office” because saying “as soon as possible” isn’t actually when I’m going to respond — I may have other priorities when I get back that take precedence over responding to a week old email that wasn’t important enough for them to contact my backup. That said, it doesn’t bother me when other people do it!
As 2020 winds down, lots of people (us included) will be out of the office celebrating the holidays with family and friends. Here are some really funny, clever and snarky out-of-office messages sent this year, courtesy of HubSpot Blogs (full article here).
If you require assistance before then I can be reached on my cell phone at ( cell number).
Creativity is thinking outside the inbox when it comes to email marketing, and this email took it way too seriously, for good. Instead of assigning a task to the receiver, this auto-reply asks the sender to complete a survey on which is the best flick from the Die Hard franchise. Any Bruce Wills fan here? Let us know your choice in the comments!
If I’m out for three months, *someone* is doing each bit of my job in that time. Me coming back and wading through three months of emails where the majority of them will involve someone seeing the OOO and promptly emailing my cover instead, and trying to track down which ones did that and cc-ed me, which ones did that and *didn’t* cc me, and which ones fell off is just a terrible use of getting-back-up-to-speed time.
Image Source: https://www.yesware.com/wp-content/uploads/out-of-office-example-8.png
I will be checking email throughout the day and will try to respond to messages promptly (please flag urgent.
HI. I need help. Auto reply works at me only for text messages. If anyone calls me auto reply doesnt work. Any suggestions? Thanks. Joco
It’s my favorite time of year, which means I’m currently out of the office lounging on a Carribean beach, sipping on mojitos, and attempting to achieve the tan I’ve been waiting all year long for.
Oh heavens no. All I ask of an out of office is that it tells me when the person will be back (if known) and who I can contact in the interim.
It’s very likely that you’ll set up an auto-reply message while you’re at a conference or any other business event. What’s more, some of your prospects will be there as well, so you should use an opportunity like that to meet them in person and strengthen that relationship.
I think it’s brilliant. Anyone emailing an animal shelter should appreciate a cute animal pic.
My OOO is almost always “I’m out of the office and will be returning on x date.” My email sig has instructions along the lines of “for questions on x, email this list” for a couple of the more common areas people would contact me about that might need an urgent reply (as the lists go to more than just me, obviously), but most people have finally figured out to contact those lists to start with, anyway. If I were in the middle of a project or something that needed to be moved along in my absence, the project teams usually know when we’re out, but I’d put a back up in that case, if needed, but generally there’s not much to be gained by a longer OOO from me.
“I am out of the office until X date. Your email has been deleted unread. If it is still important, please resend it after my return.”
It makes a positive difference when you create auto reply messages that adhere to the basic elements of personalized messages followed with greetings.