Sending messages on CC field by mistake - what to do?
December 20, 2011 6:52 AM Subscribe
Sending messages on CC field by mistake - what to do?
I am coordinating a marketing effort involving a select group from various local authorities where people provide feedback on marketing initiatives. One of the main features of this group is that people don't quite know who takes part, so they provide feedback that is anonymized. By accident, I placed some of the email addresses of the participants of this effort on the CC field when sending a message. Obviously it was a stupid mistake, but I have to say something that makes sense in case someone complains. Any suggestions? Thanks!
I am coordinating a marketing effort involving a select group from various local authorities where people provide feedback on marketing initiatives. One of the main features of this group is that people don't quite know who takes part, so they provide feedback that is anonymized. By accident, I placed some of the email addresses of the participants of this effort on the CC field when sending a message. Obviously it was a stupid mistake, but I have to say something that makes sense in case someone complains. Any suggestions? Thanks!
I'm not sure why "I'm so sorry, my mistake" is not an option here. Maybe you can develop some sort of fail-safe pre-sending procedure, and assure people that is now in place. Personal apologies where necessary too.
posted by Miko at 6:56 AM on December 20, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Miko at 6:56 AM on December 20, 2011 [3 favorites]
How many emails are we talking about? If it's less than 10, just email them directly and apologize. If it was a large number (like 50 or 100), then sent out another email to the list explaining what happened and why it won't happen again.
The real nightmare of this kind of situation is when they all start clicking 'reply all' saying "REMOVE ME FROM THIS LIST". My boss at a previous job accidently CC'd 500 customers on an email and it went on for weeks, a total disaster...
posted by empath at 7:29 AM on December 20, 2011
The real nightmare of this kind of situation is when they all start clicking 'reply all' saying "REMOVE ME FROM THIS LIST". My boss at a previous job accidently CC'd 500 customers on an email and it went on for weeks, a total disaster...
posted by empath at 7:29 AM on December 20, 2011
Even in the same environment, recalling doesn't work most of the time and just calls attention to it.
"It was a mistake" is all you can say here.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:11 AM on December 20, 2011
"It was a mistake" is all you can say here.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:11 AM on December 20, 2011
Don't recall, recall messages show up in many mailers just as an email. This second email trying to recall inariably makes me go back, find the original, and read it carefully to find out what was so embarrassing.
posted by handee at 11:38 AM on December 20, 2011
posted by handee at 11:38 AM on December 20, 2011
For future reference, companies like MailChimp that specialise in distribution really are worth while. Moving to a specialist provider demonstrates that you're serious about not letting it happen again.
posted by dirm at 3:49 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by dirm at 3:49 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]
You have committed a serious security violation, and you should accept responsibility and apologize. I would send a note of explanation and apology to those people. Some may not have noticed, but if you write it sincerely, I think it will be all good.
DRAFT
Dear friend of project,
On Thursday, I accidentally sent an email in which several addresses, including yours, were left visible to other recipients. I sincerely apologize for the error. Here are the steps the organization and I are putting in place to make sure this doesn't happen again: x, y.
If you have questions, or wish to discuss this, please contact me at: ___. Thank you for participating in Project. Sincerely,
posted by theora55 at 5:15 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]
DRAFT
Dear friend of project,
On Thursday, I accidentally sent an email in which several addresses, including yours, were left visible to other recipients. I sincerely apologize for the error. Here are the steps the organization and I are putting in place to make sure this doesn't happen again: x, y.
If you have questions, or wish to discuss this, please contact me at: ___. Thank you for participating in Project. Sincerely,
posted by theora55 at 5:15 PM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]
Just chiming in to say don't recall, I've never once see an instance where it had anything other than the opposite effect; even in my corporate environment where everyone uses the same Outlook, recall doesn't delete the original message, it's just a big "HEY I SCREWED UP DON'T READ MY ORIGINAL EMAIL" message.
posted by pravit at 6:49 PM on December 20, 2011
posted by pravit at 6:49 PM on December 20, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
If anyone says anything (or if they don't) just say you made a mistake and exposed some email addresses and it won't happen again.
posted by tel3path at 6:55 AM on December 20, 2011 [1 favorite]