What does your email bounce-back say about you?

This is a quick post; September really got away from me and I haven't offered much here lately. Sorry for those of you who are still following along.

As most of you know, I am the one who sends the blanket email messages for the company on issues like E&o, Sharper Agent, etc. Sorry if they are boring, I'll try to do better next time. Nonetheless, when I send those messages, one of the things I can always count on is the bounce-backs that I get from your accounts. Quite frankly, most of them scare me.

So what is a bounce-back? Well, for most of you it is just your auto-reply message to your incoming email. Some of you have great bounce-backs...like "thanks for your email; I am out on the road at present but you can count on me getting back to you today." That is great...as a consumer when I read that message (assuming, of course, that you follow up like you promise) I feel good about you and your commitment to the business.

But here is a sample of a few I have seen in the last couple weeks:

"I am out of the country and not available by email...please know I won't reply to you until X" (which happened to be 6 weeks after my message). Really? They don't have computers in this country you are going to?

"Thanks for your email. I am away from my computer until X and can not reply to your message" (nice, only problem is that X was two weeks BEFORE I sent the message).

"I am not available by email. Call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx and I will be happy to help." (In other words, I won't deal with you by email).

and finally, my favorite:

"Thanks for your email| First Name, Last Name| Other job title, Other Job address" (really? I thought I was contacting my REALTOR)

Please remember that email bounce-backs are seen by EVERYONE who sends you a message...while you think you are offering a practical service, you may very well be telling the public that you really just don't care.