Pretentious out of office reply

[beebreath]

My out of office is usually

I'm on annual leave please contact ...

Or

I'm out of office until date. If urgent please contact (name )

There is someone in another department to me who really annoys me with

I am attending ' names very important meeting or convention ' please contact ...

Why say which 'important ' meeting you are ? I just see this is pretentious bullshit or is it me ?

[CMOTDibbler]

For the really big meetings I will say where I am as it a) says that you'll be lucky if I look at my emails as I chug down a coffee first thing and b) so many of the customers/colleagues will be there that they will find me there

[beebreath]

Yea... possible but not with this worker.

I think he just likes to look important

I need something for my out of office next week just as pretentious and wanky.

[PuzzlingPuzzle]

I can see it from their perspective regarding the convention. If people who are likely to email might also be at the convention then that’s useful information; ‘no need to wait for them to return to work next week, I can just catch them at the drinks event this evening.’

‘I’m out of the office today as I’m at a senior management strategy meeting’, however, is just plain pretentious and rather cringeworthy.

[CarpetGate]

Why does it bother you?!

[beebreath]

Why does it bother me ?

Because it's all bullshit and the worker does it every time.

I am going to start doing it

[origamiunicorn]

I used to work with someone in my previous job who would write really unprofessional ones that were similar to ...

Hey there! I'm OOO until ... Will be back on X ...if I can be bothered.

Howdy! I'm off for a while watching boxsets in my pants, if it that important then contact X

and my fave(sarcasm)... Was something along the lines of...

Good day kind Sir/Madam I am off on a noble quest battling dragons, until my return from yonder, please seek counsel from X

[CherryPavlova]

We have a set out of office format. I’d ask anyone putting anything else on their responses to change it.

[DollyWilde]

I know someone who put in white text ‘so fuck off and message someone else’ at the end of their OOO.

Was all good until someone bothered to highlight it...

[RhiWrites]

The wankiest out of office I have seen read:

“I will be out of the office from X date to Y date. On my return all email sent during this period will be deleted unread. If your email is important, please resend it after Y date.”

[FiddleFaddleDingDong]

For someone who gets a high volume of emails that's probably quite a good idea. You can just do a mass delete when you return rather than wading through (or have your assistant wade through) 456 emails.

[CarpetGate]

Jeez, OP, you sound quite bitter, and a nightmare to work with, I bet!

[Crunchymum]

We have quite a few office wankers. One liked to list his itenary
"I'm currently travelling and whilst I can check my emails whilst in Spain, Portugal and Italy, once I head over to South America I may not be able to respond. I will be back in full communication once back on the continent"

Another liked to list 20 alternative contacts

Another liked to put a meaningful quote on their OOO.

Yet another liked to mention it was school holidays so she was "at home with the kiddies"

We now have standard OOO templates.

[beebreath]

Jeez, OP, you sound quite bitter, and a nightmare to work with, I bet!

Bingo ! Usual MN response on AIBU

[WitsEnding]

@Rhiwrites, we may have worked at the same place - but it was one of the 'standard' set where I was. Only used at a certain level of management (above clearing a backlog, below having a PA)

[Fancyaruck]

There's a certain amount of sense to the deleting all emails on your return logic - I might be wrong but I think it's common in Germany? Ahh, found the link: www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28786117

Think about it - if it's urgent, the recipient isn't going to respond so you'll need to send it to someone else anyway. If it's not urgent, then it can wait anyway until the recipient comes home.

[Kittykat93]

I agree op. It sounds wanky as fuck.

[BirdieInTheHand]

Saying where you are is helpful to set expectations re when you're likely to respond. Eg if I'm at a board meeting you've got no chance, if I'm at an industry conference I'll probably call you over lunch

[BrokenWing]

The wankiest out of office I have seen read:

“I will be out of the office from X date to Y date. On my return all email sent during this period will be deleted unread. If your email is important, please resend it after Y date.”

Haha, we have one of those too.

We also have someone who has automatic replied to all emails, whether they are in office or not, saying "I have automatic deletion setup for all emails I am cc in. I will only respond to emails sent directly to me".

Surprised no one has told them to take it off yet. I ignore. If they miss something it is their look out!

[FiddleFaddleDingDong]

I used to work with someone in my previous job who would write really unprofessional ones that were similar to ...

You usually get the option to send one message to people within your organisation and another message to all other incoming emails. Were they maybe just sending the 'wacky' out-of-office to their own colleagues?

[Thisisnotadrill]

RhiWrites

We have people who do just delete all their emails when then get back from leave - they say if it’s important they will resend!!!!

[beebreath]

Why not say ' I have limited access to my emails ' etc

Do people really need to know that you're at a very important meeting which is actually pretty irrelevant to them ?

[HarrysOwl]

Do people really need to know that you're at a very important meeting which is actually pretty irrelevant to them ?

Of course they do, how else would they get across how important they are?

Egos don't inflate themselves, you know!

[beebreath]

Harrysowl you've nailed it

[1frenchfoodie]

Couldn’t really get het up about it.

Security in my place of work asks that we don’t use ‘I am on annual leave until...’ but rather ‘I am out of the office..’ as they feel the former advertises that your home may well be empty.

[beebreath]

Good point about annual leave status.