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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask what's the best accidental email you've seen?

236 replies

travellerist · 01/07/2020 14:57

Literally an hour ago an email went round to all staff/managers at my work requesting if anyone needed webcams/headphones for remote meetings.

One of my colleagues is friendly with the email sender and I guess he meant to hit reply with his response but instead hit reply all, and his response was...

"That’s the best laugh I’ve had in months…

Web Cams, seriously… have you any idea how ugly half of these people are ? Not seeing them is the best part of working from home… Face Masks are the best thing since sliced bread 😊

Headset, Nah… I’d probably stand up and drag the PC into the kitchen. Don’t suppose you can get ink cartridges though ?"

I'm guessing he's going to hear from HR pretty soon, but it got me wondering if anyone else has some "whoops" email stories?

OP posts:
Iwalkinmyclothing · 02/07/2020 09:27

rachb2019 I love those too. The nhs.net one a few years ago was golden. I was aching with laughter watching reply after reply after reply demanding that people stop replying, then someone sent an all users email to our site warning people with nhs.net emails that this was happening, and that too became an endless chain of people replying that this didn't affect them so could they please not receive any more emails about this, then IT sent an all users email asking people to delete the last one and stop replying to it and loads of people who hadn't seen the infamous nhs.net one or the previous internal one replied to that... I am a sad, sad woman, I know, but I enjoyed it so much.

MsEllany · 02/07/2020 09:35

I’m so with you on the ‘reply all’ ones. We had a similar one (v large bank) and my god! I don’t think this is for me, please remove me from this trail etc - so many.

I had one recently but it was an auto notification from a project planning type thing - the owner couldn’t figure out how to stop it emailing everyone but luckily it was easy enough to remove myself. And thank god it wasn’t confidential!

To my shame I accidentally replied to all on an email from a teacher the other day. Totally innocuous but what a faux pas.

MrsSchadenfreude · 02/07/2020 09:48

I was discussing a recipe via email with a Romanian colleague. She asked me if I used margarine. I said no, I made it with butter “cu unt”. Except there was no gap between the words and I got a call from the IT security people and told off for using “a profanity”. Fortunately they saw the funny side and dropped it when I explained.

BendyLikeBeckham · 02/07/2020 09:49

@concernedforthefuture You should have emailed him back saying you'd be there in 30 minutes and can he arrange for a pass to be at reception for you. And sat back to imagine the look on his face!

Lurleene · 02/07/2020 09:55

My DH worked at a company that

was recruiting. They received a job application with attached CV however the sender had obviously sent an early draft by accident. Most sections were incomplete apart from the plan to write 'bullshit here'. She did not get any further in the process.

MillionthNameChanger · 02/07/2020 10:03

Emailed a group called 'Attitude is Everything', who work to ensure equal access in entertainment for people with disabilities.

Complete with the title 're: accessibility nerds'...

SerenityNowwwww · 02/07/2020 10:36

butter “cu unt” I don’t get itConfused

myBumJuiceSmellsLikeRoses · 02/07/2020 10:39

I was once responsible for the "admin" mailbox as part of the IT team.
This meant most of the undeliverable emails came back to admin.

One afternoon a young lady was repeatedly trying to send a large email which was being rejected by the recipient due to it's size.

It was a presentation package she was sending as part of her job application, for an interview she had in the next few days.

Not only was she using her work email, and preparing during work time, but then she contacted me asking if she could take a USB stick from our stock to send out a file she was unable to email.

I had to politely tell her that we wouldn't be using Company resources or money to support her job application and that perhaps she could go to Tesco and buy one herself.

myBumJuiceSmellsLikeRoses · 02/07/2020 10:40

@SerenityNowwwww

butter “cu unt” I don’t get itConfused
cu unt is Romanian for "with butter"
MillionthNameChanger · 02/07/2020 10:42

@SerenityNowwwww

butter “cu unt” I don’t get itConfused
The Romanian for butter/with butter is 'cu unt' - the OP was speaking Romanian with her colleague.
SerenityNowwwww · 02/07/2020 10:46

D’uh! That’s funny though...

I worked somewhere where people made pitches to companies and councils.

A presentation was left open on someone’s screen when she was working in it (she nipped away) and the ‘office wag’ (a grown man in his 40s) thought it would be awfully funny to change every mention Wrexham council into Rectum council.

Thank god she read it again before it went to print (he olden days of print outs of PowerPoint slides).

Elbels · 02/07/2020 10:51

Just last week I sent off an email to one of the 10 most senior people in the company (of hundreds of thousands of people) because I popped his email in CC to check the spelling and forgot to delete it.

He was totally charming about it and I got the info I wanted far quicker than if I'd had to go round the houses so win win.

AlternativePerspective · 02/07/2020 11:39

My DP’s boss sent an email to someone slagging off the entire team and managed to include not only the team in question but the entire organisation.

When I was working for a company I sent an email round to the team asking if anyone was going out at lunchtime and if so would someone be able to pick something up for me. All very general and boring really and not dissimilar to the types of emails a lot of others used to send round. A while later I had an email back from someone in another team saying sorry, she wasn’t able to help. I wondered about how she knew and when I scrolled down I noticed the team leader had forwarded the email to the entire department saying “another one of her polite requests....” I never asked anyone for anything again after that.

On the day I left the same team leader brought in food and biscuits and cakes. I’m certain it was to celebrate my departure.

BlazeMonsterMachine · 02/07/2020 11:56

I was hosting a very large online meeting recently and two people who "attended" were obviously in the same office.

At the end, one signed out of the meeting, but the other didn't (not sure why, I can only assume he forgot as it want a video call, just voice and screen sharing). His Mike wasn't even muted...

I and a few others were still online and heard one of the individuals complaining that the meeting "had gone on a bit..." and words to that effect. It then moved onto work chat (thank goodness) and I worked out how to remotely mute him.

Thankfully the conversation was nothing worse, but she did email me an apology when she realised Grin

I was amused rather than offended, she wasn't wrong - the meeting had gone on a bit!!

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 02/07/2020 15:29

@smallaxe

Not really an accidental email, more an accidental email address.

Apparently I have a namesake who's a quite well known sportsperson in the US but who didn't claim their free Gmail account in their name as quickly as I did. He's also clearly thick and doesn't know his own email address.

I can only assume that it's [email protected] or something instead of my [email protected] but I've been getting their confidential emails, 'gameplays'(?), invitations, password reminders, dating notifications etc. for years. I could write a book about his life. I even know who cuts his grass and what he likes on Netflix.

👀Shock
Ishihtzuknot · 02/07/2020 15:59

None from me I’m afraid I’m very sensible and double check Grin
my best friend accidentally sent her sons headteacher an email inviting him for a drink. Cue the awkward ‘sorry I’m married’ reply had us in stitches, I don’t think he believed her when she said he had the same name as her brother so it was an innocent mistake.

Harls1969 · 02/07/2020 18:00

I once covered for the manager in a setting. She emailed the team that evening to see if we'd had a good day. I replied mentioning the failings of two of the staff members. Everything I said was factual, but it probably wasn't very nice for them to read it after I pressed 'reply all'. I only realised when someone else emailed to ask if I'd meant everyone to see it. I wanted to die!

Jeeperscreepers69 · 02/07/2020 18:00

Email from my local council offices detailing how much debt in council tax one of my work collegues had. It was a lot. 😅

Harls1969 · 02/07/2020 18:06

I also appear to have a similar email address to several other people. I've received invitations to family parties, in America and they were very confused when I replied saying that I wasn't their daughter in law! Invitations make up a basketball team, again in the states. I live in the UK, it's a bit of a trek! Yesterday I received one from a teacher regarding holiday club dates and attaching a (confidential) report about the child! Always getting receipts for various purchases, bookings etc

ddl1 · 02/07/2020 18:08

'ddl1 is indeed odd' in an e-mail that was definitely not intended to go to everyone in the team including myself! PS The opinion was entirely mutual!

It's said that the MP Liz Truss was asked by a constituent for some information. She eventually replied with the information and included in the reply her original enquiry, which included the statement that she was asking because 'That nutter just e-mailed me again!'

Weejyb · 02/07/2020 18:15

My husband was doing the Christmas rota in a busy newspaper office and forgot to check for spelling errors before hitting send.
The subject read Seasonal Shit Arrangements ...
It took well into the New Year before he was allowed to forget that one 🙄

ddl1 · 02/07/2020 18:15

But the worst I heard about: a few years ago, one of the senior people at an Oxford college sent an e-mail to another senior person, listing all the students who had performed poorly in their mock exams. Unfortunately they accidentally copied the e-mail to everyone in the college! You can imagine the repercussions.

Cazza68 · 02/07/2020 18:23

I once sent an email to whole of my office to make sure they only filed certain documents in the “shite pubic files” meant to say “white public files”..... you can imagine the replies I got Confused

StealthPolarBear · 02/07/2020 18:29

@AnnaNimmity

I was in a meeting with about 15 other people, and one bloke was sharing his screen on the large meeting room screen for a presentation. After he'd finished, he started writing an email about ME but forgot to turn off screen sharing. We all sat staring at the email (which was extremely discriminatory and hugely damaging to him and the company..) for a few minutes.

Eventually my boss said to him "mate you're still sharing your screen"

Don't leave it there... What next?
cricketmum84 · 02/07/2020 18:33

" XXXX has called in sick today with vomiting and diarrhoea.
We have asked him to call in before his next shit"

Was absolutely creased 😂