The other day I got some communication from one large company or other that had a few significant errors that I needed to correct. I went to reply but of course the email had been sent from a ‘do not reply’ address, so I had to go hunting for other details.

Sometimes these emails tell you that can’t reply in the body of the text, sometimes it’s written somewhat politely but often it’s just stark capital letters, shouting at you ‘DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL’. Often, the email address itself is actually [email protected]

Maybe I’m over-analysing this one, but I think this is a really bad look. It basically says that they want to talk at me, but they won’t listen in return. It feels like they’re standing there with a megaphone telling me what’s what, then put their fingers in their ears when I try to answer.

In fact they are so uninterested in my reply they’ve made a special email just to make it clear they won’t listen.

It is so hard to use the same address for outbound and inbound communications?

I understand that a do-not-reply email makes it easier for the company to save time on managing things like out of office replies, but surely there are workable options to filter these.

In an age where all companies are engaging in social media and often making a point of communicating with their customers, this image is quickly undermined by the attitude of ‘here’s our message to you, we’re not listening to anything you say to us!’