Cat said:
I'm using Outlook 2007 on Windows XP. More than once I've asked for delivery
and/or read receipts on individual messages but have never gotten either. I
can understand the recipient not allowing a read receipt but don't know why I
never get a delivery receipt.
When you ask for a delivery or read receipt, you can only *request* a
receipt (through the addition of headers to your outbound e-mail). You
cannot command anyone to comply with your request. Whether anyone sends
you a delivery/read receipt is entirely THEIR choice, not yours.
Delivery receipts are handled by mail servers. Rare few mail servers
are going to waste their time with positive feedback by sending back
delivery receipts. They already send back negative feedback in the form
of NDRs (non-delivery reports) whether through rejection during the mail
session with the sending mail server or later by sending back an NDR
e-mail to what might've been the sender (according to the return-path
headers). To you, the lack of negative feedback is positive feedback.
They aren't going to waste their resources notifying about the status
for the vast majority of messages that they accept. Instead they will
send the far less number of NDRs. Delivery receipts can also be abused
by spammers to find out if an e-mail address is valid, and legitimate
e-mail providers are not interested in assisting spammers in compiling
their mailing lists. Also, delivery receipts do not prove that your
e-mail got into the recipient's mailbox, that it was successfully
downloaded to the recipient's e-mail client, that it was uncorrupted,
and that the recipient actually read your e-mail.
Read receipts are handled by the recipient's e-mail client. Users get
to configure their e-mail clients how they want regarding the handling
of read receipts. Even you can do that, too (go look at the tracking
options in Outlook). They may get prompted and simply say No to sending
a read receipt. They may configure their e-mail client to always ignore
the request. They may employ anti-spam software that strips out the
header that identifies the request for a read receipt. Many users
consider it an invasion of their privacy for you to snoop as to if and
when they read their e-mails.
Don't expect anyone to bother sending you back delivery or read
receipts. They don't want to waste their resources telling you that
your e-mail got delivered. They don't like you snooping into their
personal activities to find out if they opened your e-mail. If you want
to get something back from them after they read your e-mail then ASK
them to send you a reply.
Only if you are in a company environment where they have a policy that
requires read receipt *requests* be honored can you ensure that
recipients will send you back a receipt. However, in this setup, their
mail server will usually strip out the headers (that requests the read
receipt from the recipient's e-mail client) from inbound and outbound
e-mails that come from or go outside the company's network. They aren't
interested in helping spammers, either.
