Contacting a member via the website

[+Right Wing Wacko]

I'm sure I'm not the first one to post this, but today I received a half dozen email's from people that sent me a message asking a question that needed a response. However NOT ONE OF THEM included their email address in their message.

 

Sure I can spend the time to look up their profile and send them a new message that way.... but be considerate folks... it's much easier to just hit reply to send my response. I get several hundred emails a day... If I have to look up the address of everyone that I need to respond to.. well... forget it... I'm not gonna do it.

[GOF's Sock Puppet]

Um, ok.

[+briansnat]

I agree. I always respond to someone who includes his e-mail addr, but if they don't it significantly reduces the chance that I will respond.

[+kunarion]

If I have to look up the address of everyone that I need to respond to.. well... forget it... I'm not gonna do it.

I do, going to the member's profile and sending the message. Some people don't want to show their email address (or they may just like to unclick checkboxes not knowing the consequences).

 

I have "I want to send my email address along with this message" selected when I send one. Otherwise a reply to my reply message vanishes into the Interweb, due to a No-Reply-Geocaching.com-Web-Messaging thing that many people don't realize. Which could lead to someone thinking I ignored their (regular email) reply, when I simply didn't receive it. I also specifically spell out my email address as part of the message, to maybe reduce confusion.

 

Well, I don't always have the "send email address" checkbox checked. Depends on the message I was sent and who sent it. But I'll at least reply through the profile page.

Edited August 26, 2010 by kunarion

[Motorcycle_Mama]

I never send my email address when I am communicating with another member from their profile page on Geocaching.com.

 

And when I respond to a message, I always click on the link in the message that takes me directly to the user's profile page and I click the link there to send them a response.

 

And I uncheck the box regarding sending my email address.

[+LukeTrocity]

If I get a message through this email and hit reply it doesn't go through?

 

I might be in trouble here...woops

[JohnX]

Just get a second email address used solely for Geocaching. How hard can that be? There are plenty of free email sites out there. Get the address and use it. No worries then.

[+mesillywoohoo]

I never send my email with my messages. It's private information and don't want people on the site knowing it

[+LukeTrocity]

If I get a message through this email and hit reply it doesn't go through?

 

I might be in trouble here...woops

seriously can someone confirm this?

[+SwineFlew]

For people that dont want to share their email address. Make another email account just for geocaching.com.

[+Markwell]

If I get a message through this email and hit reply it doesn't go through?

 

I might be in trouble here...woops

seriously can someone confirm this?

Some include it (it's included by default). If you hit reply and someone deselected it, it would go to the NoReply@ address. Check your sent items.

[+buttaskotch]

If I get a message through this email and hit reply it doesn't go through?

 

I might be in trouble here...woops

seriously can someone confirm this?

If you are asking about sending a message through Geocaching.com messaging, then its only if you check off the box next to "I want to send my email address along with this message."

then the recipient can just hit reply in their email app/website and proceed.

 

I use a separate email address for geocaching, then again I also have a dedicated spam address, ebay address, ...

[+LukeTrocity]

If I get a message through this email and hit reply it doesn't go through?

 

I might be in trouble here...woops

seriously can someone confirm this?

If you are asking about sending a message through Geocaching.com messaging, then its only if you check off the box next to "I want to send my email address along with this message."

then the recipient can just hit reply in their email app/website and proceed.

 

I use a separate email address for geocaching, then again I also have a dedicated spam address, ebay address, ...

Here's what I'm asking. Someone emailed me through geocaching.com and it went to my gmail account. That account is linked to my cell phone. I got the message and hit "reply" in my gmail client and then wrote back. Did that not go through?

 

They were saying you need to go to their name in geocaching.com and then email them through there....

[+BlueDeuce]

I'm sure I'm not the first one to post this, but today I received a half dozen email's from people that sent me a message asking a question that needed a response. However NOT ONE OF THEM included their email address in their message.

 

Sure I can spend the time to look up their profile and send them a new message that way.... but be considerate folks... it's much easier to just hit reply to send my response. I get several hundred emails a day... If I have to look up the address of everyone that I need to respond to.. well... forget it... I'm not gonna do it.

 

I get plenty of emails from users.

 

A. 100% of the email sent to me via the site says Geocaching [noreply@geocaching.com], However, and I have reported this, if you simply hit reply the return email address will show. (Technical clarification: When they intentionally sent it, it just doesn't show. If the sender chooses Don't show it will not provide it)

 

B. If you take the time to ask me a question or make a comment, I will respond. It's fine by me if you don't want to give me a return address.

 

I find that once I give mine in response, they have no problem giving theirs once they know I am an honest cacher.

Edited August 26, 2010 by BlueDeuce

[+Markwell]

If I get a message through this email and hit reply it doesn't go through?

 

I might be in trouble here...woops

seriously can someone confirm this?

If you are asking about sending a message through Geocaching.com messaging, then its only if you check off the box next to "I want to send my email address along with this message."

then the recipient can just hit reply in their email app/website and proceed.

 

I use a separate email address for geocaching, then again I also have a dedicated spam address, ebay address, ...

Here's what I'm asking. Someone emailed me through geocaching.com and it went to my gmail account. That account is linked to my cell phone. I got the message and hit "reply" in my gmail client and then wrote back. Did that not go through?

 

They were saying you need to go to their name in geocaching.com and then email them through there....

 

You only need to go through their profile IF THEY DESELECTED INCLUDE MY E-MAIL ADDRESS.

 

Some include it (it's included by default). If you hit reply and someone deselected it, it would go to the NoReply@ address. Check your sent items.

 

If I send you an e-mail through Geocaching.com and I leave the system by default, you will get it to your Gmail account. When you hit reply, it will go directly to MY gmail account, with no need to go through Geocaching.com.

 

If I send you an e-mail through Geocaching.com and I specifically tell the system NOT to include my e-mail address, you will get it to your Gmail account. When you hit reply, it will go NoReply at Geocaching Dot Com, so your response goes to a dead-letter office.

 

Check your sent items on Gmail and see to which address it says you sent the e-mails. Some will be to NoReply, most will be to the individual people.

[+WRASTRO]

I'm sure I'm not the first one to post this, but today I received a half dozen email's from people that sent me a message asking a question that needed a response. However NOT ONE OF THEM included their email address in their message.

 

Sure I can spend the time to look up their profile and send them a new message that way.... but be considerate folks... it's much easier to just hit reply to send my response. I get several hundred emails a day... If I have to look up the address of everyone that I need to respond to.. well... forget it... I'm not gonna do it.

 

I get plenty of emails from users.

 

A. 100% of the email sent to me via the site says Geocaching [noreply@geocaching.com], However, and I have reported this, if you simply hit reply the return email address will show. (Technical clarification: When they intentionally sent it, it just doesn't show. If the sender chooses Don't show it will not provide it)

 

B. If you take the time to ask me a question or make a comment, I will respond. It's fine by me if you don't want to give me a return address.

 

I find that once I give mine in response, they have no problem giving theirs once they know I am an honest cacher.

I will agree with this wholeheartedly. But I will say that if you send an email to my evil sock account I will respond but will not give you my email address. Seems simple to me. I have an evil sock account to keep you from knowing who I am (ha, ha). If you are an active local cacher and care then you will easily know who I am.

[+BlueDeuce]

You're missing my point. People are giving the address but the system masked it as No reply.

 

Even mesillywoohoo should retest an email she sent to me.

[+narcissa]

I don't like to share my email address with strangers, and I'm sure many others feel the same way.

 

When you receive an email from another geocacher, you're provided with a direct link to his/her profile. From there, it's one more click to send them a message. Two clicks, vs. one click. Sheesh.

[+t4e]

You're missing my point. People are giving the address but the system masked it as No reply.

 

 

i can confirm that its true

 

i always include my email address, as much as some of you may like to think there is no such thing as "email is private"

 

and what exactly is going to happen if someone knows your email address?

 

if at any point they are abusing their knowledge there is a very simple solution "blacklist" it

[+BlueDeuce]

Folks, I'm not kidding here.

 

I see Geocaching [noreply@geocaching.com] in the return address but if you didn't click 'don't send' your return address is there.

 

I can name email addresses but I don't want post it here and freak people out.

 

Of all people Eartha never gives me her address, but I have Mama's and wooho's and plenty of others. I'm just not even going to say a hint of the provider to prove it.

[+t4e]

I don't want post it here and freak people out.

 

 

i think its too late

[+BlueDeuce]

(sigh) Okay, let's ignore the fact that you could be getting emails with the return address intentionally sent, but since the system masked it as No Reply everyone obviously must be a bunch of ingrates.

 

Knock yourself out. I'm done.

Edited August 26, 2010 by BlueDeuce

[+t4e]

(sigh) Okay, let's ignore the fact that you could be getting emails with the return address intentionally sent, but since the system masked it as No Reply everyone obviously must be a bunch of ingrates.

 

Knock yourself out. I'm done.

 

lol and i confirmed in my earlier post that indeed what you're saying is correct

 

it just amuses me how people get so freaked over an email address

Edited August 26, 2010 by t4e

[+dfx]

ok, emails consist of an envelope and a message, and the message consists of several header lines and the message body.

 

the message body is the text you see, simple enough. the envelope is internal to the email system and will not be visible at the recipient's end. the envelope dictates where an email will be delivered, and it has a sender address and a destination address. usually those addresses are taken from the message headers, but don't necessarily have to be, they can be different. this is how you can get (spam?) emails where your own address isn't even in the list of recipients. but the envelope is irrelevant here.

 

the message header lines contain a lot of information, one of which is the email "subject", another is the sender's address and name (the "from" header) and yet another one is a list of recipient addresses and names ("to" and "cc" headers). all headers are theoretically visible at the recipient's end, but the email program will not always show all of them.

 

when you hit "reply" the email program will usually take the "from" address and use that as destination address for the new email you're writing. however, the original email can optionally have a "reply-to" address, which can be different from the "from" address. when a "reply-to" is present, the email program will use that as destination address when replying instead of the "from" address.

 

on gc.com, it's like this: the "from" address will always be the "noreply@gc" address. the "to" address will always be your (the recipient's) address. the difference lies in the "reply-to" header: if the sender chose not to send their email address, no "reply-to" header will be present. otherwise, the header will contain the sender's address, and so the email program will use that as destination address when you hit "reply".

 

so this is all correct behavior. the email always actually comes from gc.com (and not directly from the sender), so the "from" address is correct. usage of "reply-to" is perfectly valid in this case.

 

any good email program should show the "reply-to" header, or should at least be configurable to show it.

Edited August 26, 2010 by dfx

[+TXHooligans]

As long as the IRS knows where to send my refund ill be fine. I make sure they have the correct return address. And you bet i don't trust them for sure.... but that is just how its done.

 

If i ask a CO a question you bet ill include my email. It just makes sense.

No return address. No reply. When we made up our caching name. I made sure it was also available with gmail. It just makes sense.

 

As for my private email address... too bad, ill not be sharing it here.

Seeing that on the screen confirms that it just looks bad ands a bit unfriendly.

[+GeoGeeBee]

I don't like to share my email address with strangers, and I'm sure many others feel the same way.

 

Why? What on earth are they going to do to you, now that they have your email address?

 

Let's assume the worst... someone contacts you through geocaching.com to ask a question about one of your caches. You reply. They turn out to be totally insane and start sending you hundreds of emails every day declaring their undying love and attaching photographs of their body parts.

 

Just filter them out. You'll never need to see their messages again. It's not like you sent them your street address and your phone number.

 

If you're truly paranoid, just get a free account from Yahoo, and use that address for geocaching.

 

When you receive an email from another geocacher, you're provided with a direct link to his/her profile. From there, it's one more click to send them a message. Two clicks, vs. one click. Sheesh.

 

That doesn't work if I received the message on my cell phone. It's easy to click reply and send a response; bringing up the web browser and filling in a form to send a response is beyond tedious.

 

I think it's only polite to include an email address if you want a response.

[+ArcherDragoon]

I agree. I always respond to someone who includes his e-mail addr, but if they don't it significantly reduces the chance that I will respond.

Same here...

[MisterEFQ]

Why? What on earth are they going to do to you, now that they have your email address?

 

Its clear that you have never dealt with cyberstalkers. Email address have alot of power and are linked to plenty of things. You would not believe what you can find out with a simple email address. Everything from your address, your phone number, what school you went to. Which can be linked to plenty of other things, all the way down to where you buried your grandma.

 

Maybe you havent dealt with it, but I have. I never give out my email address. I never put my full name on anything, and if I do I use a different city to throw people off.

 

And this isnt paranoia. Its happened to me. I search my email address and name atleast once a month to make sure I havent messed up and put the wrong one into the wrong place.

 

Dont believe me? Type your email into this website:

 

http://www.spokeo.com/

[+ArcherDragoon]

Folks, I'm not kidding here.

 

I see Geocaching [noreply@geocaching.com] in the return address but if you didn't click 'don't send' your return address is there.

 

I can name email addresses but I don't want post it here and freak people out.

 

Of all people Eartha never gives me her address, but I have Mama's and wooho's and plenty of others. I'm just not even going to say a hint of the provider to prove it.

I know what you are saying Blue...I hit reply all the time to see if I can actually reply directly or need to visit their profile...

 

But, those that include their email address...when I hit reply, they will get my reply usually right away...for those that don't, i usaully put off replying...which gets further put off as things come up...

[+BulldogBlitz]

 

Dont believe me? Type your email into this website:

 

http://www.spokeo.com/

that's just plain scary. my email seems to be linked tightly with an ex-girlfriend who ran a blog and was a basic nutjob.

[MisterEFQ]

Exactly. You can get your info removed from that site with this link:

 

http://spokeo.com/privacy

 

I suggest everybody does it.

[+briansnat]

I don't like to share my email address with strangers, and I'm sure many others feel the same way.

 

Why? What on earth are they going to do to you, now that they have your email address?

 

Let's assume the worst... someone contacts you through geocaching.com to ask a question about one of your caches. You reply. They turn out to be totally insane and start sending you hundreds of emails every day declaring their undying love and attaching photographs of their body parts.

 

Just filter them out. You'll never need to see their messages again. It's not like you sent them your street address and your phone number.

 

If you're truly paranoid, just get a free account from Yahoo, and use that address for geocaching.

 

When you receive an email from another geocacher, you're provided with a direct link to his/her profile. From there, it's one more click to send them a message. Two clicks, vs. one click. Sheesh.

 

That doesn't work if I received the message on my cell phone. It's easy to click reply and send a response; bringing up the web browser and filling in a form to send a response is beyond tedious.

 

I think it's only polite to include an email address if you want a response.

 

I'm with you on that last point. If you are asking someone for a favor why make them go through the extra steps?

 

If you hit reply, the person's e-mail is there for you to re-read as you compose your reply. If you have to go through their profile it's not only an extra step, you have to toggle between your browser windows to see their e-mail as you compose your reply. Just an necessary pain.

 

And I never got the secrecy about e-mails. I admit I had one person here a few years ago who was a pain and wanted to continue forum debates via e-mail. I set up a filter to delete anything from him automatically and never had to deal with his emails again.

[+t4e]

Why? What on earth are they going to do to you, now that they have your email address?

 

Its clear that you have never dealt with cyberstalkers. Email address have alot of power and are linked to plenty of things. You would not believe what you can find out with a simple email address. Everything from your address, your phone number, what school you went to. Which can be linked to plenty of other things, all the way down to where you buried your grandma.

 

Maybe you havent dealt with it, but I have. I never give out my email address. I never put my full name on anything, and if I do I use a different city to throw people off.

 

And this isnt paranoia. Its happened to me. I search my email address and name atleast once a month to make sure I havent messed up and put the wrong one into the wrong place.

 

Dont believe me? Type your email into this website:

 

http://www.spokeo.com/

 

just did, as a novelty because i do not believe in the accuracy of those sites, tells me that it appears to be a valid email address, which is not a secret, and found 40 records containing my name and i should pay them to see more info?...no thanks, as i said o don't believe in those sites that claim to give you such detailed information

besides they seem to be the ones violating your privacy as they do not appear to be authorized to release such info

 

if you don't put your email in public places, you will be safe from phishing

 

cyberstalkers can be very easily dealt with, blacklist their email, as i said earlier, but of course if it becomes a real problem your ISP should be able to help you

 

keep things separate, don't be using the same email address for business, fun and family

 

there's plenty of ways to stay safe

Edited August 26, 2010 by t4e

[MisterEFQ]

cyberstalkers can be very easily dealt with, blacklist their email, as i said earlier, but of course if it becomes a real problem your ISP should be able to help you

 

Until they start sending letters and calling your house. Then I had to get the cops involved. Ya know what is easier? Not giving out your email.

[+GeoGeeBee]

Why? What on earth are they going to do to you, now that they have your email address?

 

Its clear that you have never dealt with cyberstalkers. Email address have alot of power and are linked to plenty of things. You would not believe what you can find out with a simple email address. Everything from your address, your phone number, what school you went to. Which can be linked to plenty of other things, all the way down to where you buried your grandma.

 

Maybe you havent dealt with it, but I have. I never give out my email address. I never put my full name on anything, and if I do I use a different city to throw people off.

 

And this isnt paranoia. Its happened to me. I search my email address and name atleast once a month to make sure I havent messed up and put the wrong one into the wrong place.

 

Dont believe me? Type your email into this website:

 

http://www.spokeo.com/

 

That's pretty interesting. If you put my email (gerald.belton@gmail.com, by the way) into that search box, it turns up some pretty interesting info. It shows you my photo collection in Flickr... which, by the way, you could also find by right-clicking on any photo I've posted in these forums. From those photos you could figure out what church I go to, what Boy Scout troop I'm affiliated with, who some of my friends are, and where I went on vacation this summer.

 

It also turns up my Facebook page, which anyone can find by just searching for my name in Facebook.

 

And my blog. Which, again, you can find by Google searching on my name.

 

By the way, my Ham Radio callsign is AI4HW. You can REALLY find out a lot about me with that. But it's public knowledge, in fact I'm required to announce it on the radio at least every five minutes if I'm transmitting. The FCC License database will tell you exactly where I live, either as a street address or as coordinates, whichever you prefer.

 

I live in Durham County, North Carolina. The county tax office website will tell you the assessed value of my house, how big the lot is, and how many square feet the house is. The registrar of voters site will inform you that I'm registered as a Libertarian.

 

Again, I have to ask: So what? Of what, exactly, am I supposed to be afraid?

[+Ecylram]

I'm sure I'm not the first one to post this, but today I received a half dozen email's from people that sent me a message asking a question that needed a response. However NOT ONE OF THEM included their email address in their message.

I got to thinking about this...

 

Could it be because you have the word "Wacko" in your username? I mean, if your username CuddlyFluffyBunnyRabbit you might get more email addresses.

[MisterEFQ]

Thats fine and dandy that you are not worried. Some people have delt with stalking and would rather not open themselves up to it.

 

If somebody sends me a message with out the email (and they already have through geocaching), I just take the extra 30 seconds to go to thier profile.

 

If you dont want to, thats your prerogative. And It really doesnt bother me. But to say there is nothing to be afraid of.....thats just not true. Until you have been there, and had your family threatened you probably wouldnt understand.

[+GeoGeeBee]

Thats fine and dandy that you are not worried. Some people have delt with stalking and would rather not open themselves up to it.

 

"Stalking" is a really scary sounding word, but I still don't get what there is to be afraid of. In an earlier message, you said "that's fine, until they start sending you letters and calling your house." But they can do that without my email address. And even if they do... I can block phone numbers as easily as I can filter emails. They can mail me letters, but they can't force me to read them. And if someone actually tries to come onto my property, that's gone beyond stalking into the land of trespassing, or breaking and entering... and it's going to end up being much scarier for them than it is for me.

 

But hey, I get it... you've been hurt, you're afraid. I've been hurt, too. But I choose not to live in fear.

[+Castle Mischief]

Some people don't want to give out their email address. What's the big deal? So you click a few extra buttons?

 

This just comes across as "look at me, my time is so incredibly valuable, I'm such a busy imortant person".

 

Sheesh.

Edited August 26, 2010 by Castle Mischief

[MisterEFQ]

Of course they could do that with your email address, you are fine with having all of your info out in the open. Im not, ive been stalked. Ive delt with it.

 

So I take extra percautions. I dont see why you dont understand that. Keeping all of my emails private prevents anybody from learning my info through an email search.

 

I never said I was hurt, not afraid. Im not living in fear.

 

Im making sure it never happens again. I had to move, I had to change my phone numbers. I had to protect my family from a psychopath. Id rather not have to deal with that ever again. It costs time and money.

[+Ambrosia]

I'm still not quite clear on something - if you have an email (maybe from hotmail), that you only use for geocaching and nothing else, how can someone use that to harm you?

[+StarBrand]

I'm still not quite clear on something - if you have an email (maybe from hotmail), that you only use for geocaching and nothing else, how can someone use that to harm you?

Just what I was thinking as well.....

[+BlueDeuce]

I know what you are saying Blue...I hit reply all the time to see if I can actually reply directly or need to visit their profile...

 

But, those that include their email address...when I hit reply, they will get my reply usually right away...for those that don't, i usaully put off replying...which gets further put off as things come up...

 

Sure, but maybe the OP doesn't realize that and needs to hit reply rather than assuming that all the correspondence is No reply.

 

 

Edit: then/than

Edited August 26, 2010 by BlueDeuce

[MisterEFQ]

I'm still not quite clear on something - if you have an email (maybe from hotmail), that you only use for geocaching and nothing else, how can someone use that to harm you?

 

To become a premium member, I had to give all of my info, including my name, address etc. Im not going to take any risk on a site that has all of that info. Ever. I dont care how trustworthy a website is.

 

I do use an alternate email address for this site. The same one I use for any site that has my real info. But im not going to make that public to anybody. No matter what.

[Dinoprophet]

I have a GMail account that I use only for the Groundspeak sites. It is clearly associated with my geocaching/Waymarking identity, and it lets me give it out without munging up my regular account. As it happens, in the course of several years, I haven't received even one unwanted email on that account.

 

I'm with the OP. Just send your email along, please. I prefer to send emails from my email. Also, if the message warrants quoting your original message for some reason, or even if writing the answer requires referencing the original email, the recipient doesn't have to copy and paste it.

[+wimseyguy]

I'm still not quite clear on something - if you have an email (maybe from hotmail), that you only use for geocaching and nothing else, how can someone use that to harm you?

Just what I was thinking as well.....

Same here, this address is only for geocaching. Another one is for personal stuff. Another one is for work. Another one is for cyber stalking.

[+GeoGeeBee]

I'm still not quite clear on something - if you have an email (maybe from hotmail), that you only use for geocaching and nothing else, how can someone use that to harm you?

Just what I was thinking as well.....

Same here, this address is only for geocaching. Another one is for personal stuff. Another one is for work. Another one is for cyber stalking.

 

I think I just got an idea for my next puzzle cache. "Stalk Me." Figure out various personal details about me, and plug them into a formula to get the coordinates.

[+Castle Mischief]

I'm still not quite clear on something - if you have an email (maybe from hotmail), that you only use for geocaching and nothing else, how can someone use that to harm you?

Just what I was thinking as well.....

Same here, this address is only for geocaching. Another one is for personal stuff. Another one is for work. Another one is for cyber stalking.

 

So those of you with multiple email accounts should be used to... clicking extra buttons. (I've got about 10 myself between gmail and my two domains.)

[+Castle Mischief]

I think I just got an idea for my next puzzle cache. "Stalk Me." Figure out various personal details about me, and plug them into a formula to get the coordinates.

 

Once you have divined the location of my bedroom you will need to get the single digit printed on my bathroom mirror in the upper left corner. Add this to all the digits of my Social Security Number and you have the first half of the final coordinates.

 

What could possibly go wrong?

Edited August 26, 2010 by Castle Mischief

[+bflentje]

 

Dont believe me? Type your email into this website:

 

http://www.spokeo.com/

that's just plain scary. my email seems to be linked tightly with an ex-girlfriend who ran a blog and was a basic nutjob.

 

HOLY [expletive].