Workplace Sent an email to the wrong customer!

eff

eff

O.G.
Jan 26, 2006
1,694
0
#1
How bad is this? I send out notifications that projects are completed to customers. I sent out an email that said "The Blah Blah Blah for Company A is complete" and got the response "I work for Company B, I think this got sent to the wrong person." I felt mortified. The person had replied to everyone(this includes my boss and internal consultant). I promptly hit reply all, acknowledged the mistake, and apologized. This might sound like no big deal but my work involves dealing with sensitive information and I'd hate to think that this customer now feels her information could now be sent to someone else. What would have been the right way to address this? I sent the apology email quickly because I didn't know what to do.
 
#2
eff said:
How bad is this? I send out notifications that projects are completed to customers. I sent out an email that said "The Blah Blah Blah for Company A is complete" and got the response "I work for Company B, I think this got sent to the wrong person." I felt mortified. The person had replied to everyone(this includes my boss and internal consultant). I promptly hit reply all, acknowledged the mistake, and apologized. This might sound like no big deal but my work involves dealing with sensitive information and I'd hate to think that this customer now feels her information could now be sent to someone else. What would have been the right way to address this? I sent the apology email quickly because I didn't know what to do.
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Ouch. I would discuss this with your boss immediately and ask him what to do. Before he/she calls you in or logs it as a mistake that was made that you didnt step up to.
 
#5
Agree with others that you need to speak with your manager as soon as you can. You may have to involve your compliance or legal department in this, depending on your industry.
 
#6
I'm soooo lucky that this email did not contain anything other than the company's name and the URL for them to access their information. I talked to my boss right away like you guys suggested, and she actually used the phrase "sh$% happens" and told me to relax, that we are only human and these things happen. She also said nothing was needed beyond the apology email. I almost had a panic attack over this. Thanks for the responses!
 
#7
The best thing you did was hold yourself accountable and not make excuses.

Take the blame, learn to never make the same mistake and MOVE ON! :smile:

You probably may have even won points in your boss's eyes for handling it like a pro.
 
#8
eff said:
I'm soooo lucky that this email did not contain anything other than the company's name and the URL for them to access their information. I talked to my boss right away like you guys suggested, and she actually used the phrase "sh$% happens" and told me to relax, that we are only human and these things happen. She also said nothing was needed beyond the apology email. I almost had a panic attack over this. Thanks for the responses!
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You have a good boss. :smile: I'm glad she was so understanding. Like she said, "**** happens", and as much as we'd like to be perfect, mistakes are still bound to slip in, some worse than others. I hope she was also pleased to see how quickly you owned up to the mistake. Just be more careful next time!
 
#10
I made a boo boo once, quickly owned up to it and apologized professionally + sincerely to both boss and client. Months later in my review, my boss said that's what he liked about me, owned up quick, apologized, don't dwell, and delivered great results after.

Bosses don't have time to dwell too much on it. So I'm glad everything worked out for ya!
 
#11
Chloe said:
The best thing you did was hold yourself accountable and not make excuses.

Take the blame, learn to never make the same mistake and MOVE ON! :smile:

You probably may have even won points in your boss's eyes for handling it like a pro.
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ITA. There's that old saying that "bad news doesn't get better with age." Could not be truer!! Way to own it and learn from it, OP! :tup:
 
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