questions

[spacefem]

Why do people end emails with "let me know if you have any more questions!"

Like... dude. I will. It's email. I will hit reply, I know how to do that.

I especially love the people who close with that when there will DEFINITELY BE QUESTIONS, like this kind of exchange:

Me: We're going to need 20 feet of material by the end of May, is that possible?

Person: I'll have 3 by next Friday. Let me know if you have any more questions!

I guess with that one "more questions" is a bit of a stretch, since it's not really MORE questions when I'm just going to re-ask my first one. But it's always the people who send the weirdest incomplete responses who love to sign off their emails with "let me know if you have any more questions"

Dear Spacefem, yes we have a few shirts left but we're out of some sizes. Let me know if you have any more questions!

Dear Spacefem, there's a certain door on one side of the building that you should use to exit in case of emergency. Don't use the other doors. Let me know if you have any more questions!

Dear Spacefem, Hope you're doing well. We found a child in Kentucky claiming to be yours. Let me know if you have any more questions!

Comments

[spiffikins]

LOL!

I am guilty of the "let me know if you have any questions" ending - but usually I have just written out a BUNCH of steps for someone to follow to fix their problem, or get me more information, or something similar - and my saying that is code for "I know that I just gave you ALL the information to Do The Thing, so you might be feeling like I'm going to roll my eyes at you if you can't figure it out, and yes, I probably will, but I'm saying this to convey that I will roll my eyes *quietly* while holding your hand and walking you through the steps, if you need me to"

[adafrog]

lol Oh man.

[lenine]

I can see how those situations would be annoying. I use that phrase when I am giving someone instructions in the hope that they will contact me with questions instead of posting them in a public channel. It doesn't work - they do it anyway.

[low_delta]

I've been closing with "feel free to contact me with questions." Like, I know they'll have questions, and I want to make sure they ask them. Not all of my coworkers are as sensible as you!

[silviarambles]

That is the weirdest use of 'let me know if you have any questions'...I use it a lot, but that's usually in emails where I explain a certain process or a brief or report back from a meeting. It's like saying, I hope I've explained everything but let me know if you want to know more. In the cases above they really haven't said much haven't they...

[brittdreams]

Yea, this is how I typically use it too.

[sallymn]

Yes, I used to have to close with that (we had a set script for phone calls in my last year or two, don't miss it) and of course I knew people would whether I wanted them to or not...

[fbhjr]

I often do it in my work emails when I think I've answered someone's questions, but accept that they might still not understand.
We do have folks where I work that if you ask another question they respond "I already told you that." So, I use the statement to let folks know I am open to explaining more if needed. (Something I'm prone to, if you didn't notice...)

[ironphoenix]

Reply with "I have more questions!" but don't include your questions. Send them later in a separate email.

[wantedonvoyage]

I am probably guilty of saying that, but hopefully not after being quite that maddeningly vague!

[katiedid717]

I lean towards "Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions" which is all fine and dandy unless I get interrupted while typing - then it turns into either "Please do not contact me with any questions" or "Please hesitate to contact me with any questions." Whoops.

[smittenbyu]

I am so very guilty of this. And I write it out thinking - of course, they will write back with questions?!"ha! But it's a passive way of saying, "here's the 20 steps of instructions, with screenshots and flow chart, and hope you read all of it, and if you STILL have questions, guess you can ask?!" ha ha...

I wouldn't include it though in a one sentence response. ha ha

[velvetchamber]

Hah! I want the fictional story of the Kentucky-child!

I think I tend to ask whether my explanations (usually of horse genetics to laypeople that wonder about their horses) answered their question. Same idea, but definitely less vague and more inviting to the other party.