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How Do I Tell Someone They’ve Entered the Wrong Email Address?

You probably can’t.

Many websites ask you type your email address in twice because it's so easy to make a typo and bring communication to a screeching halt.
A registration form asking for an email address twice.
(Image: askleo.com)
Question: I receive email confirmations from a commercial site — some confirmations of orders, etc. From the content of one of these, I know the person’s name and date of birth as well as the fact that they live in England. All of the emails are of the “do not respond” type. I suspect that someone entered their email address incorrectly at some point, and I’d like to inform the intended recipient of the issue so that it can be corrected, but I’m unable to find a contact for them. The last name is the same as mine, which makes it a little bit more complicated.

This is a frustrating problem. I run into it regularly with my Ask Leo! and Google email address(es).

The problem is simple. When somebody gives you their email address as contact information, and they enter the wrong email address, how do you contact them to tell them so?

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TL;DR:

The wrong email address

Websites often require entering your email twice to prevent typos because errors in email addresses are common. Mistyped emails lead to messages going to the wrong people or bouncing back. If you receive misdirected emails, you can try to notify the sender, but often the issue resolves only when the sender realizes their mistake.

Email going nowhere

People type their email address incorrectly all the time. It’s just a simple typo. Sometimes people intentionally enter an incorrect email address because they have to fill in the form, or they don’t have an email account or don’t understand how email works. My sense is it’s often kids in that last bucket.

This is frustrating particularly if the emails contain important information or something they’ve asked for.

For example, when someone sends me a question and enters their email wrong, my response to their question will either go to:

  • The wrong person (which is I think very similar to what you’re experiencing)
  • The wrong service
  • The wrong country
  • No one — it just bounces
  • Wherever — it’s never seen or heard from again

When that happens, I have no way of contacting them.

This is why so many websites ask you to type your email address in twice (which can be frustrating). I choose not to do that for Ask Leo! but every site is different.

Do this

If you can find additional information that identifies that person, fantastic. Contact them and let them know.

If the information is coming from what looks to be a reputable company, maybe let them know the email address they have on record for one of their customers is incorrect.

But that’s really about it. You’ve done everything you can. You can’t do anything with it until:

  • They contact you with the correct information, or
  • You find some piece of additional contact information either for the company or the individual.

Understand that getting the wrong email is very common, and you don’t need to be concerned about it. Emails like this happen. These situations eventually resolve as people fail to get the communications they’re expecting and take action.

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