---
id: KB-CC-020
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/contacts-and-channels/when-an-auto-reply-comes-back
idioma: en
categoria: contactos-canales
audiencia: usuario
nivel: basico
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CC-014, KB-CC-016]
citadoPor: [KB-CC-012]
---

# When an auto-reply comes back

_«I am away until the 30th» looks like an obstacle and is the opposite: the one time they tell you who to ask._

**Responde a:** the contact is on holiday · out of office reply · who do I write to if they are away · message returned as absent

You send the request and back comes a message saying that person is away for two weeks. The normal reaction is to note it mentally and write again when they return. That wastes the useful part: nearly all those replies carry a name and an address you did not have.

## What to do with each kind of auto-reply

| What it says | What it means | What to do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| «I am away, write to X» | They are handing you a new contact | Write to X and record it on the card |
| «I am away» and nothing more | Nobody covers, or they will not say | Try another channel if it is urgent |
| «I no longer work here» | The record is out of date | Update it today, not at clean-up time |
| «This mailbox is not monitored» | You were writing to a wall | Change address before chasing |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The third and fourth deserve same-day attention: **an auto-reply is the only way an out-of-date record tells you it is out of date**. Nobody will write to say that address no longer works; only the system on the other side says it, once, in a message that is usually filed unread. Ignore it and that address keeps receiving requests nobody reads for months, while the file looks stalled through the supplier's fault.

## What to do when there really is no cover

1. **Check whether the return date fits what you need** — If they are back in three days, often nothing else is needed.
2. **If it does not, look for someone else at the company** — The email domain tells you who else you hold.
3. **And when you write, explain why it reached them** — «X is away and this is due on the 10th» stops a bare forward.
4. **Reschedule whatever can wait** — Better received when it can be dealt with.

> [!WARNING]
> On chasing someone who has said they are away: **automatic reminders keep going out even after the machine replied**. That person comes back from holiday to four of your reminders stacked on the original request, all dated after their absence notice. It is not merely rude: it is what makes them slower to answer next time. When an absence notice arrives, pause the chasing until the return date.

## What is worth harvesting from that message

**En corto**

- The name and address of whoever covers, even if you do not need them today.
- The return date, so you do not write three times meanwhile.
- And the fact that this person is — or is no longer — at the company.

> [!NOTE]
> If the auto-reply says they have left and gives a new contact, record it as a change of person rather than editing the card over the top: the history must still say who was written to at the time.

**Can I ask the cover for the same thing?**

Yes, with context: they almost never know what it is about.

**What if the absence outlasts the deadline?**

Write to the cover or the company: deadlines do not pause themselves.

**Is the cover worth saving?**

Yes: next year they will be away over the same dates.

## Ejemplos

**A company gets an out-of-office notice and lets reminders keep firing for two weeks.**

- Pauses chasing until the return date and writes to the cover named in the message

→ The document arrives sooner and the supplier does not return to four stacked reminders.

**An out-of-office auto-reply comes back.**

- Records the return date and reschedules

→ The notice arrives when they can act on it.

**The auto-reply names another contact.**

- Updates the contact with the substitute

→ The request reaches somebody who can act.

**The auto-reply is taken for an answer.**

- Distinguishes the automatic from the human

→ The file's status is true.

**Chasing continues towards somebody on leave.**

- Pauses the chase until they return

→ No effort is spent into the void.

**The auto-reply says the address no longer exists.**

- Updates the contact on receipt

→ Notices stop getting lost.