---
id: KB-PR-023
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/troubleshooting/did-they-get-it-did-they-open-it
idioma: en
categoria: problemas
audiencia: usuario
nivel: basico
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-PR-021, KB-TL-004]
citadoPor: [KB-PR-031]
---

# Did they get it? Did they open it?

_Two different questions, and the second matters less than it seems. What counts is whether they replied._

**Responde a:** find out if they opened my email · the supplier says it never arrived · read receipt for document requests · how do i know they saw the request

**Arriving and being opened are two different things, and only the first can be known with certainty.** The second depends on things you do not control —whether their mail loads images, whether they glanced at it on a phone— so it is not worth building any decision on it.

## What is known, and how reliably

| Question | How reliable the answer is |
| --- | --- |
| Did it leave here? | Certain: the time is on record |
| Did their server accept it? | High: a rejection shows |
| Did a person open it? | Low. Do not decide anything on this |
| **Have they replied?** | **Certain, and the only one that matters** |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> **The useful question is not «did they open it?» but «have they uploaded what I asked for?».** If they have replied, when they opened it is irrelevant. And if they have not, knowing they opened it on Tuesday helps you not at all: the action is the same either way, which is to ask them again.

## When they say it never arrived

1. **Check the address, letter by letter** — By far the most common cause, and the quickest to rule out.
2. **Ask them to look in junk mail** — The second most common, and they will not look there unprompted.
3. **Resend the link and tell them by another route** — A call or a message: «I've resent the link, check your spam».

> [!WARNING]
> Before concluding that email is broken, check for a simpler explanation: **it may have reached the wrong person at that company**. A generic office address, a mailbox nobody watches any more, or the sales rep instead of whoever handles paperwork. Nothing is broken there — you just need to ask who to address it to, which is a one-minute conversation that saves three resends.

**Is there a read receipt?**

Not as a certainty. What is recorded is whether they replied.

**They say it never arrived — do I resend?**

Yes, but check the address first and tell them by another route.

**How long before chasing?**

Whatever you stated in the request. If you stated nothing, that is the real problem.

## Ejemplos

**A supplier insists nothing arrived, and the address had one letter wrong.**

- Checks the address letter by letter before resending

→ It lands first time instead of being resent three times to the same wrong place.

**You spend two days watching whether the email was opened instead of calling.**

- Switches the question to «have they uploaded it?» and, if not, calls

→ The decision is made on the reliable fact, and the time spent watching is recovered.

**You keep chasing because the email does not show as opened.**

- Checks whether they replied rather than whether they opened

→ Somebody who already delivered is not chased.

**The recipient reads it in a preview pane that does not register.**

- Looks at the response rather than the open

→ The signal watched is the one that matters.

**It shows as opened but nothing has been done.**

- Sends a reminder with the deadline

→ The nudge carries what is actually missing.

**It does not show as opened and they did deliver another way.**

- Checks the file before chasing

→ An unfair chase is avoided.