Both excellent points. > "hello" more than suffices (nothing is also perfectly acceptable). To me -- as a receiver -- it feels impersonal to get a barked resp

Both excellent points. > "hello" more than suffices (nothing is also perfectly acceptable). To me -- as a receiver -- it feels impersonal to get a barked response without a greeting, especially if I'm writing to a company or in a professional context, and particularly if their answer seems canned. And, as a sender, it feels uncomfortable starting without a short personal greeting (at least for the first email you send). In the field of customer service, especially, you need to convey that you've acknowledged the sender's unique concerns. Even when they're far from unique. Some interesting reading here in "Are greetings and salutations redundant in an e-mail?": http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/18396/are-greetings-and-salutations-redundant-in-an-e-mail http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/18396/are-greetin... In case it ever crops up, addressing Her Majesty The Queen in written form as 'Madam' and closing with 'I have the honour to be, Madam, Your Majesty's humble and obedient servant' is just fine.