There are 2 people I get e-mails from (and only these two out of dozens who regularly send me e-mails) where something weird happens: If they reply to my mail, I can’t see their text reply unless I hit the “reply” button. Even if I open the mail, it looks like nothing is there until I hit the “reply” and suddenly the text appears.
I first discovered this when I was trying to reply to one of these people and tell them to stop sending me empty e-mail messages. But when I hit reply, their text was suddenly visible!
Oh, and this only started happening recently. I never had this problem with them before.
What happens if you put your mouse in the area where the text should be? Does it turn into a text cursor? Can you highlight the text? IOW, is it coming through as white text on a white background? You could try turning off HTML and see if that breaks any coding that their email client might be attaching.
I’m not sure in OE. While in the mail, go to view and see if there’s an option to view it as plain text. If that doesn’t do it, viewing the message source should tell you (or someone who can read HTML; CTRL+U maybe?) what’s going on.
You might just want to let the sender know this is happening. I’ll guess they’re either using some wonky e-mail client or some special font settings that they think are pretty/cool. Are they older people with myspace pages covered with flowering writing or fairies that sparkle? Do they repost stuff on facebook? Do they write emails in some oddball font that no one else can read?
In the mean time, it’s probably easiest just to highlight the text and move on/ignore it.