Misty, I suppose it depends on how you worded it, whether the other person had had their coffee that morning, and what the email before yours had said. So many variables go into our reactions (being mere humans, y'know).
What is a compliment to some isn't a compliment to all. For example, let's say my fetish is guys with small dicks. If I right some guy and say, "Wow! That's a pretty small dick!" Are they likely to see that as a compliment or not?
I know I was greatly offended the first time I was called phat. Once they explained what it meant, I was a little better, but by then, the compliment had been wasted.