Many Outlook 2007 and 2010 users have discovered when setting up a rule that replies with a template that it returns a “rules in error” message.
The problem? Using HTML message format for the template. Use plain text format when you create the template and it should work just fine.
For more information and a possible work around for Microsoft Exchange server accounts, see Rules in Error and Reply with Template
This bug was fixed in Outlook 2010 SP1
Published August 25, 2010. Last updated on May 8, 2014.