I just read an article about a major Dutch online wharehouse
www.wehkamp.nl who won a "Silver Emmy" (e-mail marketing award) for their abandoned cart module and accompanying case.
Leads on those abandoned cart e-mails were
4 times higher than other marketing e-mails.
They were recognized for the "Tone of voice" and the very personal approach in those e-mails as well as the tech support behind it.
So it is possible to make this successful but you need to have a well thought plan and the right module/content in place