That definitely makes sense. But it also points to obvious things you could try to do, if you feel this is a recurring problem, even in a small way. For instance, carry a small notebook for this sort of notes, to insist they never get put down in random places, or refuse to accept things told to you in person without a confirming email later (you probably do this as much as possible anyway), or build the habit of recognising when someone is telling you something complicated enough to write down, and make them wait until you find something to write on (this seems harsh, but non-garbling the message is almost always to everyone's benefit -- after all, if they were organised, they would have their own notebook :)).