E-Mail goes missing - how to fix / track

request for advice re e-mails going missing

[Extracold]

We run a small service business from Spain, marketing into (primarily) the UK. Basically, the client selects from our site, and fills in a query form. We then e-mail back a quotation. We occasionally get e-mail bounced back as Spam (due to us using a shared hosting ISP and on occassions the e-mail server's IP address gets on a black list due to some other idiot) but on those occasions we get a bounce back message, and then re-send it via another SMTP post-box until our ISP resolves the issue.

However, we now seem to get e-mail just disappear on occasions - it never arrives and we don't know it hasn't landed. Setting Outlook to "Request a delivery receipt" hardly ever generates one (I believe that is not supported by all mail servers anyway). Has anyone got any advice, please on how to track the mail lands OK - or any advice on establishing a really good robust service? We don't do big traffic - just maybe a dozen or so a week as our service is low volume / high value.

[piatkow]

Do the people realise that the mails are coming from Spain or are you using a .com or .uk address that makes them expect them to be sent from a US or UK location.

It wouldn't be unreasonable to regard a .com or .uk address on a mail from Spain as spoofed and zap it.

[Extracold]

Interesting... we use a UK based domain hosting co and have a .co.uk domain, though our ISP is Telefonica in Spain. I assumed (!) that the sending mail server would therefore be a UK IP address. SMTP etc is not my forte - are you saying that the mail header probably contains my client IP address where the mail was composed as well as the ISP DNS server IP address (i.e here in Spain) then the chain thorough the domain hosting mail server (UK). And that is possibly tripping Spam flags?

If so, shouldn't I get a bounce mail back - or doesn't one always get produced?

[Extracold]

Ok, I just checked and yes of course the mail header does have my client PC IP address in it - a Spanish one assigned for that session by our ISP. But.... would that really trigger a Spam flag? I mean, we get many e-mails from the US and all over the place every day some Spam admitedly but most bona fide. Is there really Spam detection s/w out there that would assume that an originiating IP address must match the domain extension?

In that case what about .Com (as I have that registered as well but don't use it)?

[abbeyvet]

It wouldn't be unreasonable to regard a .com or .uk address on a mail from Spain as spoofed and zap it.

It would be completely unreasonable and if that were a common approach then the whole email system would be rendered useless. Can't people travel and continue to use an email address wherever they are? I really, really don't believe that is your problem.

If so, shouldn't I get a bounce mail back - or doesn't one always get produced?

It isn't always produced. I have my mail server set up to simply discard undeliverable email, because often handling bounces puts an intolerable load on the system - just one set of spam sent from a spoofed address can result in a deluge of bouncing emails. I believe a lot of mail servers are now set up to discard undeliverable mail.

The sad fact is that spam and the resulting efforts to stem it, in which many legitimate emails are often caught up, has rendered email a problematic and increasingly unreliable means of communication. I seem to spend endless hours dealing with email issues nowadays, way way more than even a year ago.

I don't know how to overcome it - does anyone?

[Dabrowski]

Extracold, it would depend which server you're using to send your mail.

You have 2 options, Telefonica's SMTP server, or your hosting company's. Due to the nature of SMTP, it doesn't matter which one you use, the message will still get there, and still have your name and .co.uk address on it.

If you use the Telefonica one, at least your IP will match the SMTP server sending the mail, so if that is causing an issue, then that may fix it.

You could also request that your client(s), if they are techie enough send you log files from the spam trap, this should say why your email was rejected.