Why are Comcast customers not receiving password reset emails despite logs showing successful delivery?
Summary
What email marketers say8Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Email Marketing forum explains that if users are marking the messages as spam, that this will create a negative feedback loop that causes Comcast to block the messages.
Email marketer from EmailOnAcid Forums points out that Comcast is known for aggressive filtering, particularly on transactional emails. The recommendation is to warm up the IP address gradually when sending from a new IP.
Email marketer from Quora suggests that the content may be the issue, especially if the password reset emails are using URL shorteners or contain words that can trigger spam filters.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests it could be content filters. The user mentions that password reset emails often contain text that could trigger spam filters, and it's worth checking the content for anything that might be flagged.
Email marketer from Reddit mentions that sometimes Comcast's mail servers have issues with blacklisting, causing even legitimate emails to be blocked. The suggestion is to check if the sending IP or domain is on any major blacklists.
Email marketer from Comcast Support Forums explains that common issues include the email being marked as spam, the user's mailbox being full, or filters configured on the user's end blocking the email. Suggests checking spam folders and filter settings.
Email marketer from Stack Overflow shares a user's possible experience. The user indicates that there might be a delay of an hour for emails to arrive on Comcast, potentially due to greylisting on the receiving mail server. This delay would only happen with the first email.
Email marketer from Stack Overflow suggests that a misconfiguration in SPF (Sender Policy Framework) or DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) records could cause Comcast to reject emails, even if the logs show delivery. Recommends verifying these settings.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks states that the issue with Comcast blocking marketing emails, even after IP unblocking, is likely not IP-related. Suggests examining how the newsletter list is handled, identifying potential triggers for filters.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests the issue isn't related to IPs but rather content or phishing filters. The act of giving out passwords may be triggering a filter.
Expert from Word to the Wise shares that domain reputation might be an issue, especially if the 'account' subdomain used for transactional emails has a different reputation than the main marketing domain. They suggest monitoring the subdomain's reputation and ensuring consistent sending practices.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that Comcast's aggressive filtering policies can sometimes block legitimate transactional emails like password resets. They recommend ensuring proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and monitoring sender reputation.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests sending password reset emails from the marketing subdomain to check if the problem persists, indicating a content-related issue.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests that if batch emails are blocked while other emails are delivered successfully, there's likely an element in the content of the marketing messages that's been fingerprinted and is being filtered.
What the documentation says3Technical articles
Documentation from VadeSecure explains that while VadeSecure can provide threat intelligence hints to ISPs, the ISP ultimately decides what to do with the email (reject, quarantine, etc.). VadeSecure does not directly provide SMTP reply codes.
Documentation from RFC Editor explains that SMTP replies, especially '250 OK,' indicate that the mail server has accepted the email for delivery. However, acceptance doesn't guarantee the email will reach the inbox, as further filtering might occur.
Documentation from Cloudmark shares that Cloudmark's services flag emails that are spam or have malicious content which may cause an email to be blocked by ISPs using their service.