Email Failures

When emails fail to deliver, it impacts communication with students and providers. This guide covers how to diagnose and resolve email delivery issues.

Types of Failures

Bounces

Email returned because it couldn't be delivered:

  • Hard bounce - Permanent failure (invalid address)
  • Soft bounce - Temporary issue (mailbox full)

Send Failures

Email never left the system:

  • API errors
  • Configuration issues
  • Invalid data

Delivery Issues

Email sent but not received:

  • Spam filtering
  • Blocked sender
  • Network issues

Diagnosing Failures

Check Email Logs

  1. Navigate to Email → Logs
  2. Find the specific email
  3. Review status and any error messages

Status Indicators

StatusMeaningAction
BouncedDelivery failedReview bounce reason
FailedSend errorCheck error details
SentLeft systemMay be spam-filtered
DeliveredReached serverUser should check spam

Common Bounce Reasons

Invalid Email Address

Symptoms: Hard bounce, "user not found"

Causes:

  • Typo in email address
  • Account deleted
  • Domain doesn't exist

Resolution:

  1. Verify email address with user
  2. Update to correct address
  3. Resend if needed

Mailbox Full

Symptoms: Soft bounce, "mailbox full"

Resolution:

  1. Wait and retry later
  2. Contact user via alternative method
  3. Ask them to clear mailbox

Blocked Sender

Symptoms: Bounce with "blocked" message

Causes:

  • User marked as spam
  • Domain blocklisted
  • Policy violation

Resolution:

  1. Ask user to whitelist sender
  2. Check sender reputation
  3. Contact email provider if needed

Domain Issues

Symptoms: Hard bounce, "domain not found"

Causes:

  • Invalid domain
  • DNS misconfiguration
  • Domain expired

Resolution:

  1. Verify domain is correct
  2. Update email address if wrong
  3. Cannot deliver to non-existent domain

Preventing Failures

Address Validation

  • Verify email addresses on entry
  • Catch typos early
  • Confirm with users

List Hygiene

  • Remove invalid addresses promptly
  • Don't repeatedly send to bounced addresses
  • Clean up old/inactive accounts

Sender Reputation

  • Send relevant, wanted emails
  • Honor unsubscribe requests
  • Maintain good practices

Troubleshooting Steps

Email Not Received

  1. Check email logs for status
  2. If "Delivered", check recipient's spam folder
  3. If "Bounced", review bounce reason
  4. If "Failed", check error details

High Bounce Rate

  1. Review addresses causing bounces
  2. Identify patterns (same domain, etc.)
  3. Clean invalid addresses
  4. Investigate if sudden increase

Send Errors

  1. Check error message in logs
  2. Verify API configuration
  3. Check email service status
  4. Contact support if persists

Resending Emails

When to Resend

  • After fixing address issues
  • After temporary issues resolve
  • When requested by user

How to Resend

  1. Navigate to the relationship or user
  2. Compose or select same template
  3. Send new email
  4. Verify delivery

Monitoring

What to Watch

  • Overall delivery rate
  • Bounce rate trends
  • Failed send patterns

When to Escalate

  • Sudden spike in failures
  • Consistent failures to one domain
  • Unexplained send errors

Email Service Status

If many emails are failing:

  1. Check Resend service status
  2. Verify API key is valid
  3. Check webhook configuration
  4. Contact email provider support

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