Mail addressed to AOL bouncing back?

[coxengines]

The last few days we have received a disproportionate # of mail rejections from AOL. The reason is always "Delivery failed 20 attempts".

Since the majority of these mails were to repeat buyers with whom we had previously, successfully, communicated, I was wondering if others were experiencing the same.

Bernie

[pierrelebel]

The problem may be your own provider.

Call them to check if they are currently blacklisted by AOL.

It happens regularly with Cogeco, the result of an unknown user spamming AOL users. AOL simply blocks everything coming from Cogeco (or other providers).

[coxengines]

Pierre,

I run my own mail server on a T3 line, whereas Shaw Cable owns the line.

I not only ran my mail IP through OAL's verification system but also myriads of other databases, such as CBL, NJABL, etc.

My IP is not blacklisted anywhere as far as I can tell and my server does not allow mail relay, something that would get you on the list.

I am familiar with ISP's blacklists and seem to get on the "Earthlink" one 2-3x a year. However, the rejection is always immediate.

With AOL, the "undeliverable" message takes many hours. Also, if it were a spam issue, I don't think it would try 20 times over hours but simply reject the message immediately.

I will try some tests using a proxy server in Europe and see what happens.

Bernie

[coxengines]

I think that you are correct, Pierre. Using a substantially different IP gets mail through.

Contacting AOL support is a piece of work, however. Forget the phone support part. The olny way to get an IP unblocked seems to be via a web form. Following is the automated reply:

We have received your AOL Postmaster support request and we are reviewing it. As stated on the Miscellaneous Information Request form that you have just filled out, we do not guarantee responses to all inquiries, and any response may take a week or more. Please do not fill out the form again asking for the status of your request, as this will slow response time.

A week??? They must have gone to eBay school lol.

Bernie

[momoftwingles2]

Hi Bernie,

At one time I had a website, can't remember what server it was on. However, whenever I would e-mail my customers or friends/family with an AOL address....my e-mails were all blocked..not because of being with SaskTel, but because of having the link to my website in the body of my e-mail. And, NO....it was not an adult website that I had...but a scrapping one! *LOL*

AOL postmaster worked with me over the phone and once I took the link out...everything went through. That's when I closed my website and moved on!

Have a good one,
Susan

[coxengines]

Susan,

Some, but not all, of my mails have links to my website but I doubt that is the problem.

I have been emailing AOL subscribers for well over a decade I believe. The problem began Sept. 3.

Bernie

[momoftwingles2]

Hi Bernie,

It wasn't that I had a link to my website that caused my e-mails to bounce....it was because AOL had blocked the entire service provider where my website was located at the time. With the link in my signature line....it was picked up and so my e-mails were blocked!

Once I took the link out....e-mails went through. It's been so long I can't even remember where my website was located at the time, but apparently the service provider was blocked because of not so nice spam that came from there.

Susan

[coxengines]

The issue was resolved today and my IP removed from their block list.

When AOL users click on "this is spam" for a message it goes into a database. A few of those and the IP gets blocked. They also included some info on how to cope with this:

1) If you do not already have a feedback loop, I recommend visiting the AOL Postmaster website and applying for one.
http://postmaster.aol.com/Postmaster.FeedbackLoop.php

When an AOL member clicks "This Is Spam" on an email sent from one of your IPs, this is considered a "complaint". Once you have set up a feedback loop, every complaint will sent from SCOMP@aol.net to the email address specified when the application was submitted. It will contain the complete email and header information, and it will be in ARF (Abuse Reporting Format).
For more detailed information about AOL's feedback loop system, please see http://postmaster.info.aol.com/fbl/index.html