Welcome Back Comcasters!!
Welcome Back Comcasters!!
Here is the story why Comcast subscribers were in the dark (i.e. not receiving my emails!!) for the past 3+ months…
Welcome back to the glorious world of Renyoga emails! Those of you on the Renaissance Yoga email list who are Comcast subscribers (all 282 of you!) stopped receiving our bulk Renyoga emails somewhere around the end of April nearing up to the first of May. But I think we got it solved, and here is how…
Hint of an Issue: Some months back I started to notice a distinct drop in the overall on-line activity after emails were posted, but just figured it was a trend – oh well. Then one person told me that she was not receiving Renyoga emails any longer, and that it had been weeks since she had gotten one. I checked my log, and it indicated that the emails were sent and should have been received. She and I kinda looked at it on and off again, but never fully resolved the matter. The only thing she had received from my bulk email platform was a quick, last minute unformatted email sent from my phone in early May. Other than that – nothing, and time went by.
Mounting Complaints: Then in the last ten days or so, a number of people started independently commenting that they had not seen Renyoga emails in quite a while. Some wrote me, while others mentioned it in class. I figured this could no longer be a series of unrelated, individual cases; there must be some type of broader issue. I was a bit miffed as I am a paid subscriber to a bulk email provider, and here they are charging me money, yet my emails are not reaching their destination. What a jip!
Figuring Out the Problem: When I got tech support on the phone and began describing the issue and relayed the list of addresses that were not getting the emails, I quickly noticed that they were all Comcast subscribers. The reports showed that all the emails had been sent (and supposedly received), but there was no activity on them for months, since the end of April. Except for that plain, unformatted email sent in May. Then the techie said that there must be something in my emails that the Comcast spam filters did not like. And the only stark difference between (a) the months of emails that never reached their destination and (b) the one simple email that landed was the subject line. So the techie sent a test message via the bulk email server with a revised subject line to a single Comcast subscriber – i.e. to the initial person who raised the issue with me. And that test email landed.
The Culprit: For about 15 years, I have been putting three asterisks “***” in the subject box of all my bulk emails. Actually, I use two sets of asterisks, one at the beginning and one at end of the subject box. And there was never any issue. But Comcast recently revised their spam filters, and it seems those asterisk marks were the trigger for the new Comcast spam filters. All those emails seem to have been caught and were never allowed to pass on to their individual subscribers. Yet, Comcast was reporting back to my email provider that those emails were delivered. The only thing that alerted us that there was some sort of issue was your personal feedback to me.
Conclusion: If you are a Comcast subscriber and you receive tomorrow morning’s (Mon, Aug 12) email then it means those three little asterisks marks in the subject box were indeed the culprit. In that case – PROBLEM SOLVED!!
What You Missed: Missing 3 to 4 months of emails is no joke, but here are a few of the more popular blog posts you missed along the way – glad you are with us again!!
Homemade Detox & Kauffman’s Cider
Full circle: If you are a Comcast subscriber and you are once again receiving Renyoga emails, kindly indicate as much below in the comment section or contact me here – THANKS!!
P.S.: Also, if you care to complain to Comcast about the inaccuracy of their algorithm for their new spam filter, that’d be welcomed. After all, who knows – you may be missing out on other email goodies, maybe not as awesome as the Renyoga emails, but good nonetheless.
I’m glad the mystery is solved!
Me too!!! Thanks Nancy!!