July 09, 2009
Help! SPAM Filters Won't Let Me Credit My Client Money!!!
So get this: Our accountant did half-year reporting and found that one of our clients overpaid us by a few thousand dollars on one of their invoices. Naturally, I sent them an email offering them a few options for how to proceed:
- A cheque for the balance, or
- Some work that I knew they needed done, which would be slightly higher than what they overpaid (call it interest owed on our parts), or
- A credit that they could use for any of our services, be it strategy, user experience, web design, or web development.
And wouldn't you know it, I've tried 6 different versions of the email and I keep getting the dreaded "Undeliverable Mail" from their postmaster. Here is the message I keep getting:
The mail server for XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.com does not accept E-mail that fails the WEIGHT17 spam test.
I cannot find any Google search results for "WEIGHT17 spam test". I am assuming I must have received 17 "points" off for a bunch of "shady" elements in my emails. I tried removing URLs, dollar signs ($$$) and the word "offer" but to no avail -- it keeps getting bounced. If anyone knows what the WEIGHT17 spam test is I'd love to hear it. I will keep at it. I am determined to beat this SPAM filter. Man - the hoops a guy has to jump through to give his client some $$$. I'm not selling Viagra after all. So to all the SPAM filter makers out there, please take note, sometimes offers of free money ($$$) over email really do exist. P.S. I am not afraid to pick up the phone, I am just being stubborn on this one :)
So get this: Our accountant did half-year reporting and found that one of our clients overpaid us by a few thousand dollars on one of their invoices. Naturally, I sent them an email offering them a few options for how to proceed:
- A cheque for the balance, or
- Some work that I knew they needed done, which would be slightly higher than what they overpaid (call it interest owed on our parts), or
- A credit that they could use for any of our services, be it strategy, user experience, web design, or web development.
And wouldn't you know it, I've tried 6 different versions of the email and I keep getting the dreaded "Undeliverable Mail" from their postmaster. Here is the message I keep getting:
The mail server for XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.com does not accept E-mail that fails the WEIGHT17 spam test.
I cannot find any Google search results for "WEIGHT17 spam test". I am assuming I must have received 17 "points" off for a bunch of "shady" elements in my emails. I tried removing URLs, dollar signs ($$$) and the word "offer" but to no avail -- it keeps getting bounced. If anyone knows what the WEIGHT17 spam test is I'd love to hear it. I will keep at it. I am determined to beat this SPAM filter. Man - the hoops a guy has to jump through to give his client some $$$. I'm not selling Viagra after all. So to all the SPAM filter makers out there, please take note, sometimes offers of free money ($$$) over email really do exist. P.S. I am not afraid to pick up the phone, I am just being stubborn on this one :)
