Greenby bounces mail even with spam filter totally off :(

[#1]

I use my plusnet (now Greenby) as a central email collector from other accounts.

I see one of them is complaining that a perfectly accectable email is bounced when forwarded as it's spam (it isn't).

Technical details of the failure: 
5.7.1 Spam Message

This seems to a be new thing, I've not seen this before? So I've spam filters totally 100% off AND it's bouncing email anyway. The thing is I ONLY KNOW THIS due to the intermediate forwarding. The email system that originally got the email was fine with it, as it's not spam.

So .. yea customers of Greenby who have this happen won't even know it's happening. This can't be right?

From what I've read contacting Greenby customer support is not .. ideal... Do they read this forum? You'd THINK they would..

So .. summary: They now filter spam that isn't spam, silently bounce it, you don't know, even with spam filtering totally switched off.

[#2]

AFAIK a client email Spam filter identifies user messages as likely spam and redirects them to the local user's Spam mailbox.  So a user turning the Greenby client email spam filter 'OFF' will likely have no effect on how the Greenby incoming mail hosts handle messages identified as spam.

There is no useful information in your post to conclude anything more.

Where was it sent from? Do the originating mail domains have all the correct SPF, DMARC settings? Does the original message conform? What happens if the original sender emails you directly? We have no idea! 

What I find ironic is the number of people who, on the one hand, are screaming "Stop the Spam!" at the same time as others are complaining they can't email to certain domains as it gets rejected as spam. Now, they aren't receiving mails from certain domains, seemingly as it is being rejected as spam.

As somebody once said: "You can't please all of the people all of the time."

[#3]

due to the intermediate forwarding. The email system that originally got the email was fine with it, as it's not spam.

@Kwak does your email forwarding system employ SRS ( sender rewrite system ) ? If not , then any SPF will not be valid when received by the Greenby system. This will affect any spam detection algorithm. 

[#4]

Well it seems pretty stupid that they then apparently have two levels of spam filtering, one you can control and one you can't, independent of each other, so you have no control when they are screwing up.

It was from a major supermarket, I've had many emails from them for years, a supermarket many people including yourself may use. As I say the first place it comes to is fine with it.

Greenby says

Diagnostic-Code: 5.7.1 Spam Message
Remote-MTA: dns; mx.enmail.co

This is Greenby at fault, I don't care if other people are saying they have too much spam, it's not relevant.

[#5]

I'm not sure if it has SRS, all I know is since switching to Greenby this is the first and only email that's been bounced in this way, which made me suspicious they are fiddling with something.

I switched off spam filtering totally a couple of weeks ago as too many valid emails, even on the lowest setting, were going into the spam folder.

[#6]

@Kwak 

"I use my plusnet (now Greenby) as a central email collector from other accounts."

Why is this? Has this worked without problems in the past using your Plusnet email account in the same way?

"It was from a major supermarket, I've had many emails from them for years, a supermarket many people including yourself may use. As I say the first place it comes to is fine with it."

But, from what you say, it hasn't come from the well known supermarket, it has come from another account. Maybe the problem now is with that account rather than the supermarket? Why can you not get the supermarket to mail you directly? Meanwhile, you could try working your way through these, in relation to the particular sending relay account:

Common Causes of the 5.7.1 Error

Spam Content - The email may contain phrases or keywords commonly associated with spam, triggering filters.
Authentication Issues - Problems with SPF, DKIM, or DMARC settings can lead to rejection if the email fails authentication checks.
Blacklisted IP/Domain - If the sender's IP address or domain is on a blacklist due to previous spam activity, emails may be blocked.
Strict Anti-Spam Filters - The recipient's server may have stringent filters that block emails based on content quality or sender reputation.
Invalid Recipient Address - Typos or deactivated accounts can also result in a 5.7.1 error, as the server cannot deliver the message.

Steps to Resolve the 5.7.1 Error

Check Email Content: Review your email for spam-like phrases or excessive links.
Verify Authentication Settings: Ensure that your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are correctly configured.
Test Sender Reputation: Use tools to check if your IP or domain is blacklisted.
Contact Recipient: If possible, reach out to the recipient to inform them of the issue and ask them to check their spam filters.

[#7]

@Kwak 

I'm not sure if it has SRS

Then I suggest you find out. Using a forwarding service that doesn't implement SRS is asking for trouble in the current climate of spam

[#8]

Switching off spam filterin may not allow all emails through.

On plusnet there are multiple spam settings. The spam filter level and a tickbox for discard obvious spam. With the tick box enabled i suspect that there is an internal threshold that any emails that fail it are discarded. Any emails that pass are then filtered based on spam filter setting and if they fails are either (depending on uet another settings option) moved to spam folder or tagged with spam and still passed to inbox. Any that pass are sent to inbox as is

I guess its possible that greenby also discard obvious spam but there is no option to enable/disable that?

[#9]

@MisterW 

According to google it does use SRS. "the service uses SRS to modify the envelope sender address (Return-Path). This ensures that your forwarded emails pass SPF checks and prevents them from being flagged as spam or rejected by the receiving mail server."

As I say this particular issue has never happened before, any issues before were when plusnet had issues and it was a server/forwarding issue not a "rejected as spam" issue. That's why it caught my attention.

And as I say, the fact people can switch off the spam filtering thinking "well I'll get everything now" and still get valid email rejected, and THEY won't know, is not useful or intuitive.

This supermarket/loyalty card has sent me dozens of emails this year all getting through fine, including one yesterday that was fine.

[#10]

Just had another one, totally different organisation.

Again I wouldn't know if my other email provider hadn't told me, and if this happening to OTHER people, they just wont' know.

Either Greenby have done something, or me switching off the spam filter completely, which I did not long ago, (might've been a week), rather than just letting emails through as any rational person would expect, just insanely bounces thinks it things are spam.

Which is totally unacceptable.

Nobody thinks switching off a spam filter should result in valid emails being bounced. That's 2 in 2 days.

[#11]

Greenby may be discarding obvious spam. Why they are being flagged as spam really needs the header records investigated as that could help id the cause

Btw Other hosting providers do similar refusing mail from hosts on the SpamHaus ZEN block list

[#12]

It's not obvious spam, it's not spam.I was doing something with this company today, a DIFFERENT company to the ones yesterday, and they sent 3 different emails.

2 got through, 1 perfectly innocent email was bounced.

This has never happened before then  2 in 2 days.

If I hadn't had the intermediate email account it would have bounced to the original sender and I wouldn't have known.

It's a nonsense.