Email error codes linked to error returns: L-HBXXXX

Procédure

Introduction

Welcome to our documentation dedicated to resolving errors obtained after sending emails that have returned errors and to managing email sending on LWS. Here you will learn all about these errors and how to manage them effectively to avoid any unwanted blocking of your emails. Our aim is to provide you with clear and concise information to help you get the most out of your email service.

I. Understanding L-HBXXXX errors

L-HBXXXX errors occur when our system receives repeated errors following the sending of emails from one or more email addresses.

Error returns, also known as "hard bounces", are information generally sent by the email service of the recipients of your email messages, which tells our system that the email has not been delivered to the recipient. These errors can be multiple. The most common errors include the following

• non-existent domain name
• non-existent email address
• invalid SPF record
• mail considered undesirable
• mail from this sender is currently blocked
• IP of the sender's mail server currently blocked
• etc.

This situation may arise as a result of a mailing list being sent from your email addresses, or as a result of a device or website where the email address is configured being hacked. It may also be due to incorrect configuration of your domain name or errors in entering the email addresses of the recipients of your mailings. To solve this problem, it is essential to understand its origin and to take appropriate measures.

II. Quotas and blocking times for L-HBXXXX type errors

This blocking is applied to enable our system to maintain a good reputation for its IPs. If too many IPs are sent in error to the same mail service, this can damage the reputation of one or more of our IPs to that service and can lead to a temporary block that will affect other users of the same service in the case of shared IPs.

The system calculates the number of errors returned following the sending of emails during the last reference period. The blocking time indicated in the table above is the maximum value, corresponding to a massive and rapid sending. If the blocking follows a regular flow of emails sent, the effective blocking time will generally be much reduced.

III. Unblocking your Mail Service

No action is required to unblock the sending from your email address(es). It will automatically be reactivated after the blocking period.

However, it is advisable to find and resolve the source of these erroneous mailings in order to prevent any further blocking.

IV. Preventing Type L-HBXXXX Errors

A. If you are the source of an e-mail returning a large number of errors

The actions you need to take to avoid being blocked again will depend on the error message you receive. We will advise you below on the main possible solutions based on the most commonly encountered errors:

- non-existent domain name or address

If the destination address cannot be contacted, it is because an error was made in the recipient's registration when the email was sent. It is therefore important to ensure that you spell your recipients' email addresses correctly when you send them emails.

If this blocking occurs following a newsletter or canvassing mailing, please check the validity and existence of the mails in your mailing list and delete any incorrect mails or mails for which you have already encountered delivery errors.

- SPF, DKIM, DMARC, Reverse IP registration problems

If you get this type of error when sending mail, it means that your domain is not correctly configured or that it is not configured to accept mail from the server you want to use.

The domains managed by LWS and using our mail services are automatically configured to use the mail service provided by default with your hosting package without any problems.

If your domain is not managed by LWS or if you are sending emails from a server not managed by LWS with the email addresses of your domain, please contact the support department of your domain or server manager to help you configure it.

- Spam

Each email service has its own anti-spam rules, so if we did not detect your email as spam when it was sent but the recipient's service considers it to be spam when it is received, only the recipient's email service will be able to give you the reasons why it was considered spam. LWS will not be able to tell you why another email service considers your email to be spam.

- email address or domain blocked by the recipient's mail service

The reason for this blocking is generally due to the reputation of your email address or domain name with the email service that refuses to deliver your mail. When you send emails to your recipients, they have the option of indicating to the email service that the email received is unwanted or unsolicited. Depending on the number of identical requests received by the mail service from one or more of its users, the service may decide to block all mail sent from the email address or all email addresses belonging to the same domain name.

It is therefore important to make sure that the recipients of your mailings are recipients who are expecting or who have signed up to receive communications from you. Similarly, it is important to take the necessary measures if one of your recipients informs you that they no longer wish to receive emails from you.

- IP of the sending mail server blocked by the recipient's mail service

If too many unwanted emails are received on a mail service from the same IP, the mail service can degrade the reputation of the IP to the point of temporarily blocking it. It is for this reason that LWS uses anti-spam software to check that emails leaving our facilities are not spam. However, as each email provider has its own rules, one email service may consider an email to be spam while another does not. This may result in your IP address being blocked. The duration of the block will depend on the recipient's mail service.

If you have a mail service with an IP dedicated to your use, then your mailings are solely responsible for the blocking and you will have to take steps to request that your IP be unblocked.

If you have a mail service with a Shared IP, then the blocking may come from your mail or from mail sent by another user of this IP. In this case, contact LWS technical support so that they can contact your recipient's mail service and negotiate the unblocking of this IP as soon as possible.

B. If you are not the source of the e-mail returning a large number of errors

Run an anti-virus scan on the devices where your email addresses are configured. Use tools such as TotalAV, PCProtect, McAfee or Avast to remove all traces of viruses or malware. Then regularly change the passwords to your email accounts.

If your site sends emails with your email address, check that it is secure and that the forms have the Captcha function, which prevents robots from using your forms to send mass emails.

We have a number of documentations that explain how to set up this type of functionality on WordPress, Prestashop and Joomla sites.

Conclusion

We hope that this documentation has been useful in helping you to understand and resolve L-HBXXXX errors and to improve the management of your LWS mailings. By following the steps explained here, you can prevent unwanted blocking and optimise your email communication with your recipients. Don't forget to take security measures into account, in particular by changing your password regularly. If you encounter any difficulties or require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our technical support team, who are always ready to help you use our hosting services.