Spam complaint handling: suppress, investigate and improve

A complaint is a strong signal that a recipient did not expect or want the message. Repeated sending to that address compounds the damage.

AuthSMTP participates in provider feedback loops and records complaint notifications against the relevant account. The configured complaints address must therefore remain current and actively monitored.

Act on every complaint

  • Remove or suppress the complaining recipient before another mailing.
  • Record the campaign, list source, signup evidence and message content.
  • Check whether unsubscribe requests were processed everywhere.
  • Look for clusters by acquisition source, campaign or sending frequency.
  • Do not contact the recipient by email to argue about the complaint.

A single complaint does not always establish the cause, but a pattern normally points to a list, expectation or process problem. Review the complete rate against the relevant sending volume rather than dismissing each event in isolation.

See AuthSMTP complaint guidance, the complaints-address FAQ and our Acceptable Usage Policy for service-specific requirements.

Key takeaway
Suppress the recipient immediately, preserve the evidence and investigate why the complaint occurred.
Practical next step

Send a test notification through your complaint-handling workflow and confirm that it creates a suppression entry that every mailing system honours.

Using AuthSMTP

AuthSMTP receives supported provider complaint feedback and associates it with the sending account; customers must monitor the configured complaints address and suppress affected recipients across their systems.