Can doc/docx attachments kill an email?

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#3374242 18-May-2025 09:37

Ok,

So if it's the same people all the time, then we need to do some basic troubleshooting:

Is there a comanality between their email servers? Ie are they all Gmail, are they all hosted by the same email provider?

If so, are there others on the list that use the same provider?

Also if the email is sent to just one of the problematic emails does it go through? If so the anti spam may not like the amount of receipents.

Clint

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#3374244 18-May-2025 09:45

clinty

So if it's the same people all the time, then we need to do some basic troubleshooting:

In my opinion these people do not want this voting to happen. From the OP "No proof of this has been offered, just accusations. No one willing to disclose OS and apps."

clinty

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#3374304 18-May-2025 12:39

freitasm:

clinty

So if it's the same people all the time, then we need to do some basic troubleshooting:

In my opinion these people do not want this voting to happen. From the OP "No proof of this has been offered, just accusations. No one willing to disclose OS and apps."

Yep I think so too, but the tech in me says to double check what I can first :D

Clint

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#3374318 18-May-2025 14:03

There is no reason to be emailing a word file for someone to be filling in to return, that is what the pdf is for. You can also use adobes servers to do the sharing of it which will get past spam problems.

Sending a docx file is for when you want someone else to keep working on it, not for forms.

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mattwnz

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#3374321 18-May-2025 14:08

TBH they should be sending a URL to the file, such as a Dropbox link. Anyone can open a Dropbox link without needing an account or login.

ANglEAUT

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#3374328 18-May-2025 14:33

kiwifidget: ... These are forms, so print pdf-fill by hand-scan-email back or open doc/docx-fill in digitally-email back. ...

kiwifidget: ... After this is dealt with, I will need to look into other ways of managing the outgoing communications.

Jumping on the 're-invent the wheel' band wagon; Would Surveymonkey et. al. or Google & Microsoft Forms be an option for the future?

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#3374366 18-May-2025 19:27

ANglEAUT:

Jumping on the 're-invent the wheel' band wagon; Would Surveymonkey et. al. or Google & Microsoft Forms be an option for the future?

I could, but not one other person in the committee would be able to manage it.

Today I had to show someone how to save a word doc as a pdf, and then later they were unable to forward an email.

The level of technical ineptitude amongst the group is high. Predominantly older retired people who have never used computers in their jobs. I am far and away the youngest, and fast approaching the six-0 myself.

Looking to cater to the lowest common denominator.

Maybe in a future when our membership is mostly full of people who grew up with devices. 😀

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#3374748 19-May-2025 19:34

Quite a variety of email services amongst the recipients.

xtra, gmail, hotmail , but mostly the first 2.

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#3374756 19-May-2025 20:06

kiwifidget: ... xtra, gmail, hotmail , but mostly the first 2.

With Xtra & Hotmail, the email client very possibly is Outlook on the PC. Less so with Gmail, but possible.

As previously mentioned, it's possible the issue is with the originating document (or email, see #3.1)
It's possible that that group of recipients is purposefully interfering
Finally, if they use the Outlook client on the PC, it could be that the email is filtered into the Junk/Spam folder in the web client of the email provider and thus doesn't get downloaded on the Desktop client. Outlook on the Desktop does its own spam filtering. If it isn't downloaded, it can't get into the Inbox or the Junk folder.
1. Emails that only have attachments (with no subject & no message) generally get marked as spam by the email provider. That means the Desktop client never gets to see the email.

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#3374757 19-May-2025 20:38

I just tried a small sample of accounts with gmail and xtra addresses.

Sent an email with delivery and read receipts ticked (I use the Outlook app on a Windows PC).

I got delivery notifications for both domains: but only that the email was successfully delivered, with no delivery notification from the receiving server.

Delivery to these recipients or groups is complete, but no delivery notification was sent by the destination server:

If you were in my shoes would this be sufficient to be able to say, the email was sent, whatever happened after that is your problem. ??

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#3374794 20-May-2025 08:22

Are you using your own domain when sending it or an address as Gmail?

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#3374795 20-May-2025 08:34

Could you send the doc/docx and pdf in separate emails?

Or as already suggested upload the doc\docx\pdf document somewhere and then send a link instead?

Troubleshooting these sort of issues can be a pain esp. if they don't really want to help in the process, so I'd look for workarounds instead...

I guess if you suspect people are just claiming not to have received it when they have, you could try sending through something like sendgrid - I think many of those sort of mass email services have options to add little tracking images or similar so you know if the email was opened - but I don't think there's any guaranteed method to tell if an email has actually arrived in a personal inbox either through smtp response or tracking methods, as many clients will block tracking images, etc.

PPS: My guess would be that people are either just missing the email or forgetting they've received it. i.e. Hanlon's razor...

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#3374796 20-May-2025 08:38

freitasm:

Are you using your own domain when sending it or an address as Gmail?

Usually it's from a personal gmail account, sometimes a personal outlook account.

We are a small club, 60 members, with about 5 disturbing the peace.

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#3374797 20-May-2025 08:44

This issue has made me think more broadly about our communications.

We do have a handful of members that dont have a computer at all, just a phone or tablet.

No printer either.

If I'm going to make a change, it may as well be one that suits everybody.

But it has to be easy for anyone to manage.

One step will be to have pre-printed forms available at the meeting the month before the AGM.

That would knock a few nails on the head.

I'm not sure how our membership would cope with online forms, but I'm willing to try it, if it's easy for the filler-outerer.

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#3374798 20-May-2025 08:48

kiwifidget:

freitasm:

Are you using your own domain when sending it or an address as Gmail?

Usually it's from a personal gmail account, sometimes a personal outlook account.

We are a small club, 60 members, with about 5 disturbing the peace.

Ok, just confirming. In this case it can't be the domain being blocked.

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