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Sending and delivery · 5 min read

Understand bounces, complaints, and unreachable addresses

Understand address-health signals and correct contact records without bypassing recipient choices.

Updated August 18, 2026

What these provider events mean

  • Permanent bounce: the provider says the address cannot receive mail, commonly because it does not exist. TellTell marks it undeliverable and skips it in future plans.
  • Temporary bounce or delay: the provider could not deliver now. TellTell keeps the address eligible while provider retries or later events remain possible.
  • Complaint: the recipient or provider marked the message as spam. TellTell records the complaint and skips that address on later messages.
Full size
Crisp TellTell message details drawer with a bounced recipient expanded to show provider event history.

Expand a recipient to distinguish TellTell's handoff from later provider delivery, delay, bounce, or complaint events.

  1. 1Whole-message totals
  2. 2Attempt and event counts
  3. 3Current recipient status
  4. 4Provider event timeline

How to respond

  1. Confirm the exact address

    Ask the person for a current address through another channel. Do not keep sending to a known bad or complained address.

  2. Update the person

    Add the corrected address to the existing person and make it primary when appropriate. Avoid creating a duplicate person.

  3. Respect complaints and unsubscribes

    Do not work around a complaint or unsubscribe with another copy of the same address. Confirm that the recipient expects future group mail before changing their contact path.

  4. Review the next message

    A historical message keeps its original outcome. Use a later message's recipient detail to confirm the corrected address is selected and delivered.

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