Email from sender is displaying so wrong

[SaferCycling]

I've sent many emails through Hubspot, but something went wrong with today's send. Instead of showing my name or my email address in the From line in the recipient's inbox, it shows  info...@...ee.hs-send.com

Once inside the email it shows like this (my actual info replaced between &&&s) from: Melissa &&&LastName&&& <info=&&&emaildomain&&&.ca@hubspotfree.hs-send.com>

If it wasn't obvious from that, I am a free user. 

Previous email sends have come in showing Melissa &&&LastName&&& in the inbox, and within the message shows as from: Melissa &&&LastName&&& <info@&&&emaildomain&&&.ca> via bf02.hubspotfree.net

I can't find anything that I've changed, whether on purpose or by accident, and I'm not sure if this is exclusive to the inboxes in my house (we use Gmail), but it's definitely weird. 

Any advice? Is this something to worry about?

Thanks,

Melissa

[Jnix284]

Hi @SaferCycling I have confirmed that the sending email has changed for free accounts, it is no longer possible to connect an email sending domain without a paid plan:

As to why it shows differenlty in Gmail vs Webmail, I'm stumped - this is a really new change and this is the first issue I've seen pop-up as a result.

[SaferCycling]

Hi Jennifer, 

I have absolutely no idea what you mean about connecting domain: I've gone through every place I can think of on my end and I do not see the screen you showed. I do not have any domain linked to my account. 

Since this doesn't seem to be something I've done wrong or can correct, I'll do my best to ignore it. Can you let me know if you figure out a solution that requires me to do something? Should I submit a support ticket or anything like that? 

Melissa

[Jnix284]

Hi @SaferCycling no worries, if you haven't configured an email sending domain then it's likely just a change that happened in the background as part of the greater change to how email sending works in HubSpot for free accounts.

I don't think any action is required - unless you have a paid plan, there isn't an option to submit a support ticket directly.

[Jnix284]

@SaferCycling I've run into a similar issue on another account - their email sending domain is authenticated, but it is modifying it as if it isn't.

I found this in the knowledge base that explains why the change happens and thought you might need for reference:

[SaferCycling]

Hi Jennifer, 

The issue that I'm having isn't with how Hubpsot changes my email, it's how my NAME DISPLAYS in Gmail. 

I'm not in the least concerned about what it looks like my email address is, as the reply-to address is correct and that has not been an issue. It's just how the Sender Name shows. 

Melissa

[Jnix284]

@SaferCycling do you have your from name configured in the email here:

I can see from your previous screenshot it is showing your name:

I'm wondering if you try another from name as a test if it might trigger the name to update/format properly...

[SaferCycling]

I haven't changed my name in years, but this is a new problem, which I suspect is related to the Gmail changes and completely out of my control. "HubSpot already has you covered with SPF if you're sending from our shared swimlanes ... When crafting marketing emails, remember the 'Suggestion' prompt that alerts you if you're about to save or send an email without utilizing a connected domain. " <- there was no suggestion that there was anything wrong with my email when I scheduled the previous email, and I'm not seeing anything that suggests the next one will be any different. I sent this email through Hubspot Marketing Email. 

Test emails do not look the same as regular emails. I'm not sure how changing my name for a test would help when the name is displaying properly everywhere but Gmail anyways, but I suppose I can try it. 

Melissa

[Jnix284]

@SaferCycling My apologies, I know it's a long shot - I'm just not able to replicate the issue in Gmail with an account that has a similar configuration, so I thought maybe triggering the server to refresh the from name setting might do the trick.

I've been doing a lot of testing to try to recreate this and haven't been successful, all of the accounts I can test are newer though, so that's why I thought it might be something cached from before the Feb 1 change.

[SaferCycling]

My husband just received an email from another Hubspot user - a paid user - which displayed horribly as well. I've blocked out all private information on this image of what it looks like in his inbox: 

The part circled in orange is what the name shows like in the list of messages in the inbox. 

This is definitely not a free-user or me-only issue: something is going wrong with Hubspot & Gmail. 

Melissa

[BérangèreL]

Hi @SaferCycling, @5hellos,

I hope that you are well! Thanks for asking the Community and thank you so much @Jnix284 for your time and help on this (and for the tag)!

I checked for you and it is expected that you will see a domain like "hs-send.com" or "hubspotemail.net" when sending marketing emails from HubSpot.

However, the DKIM, DMARC and SPF configurations provide authentication that HubSpot has been given permission to send on your behalf and will improve the deliverability of those emails.

Therefore, I'd recommend following the steps of this article "Manage your email authentication in HubSpot" (with a paid subscription) for deliverability reasons.

I hope this helps!

Have a great day!

Best,
Bérangère

[SaferCycling]

Hi Berangere,

I'm sorry, but what you're saying is not correct. Seeing a HubSpot ID instead of the sender's name in the Gmail inbox is not what is supposed to happen. This did not happen prior to the Gmail authentication changes and as linked by Jnix, it is something that HubSpot said was done by them, not the user, regardless of paid status. 

If Gmail users mark my email as spam because they see this garbage, then my account gets shut down, when it's HubSpot's fault. 

[BérangèreL]

Hi @SaferCycling,

Thank you for your message.

So that I can investigate this further for you and see if there is something wrong or not, can you please send me, via private message, a screenshot in Gmail of how it is displaying and highlighting which part you think is not correct?

Thanks a lot and have a good day.

Best,
Bérangère

[SaferCycling]

I have already posted screen shots showing what's going on: you want them sent by PM as well? 

Why is this marked as solved, when it's not solved? 

[BérangèreL]

Hi @SaferCycling,

Thank you for your message.

Yes please, if you could send the screenshot from Gmail but without hiding data on it (since it is via Private Messages), that would be great!

Regarding the approved solution, I am not sure of who accepted the post as a solution.
I guess the post can be very helpful for another Community Member, even if I understand that this is not the solution for you.

Thanks and have a good day!

Best,
Bérangère

[SaferCycling]

Message sent. 

[BérangèreL]

Hi @SaferCycling,

Thanks for your patience as I was investigating this for you!

I just heard from the team and I wanted to let you know that we are actually limited in what we can control as it regards external tools or systems (like Gmail for example) displaying what we send them.

But one thing you should make sure, is that you should be sending from a domain that you have configured as an Email Sending Domain.

At the moment, you don't have anything connected, that's probably why you are seeing some odd behavior here.

I'd therefore recommend connecting "@safercyclingcalgary.ca" as an email sending domain if you're going to use that for sending marketing emails.

Thanks and have a good day!

Best,
Bérangère

[SaferCycling]

As a free user, I can't set an email domain. I don't think that would change anything anyways, as this is displaying properly in webmail, but not in Gmail and I have received messages from other Hubspot users - paid users - who also displayed poorly in Gmail. 

As a free user, I can only send 2,000 emails per *month*, so there should be no issues with my account being subject to Gmails anti-spam blocking which only applies to those who send 5,000+ emails per day. Yet this is the only conclusion I can draw as to why my formerly-properly displaying From name is now showing up so horribly in Gmail and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. 

Thanks,

Melissa

[Jnix284]

Hi @SaferCycling I know you mentioned paid users having the same issue in Gmail so I've run a few tests to see what's what.

Test 1 - Free account email send to Gmail

I have a free account with no email sending domain configured. I last sent a marketing email on September 8, 2022 to contacts with no reported issues of my name's appearance (including a copy to my own personal gmail).

I haven't sent any other emails after the change on February 1, 2024 so I resent the last email to my new email address that uses Gmail and it looks correct:

I don't have Starter now, but I did previously so I thought that might be why I can't recreate the issue.

Test 2 - Free account 2 email send to Gmail 

My previous agency has marketing hub free (paid sales hub pro) and never had marketing hub starter.

We sent an email on February 28, 2024 announcing our acquisition. You can see the free sending domain here and correct from name.

This is how it looked in my gmail:

Test 3 - new free account to gmail

I created an entirely new account that has no paid plan of any kind.

Verified the sender from settings:

and how it looked in gmail:

so even with a net new account, I can't recreate the issue with the &&& - the closest I could get was not having my name show at all and only seeing a partial email address that maybe didn't look so reliable...

Test 4 - marketing hub enterprise acct without email sending domain configured to gmail

from info in HS:

appearance in gmail:

So because this is a paid account it doesn't have the "free" or "starter" in the sending signature, but it also doesn't have the proper formatting because there is no email sending domain configured.

For the HubSpot users you know who are reporting the same issue as you despite having a paid plan, they should review their email sending domain to resolve the issue.

This likely would have happend in this account regardless of email sending domain because my user email is from a different domain (aptitude8.com) vs the account which is (theircompany.com) so it wouldn't match the profile either way.

Test 5 - Marketing Hub Pro paid account with email sending domain configured and sent from matching domain

from settings in hubspot (blurred for privacy):

and from gmail inbox:

Based on all of these tests, neither a free account or paid account should have the appearance you experienced.

To finalize the testing and fully recreate the issue, can you please send me a test email from your account to jen @ worqflow .co (not .com)

This will allow me to see the appearance of your From name and email within Gmail.

I will not share your personal information publicly, but I think this is the last piece of information we would need before we could submit to HubSpot Support (which I'd be happy to do from my agency account to get answers on this).

@BérangèreL after many tests, I can confirm the behavior that @SaferCycling is reporting is not expected or aligned with other accounts that have a similar subscription and configuration.

[SaferCycling]

Hi Jennifer, 

I will send you 2 emails following this message - one from pre-Feb 1 and one post-Feb 1. 

I need to clarify: the &&& that I originally posted was my attempt to indicate that I had edited the text. No &&& have every appeared in my emails. Your test #4, where the email address showed in the inbox is the issue I'm having. As I have shown in my screenshots, this is a problem only within Gmail, as it shows fine in webmail. 

As a free user, I can't link an email domain. However, I also shouldn't be facing this issue with Gmail as I can't send 5,000 emails per day. This is why I'm frustrated. But I have also pointed out that 2 paid users are also having this problem, so there are probably lots more that just don't know about it. 

Anyways, please let me know - either here or through the emails that I'll send you soon - how these emails come through and what will happen next. 

Thanks,

Melissa

[Jnix284]

Hi @SaferCycling 

Thank you for sending the test emails over. I can confirm that both reached my inbox and both had the same appearance from the inbox.

Also, thank you for clarifying the &&& situation, I misinterpreted what you meant about blocking out the information with how it was displaying improperly.

Here's how it looks (redacted) in my gmail:

This is consistent with other free users.

For paid users who are experiencing the same, they can configure their email sending domain to resolve the issue.

As far as next steps, I don't work for HubSpot so my only option to help further would be to submit a ticket on your behalf, before I do:

@BérangèreL what is the best option here? While the team says they can't control how it looks in Gmail, it is possible for it to display properly for paid users - why can't it include the actual "From" name for free users?

While the emails make it to the inbox, they look completely different from every other email with a proper From name and look like spam:

I imagine this is an issue for every free user, should we create an idea? or can you provide the feedback directly to the product team?

And if not, should I proceed with submitting a ticket to connect with support directly?

[BérangèreL]

Hi @SaferCycling,

Thank you for sending the screenshots and information over via direct message.

I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks for your patience!

Best,
Bérangère