Marketing Email Tool Locked with no Warning and no Possible Way to use going forward?

[Eunisis]

Please help community,

I am being told by Hubspot Sales in the help chat that once my marketing email tool has been locked on my free account, there is no possible way for me to use the email marketing tools going forward, even if I have a paid Hubspot account.  Is this true?  This makes zero sense to me as it means Hubspot is turning me away as potential business and sending me to one of their competitors as this is the only reason I was using Hubspot's CRM Tool.  I asked to speak to the Hubspot saleperson's supervsior and the person refused.  

I was given no warning by Hubspot that my account was near being locked.  I have a free Hubspot account currently and I only add people to my mailing list that have said yes to me adding them.  I have a sign-up on my Squarespace website that requires users to confirm in a separate email they want my newsletter.  And I recently uncovered someone else has been signing up other people and I confess I have no idea how this is happening or how to stop it.  I had it on my list to figure this out and then was shocked when I logged into my account this evening and found Hubspot had locked the marketing emails in my account.  I'm even more shocked at how the Hubspot Sales person handled my help request.

Thank you in advance for the clarification and help,

A rather stressed business owner

[Eunisis]

Hi @DeliveryByJess,

What is Hubspot's logic for withholding providing users a warning their spam threshold is about to be exceeded and their services cut off with no option of getting the services back?  There were plenty of opportunities for Hubspot to provide this warning on my account (happy to chat offline and provide evidence of this).  Had that warning been provided, I could have taken action before my services were cut off and the suspension could have been avoided to begin with and my business wouldn't be left in the lurch it's currently in.  Because in this particular case, this whole thing could have been avoided had Hubspot provided some additional clarifications and warnings in their non-Hubspot form knowledge article (information I've uncovered via another hubspot forum thread since this occurred...https://community.hubspot.com/t5/CRM/How-is-Hubspot-allowing-these-bogus-emails-to-get-into-my/m-p/5...).  More clarification is definitely needed in that knowledge article as within 48 hours I already uncovered another business owner in my network who is having the exact same issue happen in his Hubspot account and neither he nor the person he paid to set up the integration between his website, Hubspot, and email marketing tool understood Hubspot was creating contact records that were spam in his account.  The business owner was incredibly grateful I shared which records are spam records so he could remediate his account and avoid a suspension like I got.  And I've worked on enough enterprise wide system implementations to know, if something isn't clear to me in documentation, it isn't clear to many users.

Please stop repeating "HubSpot Marketing Free accounts are not able to be remediated once a suspension occurs, but you can still continue to use the other non restricted tools within HubSpot."  I understood this the first time it was said to me and don't need it repeated multiple times as it doesn't help my situation.

I'm also well aware spam damages a brand's sender reputation.  It's why I've been so careful about who I add to my distribution list, setting up the email confirmation on my website, and why I'm so frustrated at the user experience with my Hubspot account.

[DeliveryByJess]

Hello @Eunisis ,

This account was suspended for exceeding spam complaint limits.  Spam complaints are not predictable, as they are actions taken by a contact to report unsolicited email to their email provider.  In suspensions caused by spam complaints, a warning may not be provided before suspension occurs.

HubSpot takes deliverability seriously.  Spam complaints damage your brand's sender reputation and degrade the shared network that all HubSpot users rely on.  HubSpot Marketing Free accounts are not able to be remediated once a suspension occurs, but you can still continue to use the other non restricted tools within HubSpot. 

[Eunisis]

Hi @karstenkoehler ,

Thank you for clarifying what the Hubspot Sales person told me in chat was incorrect and that there is a way to appeal this, I thought that was the case.  Though based on what I've read in the forums, sounds like even with a paid account there isn't a good chance Hubspot will ever help with this.  If I'm wrong about this, please let me know.  

It's a very strange business strategy Hubspot has, come use our tool for free, we're going to populate your account with email addresses of people who don't want your mailings and not identify this for you, we're not going to give you any warnings we're about to shut the tool off on you, we're going to shut it off and leave you in a complete lurch with your business, and then tell you to go to a competitor.  Why was I given zero warnings in my account there was an issue (i.e. Hubspot never displayed a warning banner in my account where they put the suspension notice, Hubspot never sent an email warning me I was approaching a threshold, etc.)?  The other question on how Hubspot even allowed all these email addresses in my account in the first place I posted in the CRM forum.  

To your other point, the email marketing tool was the only reason I joined Hubspot so unfortunately being able to continue to use their other tools doesn't help.  They really are sending my business to a competitor.

Thank you in advance for the additional clarification, all the best, stay welll, and happy holidays.

[karstenkoehler]

Hi @Eunisis,

I can't say anything about the success rate as I'm not an employee of HubSpot, unfortunately. You could try upgrading to a paid license but there isn't any guarantee.

Best regards and good luck!

[Eunisis]

Hi @karstenkoehler,

Thanks for letting me know you can't comment on the appeal success rate.  Coming back to the question of "Why was I given zero warnings in my account there was an issue (i.e. Hubspot never displayed a warning banner in my account where they put the suspension notice, Hubspot never sent an email warning me I was approaching a threshold, etc.)?"  Is this something you can answer or no?

All the best, stay well, and happy holidays

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @Eunisis,

For free CRM accounts the email tool will remain locked after sending is suspended, unfortunately. Only paid accounts (Marketing Hub Starter or higher) can appeal the suspension.

While the email tool will remain locked, you can continue to use the other tools in HubSpot. You could also consider integrating Mailchimp with HubSpot for email sending.

Unfortunately, that's what it is.

Best regards!