Pausing Sequences Causes Contact Error

[TMcDonough5]

How do I prevent all of my contacts from recieving and error and getting unenrolled when I pause all of my sequences. Over Thanksgiving break I went to actions and paused all sequences so I would not get bombarded with tasks when I returned to work. When I hit "resume all", all of my contacts in the sequences without a task due that day were given an error and unenrolled.

[Markestac · Accepted solution]

Hi @TMcDonough5,

When you pause all sequences in HubSpot using the "Pause All" option, it halts the sequence's automated workflows and tasks for all enrolled contacts. However, HubSpot does not save the exact state of each sequence for these contacts. When you "Resume All," HubSpot attempts to re-enroll contacts, but if there are no tasks or emails scheduled for that day, contacts can encounter errors and become unenrolled. This happens because the system cannot determine where to pick up the sequence.

To avoid this issue:

1. Set Task Delays in Advance:
   •  Before a break, extend the delays in your sequences to push back tasks and actions, ensuring no interruptions during the period.
2. Manually Pause Contacts:
   • Before pausing a sequence, identify the enrolled contacts and manually pause their enrollment. This allows you to resume their sequence steps individually later.

By managing tasks or statuses rather than pausing sequences directly, you can ensure enrolled contacts remain unaffected.

[kennedyp]

Hi @TMcDonough5! Welcome to the Community-- happy to have you here 😊

These errors can really depend on the sequence of actions and cadence. Could you share the steps you took to pause the sequence and the steps you took to unpause? Additionally, could you share specifics about an example contact and what step they were paused in and should have reached after? 

As a note, these issues can be tough to resolve in a Community thread. Still, I see your account has access to HubSpot Support, so I recommend opening a ticket for a more thorough investigation. The Support team can access your account from the backend to get a quicker resolution.  

Best,

Kennedy

[TMcDonough5]

Hi Kennedy,

Absolutely! I paused all of my sequences by going to automations, hit
sequences, actions, and then pause all. When I resumed them I did the same
steps except I hit resume all.

As for a specific example, the same thing happened to all of my contacts
regardless of what step they were on. Each contact that did not have a task
due that day were given an error and needed to manually be re-enrolled
which would put them back to the right step. However, I had a lot of
contacts which would eat up a ton of my time making it not worth it.

Thanks,
Tristan