Back in 2016

On March 24, 2016 HostGator started rejecting their customer email, we requested our shared user base (our customers hosted by HostGator) to contact HostGator support and request the block against MX Guarddog be lifted so we could reliably deliver mail.

Advance to October 2017

Unfortunatly it is happening again, HostGator is blocking your mail. Starting October 2, 2017 @ 12:56 (GMT) HostGator has once again started blocking MX Guarddog from delivering mail to their network. The message we receive when attempting to make a delivery is:

550-"JunkMail rejected - s480f.ik2.com [64.38.239.86]:53439 is in an RBL on rbl.websitewelcome.com, see Blocked - see blocked"

This error is indicating that HostGator has placed our IP address on a blocklist, which is operated by HostGator and used internally (they share this blocklist with other hosting companies owned by their parent company Endurance International Group). This is not a public blocklist and we have been unable to locate any way to apply to have the block lifted.

Accidents happen and their systems may have accidently added our IP address to their private bloacklist. MX Guarddog is an anti-spam solution, we do not send spam and no spam is originating from our network.

All attempts to contact HostGator over the past 17 days have been ignored, or we have been told that because we are not a customer ourselves they will not assist us. HostGator's croc has very tough skin and we are simply not having any luck getting through to them - we need your help.

To ensure that MX Guarddog is able to deliver your mail, we request all HostGator customers to please contact HostGator by email, telephone +1 866-964-2867, live chat or any means you can and express your concern over the blockage of your incoming mail.

Got a Twitter account? Send out a tweet, using #hostgator and hopefully someone at HostGator who has the power to fix this will hear you.

If you are a HostGator customer, please direct HostGator to this page by providing them with this URL: http://mxguarddog.com/blog/hostgator-blocking-your-mail/.

We would love to hear from someone at HostGator who is in a position to discuss this blockage and determine how it can be lifted. How can we prevent future blocks against us so HostGator customers can choose to use MX Guarddog's email security service without fear that HostGator will decide to block their customers from receiving mail? HostGator can contact us directly at postmaster@mxguarddog.com to resolve the issue.

Thanks!

Thanks to those customers who value MX Guarddog's service and have already reached out to HostGator.

Update #1

An attempt to contact HostGator via their live chat, with customer support representative Jeremy S. he stated "we are currently aware of a Blocklisting issue and are working to resolve this company wide". Unfortunately we do not believe this to be true, the blocklisting they are doing is directly against MX Guarddog's IP address.

Update #2

Another HostGator customer received the following answer from William Normandin, a Triage Administrator at HostGator about the block. It was suggested that MX Guarddog should stop sending so much mail, and we should request delisting - unfortunately we see no way to apply to have the block lifted from this private blocklist.

Update #3

We have now received a 3rd reply from another HostGator tech, thanks to queries by our shared customers. Tech Brandy H. has stated that it is not HostGator who is blocking the IP - it is someone else (she did not say who).

Our research shows the RBL websitewelcome is in fact controlled by HostGator. The ownership of the domain websitewelcome.com is hidden, but HostGator actually makes mention of the domain on their website, in addition when you connect to an email server managed by HostGator the welcome message states it is websitewelcome.com.

Logic would dictate that if connecting to a server that claims to be websitewelcome.com and the rejection message says our IP is blocklisted by rbl.websitewelcome.com then HostGator knows something about the blocklist.

We have checked 95 blocklists using MX Toolbox and we appear on none of them - it is only the HostGator controlled blocklist that is rejecting mail.

We have not yet been contacted by anyone from HostGator.

Update #4

HostGator has not reached out to us, but our shared customers continue to contact the HostGator support channels and are getting their attention. HostGator support agent Jacob I. is requesting proof of the rejection in the form of headers from an undeliverable message. We can do better than that, here is a screenshot of a manual connection test so they can see the entire communication channel leading up to the rejection notice and disconnection by HostGator.