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Comment by wl | Hacker News Reader

As someone who gets tons of transactional email I didn't sign up for (wrong address), please do implement your catch-all service and make unsubscribe mechanisms mandatory. If I can't stop it, I mark it as the spam it is, which can't be great for deliverability.

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Oh lordy this so much this. As a holder of a beloved 5 character gmail address that is a common first and last name let me tell you that the misdirected email I receive is insane and countless. Services with an reputable unsubscribe get unsubbed and then I moved on. Services with no way to unsubscribe get marked spam each and every single time. Services that do that are effectively dead to me because if they ever do send a legit email gmail will automatically flag and remove them for me and I can't help but believe (with some insider knowledge) that this also impacts deliverability to other gmail accounts.

There’s nothing to unsubscribe from if it’s transactional email. You aren’t on a mailing list. You can’t be removed from a non-existent list you aren’t on.

Are you asking to be blacklisted from all future transactional email from a particular service? That’s something very different to being unsubscribed. You’re asking to be added to a list, permanently.

Most of these transactional messages are associated with customer accounts. They absolutely can remove email addresses from those accounts. The problem isn't emailed receipts from typing in your email address at a brick and mortar checkout or "guest" checkout on an online store.

As I was writing this message, Florida Power and Light sent me yet another "transactional" message I can't unsubscribe from because they're under the mistaken impression I'm their customer.

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