Email templates being blocked because of prohibited words

[timsimpson]

Hi. I've been having trouble with a number of email templates that are being used as part of a Bot workflow. 

I've discovered that if I include our full company address in a Google Doc email template , which includes the county 'East Sussex', the email template is not triggered and no email arrives. It turns out it's not the county, it's the three letters 'sex' that are stopping the email from triggering. 

Is Google prohibiting the use of any word with the three letter string s-e-x?

This seems somewhat over zealous! And what other letter strings are being prohibited? Is there a list we, as users, can access?

[WillowMobileSys]

It is likely NOT Google but rather other email providers poorly built Scam and Junk filters.  What is filtered will vary based on the recipients email provider.   You can test this by inserting your own Gmail address into the Bot.  Is the email delivered to yourself?

The only things you can do are:

1)  Have the recipient contact their email provider and point out that they are blocking legitamate emails and need to update their filtering rules.

2)  Change you email content?  For example, abbreviate "East Sussex" even if it's a made up abbreviation.  Recipients probably won't care - if they even notice!

[timsimpson]

It's not a recipient issue.

I'm testing the bot by sending the email to myself at a gmail acct. It's not just emails, Appsheet won't even save a PDF file to google drive if the template contains the three letters string s-e-x, regardless of what word it is contained within.  It' s an Appsheet/Google issue and I need to know why and what other letter strings are being blocked. I can't work with a platform that is going to effectively ban words that contain certain undisclosed text strings. 

I'd also be interested in whether this is likely to impact user data. Can somebody from Sussex, Essex,  using a sextant etc expect their data to be blocked from usage? It feels like a bug that needs sorting out. 

It's also new. I've been able to use similarly formatted email templates, containing the word Sussex in the past.

[WillowMobileSys]

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@timsimpson wrote:

Appsheet won't even save a PDF file to google drive

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Why do you think that the letters s-e-x are the reason for the issues??

I have been using AppSheet for 8 years and I'm not a aware of ANY activity like this at all.  I would recommend opening a ticket to AppSheet Support.

In the meantime, I'll try this myself to see if experience anything similar.

[WillowMobileSys · Accepted solution]

I have just generated 2 PDF files sent by email with the words "East Sussex" in both the PDF and the email.  I received them without any issues.  Images below.  So, this doesn't seem to be a Google-wide problem.

Are there any restrictions on the UK your content could be subjected to?

Have you looked at the Automation Monitor to make sure there are not any other errors occurring that are preventing the creation of the files?

You can easily get to the Monitor with the "Monitor" button in the upper right-hand corner of your Bot. 

Images of generated PDF and email contain "East Sussex"

[timsimpson]

How very odd. I too ran a test, it sent the email. I've now added the word Sussex back into the email templates, just as it was yesterday, and whaddyaknow, the email comes through fine. If I hadn't had someone else here working through it with me I'd think I'd been imagining it.

Sometimes I think the bugs get fixed without anyone admitting there was ever an issue! Thanks for your help.

[Steve]

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@timsimpson wrote:

Sometimes I think the bugs get fixed without anyone admitting there was ever an issue!

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That absolutely happens, all the time!