Reply goes from different acct than received

[Mike Trout]

One of my users is having this rather strange problem. She has 3 email
accounts configured in Outlook with different email addresses (from 2
domains). Sometimes (not all the time) when she replies to a message that
was sent to 'account1' (her default acct as well) the message will show it
will be sent from 'account2'. She has to (when remembered - we don't
remember all the time) change the account before sending. It only does it
some of the time. I'm certain it's doing it because I checked the email
header - it shows being sent to account1.

I've searched for this and I see occasional references to this problem, but
there is no resolution that I've found yet.

Ideas are welcome.

Mike.

 

[Guest]

Are accounts 1 and 2 on the same domain? Are they all POP3 accounts?

Here is an idea, but it may not be your problem.

My wife an I have Outlook configured to 3 accounts at home:
(e-mail address removed), (e-mail address removed), and (e-mail address removed). They all
actually receive messages through the same POP3 account; we only set it up
that way so we can send from the three different addresses.

In Options | Mail Setup | Send/Receive..., when I click "Edit...", I have
set only one of the accounts to "Receive mail items." Otherwise, all three
accounts would be pulling from the POP server. Replies would be based on
which account actually pulled that message. So, if someone sent a message to
(e-mail address removed), but the account (e-mail address removed) pulled the message, the
reply would seem to be from Alice.

Anyway, this is only your solution if your accounts 1 and 2 are actually
pulling from the same POP account, so it very well may not apply to your
situation. If this is not helpful, please post more details about the
accounts you are using (not personal information, obviously, but details
about the types of accounts, etc) and I'm rather sure someone here will be
able to help.

Doug

 

[Mike Trout]

Hi Doug,

Thx for the quick reply.

Accounts 1 and 2 can be on the same domain, but they aren't necessarily.
Your issue isn't the problem, unfortunately.

More details:
We use Outlook 2003.
Her primary account is (obfuscated for personal info) (e-mail address removed).
She also has these other accounts: (e-mail address removed)
(e-mail address removed)
While we have Exchange (on SBS2003Std), I am not using it for email (other
than mailbox storage) at this time. All 3 accounts are retrieved via pop3
from our site hoster (not through exchange), and sent directly to the
hoster's mail server. These accounts are separate on the host - different
logins & passwords.

Not all the mail she recieves has the problem either. Sometimes the message
replies from the correct account, sometimes not. She told me she hasn't
noticed any pattern, but that doesn't mean there isn't one.

Let me know if you need any add'l info.

Mike.

 

[Brian Tillman]

One of my users is having this rather strange problem. She has 3
email accounts configured in Outlook with different email addresses
(from 2 domains). Sometimes (not all the time) when she replies to a
message that was sent to 'account1' (her default acct as well) the
message will show it will be sent from 'account2'.

What are the configuration similarities for these two accounts? DO they, by
change, reference the same ISP?

She has to (when
remembered - we don't remember all the time) change the account
before sending. It only does it some of the time. I'm certain it's
doing it because I checked the email header - it shows being sent to
account1.

The headers in the message won't show the receiving account. They'll show
the receiving mail address, but that's not necessarily the saem as the
receiving account in Outlook.

 

[Mike Trout]

What are the configuration similarities for these two accounts? DO they,
by change, reference the same ISP?

Yes, and no. They, by chanCe, reference 2 different domains hosted by the
same hosting company (our ISP is different). The account name is the same
but the domain name is different ([email protected] and
(e-mail address removed)).

The headers in the message won't show the receiving account. They'll show
the receiving mail address, but that's not necessarily the saem as the
receiving account in Outlook.

I do believe it is in this case, since each account is retrieved separately.
Fill me in if I'm wrong please.

Mike.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Yes, and no. They, by chanCe, reference 2 different domains hosted
by the same hosting company (our ISP is different). The account name
is the same but the domain name is different ([email protected] and
(e-mail address removed)).

The domain is immaterial. The mailbox is the important thing. If you have
two accounts in Outlook referencing the same mailbox, then it's a crap shoot
as to which account will download the messages from that mailbox, since
Outlook makes simultaneous connections for all of the accounts in the same
send/receive group.

 

[Mike Trout]

The domain is immaterial. The mailbox is the important thing. If you
have two accounts in Outlook referencing the same mailbox, then it's a
crap shoot as to which account will download the messages from that
mailbox, since Outlook makes simultaneous connections for all of the
accounts in the same send/receive group.

Ok, define 'mailbox' then. I'm not sure exactly what you mean there.

We have a domain (call it thisdomain.com) hosted at ABCHosting. Also have
thatdomain.com also hosted at ABCHosting. The mailboxes are separate there.
I can log into the webmail for (e-mail address removed) and not see mail sent to
(e-mail address removed). She has 3 email addresses: (e-mail address removed),
(e-mail address removed) and (e-mail address removed). There are separate email
accounts (for clarity - in Outlook, Tools menu, Email accounts - there's 3
of them there). They retrieve mail from different mailboxes (respectively
(e-mail address removed), (e-mail address removed) and (e-mail address removed))

Is what you are getting at is that Outlook may take a message from
(e-mail address removed) and say it has been received by (e-mail address removed) just
'because'?

Mike.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Ok, define 'mailbox' then. I'm not sure exactly what you mean there.

The mailbox is the repository at the hosting company where mail awaits your
client to download it.

We have a domain (call it thisdomain.com) hosted at ABCHosting. Also
have thatdomain.com also hosted at ABCHosting. The mailboxes are
separate there. I can log into the webmail for (e-mail address removed)
and not see mail sent to (e-mail address removed).

That's what I was getting at.

She has 3 email
addresses: (e-mail address removed), (e-mail address removed) and
(e-mail address removed).

Can any of these accounts, when logging in by web mail, see the mail for any
account other than itself?

There are separate email accounts (for clarity
- in Outlook, Tools menu, Email accounts - there's 3 of them there). They
retrieve mail from different mailboxes (respectively
(e-mail address removed), (e-mail address removed) and (e-mail address removed))
Is what you are getting at is that Outlook may take a message from
(e-mail address removed) and say it has been received by
(e-mail address removed) just 'because'?

It's been known to happen when accessing the same server. I thought I saw
an MSKB article about it.. I'll see if I can find it.

 

[Mike Trout]

The mailbox is the repository at the hosting company where mail awaits
your client to download it.

Sounds good to me. Thank you.

That's what I was getting at.

They are on different domains. They are also separate on the hosting
server. I go into webmail for thisdomain and log in using the account
(name) and the password, and it sees only thisdomain messages. I go to
webmail for thatdomain and logon using the account (name) and the password
(which is different from the password for thisdomain, and per our hosting
company the account + password defines a mailbox), and I see only thatdomain
messagses.

Can any of these accounts, when logging in by web mail, see the mail for
any account other than itself?

No (see above). I also received assurance from our hosting company that
they are separate. I'm bugging them about this problem as well, but the
problem does not appear to be with their servers.

It's been known to happen when accessing the same server. I thought I saw
an MSKB article about it.. I'll see if I can find it.

Scary... I'll look too, but if you find it, please let me know.

Thank you for sticking with me on this, Brian. I personally think the user
should just check the account before clicking the send button, but it
shouldn't do this in any case, and she's complaining to my boss, so...

Mike.

 

[Brian Tillman]

They are on different domains. They are also separate on the hosting
server. I go into webmail for thisdomain and log in using the account
(name) and the password, and it sees only thisdomain messages. I go
to webmail for thatdomain and logon using the account (name) and the
password (which is different from the password for thisdomain, and
per our hosting company the account + password defines a mailbox),
and I see only thatdomain messagses.

As I said, the domain means nothing if all of the domains are actually
hosted by the same company. What you describe after, though, seems to
indicate that even if the mailboxes are on the same host, they are distinct,
so Outlook shouldn't get them confused.

Thank you for sticking with me on this, Brian. I personally think
the user should just check the account before clicking the send
button, but it shouldn't do this in any case, and she's complaining
to my boss, so...

One thing they might try is to create separate send/receive groups for the
accounts.

 

[Guest]

I have the same problem discussed above but it is not clear what the solution
is.

I have several email accounts retrieved by Outlook 2003.

Quite often, when I receive email sent to account abc@domain1 and reply to
it, the reply goes from account def@domain1.

Today, the reply went from account ghi@domain1 -- that is a third account.

I have not had a reply go from either account jkl@domain2 or mno@domain2
when replying to an email from domain1 and indeed, am not aware that this
problem occurs with domain2 mail.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[Brian Tillman]

I have the same problem discussed above but it is not clear what the
solution is.

Well, then, the same questions are posed to you: are these in fact separate
accounts or merely aliases one of the other? Does each account require a
separate username/password in order to get its mail?

 

[Guest]

Well, then, the same questions are posed to you: are these in fact separate
accounts or merely aliases one of the other? Does each account require a
separate username/password in order to get its mail?

However, what you are asking triggers a thought in my mind ... perhaps
Outlook is treating them as the same.

The way I have them set up is that I have a domain ... let's call it
domain1. I have three accounts there and all the mail is forwarded to my
comcast acount. Therefore, when Outlook checks it checks a common account at
comcast.net with the same password.

From what I read, it may be that Outlook will by default reply to the last
account from which it checked and retrieved a message.

However, this is weird since today, for example, I received a message to
abc@domain1 via comcast.net. There was no message for def@domain1 but when I
replied to the message to abc@domain1, Outlook sent the message via
def@domain1.

I think I've answered what you asked and more, but please ask if there is
anything else.

BTW, a couple years ago, I used Outlook Express in a similar setup but never
had the problem with that.

Thanks again.

 

[Brian Tillman]

However, what you are asking triggers a thought in my mind ... perhaps
Outlook is treating them as the same.

The way I have them set up is that I have a domain ... let's call it
domain1. I have three accounts there and all the mail is forwarded
to my comcast acount. Therefore, when Outlook checks it checks a
common account at comcast.net with the same password.

If it's getting them all from the same mailbox, then Outlook sees them as
all the same. When you forward them from their original accounts, you are
destroying any unique account information they had. Only if you get the
messages from separate mailboxes will Outlook consider them to be from
different accounts.

From what I read, it may be that Outlook will by default reply to the
last account from which it checked and retrieved a message.

This is not true. Outlook uses the same account by which it obtained a
particular message to send the reply. This is independent of whatever the
most recently used account is.

However, this is weird since today, for example, I received a message
to abc@domain1 via comcast.net. There was no message for def@domain1
but when I replied to the message to abc@domain1, Outlook sent the
message via def@domain1.

Since you're not replying via the Comcast account, Outlook is choosing at
random whichever account it wishes for sending. Any account whose sending
attributes are eligible for sending can be chosen.

BTW, a couple years ago, I used Outlook Express in a similar setup
but never had the problem with that.

Irrelevant. Outlook Express and Outlook do not share account handling
behaviors.

 

[Guest]

Brian:

Thank you for your response. I agree that the "mailbox" from which messages
are retrieved appears the same to Outlook for the reason you mention -
Outlook doesn't care about intervening mailboxes or forwarders.


<< If it's getting them all from the same mailbox, then Outlook sees them as
all the same. When you forward them from their original accounts, you are
destroying any unique account information they had. Only if you get the
messages from separate mailboxes will Outlook consider them to be from
different accounts.>>

However, the following comment puzzles me and I have a question about it.

First you say that Outlook uses the same account by which it obtained the
message to reply. But this is precisely the problem. I have three accounts,
abc@, def@ and ghi@ -- all @domain1.

Outlook checks each account in sequence. It obtains a message from my
comcast server when checking abc@ and then retrieves no message for def or
ghi but when I reply to the abc message, Outlook uses either def or ghi. Why?

Second, you say that Outlook is choosing the sending account at random.
What then is the purpose of having a default account?

More importantly, is there any fix for this? It sounds like a totally
counterintuitive and unintelligent way to set up a software routine.

Thank you for your courtesy and patience.

cheerz...Bwana




<< From what I read, it may be that Outlook will by default reply to the
last account from which it checked and retrieved a message.>>

<< This is not true. Outlook uses the same account by which it obtained a
particular message to send the reply. This is independent of whatever the
most recently used account is.>>

 

[Brian Tillman]

First you say that Outlook uses the same account by which it obtained
the message to reply. But this is precisely the problem. I have
three accounts, abc@, def@ and ghi@ -- all @domain1.

It sounds to me like you're equating email address to account. They're not
the same thing. They're independent of one another.

Outlook checks each account in sequence. It obtains a message from my
comcast server when checking abc@ and then retrieves no message for
def or ghi but when I reply to the abc message, Outlook uses either
def or ghi. Why?

You told me that it's the same Comcast mailbox that holds all of those
messages. Why do you have three accounts in Outlook to fetch them all? The
first one to connect is going to retrieve all of the messages if they're in
the same mailbox. It doesn't matter what address is listed as the
recipient. The other two accounts won't have anything to do when they
connect because the first account will have downloaded all the messages
already.

Second, you say that Outlook is choosing the sending account at
random.
What then is the purpose of having a default account?

The default account is used you're composing a new message and you haven't
specifiied another account. The default account doesn't apply on replies.
Replies will use the receiving account.

More importantly, is there any fix for this? It sounds like a totally
counterintuitive and unintelligent way to set up a software routine.

It's not broken, so I don't know what you think should be fixed.