The send log: proof of what was sent and opened

“I never got that email.” Perhaps the address was wrong. Perhaps it bounced or landed in spam. Perhaps the message arrived during a busy day and disappeared beneath a shipping confirmation for something much smaller than a sectional.

Start with the sending record, not an argument about memory. OrderPilot's per-order email history and searchable send log show the message and its activity, helping staff establish what happened and choose the next useful action.

General information, not legal advice.

Find the actual message before resending

The order's email history collects its customer emails with delivery and open activity. Search the broader send log when you need to find a customer message across the store. Match the recipient, subject, order, and sending time before drawing a conclusion. Open the message as sent. A template edited afterward is not the historical email. Comparing the sent version with the current design can explain why the customer saw different wording or an earlier instruction. The record also distinguishes a scheduled message from one that actually went out. A colleague remembering that they “set it up” may mean they saved a draft. Read the sending result rather than treating preparation as delivery.

Know what each signal establishes

Delivery and open activity answer different questions. Keep those meanings clear in customer conversations and internal notes.

An email open is not proof that a person read or understood the message. Apple's Mail Privacy Protection explanation says remote content can download in the background regardless of engagement. The practical inference is that content-loading activity can differ from human reading.

Likewise, a quote-page visit doesn't prove agreement. Use the signed record for the signature and the customer's actual reply for a decision. The quote-open tracking guide explains how sales can use engagement without overclaiming it.

Respond to “I never got it” with a useful check

Say an illustrative customer is waiting for a revised chair quote. The send log shows a bounce. Confirm the address with the customer, correct the record through the proper customer workflow, and send the current version again. Tell them which email to look for. If the address is correct and the message shows delivered, ask the customer to check the expected sender and spam folder, then offer another supported route. The customer portal can provide the current order view without requiring the customer to find every earlier email.

Repeated bounces need investigation rather than repeated resends. Establish whether the destination is mistyped, no longer active, or rejecting the store's sender. A failed address doesn't improve through persistence alone.

Act on sending-health warnings

OrderPilot surfaces delivery warnings, bounce and complaint activity, sending safeguards, and domain checks. Sending can pause when health thresholds are breached. Resolve the cause before trying to resume the same pattern. Unsubscribe records deserve the same attention. Don't work around a suppressed address by moving the message to a salesperson's private account. Establish the correct service route and the communication the customer needs.

The sending-domain guide covers branded setup and the domain checks. A good-looking email and a healthy sender are separate parts of reaching the customer.

Keep evidence for as long as the job requires

The send-log screen displays the configured history-retention period. The app's default and minimum notification retention is 30 days, but the configured period can be longer. Read the period shown for the store; don't assume the log is a permanent archive.

The customer email-history view is email-specific. SMS has its own sending and delivery records, and texts don't provide email-style open tracking. Use the matching channel's record when investigating a text.

For covered mail, internet, and telephone orders, 16 CFR 435.2(d) makes missing records of compliance procedures a rebuttable presumption against the seller. Check with your attorney about retaining important notices and their supporting records beyond the operational log.

A delay-notice file should contain the actual notice, destination, send result, and any required customer response. For a dispute, assemble that with the agreement and handover evidence. The chargeback evidence guide explains the broader packet; an open badge alone is not the case.

Give someone responsibility for a regular review of warnings and failed messages. Resolve the failures while the customer is still waiting for an answer, then keep the corrected communication with the order.

Sources

1. 16 CFR 435.2: Mail, Internet, or telephone order sales — Federal Trade Commission regulation, Cornell Legal Information Institute.
2. Mail Privacy Protection & Privacy — Apple, December 12, 2025.