*IPs
*Error messages or detailed description of symptoms
*Headers and bounce if you have it..and if you don’t:
*Sender & Recipient/Date/time/time zone for an example of problem/missing mail
*When the problem began.
*What you have done to solve the problem.
*What kind of mail the IP is sending – or should be sending!
*Do your troubleshooting. Don’t make me ask you to do the basics, or have to do it for you.
*If you can’t get mail *from* AOL, send a test from an AOL account and include the results, and give it enough time to time out and send you a bounce.
*If you’re an Exchange admin, don’t expect me to make sense of your insanely configured MTA by sending me screen shots of the admin console.

This is not pointed at ESPs in particular. In fact, what provoked this was a corporate IP. It is a huge waste of everyone’s time when I’m asked to lift a block on an IP, I look at the complaints and see that clearly it was compromised…and have to send an email asking if it was fixed. 90% of the time, it was fixed before the ticket was opened. Say so the first time! The less guesswork I have to do, the faster I can solve a problem and the faster I can move on to the next one.