Why Aren't My Email Templates Being Sent to Customers?

If your email templates are not being sent, this is most commonly due to a plan-level configuration. For an email template to be delivered to a customer, it must be enabled in two places:

1. Global Setting: 

• The email template must be enabled under
• Configuration → Email Templates in the Recurly Admin Console.

2. Plan-Level Setting

The same email template must also be enabled on the plan the customer is subscribed to.

To check plan-level email settings:

1. In the Recurly Admin Console, go to Configuration → Plans

2. Click the name of the plan you want to review

3. Click Edit Plan in the top-right corner

4. Scroll to the bottom of the page to view available customer email notifications

5. Ensure the checkbox next to the relevant email template is selected

Once enabled at both the global and plan level, the email will be triggered when applicable.

If you have confirmed that both settings are correctly enabled and emails are still not being delivered, continue to the section below.

Emails Appear as "Scheduled" Instead of Sending Immediately

Even when email templates are correctly enabled, emails may appear delayed and show as “Scheduled” in Account Activities rather than sending immediately.

This occurs when the Debt Collection Email Notifications setting is enabled at the site level.

When this setting is turned on:

• All payment-related emails (including New Subscription emails) are queued

• Emails are sent only during the 2–4 PM Eastern Time window

• In Account Activities, emails display as:
  “Scheduled [Email Type] email to be sent at [time] UTC”

• Any CC recipients configured on the email template are also included only when the email is sent during this window

This behavior is expected and may result in emails being delivered in a batch later in the day rather than immediately.

How to Check This Setting

1. Go to Configuration > Site Settings

2. Review the Debt Collection Email Notifications option

3. If enabled, confirm whether delayed sending aligns with the timestamps shown in Account Activities

If emails are marked as “Scheduled” and later show as sent, this indicates the system is working as designed.

This setting is stored in the sites dataset in BigQuery under the field: send_emails_within_us_fdcpa_hours.

Documentation
https://docs.recurly.com/recurly-subscriptions/docs/site-settings#debt-collection-email-notifications
https://docs.recurly.com/recurly-subscriptions/docs/email-templates#debt-collection-email-notifications