Contact deleted in UI; API v3 thinks the email is still in use

[JulieK7237]

A contact was initially added using API v3. It was then manually deleted via the UI. An attempt to add it (again) via the API results in a 409 response: contacts.api.conflict, "Validation failed: Email already exists for contact <contactID>".

Is there a delay or some sort of caching that would prevent UI changes from being immediately visible via the API? If so, what is the expected timeframe and/or is there a workaround available?

[Jimmy_D · Accepted solution]

Hello @JulieK7237,

Thank you for reaching out to Constant Contact's API Support.

If the contact has been created previously it still exists in the account even if it has been deleted. You will need to use the PUT method to update the contact and make it active again.

https://v3.developer.constantcontact.com/api_reference/index.html#!/Contacts/putContact

[JulieK7237]

Thank you, Jimmy D. Something tells me you've heard this before, but just in case: if I delete the contact via the Constant Contact UI, it asks me to confirm that I want to completely remove the Contact from my account. So either the UI behaves differently than the API, or the terminology is inconsistent in the worst possible way. Either way it's really, really, misleading == frustrating, time-consuming, and cost-inducing.

[Jimmy_D]

Hi @JulieK7237,

The terminology for the UI is more focused on an end-user that is not familiar with our API and programming integrations. I can bring this up to our Product Owners and see what we can do to make everything more consistent.

[user9863]

Was just burned by this too in testing an integration. If it has been deleted it should act deleted -- even if it was a soft delete under the hood.

Is there any way to truly delete the contact at an API level? If not then this isn't a UI vs API thing, it's an inconsistent data thing.

[Courtney_E]

Hello user9863,

Thank you for reaching out to Constant Contact API Developer Support. My team is here to assist outside software developers with questions about building into Constant Contact's API.

Once a contact (email address) has been added into the system, even if it is deleted, the contact entry and details still remain on the back end of the system for reporting and compliance purposes. 

For example, if a contact unsubscribes from your organization’s mailing list, and you were to delete and then re-add that contact, they would be re-added as unsubscribed rather than as a new contact. This allows us to be compliant with the CAN-SPAM Act, as well as other applicable laws and regulations. 

CAN-SPAM Act and how it affects your campaigns

https://knowledgebase.constantcontact.com/articles/KnowledgeBase/5825-can-spam-act-and-how-it-affect... 

Frequently Asked Questions for Contacts

https://www.constantcontact.com/legal/about-constant-contact-faqs 

Essentially, deleting a contact never really deletes them. It just strips their list memberships, moves them into a “deleted” status, and hides them from being visible in the account.

Please have a look and let us know if you have any other questions! Or, if you have questions specific to our policies or terms of service, please contact us at privacy@endurance.com 

Please have a look and let us know if you have any other questions!

[WLB]

I agree with the other commenters that this is extremely unintuitive. It seems that if a contact is manually deleted in the UI, it can still be kept in the system to be compliant with CAN-SPAM, but would not be returned as an active contact via the API.

With the current workflow, how do we know if the contact in question has been deleted via the UI so we can use a PUT request to reactivate the contact? Basically, all that I'm doing is a simple custom email signup form. If the user is not already a contact, they should be added. If the user is an existing contact, it should let them know they have already signed up. How can we do this if the API returns a contact as active even if we've previously removed them? This is mostly for test cases, since we need to be able to delete a contact and resubmit our test, and I'd rather not have to use a separate email address for every test.

[John__B]

Hello WLB,

Thank you for reaching out to Constant Contact API Developer Support. My team is here to assist outside software developers with questions about building into Constant Contact's API.

When a contact is deleted via the UI, it’s put into “deleted” status. You can find all of your account’s deleted contacts with the GET Contacts Collection request and the “status” query parameter set to “deleted”. 

GET Contacts Collection:

https://developer.constantcontact.com/api_reference/index.html#tag/Contacts/operation/deleteContact

One method that could potentially simplify this process for your use case would be to utilize the Create or Update a Contact request for your sign-up form, rather than separate requests to create, update or obtain the status of a contact. This request will add new contacts and update any existing contacts being submitted through the form, including deleted contacts. Below I’m including our documentation for this request.

Create or Update a Contact:

https://developer.constantcontact.com/api_reference/index.html#tag/Contacts/operation/createOrUpdate...

Please have a look and let us know if you have any other questions!

Regards,