Issues with ContactOut Returning Default Email for LinkedIn Enrichment

Claire Chen · 2025-08-14 21:29:52.602749+00

I'm trying to use a ContactOut personal account to enrich LI profiles for personal email, but I keep getting this one weird default email returned. I checked the connection and it says it's working – any idea why this might be happening?

14 comments

· Sorted by Oldest

Clay
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When using ContactOut to find personal emails from LinkedIn profiles, getting a default or incorrect email can happen for several reasons: Common causes: • The LinkedIn profile URL format may be incorrect - ensure you're using a proper LinkedIn URL or SalesNav URL • ContactOut's database may not have the specific personal email for that profile • The profile might have limited public information available To troubleshoot: • Verify the LinkedIn URL is complete and properly formatted • Try using our waterfall enrichment approach with multiple data providers to increase success rates • Check if the "weird default email" appears consistently across different profiles Since your connection shows as working, the issue is likely data availability rather than authentication. ContactOut's personal email action works globally but data coverage varies by profile. If you continue seeing the same default email across multiple profiles, this suggests a data quality issue that may need further investigation.
Sources: Find Personal Email from LinkedIn with ContactOut | Clay.com Find Personal Email from LinkedIn with ContactOut ContactOut integration | Documentation | Clay University Claybooks: Find personal email addresses from LinkedIn profiles | Clay.com
Claire Chen
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https://app.clay.com/workspaces/143327/workbooks/wb_0t0zz2b6RPySW2pGzKq/tables/t_0t0zz2bcEDNzerMWXuC/views/gv_0t0zz2ck6GxsjtmxVjS
Hari Kumar
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Hey Claire - That is super strange - I've flagged this to the engineering team to take a look at and we'll follow up here when we know more. To get you unblocked, I'd recommend removing ContactOut from the waterfall using the full configuration pane. Hope this helps!
Claire Chen
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Thanks so much!
Abdul Wasay
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Hey! Claire, Sounds like your ContactOut personal account is just returning its default email when no personal email is found. That’s common with personal plans. You can fix it by running Clay’s “Find Personal Email” waterfall so it only uses ContactOut if others don’t find one. I can help you set that up!
🙌1
Claire Chen
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Hey Abdul – I don't think that's the case, because it's returning this default email for every row and when I manually search/use the ContactOut chrome extension, all of these people have personal emails listed.
Claire Chen
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I can provide screenshots privately (don't want to expose people's emails here) but I'm wondering if there's another solution?
Clay
APP
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Hey Claire, thanks for reaching out! Natalie here from the support team. It could have been that youhit your ContactOut quota and that's why the result is hidden by the default email. However, I saw that you were able to get some results from the waterfall which is great. Let me know if you have further questions or need additional help! 😊
Claire Chen
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Hey Natalie – I don't think it's that either, because I have unlimited credits on ContactOut and I checked this!
Clay
APP
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Hi Claire, thanks for letting me know! I've let the engineering team know that you have unlimited credits on ContactOut - they are looking into this issue, and we'll keep you posted once we learn more. Thanks for your patience!
Clay
APP
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Hi Claire! Our team did further testing, and it looks like you're getting a sample response from ContactOut because the full data isn't unlocked for your API token. To get full access, do you mind reaching out to ContactOut's sales or support team? Let me know if you have further questions or need additional help!
Claire Chen
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Ah really interesting, great to know thanks! Good to know the issue is on ContactOut side.
Clay
APP
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Welcome! Feel free to reach out again if anything else comes up.
Channeled
APP
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Clay
APP
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When using ContactOut to find personal emails from LinkedIn profiles, getting a default or incorrect email can happen for several reasons: Common causes: • The LinkedIn profile URL format may be incorrect - ensure you're using a proper LinkedIn URL or SalesNav URL • ContactOut's database may not have the specific personal email for that profile • The profile might have limited public information available To troubleshoot: • Verify the LinkedIn URL is complete and properly formatted • Try using our waterfall enrichment approach with multiple data providers to increase success rates • Check if the "weird default email" appears consistently across different profiles Since your connection shows as working, the issue is likely data availability rather than authentication. ContactOut's personal email action works globally but data coverage varies by profile. If you continue seeing the same default email across multiple profiles, this suggests a data quality issue that may need further investigation.
Sources: Find Personal Email from LinkedIn with ContactOut | Clay.com Find Personal Email from LinkedIn with ContactOut ContactOut integration | Documentation | Clay University Claybooks: Find personal email addresses from LinkedIn profiles | Clay.com
Claire Chen
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·
https://app.clay.com/workspaces/143327/workbooks/wb_0t0zz2b6RPySW2pGzKq/tables/t_0t0zz2bcEDNzerMWXuC/views/gv_0t0zz2ck6GxsjtmxVjS
Hari Kumar
·
·
Hey Claire - That is super strange - I've flagged this to the engineering team to take a look at and we'll follow up here when we know more. To get you unblocked, I'd recommend removing ContactOut from the waterfall using the full configuration pane. Hope this helps!
Claire Chen
·
·
Thanks so much!
Abdul Wasay
·
·
Hey! Claire, Sounds like your ContactOut personal account is just returning its default email when no personal email is found. That’s common with personal plans. You can fix it by running Clay’s “Find Personal Email” waterfall so it only uses ContactOut if others don’t find one. I can help you set that up!
🙌1
Claire Chen
·
·
Hey Abdul – I don't think that's the case, because it's returning this default email for every row and when I manually search/use the ContactOut chrome extension, all of these people have personal emails listed.
Claire Chen
·
·
I can provide screenshots privately (don't want to expose people's emails here) but I'm wondering if there's another solution?
Clay
APP
·
·
Hey Claire, thanks for reaching out! Natalie here from the support team. It could have been that youhit your ContactOut quota and that's why the result is hidden by the default email. However, I saw that you were able to get some results from the waterfall which is great. Let me know if you have further questions or need additional help! 😊
Claire Chen
·
·
Hey Natalie – I don't think it's that either, because I have unlimited credits on ContactOut and I checked this!
Clay
APP
·
·
Hi Claire, thanks for letting me know! I've let the engineering team know that you have unlimited credits on ContactOut - they are looking into this issue, and we'll keep you posted once we learn more. Thanks for your patience!
Clay
APP
·
·
Hi Claire! Our team did further testing, and it looks like you're getting a sample response from ContactOut because the full data isn't unlocked for your API token. To get full access, do you mind reaching out to ContactOut's sales or support team? Let me know if you have further questions or need additional help!
Claire Chen
·
·
Ah really interesting, great to know thanks! Good to know the issue is on ContactOut side.
Clay
APP
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·
Welcome! Feel free to reach out again if anything else comes up.
Channeled
APP
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