HTML Email Has Random '!'

Hi, Has anybody every had problems with random characters showing up in HTML email messages? I've set up an auto-responding email system for product purchasing and registration. The system sends multipart HTML and plain text messages using mail(). However, exclamation points are showing up in random places. I have no idea where they come from... over and over I've looked at my source code but can't find any correlation. For example, here's a clip from an email message: Support: If you need any assistance, or would like to arrange another method of delivery, please conta! ct: And the code that generates this text looks like: $email_html .= "</b></font><font face=\"Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif\" size=\"2\" color=\"#333333\">"; $email_html .= "If you need any assistance, or would like to arrange another method of<br>delivery, please contact:"; $email_html .= "</font></p><p><a href=\"mailto:support@walkereffects.com\">"; Sorry this is so hard to read... but the point is that the '!' is not in my code. When I make subtle changes to the code, the '!' shows up in other places. Steven J. Walker Walker Effects www.walkereffects.com steve@walkereffects.com