Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. Email help please.

[Excalibur]

I think some of my emails are getting lost. For instance, of three to the same address, No1 failed, no2 succeeded, and no3 failed, in quick succession.
I don't always seem to get notifications of failure, but when I do, [email protected] is involved. I'm with Orange, formerly Wanadoo, formerly Freeserve.

I think there's some sort of blacklisting going on, but it's way above my head.

Any help at all will be greatly appreciated.

[Andy P]

Having worked for all 3 I can tell you that email blacklisting is not uncommon for them - honest advice, change

[Excalibur]

- honest advice, change

In a heartbeat, except for the issue of losing my current address.

[Andy P]

you could retain this one and use another for smtp traffic and slowly migrate over. You can set the outlook preference to reply do a different pop than you sent from

[Marc J]

In a heartbeat, except for the issue of losing my current address.

Use email on your @excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk domain.

I've said it before and I'll say it again....using your ISP issued email is a big no-no: -

1) It up there with the use of free emails (Yahoo / Gmail / Hotmail) as far as professional image is concerned.
2) It ties you to using that particular ISP, as you lose it when you leave them

You could migrate to @excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk email and stay connected through Orange for the time being, thus keeping your existing email address. You might even be able to automatically forward it, which would save you even checking it.

There's still a chance you could get caught in spam filters as, ultimately, you'll be sending from an IP address owned by Orange, but not going through their email server(s)...but it would stand a better chance of getting through, IMHO.

EDIT: Posted at same time as Andy....:)

[Excalibur]

Bumpity bump.
I'm seriously considering a move to BT. Also, as Marc says, moving over to my disco email as the main one.
I'm petrified at the prospect of forgetting to swap a client over, or worse still an online account. What if I have to retrieve a password, and they send it to the old email address?

Advice please. Thanks.

[Nakatomi]

What I think you need to do is set up automatic forwarding on your ISP email account if you can. For safety's sakes have it forward mails to your disco email and a personal one. That's if your ISP email allows it.

That should help you along.


I should add here that you do this long before you switch and make absolutely sure you tell everybody the new address.

[Marc J]

I'd recommend a good 3 months overlap, tell everyone you can think of your new email address, then run for at least 3 months and whenever you find yourself having to log in with your old address, or see email coming in on it, make a point of changing it immediately for that sender / service.

I stopped using my ISP email about 10 years ago, and STILL see some stuff coming in on it! Nothing important, mind you.

One final recommendation....I have my surname.co.uk as my main personal email address, which is great because it's unlikely to every change, even if I stop or change the name of my business!

I just checked, and your surname (being quite common :p) isn't available. However, if you're happy with where you live and don't see yourself moving any time soon, hasholme.co.uk isn't registered and so for a few £s a year you could have [email protected] (or hasholme.uk - 2 for 1 for the first year with some registrars just now). This might have more longevity than an email addressed based on your mobile discos? They could always be forwarded either way, so it'd wouldn't mean another mailbox to check...

[Excalibur]

I'd recommend a good 3 months overlap, tell everyone you can think of your new email address, then run for at least 3 months and whenever you find yourself having to log in with your old address, or see email coming in on it, make a point of changing it immediately for that sender / service.

I stopped using my ISP email about 10 years ago, and STILL see some stuff coming in on it! Nothing important, mind you.

One final recommendation....I have my surname.co.uk as my main personal email address, which is great because it's unlikely to every change, even if I stop or change the name of my business!

I just checked, and your surname (being quite common :p) isn't available. However, if you're happy with where you live and don't see yourself moving any time soon, hasholme.co.uk isn't registered and so for a few £s a year you could have [email protected] (or hasholme.uk - 2 for 1 for the first year with some registrars just now). This might have more longevity than an email addressed based on your mobile discos? They could always be forwarded either way, so it'd wouldn't mean another mailbox to check...

Marc, you're going to get some questions from me soon. Silly ones. Lots of 'em.

Is there any point in firing off an email to all my contacts advising them of the change of address? Thanks everyone for the advice so far.

[Marc J]

Is there any point in firing off an email to all my contacts advising them of the change of address? Thanks everyone for the advice so far.

I would....something like "I'm phasing out the use of my old email address [old email] over the next few months, and am changing my primary email address to [new email]. Please update any entries for me in your address book(s) to reflect this change."

It's never easy to change email, especially when you've been using an old one for so long, but once you do it and are no longer tied to your ISP it makes switching much easier!

[Excalibur]

- honest advice, change


Bumpity bump.
I'm seriously considering a move to BT.

It is done! :eek: Shiny new router arriving inside a fortnight, and allegedly a speed increase from unbelievably appallingly slow to very slow. :)


I'd recommend a good 3 months overlap, ...
Ah. :o Two weeks? :whistle:

Better get emailing then. :D Wonder if there's a way of firing off bulk ones?

And while I'm on the subject, may I offer heartfelt thanks and praise to the legend that is Marc J for all his help and patience in these matters. He even did the remote access bit and set one troublesome ( to an old git like me ) account up himself. Guy's a star.

[Marc J]

Better get emailing then. :D Wonder if there's a way of firing off bulk ones?

While you could go to the bother of setting up an email list etc., the quickest way is to email everyone in your address book(s), in batches of maybe 25 or so.

The easiest way to do this is to send an email with YOURSELF in the "TO" field, and the batch of 25 addresses all in the "BCC" field.

DO NOT put everyone in the "CC" field, which is what most people do and it always infuriates me - everyone then gets a list of everyone else you've sent to...and I don't particularly like my email addresses being broadcast in this way. Not to mention everyone can then have a read through your contacts (cue the "why is [email protected] in his address book?" questions ;))

See How to Hide Email Addresses when Sending to Multiple Recipients in Outlook 2013 (http://www.howtogeek.com/185233/how-to-hide-email-addresses-when-sending-to-multiple-recipients-in-outlook-2013/)


And while I'm on the subject, may I offer heartfelt thanks and praise to the legend that is Marc J for all his help and patience in these matters. He even did the remote access bit and set one troublesome ( to an old git like me ) account up himself. Guy's a star.

:o:beer1:

[DazzyD]

It is done! ...

And while I'm on the subject, may I offer heartfelt thanks and praise to the legend that is Marc J for all his help and patience in these matters. He even did the remote access bit and set one troublesome ( to an old git like me ) account up himself. Guy's a star.

It's a good job you've got Marc J for help as BT Customer Services are notorious for being unbelievably shocking! And not in a good way!! :eek:

[Shaun]

And while I'm on the subject, may I offer heartfelt thanks and praise to the legend that is Marc J for all his help and patience in these matters. He even did the remote access bit and set one troublesome ( to an old git like me ) account up himself. Guy's a star.

He is indeed. I've lost count of the times I've messed things up with my system and PC and he's taken the time to sort things out or make the long trip through to help me out the hole I've dug myself, lol. He's a good lad who's friendship I value.

P.s: Marc offers great reliable hosting if anyone is looking. :beer1:

[Excalibur]

Nobody ever said it would be easy, did they? That's good, cos at times, it ain't.

Started off so well on Friday, with the parcel* containing the router in a "safe place" on the front doorstep. Living where I do, it's usually safe enough. :)
* Specially designed to go through the letterbox. Yeah right. :(

Fired up computer, all internet down. No big surprise there, time to fit the new one then. The only minor issue was the :muppet: doing so had dropped the ( correct ) grey telephone cable on the floor, and was trying to use the ( incorrect ) yellow ethernet one. :o:o:o

Having http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-forum/rtfm.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php) I realised my foolish error, and switched on. By the time I'd walked back to the PC, the router was fully functional! Gasp! The Livebox would have taken ages. Found the signal, typed in the code, and hey presto, I'm ready to rock and roll. Simples.

Dear reader, you know better than that , don't you? Oh yes. :(
Despite being told it would cease to exist at midnight, my Cinderella Freeserve account is still live. :confused: Perhaps when I cancel the DD, that wil stop it, who knows? :daft:

Anyhow, while wandering through the BT site, I notice I've got 10Gb allowance per month. And how long will that last at present usage rates? Five days. :eek:
First thing this morning, call to New Delhi, on a line being shared with a restaurant frying sausages on an industrial scale. Not likely to inspire confidence in a Telecomms company, but ah well. After a lot of confusion, I'm transferred to Bonny Scotland, and a nice lad relieves me of a fiver a month to unleash the full panoply of the Interweb without let or hindrance.

Why am I now thinking " if it ain't broke................................. " ?

P.S. I tried the " Scunthorpe test", and I can now name this place in emails! Whoopee.

[DazzyD]

It's up to your new provider, BT, to take over the service from your old provider and this includes getting them to cancel your old account. BT should be doing this as it's part of the changeover service. However, given BT's service track record, I can't help thinking you haven't heard the last of that!! :eek:

Cancelling your direct debit is always a risky move as, if Freeserve haven't received your notice to terminate, they may charge you for returned direct debits as it's breach of contract. However, to switch BT should have received a MAC code from Freeserve (needed to make the switch happen) and agree the transfer date. It may be worth ringing Freeserve to confirm all of this has taken place. Something in the back of mind is telling me that you should only have one supplier on your line at any one time. If you two it's possible that BT have created a new broadband link on your line rather than taking over an existing one. And that thought worries me.

[Excalibur]

It's up to your new provider, BT, to take over the service from your old provider and this includes getting them to cancel your old account. BT should be doing this as it's part of the changeover service. However, given BT's service track record, I can't help thinking you haven't heard the last of that!! :eek:

Cancelling your direct debit is always a risky move as, if Freeserve haven't received your notice to terminate, they may charge you for returned direct debits as it's breach of contract. However, to switch BT should have received a MAC code from Freeserve (needed to make the switch happen) and agree the transfer date. It may be worth ringing Freeserve to confirm all of this has taken place. Something in the back of mind is telling me that you should only have one supplier on your line at any one time. If you two it's possible that BT have created a new broadband link on your line rather than taking over an existing one. And that thought worries me.

Don't panic, Mr Mainwaring. :) EE sent me a letter telling me when they'd bow out gracefully, and asking me if I wasn't perhaps being a bit hasty. There was a bill from them for £0.00, which I paid immediately :D I reckon they shut the internet off early, which is why I was surprised by the freeserve email still functioning. :confused:

[DazzyD]

Don't panic, Mr Mainwaring. :) EE sent me a letter telling me when they'd bow out gracefully, and asking me if I wasn't perhaps being a bit hasty. There was a bill from them for £0.00, which I paid immediately :D I reckon they shut the internet off early, which is why I was surprised by the freeserve email still functioning. :confused:

Right, I get you! I thought, somehow, you were saying your Freeserve broandband service was still active. Just your email still working makes a lot more sense. A lot of service providers who supply a free email account to their subscribers will actually give you a grace period for still using the email account. This is so you can catch emails from anyone who hasn't gotten your change-of-email-address message. It could be a month, three months, six months or whatever. The idea is that as during this time any emails you receive you can reply to the sender and advise them that you've changed your email address. Hopefully, by the end of the grace period, everyone should be emailing your new address and emails to your old address should be minimal. Job done! :)

[Excalibur]

A lot of service providers who supply a free email account to their subscribers will actually give you a grace period for still using the email account. This is so you can catch emails from anyone who hasn't gotten your change-of-email-address message. It could be a month, three months, six months or whatever.

Close. Six days :D Disappeared this morning. That should baffle those folk clogging up my inbox with junk. :D

[Excalibur]

And the final part of the cunning plan falls into place.:) I'm in deepest, darkest Lincolnshire, and while I can get a workable phone signal, I'm currently linked to a BT hotspot. Yippee. :D