So close! (Hotmail sucks PSA)

[Ichinisan]

Looks like someone from my hometown (Newnan, GA 30263) won a pine tree air freshener + Chevy Cruze from the Conan's contest.

http://teamcoco.com/content/long-line-chevy-cruze-winners-another-born

I entered occasionally because you were allowed two entries per day (most people didn't realize that the second entry could be done without a Twitter account). I later figured out that Hotmail was doing what it frequently does: Blocking ALL mail from the sweepstakes in such a way that I never received it (not even in the Junk folder). Out of curiosity, I registered again using my Gmail address and got a confirmation email immediately.

Hotmail is REALLY pissing me off. This has been happening for years before I realized what was happening. Every time I didn't receive a message when I signed up for a message board / web site, activated an account with an online merchant, or attempted to recover a password...I always assumed that the problems were caused by shitty servers that *claimed* to have sent the message.

I recall another recent example: I tried to sign up for the message board at Wrongplanet.net and never received the activation email. As a result, my desired username was no longer available and I had to choose a different one. On the second attempt, I had to use my Gmail address to register. I created a few dummy accounts on the forum to test and confirmed that Hotmail was completely blocking mail from the Wrongplanet.net PHPBB server. There are other message boards where I've been forced to use an alternate username for this same reason.

It was infuriating to learn that Hotmail had been responsible for most of these problems for years. I don't know if this is intermittent (based on some dynamic server reputation score) or not.

HOTMAIL, HOW F#$%ING HARD IS IT TO ACCEPT THE SUSPECTED "JUNK" MESSAGE AND PLACE IT IN THE "JUNK" FOLDER?!

Now, I have a dilemma. My Hotmail account has been active since 1999 and I don't use it for personal communication any more. However, I can't reliably use it for registering anything either. This SUCKS! I really don't want my personal Gmail account to get the kind of mail I receive on my Hotmail account...and I don't want to handle any more email addresses than I already do.



On top of that...the obsessive side of me imagines a winner selection scenario that went like this:

"Looks like this [Ichinisan] guy won in Newnan, GA."

"Make sure he didn't disqualify himself."

"Hmm. Lots of valid entries from this guy. What's this? It looks like he used another email address."

"He was probably trying to get more registrations than the rules allow."

"Yeah, probably."

"Procedure says to pick a different winner from that same city."

"Here's one: Stephen B."

"Give him the car."

 

[Born2bwire]

*shrug* I use hotmail for stuff like that, never had a problem with them sending activation e-mails to the bin.

 

[Ichinisan]

*shrug* I use hotmail for stuff like that, never had a problem with them sending activation e-mails to the bin.

The problem is that they occasionally don't show up at all, not even in the bin.

Perhaps you can try signing up on wrongplanet.net and tell me if you get the activation email?
http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php?name=Your_Account&op=new_user

I just tested using a different spamtrap Hotmail address I've had for 10 years. Did not receive the activation email.

 

[Jadow]

I use hotmail instead of gmail so that my google searches are not tied to anyhting about me other than my ip address. When are signed in to gmail and you search, they know that: "what to do about my gigantic penis" was searched by aaa@gmail.com

 

[Tobolo]

I just signed up on the Wrongplanet forums and it showed up without any problems in my hotmail account.

I take it that you saw the BIG warning to hotmail users at the top of the sign up page right?

Hotmail Users: You must add Wrong Planet to your safe senders list before registering. Go to your Hotmail inbox, click "Options>More options". Then, under "Junk Email" click "Safe and blocked senders>Safe senders". Then, under "Sender or domain to mark as safe:" type "alex@wrongplanet.net" and click "Add to list > >". Done!

EDIT: Just to be clear, I did NOT add wrong planet to my safe senders list.

 

[Ichinisan]

I just signed up on the Wrongplanet forums and it showed up without any problems in my hotmail account.

I take it that you saw the BIG warning to hotmail users at the top of the sign up page right?



EDIT: Just to be clear, I did NOT add wrong planet to my safe senders list.

I guess you're special because I still never got the one from my test earlier today

Anyway, that warning wasn't there when I tried to sign up many months ago. In fact, I may have brought it to the attention of the admins / moderators when I created a thread about it on their forum.

Regardless, there's no good reason for Hotmail to reject suspected spam instead of sorting it and allowing ME to make the call. A message board should not be forced to put such a notice on their registration page. Hotmail engineers should see this as a sign that Hotmail service has problems that the competition (Gmail) does not.

 

[RPD]

I'd just like to point out you are raging about possibly winning free stuff using a free service.

 

[shortylickens]

I'd just like to point out you are raging about possibly winning free stuff using a free service.

Must be Generation Y......
:hmm:

 

[olds]

OP
Ask for you money back.

 

[Ichinisan]

I'd just like to point out you are raging about possibly winning free stuff using a free service.

I'd like to point out that you're wrong. I'm "raging" about a so-called email provider that is REJECTING suspected spam instead of SORTING it and allowing ME to make the decision on whether-or-not it's really spam.

I didn't mention the problem where Hotmail caused me to be billed for a year of OnStar service.

A little over a year ago, I used the OnStar button in my new car to talk to an OnStar rep and activate the free year of OnStar service. I gave my Hotmail address and made sure they had it spelled correctly (using the military phonetic alphabet). I received frequent OnStar status updates showing information about my car. I realized that the free year was almost expired. I really hadn't opened ANY of those vehicle status messages, so I opened the most recent one. There was an area showing the account status and it said I would be billed for another year if I didn't cancel before [date that happened to be the very next day]. There was a link to log-in and cancel the auto-renew. On the OnStar site, I couldn't log-in. It wanted a "username" and it does not accept my email address as the user name. I don't remember creating a username, but I tried a few things that didn't work. Thankfully, there was an option to recover the username. I entered the Hotmail address (the same one where I've received frequent updates) and it said the username was sent to my email. I never received it. After spending an hour or so trying to get in on the site, I found a customer service number and called. The CS center had just closed and there was no way to talk to a person about accounts (only emergency services).

I still don't know my OnStar username.





So you can't complain about things that are free?

What if...
-Mr. Hypothetical gets a Google Voice (free phone) account because he's hunting for a job.
-Being jobless, Mr. Hypothetical can't afford to waste minutes on his pre-paid mobile phone.
-He uses the privacy director feature so callers are asked to state a name.
-GV inexplicably blocks calls from UPS, FedEx, and potential employers without asking Mr. H to accept / reject the call.
-There is no record of the blocked call.
-GV suppresses all user reports of the issue.

I guess you can't complain in public about missed job opportunities and failed deliveries...just because Google Voice is free!
(By the way, Google Voice doesn't do anything like that as far as I know.)

 

[RPD]

I'd like to point out that you're wrong. I'm "raging" about a so-called email provider that is rejecting suspected spam instead of sorting it and allowing ME to make the decision on whether-or-not it's really spam.

Did I not mention the problem where it caused me to be billed for a year of OnStar service?

What if a free phone service (like Google Voice) offers a privacy director service (asks callers to state the name), then blocks UPS and FedEx calls without allowing you to accept / reject the call? In fact, giving you no indication at all that they had tried to call. Then, the phone "service" doesn't acknowledge the problem even though packages deliveries everywhere are getting messed up. Then they suppress all reports of the issue. I guess I can't complain!

Again, it's free. If it's so bad it's pretty easy to get you own personal email/domain. Now if that was happening you'd be validated in raging.. To the company your paying. I've used hotmail for about 12 years with no issues.

 

[Ichinisan]

Again, it's free. If it's so bad it's pretty easy to get you own personal email/domain. Now if that was happening you'd be validated in raging.. To the company your paying. I've used hotmail for about 12 years with no issues.

My point is that you might think there were "no issues" and you wouldn't know that Hotmail had rejected messages. Not knowing is OK with you (apparently).

I suppose you think we can never be pissed off when a "free" service causes problems and misrepresents the way it works.

I suppose you also think I shouldn't tell others about those problems so it can be avoided.

TIP: GMAIL WORKS FINE IN SITUATIONS WHEN HOTMAIL DOES NOT.

That's what you really need to know.

 

[RPD]

Of course you must know my email issues better then myself . I'll state it again. I've never had an issue with hotmail.

If it's important I use a different non-free email service.

You can be pissed about what ever you want. I just thought it was funny you made a semi-long rant about something you should know better about and of all things are offered as free.

 

[Ichinisan]

No response was needed.

Of course you must know my email issues better then myself . I'll state it again. I've never had an issue with hotmail.

1. I had this problem for years and didn't know. I guess YOU'D somehow know if Hotmail rejected some particular piece of suspected spam instead of sorting them to the Junk folder...even if there was nothing at all to indicate that the message ever existed.

Anyway, we already know that it doesn't affect everyone (or it's inconsistent). One poster in this thread received a registration message that I can't receive. It's inconsistent and probably has something to do with the particular server that my account happens to be hosted on.

I just thought it was funny you made a semi-long rant about something you should know better about and of all things are offered as free.

2. I shouldn't tell people what to look for? I should "know better" than to give a valid warning? You want to make people figure this out the hard way.


I just updated one of my previous posts:

I didn't mention the problem where Hotmail caused me to be billed for a year of OnStar service.

A little over a year ago, I used the OnStar button in my new car to talk to an OnStar rep and activate the free year of OnStar service. I gave my Hotmail address and made sure they had it spelled correctly (using the military phonetic alphabet). I received frequent OnStar status updates showing information about my car. I realized that the free year was almost expired. I really hadn't opened ANY of those vehicle status messages, so I opened the most recent one. There was an area showing the account status and it said I would be billed for another year if I didn't cancel before [date that happened to be the very next day]. There was a link to log-in and cancel the auto-renew. On the OnStar site, I couldn't log-in. It wanted a "username" and it does not accept my email address as the user name. I don't remember creating a username, but I tried a few things that didn't work. Thankfully, there was an option to recover the username. I entered the Hotmail address (the same one where I've received frequent updates) and it said the username was sent to my email. I never received it. After spending an hour or so trying to get in on the site, I found a customer service number and called. The CS center had just closed and there was no way to talk to a person about accounts (only emergency services).

I still don't know my OnStar username.




So you can't complain about things that are free?

What if...
-Mr. Hypothetical gets a Google Voice (free phone) account because he's hunting for a job.
-Being jobless, Mr. Hypothetical can't afford to waste minutes on his pre-paid mobile phone.
-He uses the privacy director feature so callers are asked to state a name.
-GV inexplicably blocks calls from UPS, FedEx, and potential employers without asking Mr. H to accept / reject the call.
-There is no record of the blocked call.
-GV suppresses all user reports of the issue.

I guess you can't complain in public about missed job opportunities and failed deliveries...just because Google Voice is free!
(By the way, Google Voice doesn't do anything like that as far as I know.)

 

[RPD]

I can't even tell if you are serious anymore. Enjoy.

 

[Ichinisan]

you're not allowed to share your negative experience with a free service, even if it might be helpful to others

Got it. Thanks.