EarthLink Is Losing a Lot of Email 291
LandGator writes "Robert X. Cringely, doyen compu-columnist for PBS, reports on a hidden e-mail problem at Earthlink: They're losing up to 9 messages out of 10, found as a result of a friend's testing." From the article: "He sent messages from other accounts to his Earthlink address, to his aliased Blackberry address, and to his Gmail account. For every 10 messages sent, 1-2 arrived in his Earthlink mailbox, 1-2 (not necessarily the SAME 1-2) on his Blackberry, and all 10 arrived with Gmail. Swimming upstream through Earthlink customer support, my buddy finally found a technical contact who freely acknowledged the problem. Since June, he was told, Earthlink's mail system has been so overloaded that some users have been missing up to 90 percent of their incoming e-mail. It isn't bounced back to senders; it just disappears. And Earthlink hasn't mentioned the problem to these affected customers unless they complain."
They DID notify customers (Score:5, Funny)
"Nothing for you to see here..." (Score:5, Funny)
Lucky for Earthlink Customers! (Score:5, Funny)
She loves me not (Score:5, Funny)
Is this 1998? (Score:4, Funny)
2) I didn't know Cringely was still around.
If it hadn't been for the reference to GMail, I'd be wondering if this story had been sitting in the queue since 1998. Now, off to buy some LNUX shares, and one of those Tommy Hilfiger straps to hang my keys around my neck!
Earthlink has ties to Scientology (Score:1, Funny)
Latest dropped message:
When asked about the email problems... (Score:4, Funny)
The problem, of course, is... (Score:2, Funny)
They must have hired the BOFH (Score:4, Funny)
Problems because researchers are swamping (Score:1, Funny)
The email isn't working so you test it by sending 10 at a time?
Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice, thats like noticing google is fucked and opening 10 browser windows at once.
So of fucking course they are having problems because all these "researchers" are hammering their systems 24/7.
Great! (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Says a lot.. (Score:4, Funny)
I turn green up to 9 out of 10 times I take a shower
Can I watch?
Here's the root of the problem (Score:5, Funny)
Have you seen the commercials? They've off-shored half their jobs to magic-fairytale land. They've probably got some under trained ogre for an email admin who stands around the water cooler all day chatting with the fairies. Sure, it's a lot cheaper when you can pay your staff in pixie dust, but you end up getting bitten by poor customer service (I had to call them the other day, and the customer service rep had such a thick elven accent I could barely understand him). Outsourcing just doesn't work...
Re:Lost e-mail? WHAT THE HECK? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Is this 1998? (Score:1, Funny)
Uh, you haven't been e-mailing those requests by any chance? If so, he may only have received "as few as" ten of those requests...
Re:Problems because researchers are swamping (Score:2, Funny)
NOW it might be getting hit by people, since the article is out, but I hope to gawd his 10 email tests wouldn't cause problems!!!
The clue store is open...
Re:Lost e-mail? WHAT THE HECK? (Score:4, Funny)
There are style guides that disagree on this point, granted, but the ones that disagree with me are self-evidently wrong.