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First, please forgive me if this post comes across as though I'm frustrated and grumpy. It's just that I am. And I'm usually not.
Second, let me say upfront that I'm NOT very tech savvy. I don't understand the lingo for things like POP, IMAP or other kinds of email interfaces. I'm not an idiot, I just tend to live very simply and technology isn't my thing.
I have three Hotmail email accounts that I use for different purposes. Lately, they've asked for verification in the form of codes. Fine. I complied. (Because they're not getting my phone number.) But they KEEP asking for the codes over and over again, even after I've verified them already.
Frankly, they can go to hell. I've reached my patience limit (and believe me, it's very high to begin with) and I want a new email provider.
I've been researching this for the last hour and it's frustrating because I don't know what to believe or who to trust, since this isn't really my thing. I'd appreciate some "real time" input instead of outdated articles that are years old! One blog post says Mail dot com is wonderful and the next one says it's the worst email provider ever. No provider seems to have a common consensus.
I'm just looking for something that's free and very simple to use. I want a provider that doesn't feel the need to freaking change the look or the way you use it every two months. I don't need calendars or contacts lists or anything else. I just need to send and receive simple emails. (A modicum of privacy and security from hackers would be nice, but I realize privacy with email providers is a joke.)
If possible, I'd like it to be ad-free and not have a weird name that I constantly have to spell when I tell people what my email address is.
I've even looked at overseas email providers like Yandex and Posteo.
I flat-out refuse to use Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Outlook, or Hotmail! Please don't suggest them. Otherwise, I'm grateful for any advice or recommendations that you're kind enough to offer.
Thank you SO much for responding. I've got a burr under my saddle about this right now and I haven't been to bed yet out of sheer stubbornness to find another provider! LOL
I just tried Zoho. Very, very confusing to me.
I'll give mail.com another look. I've read very mixed reviews about them. Sample reviews below. What do you think about them? They range from 8 months to 2 years old.
Quote:
One day you can log in.... the next you're locked out forever. Had an
account for years and now it's gone for good. I even reset the
password, no dice. Customer support is nonexistent. Use them only if you
need a "burner" email address. Lots of horrible reviews on the
Web...
Quote:
but it is slow compared to gmail and yahoo
Quote:
They suck! I got the account with them a bit back in time. 4-5 years. They were descent, not that good-just descent. As time went on they got ssslllooowwweeerrr and then came log on issue(s) !
I remember being logged in-looking at my email(s) when my loptop went off (batt. went )
- that stopped me from logging off. No biggie,so i thought.I waited about 1 hour, then i figure, i log in again, right? WRONG !!! They said "Your login was unsuccessful, Your session has expired and you have been logged out." And then... "You have tried to refresh the page:
Due to security reasons, you may not refresh a page while logged into your account.
Please log in again on the mail.com website.
You may find further information on this topic in our online help section." BS!!! NONE OF THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS WORKED !!! I still can't get back in. If I Ever Get Back In There, I Will Get All My Stuff Out, And Relocate !!!
Quote:
I wanted to try out mail.com, so i made an account and then the next day it blocked my account and I received an email saying that it was passed to the security team and they decided to just block it for no reason. So i really see it crappy if there is no reason to block my account for no reason.
Quote:
the worst email provider on the planet. they deleted my whole inbox a couple of years ago. and now have given me three weeks to change my email address (which has been my primary email address for over a decade) and have threatened to delete everything in my inbox, outbox and address book unless I pay! blackmail by any other name. wish I'd never got involved.
Maybe it's just my luck, but I never (last 14+ years?) experienced anything described above, and I opened an account with them before 2000 when it was called usa.com
usa.com email website does not exist anymore, but I am still using it along with mail.com without any problems.
Maybe it's just my luck, but I never (last 14+ years?) experienced anything described above, and I opened an account with them before 2000 when it was called usa.com
usa.com email website does not exist anymore, but I am still using it along with mail.com without any problems.
I got my mail.com accounts set up but I really need Microsoft to burn to the ground, please.
They make it absolutely impossible to close the accounts. They want to send you a verification e-mail to a different account to give you a code. Once you have the code, you go back to the other e-mail account to use it. Only then, it goes right back to wanting to send you another code. But this time, it wants to send it to you on an account that you were lucky enough to actually close. It doesn't give you the option to enter another e-mail address, either. It's a vicious circle intended to put you in a straight jacket. What's worse is it won't let me go to their forums on Microsoft to get help because I'm on an Apple Computer and they don't support that!
It's been over 20 years since I lost my patience and temper this badly. I really need Microsoft to burn to the ground. It's the only way.
I got my mail.com accounts set up but I really need Microsoft to burn to the ground, please.
They make it absolutely impossible to close the accounts. They want to send you a verification e-mail to a different account to give you a code. Once you have the code, you go back to the other e-mail account to use it. Only then, it goes right back to wanting to send you another code. But this time, it wants to send it to you on an account that you were lucky enough to actually close. It doesn't give you the option to enter another e-mail address, either. It's a vicious circle intended to put you in a straight jacket. What's worse is it won't let me go to their forums on Microsoft to get help because I'm on an Apple Computer and they don't support that!
It's been over 20 years since I lost my patience and temper this badly. I really need Microsoft to burn to the ground. It's the only way.
Why do you need to actually close an account?
Just delete any information and emails you want to lose and walk away from it.
Why do you need to actually close an account?
Just delete any information and emails you want to lose and walk away from it.
Thanks for being polite about my crankiness. To be honest, I've been up for 27 hours straight with a sick cat. Add to that, that I'm a detail-oriented and organized person. Not obsessively, but, when it comes to the internet, I don't trust it. I never have. I told everyone many years ago, when AOL was the big thing, that this day of greedy data mining and lack of privacy would come. (It's also why I don't own a smart phone or any tech gadgets, other than my computer.)
Anyway, I decided to "spring clean" my computer to help keep my mind occupied and awake. When I got to Hotmail, this situation repeated more times than Groundhog Day and, combined with my exhaustion, I gave in to anger. (Highly unlike me.)
To answer your question, I just like things to be completely taken care of. But, in this case, I have no choice with two of the Hotmail addresses. Hotmail locked them for 30 days, due to their broken down system of ridiculous, hellish torment.
After reading your post, I felt better about just walking away from them because 1) I already deleted every e-mail, and 2) I never, ever register for anything online with a single piece of real information. For example, if I registered an email address for "pizzaboy at hotmail dot com", I would put my first name as pizza, and my last name as boy. (I don't have this email address, it's just an example and I just came away from a pizza thread!) Zip Code? 90120. Phone? Random numbers. Birthday? Something easy to remember, like a holiday and an easy, round number year that's easy to remember. "July 4, 1950" for example.
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To be honest, I've been up for 27 hours straight with a sick cat. Add to that, that I'm a detail-oriented and organized person. Not obsessively, but, when it comes to the internet, I don't trust it. I never have. I told everyone many years ago, when AOL was the big thing, that this day of greedy data mining and lack of privacy would come. (It's also why I don't own a smart phone or any tech gadgets, other than my computer.)
