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It's NOT Spam..!!

Pete_Notts
Up to speed

I am a disabled hosebound reclusive hermit..and honestly my luck with VM across the board of late has...polite..not been good.

Only a day ago after sending some photos to one part of the council, my account got locked out. I trawled and managed to discover that I would need to reset my VM password...which did work, and again have access.

Today ? I tried to write a reply - no attachments - to Nottingham's Garden Assistance scheme for elderly/disabled people. They are trying to assist me in getting some garden maintenance desperately needed.

I was able to send the initial email asking for help OK. I got their reply no problem.

*BUT* It was key on me replying to them..I mean the council, not some sordid dodgy..well whatever.

And then I get this frustrating message :

Message could not be sent to the following recipients: [Garden Assistance <gassis@nottinghamcity.gov.uk>] (554 - 554 5.2.0 SMTP602 Message contains Spam Content ;id=x1lMnJcQYVu5Xx1lMnwc85;sid=x1lMnJcQYVu5X;mta=smtp1.tb;d=20220603;t=093029[CET];ipsrc=172.25.160.151;
)

I am not a techno geek, so technical answers will simply 'whoosh' over my head. What the hell is going on with Virgin email ? When my own local authority is flagged as spammers, and I am left incommunicado :-s

I did try a workaround, and sent my message to them, minus replying directly to their initial response - which caused the above issue. Not sure the council will link my seperate garden assistance email to the original case or not...dunno how their systems work.

How is it, that Virgin email is supremely excellent in failing to stop crap ACTUAL emails..the likes of :

Dear Mr Pete. I am King Solomn TakeThePissAlot from Regaria, and have 2 trillion goat dollars to invest to you my cherished friend.."

Maybe slight embellishment, but you get the idea.

And then my email is rendered inoperable, when trying to maintain a simple communication between me and my own council regarding the garden assistance help I need...AND...yesterday blocked me/my account until I resolved it, from sending photos as requested to a different part of the council, regarding an entirely seperate matter (it was a neighbour feeding MASS amounts of pigeons and the whole Close' here turned into a giant pigeon pooing aviary), and whereby just had a letter from APHA that Avian Bird Flu has been identified in our immediate area - hence why I sent the pictures yesterday which I took.

Then my account was blocked. Then I restored it with a new password, after following a litany of pages of instructions working out how to do it..for no damn good reason.

And now today. On my seperate issue with the council seeking help (re garden assistance they are trying to help me with), you are sending me aforementioned message :-s ...brilliant. But nope...arse about t'it. Communicating with my own council, local authority and other government/national agencies, has your 'filters' knickers in a twist and creating a nightmare to navigate. Meanwhile 2 bit troll scammers and spammers circumnavigate your supposed filters effortlessly..

If you were this effective against actual Spam..? You'd be champions. Instead of hours a day my health does not have, trying to fix your endless array of back to front cockwomblery for the simplest of things which are the ones that should never be causing a problem to begin with.

Why can't you just fix it, and make the service reliable ? Year after year and despite developments in internet speeds, new fancy boxes for TV...your web mail is still as inept as it was when it first started as ntlworld.

IF you don't care about email..? Then just write to us all, and give us good warning in time to find other places to migrate to. If intending to keep it though..? Then *FIX* the platform, and make it someplace which will not consume hours..half a day..or more because of one problem, after another after another being the all too frequent norm.

Kind Frazzled Regards

Pete

20 REPLIES 20

Pete_Notts
Up to speed

I am a disabled hosebound reclusive hermit..and honestly my luck with VM across the board of late has...polite..not been good.

Only a day ago after sending some photos to one part of the council, my account got locked out. I trawled and managed to discover that I would need to reset my VM password...which did work, and again have access.

Today ? I tried to write a reply - no attachments - to Nottingham's Garden Assistance scheme for elderly/disabled people. They are trying to assist me in getting some garden maintenance desperately needed.

I was able to send the initial email asking for help OK. I got their reply no problem.

*BUT* It was key on me replying to them..I mean the council, not some sordid dodgy..well whatever.

And then I get this frustrating message :

Message could not be sent to the following recipients: [Garden Assistance <,(local authorityemailaddress)  >] (554 - 554 5.2.0 SMTP602 Message contains Spam Content ;id=x1lMnJcQYVu5Xx1lMnwc85;sid=x1lMnJcQYVu5X;mta=smtp1.tb;d=20220603;t=093029[CET];ipsrc=172.25.160.151;
)

I am not a techno geek, so technical answers will simply 'whoosh' over my head. What the hell is going on with Virgin email ? When my own local authority is flagged as spammers, and I am left incommunicado :-s

I did try a workaround, and sent my message to them, minus replying directly to their initial response - which caused the above issue. Not sure the council will link my seperate garden assistance email to the original case or not...dunno how their systems work.

How is it, that Virgin email is supremely excellent in failing to stop crap ACTUAL emails..the likes of :

Dear Mr Pete. I am King Solomn TakeThePissAlot from Regaria, and have 2 trillion goat dollars to invest to you my cherished friend.."

Maybe slight embellishment, but you get the idea.

And then my email is rendered inoperable, when trying to maintain a simple communication between me and my own council regarding the garden assistance help I need...AND...yesterday blocked me/my account until I resolved it, from sending photos as requested to a different part of the council, regarding an entirely seperate matter (it was a neighbour feeding MASS amounts of pigeons and the whole Close' here turned into a giant pigeon pooing aviary), and whereby just had a letter from APHA that Avian Bird Flu has been identified in our immediate area - hence why I sent the pictures yesterday which I took.

Then my account was blocked. Then I restored it with a new password, after following a litany of pages of instructions working out how to do it..for no damn good reason.

And now today. On my seperate issue with the council seeking help (re garden assistance they are trying to help me with), you are sending me aforementioned message :-s ...brilliant. But nope...arse about t'it. Communicating with my own council, local authority and other government/national agencies, has your 'filters' knickers in a twist and creating a nightmare to navigate. Meanwhile 2 bit troll scammers and spammers circumnavigate your supposed filters effortlessly..

If you were this effective against actual Spam..? You'd be champions. Instead of hours a day my health does not have, trying to fix your endless array of back to front cockwomblery for the simplest of things which are the ones that should never be causing a problem to begin with.

Why can't you just fix it, and make the service reliable ? Year after year and despite developments in internet speeds, new fancy boxes for TV...your web mail is still as inept as it was when it first started as ntlworld.

IF you don't care about email..? Then just write to us all, and give us good warning in time to find other places to migrate to. If intending to keep it though..? Then *FIX* the platform, and make it someplace which will not consume hours..half a day..or more because of one problem, after another after another being the all too frequent norm.

Kind Frazzled Regards

Pete

It's true what I said about the amount of actual spam you still allow through.

On the email filter rules page within email settings - I currently have 297 entries.

PLUS you have to be careful when adding a spammer. Some will use an address with a legitimate domain, like gmail. So you have to ensure you add the whole email..the spam bit/title, and the domain name - so as not to inadvertently block/mark all mail from gmail..or yahoo..or..hotmail etc  -  inadvertently.

My whole functioning life online is via my ntlworld email account. It matters a lot, and tbh doubt I have what it would take to migrate absolutely everything someplace new...even a legit (?) platform like Google or Yahoo etc.

I'd actually pay an extra..say fiver a month..for you to bring your email up to spec..wherby presently there are free ones infinitely more reliable and hassle free.

PLUS...You are an ISP !!!! And this is still the antiquated unreliable post millenium excuse for an email client you still retain and fail to maintain ??

It's not good enough Virgin Media...not even close.

Pete

'PLUS...You are an ISP !!!!'

but not an email provider. it is a 'free' add on nothing more. never use an isp email address. they are poorly invested in and you usually lose access to it when you change providers.

You really do need to get a more reliable email service. Then set up an auto divert to it from the VM one. If you respond to messages using the new account you can gradually over time get all your contacts to use it.

Don't ask or hope for VM to improve their service. It isn't going to happen. 

- jpeg1
My name is NOT Alessandro. That's just a tag Virginmedia sticks on some contributors. Please ignore it.

I'm just asking/begging them to fix their webmail service so it's functional.

Paid enough with price hikes to VM. You can 'call it' a free add on..BUT remember a lot of us older random Joes assume it's our default safe 'go to' platform and so migrate over time everything here.

I appreciate the reply, but it doesn't cut it. Once people are even more dependent on an email provider..even more so than say the TV service, because it controls your life...then it should be incumbent on the firm to ensure it is a service which is not now becoming an afterthought.

It did used to be reliable a long while back. Now a lot of artefact customers find ourselves with this new aproach of it being as you say 'a free add-on'...when we relied it on to live for decades, and all to to often lack the wherewithal, and the endless phone calls or website visits to update the contless accounts which are a part of day to day life.

Some days I am stuck in bed all day because I am afraid to stand when health is poor...so time is at a premium, and even when up, health...? Well that's not at a premium.

Hence me stating that *IF* VM intend to keep this service, then it should be properly maintained, serviced and monitored. Whereas if they can't be ar'sed with this 'free add on', then to tell customers in a timely fashion that they intend to discontinue it...and leave us to work out where the hell else we go, and moreover verify life's endless registrations for everything we use, to a new email client.

The irony. An ISP...just to write that down - an 'Internet Service Provider'..lol...who has now relegated their email to 'free add on' status. Under different circumstances I'd find it comical :-s

It's not though

Thanks for the reply.

Any hints or tips where to look (in terms of safe email providers who are stable)..or those to avoid - if following your suggestion, would be truely appreciated.

In Limbo right now. It's become clear tha the VM email platform is an add on gimmick these days, and I am starting from ZERO trying to know the right choices to make.

Pete

 

jpeg1
Alessandro Volta

Well Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo are all more reliable than VM and are not tied to any ISP.  Better still for the five pounds a month your mentioned you are not far off the cost of your own domain and a reliable private service not linked to advertising. But that will take more work to set up. 

VM have recently let slip very quietly that they have stopped allowing additional email addresses to customers. That seems a pretty good indication of their interest in the service. Could they stop it altogether? Who knows. 

- jpeg1
My name is NOT Alessandro. That's just a tag Virginmedia sticks on some contributors. Please ignore it.

Thank you jpeg1

Your answer was honest - if gut churning that over many weeks, or maybe months - that I need begin to transition my entire life over to one suggested.

I'm thinking Gmail from your suggestions - probably because I have used it before for linking with some online services like Youtube, and at least have some experience with it.

Monumental task to undertake for me..BUT, once all done, it hopefully will be the last time I ever have to DO THIS.

VM were/are utter underhanded sh!ts for not having the decency to write to customers..Not all of us are online that much, or tech-sperts or know what's happening. They allowed and even used to encourage us with blurb about their email service as one of their 'selling points.'

Goes back to what I said. Either invest and make it a solid client - which I now know from you, ain't going to happen

OR...Write to all customers - especially us oldies,and notify us that they are shutting it down, along with their own guides and recommendations for existing reliant customers, as to where most painlessly go, and with any advice or follow up support links included to minimise the difficulty and both ease and support the transition.

Pete

coenoby
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

@Pete_Notts wrote:

Write to all customers - especially us oldies,and notify us that they are shutting it down,


Just to clarify a little.

As @jpeg1 has said, Virgin Media do not seem to have made a full or formal announcement about this. The only mention I have seen is here https://www.virginmedia.com/help/billing-and-payments/manage-email-account 

In the introduction to that help sheet it says "Please note, from May 2022 Virgin Media will be phasing out the ability for customers to create new Virgin Media email addresses. Customers with an existing Virgin Media email address will not be affected, their mail account will remain as is."

Make of that what you will 😉,  but VM have not gone as far as saying that they are shutting down their email service.

However, the fact that it is no longer possible to create new ......@virginmedia.com email accounts  does mean that new VM broadband customers will no longer have the option to open a VM email account when they sign up.

Just for completeness, the "phasing out" process that VM refer to is (at the time of this post) obviously still ongoing! As a test I have just tried creating a new email account via My Virgin Media Account and that was successful.

Finally, as far as the choice of independent email services is concerned, in my opinion Gmail is a good choice especially if you have used it before. However, you might like to take a look here https://www.lifewire.com/best-free-email-accounts which gives a good overview of the main contenders.

Coenoby

I'm a Very Insightful Person, I'm here to share knowledge, I don't work for Virgin Media.

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