AOL Mail Server Problems?

[SpyNote]

I started a mailing list recently for 200+ subscribers, and received complaints immediately from AOL users who could not receive mail from the mailing list. With almost a third of our subscribers using AOL, this is causing considerable frustration for everyone on the list. At best, they are receiving 3-4 posts of maybe 30 posted in a given day. Many of the AOL users tried to contact tech support, only to have their requests for help returned with cold, useless form letters. Short of telling these folks to get a new ISP, can anything practical be done to help these people out? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Daniel

[Terra]

Then AOL needs to be pushed harder for answers...

I have discussed this in several other posts, where all of my requests to AOL have fallen upon deaf ears...

The bottom line is that until AOL starts letting people know what the problem is - then the problem will continue to persist...

From FutureQuest's perspective, the mail is being properly delivered to AOL's mail systems... However, once inside of AOL's mail system, the emails drop into a huge black hole for reasons completely unknown...

If we are being blocked for Spam, or whatever else reason - then **block** the mail - don't accept it for delivery then drop it on the floor... If I can see a problem, then I can fix it... However - I refuse to speculate...

AOL, Inc. has succeeded in turning the wolfpacks against companies like us... If AOL won't give them answers, then beat on the web hosts and ISPs to provide answers for AOL's conduct of technology and business... It is quite apparent to AOL that if they take a 'silent' stance to email problems, then everyone else will take that heat in place of them...

In conclusion - lean on AOL for answers... I'm willing to talk to them, yet will they talk to me???

I can only run around in circles for so long before my head simply unscrews and rolls off...

--
Terra
--Someone that is tired of taking bullets meant for AOL--
FutureQuest

<EDIT: make minor adjustments to context>

[sheila]

Today I saw this comment, on the Python mailing list:
http://mail.python.org/pipermail/pyt...st/058264.html

...
Note that many/most of the large ISP's smtpd's like aol.com and
possibly yahoo.com have all kinds of spam defenses that might be
getting in your way. E.g. AOL apparently has an unpublished maximum
limit on the number of recipients allowed, rumored to be 17, above
which it will simply eat the message, not delivering it and not
returning an SMTP error code. It's possible Yahoo's got something
similar going on.
...

I don't know if that could have anything to do with some of the problems with AOL mail, lately???

[Terra]

And we are being requested to implement most of the same?!?

Aiyeeee... I would be facing a firing squad...

For AOL to *silently* discard email is completely and totally irresponsible and is *not* how Internet email delivery is supposed to work...

I'm on the verge of piercing their email systems and fixing the problem for them, since I'm providing tons of tech support for them now as it is anyways...

--
Terra
--AOL simply needs to stop force feeding their infinite wisdom--
FutureQuest

[LightGuide]

I've been seeing a number of email failures again off AOL lately, too.

In the past, Terra has been kind enough to specifically check on these; and in every case, AOL showed the mail as received -- and then it went into the Land that Email Forgot or something.

Since we send relatively few emails to AOL from this IP, and no newsletters or mass mailings of any kind, there's no possible reason we should be blocked.

In every case, when we have resent, the AOL recipients have received the email; though in some cases, it has taken several attempts.

(I might also note that we never see bounces in these cases.)

What it comes down to, I think, is simply that AOL is dropping the ball and dropping the ball and dropping the ball [*thwack*] - sorry, got stuck there for a moment...

[Deb]

Welcome! You Had Mail.

[LightGuide]

LOL... yeah... brand new service from AOL: They save you the trouble of actually ever seeing it.

[PaulKroll]

I've considered replacing my aging father's AOL voice with "You have male... pattern baldness!"

But MST3K might sue me for copyright infringement.

If the press got involved in this, AOL might actually make solving their e-mail issues a priority, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm suggesting to people who aren't getting mail that they get a free e-mail account and use that for anything that they consider important. Or, of course, get another ISP.

[zmax]

lean on AOL for answers

Hey! My boys are waitin' for the signal. Just give it and they'll be leanin' on 'em faster than they can drop that mail!

is *not* how Internet email delivery is supposed to work...

AOL isnt actually part of the internet. No they are their own little (big actually) digital island. Theyre kind of like the Cayman Islands of offshore ISP's. The People's Independant Liberated Republic of AOL with President for Life, Steve Case your friendly neighborhood dictator.


David

[Tibbits]

When I used a mail.com (iname) address as my main email account I never received a single email from my egroups(onelist) lists. I think other mail simply went missing from time to time, but never really proved that, and I'm sure I sometimes received spam intended for another mail.com users. I then made the mistake of using zzn(commtouch) as my next email provider.....