I think it is clear... AOL users should get a real provider, not
someone who will muck things up like this. My AOL count on my lists has
dropped *dramatically* with the capacity problems AOL brought upon
themselves, and many more people have left AOL for other reasons. I
have had 3 (three) new AOL subscriptions in the last 30 days. More than
35 (more like 38) people have moved to real ISP's.
My problems with AOL have been there since day one, especially the
continuing way they handle error messages back to Listserv, and it is
clear that they don't want to improve in a net friendly way (their
internal philosophy of how their machines handle e-mail and looking up
users names and mailbox full status does not appear to be making a turn
for the better). Does anyone know differently?
Routinely, on a good day, I get 500 bounced e-mail messages for my
lists from AOL. A good many of them are three days old, so, for my
largest list which has 95 postings a day, I will get back 285 error
messages per user before I even *know* there is a problem. That doesn't
make me a happy camper.
They have *massive* problems - the first being their size. With *so
many* users, there are bound to be *so many* problems given their
structure.
I don't have a solution, nor do I care about what they do. If they
want to be the biggest, fine, but the *least* they could do is be up
front and tell people what kind of e-mail service they will get.
Whenever one of their users complains to me about no-email, lost
e-mail, or why they got "digested" or removed from one of my lists, I
send them a little blurb about who they can move to for good e-mail
service. There are a LOT of good ISP's on my list.
I think AOL is great for beginners and people who want something
specific (like game playing), but for *serious* e-mail, it just doesn't
cut it in my book.
What I need, AOL, is for you to take serious note of your role in the
Internet World, and realize that it also means that you should work with
people like us list owners in a serious manner. Making *our* life
easier also makes *your* life easier. The sooner (and more
automatically) that we can handle rejections, the less of a burden *you*
will have. Doesn't that make sense?
Remember the first rule of holes: if you are in one, quit digging.
** ------------------------------------------------------------------ **
** Geert K. Marien : [log in to unmask] (Bitnet: GKMQC@PUCC) **
** ListOwner: AIRLINE, RAILROAD, and STAMPS **
** (All contents are my own opinions - unless otherwise stated) **
** Watch EastEnders - The Soap Opera for REAL People! **
** ------------------------------------------------------------------ **
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