More network changes disrupt Xtra e-mail users

Still more changes to YahooXtra's e-mail are irritating users and forcing them to adjust their settings -- this time confirming each individual e-mail address used.

A South Island IT company director, who wished to stay anonymous, sent an e-mail to Computerworld saying that a YahooXtra mail update "now has made it even more difficult for customers to send e-mail".

According to Xtra's Web site, starting from March 18, customers who use an e-mail address with Xtra mail settings other than @xtra.co.nz, for example user@business.co.nz, will need to add this e-mail address to their YahooXtra mail account, using the "add account" tool in YahooXtra webmail in order to continue to send e-mails.

To do this users need to log in to YahooXtra webmail and "add the e-mail that is not @xtra.co.nz, and verify that they have authorized use of this e-mail address with your e-mail account," says the Web site. "This update will help customers guard against having their e-mail address used by unauthorized parties."

"Basically it means -- and I have had this confirmed from Xtra tech support -- that if a business has a domain name that has not been registered by Xtra, and they use the domain name for sending e-mail, they will have to register every single e-mail address they have on their domain with Yahoo," says the director.

He points out that most businesses will have a number of addresses within their organization. (Compare Messaging products)

"Not to mention every time an employee joins or leaves the business -- the time to add and remove e-mail addresses is significant," he says.

"I can feel lawsuits coming from disrupted businesses," he says.

Updates to the spam filters are done with the intention of giving customers better protection, says Xtra spokeswoman Katherine Murphy. In this case it is to protect customers from unauthorized use of their e-mail address.

"But no other ISP feels the need to do this," says the IT company director.

Auckland-based IT consultant and Xtra customer Stephen Goodman told Computerworld that issues reported last week of e-mail being classified as spam go back a lot further than February. (Compare antispam products)

"From the moment Xtra changed over to the dreaded 'bubble', this problem has existed," he says.

After numerous calls to the help desk, the only solution appears to be to log on to the Webmail account at regular intervals and trawl through the loads of spam to find the genuine e-mail Xtra has classified as spam, he says.

"What irritates customers most is the arrogance of Telecom and Xtra," he says. "There is no way to bypass this filter or in any way get rid of the issues," he says. "Many Xtra customers, myself included, are coming to the end of our tolerance for this type of approach and are seriously looking at alternatives that really do value their customers."

A number of other readers have contacted Computerworld following last week's story.

Legitimate e-mail from tech support company Graphic Dimensions in Wellington to xtra.co.nz addresses were classified as spam, resulting in important e-mail that appeared to go missing.

For more enterprise computing news, visit Computerworld. Story copyright Computerworld, Inc.