Yes, I know it isn't the most appropriate subject for a science forum but the experience I'm having with "Hotmail Support" is fucking driving
me nuts!!!
I had considered Whimsy but there is nothing at all whimsical about the ridiculous situation I find myself in . . .
Three weeks ago, I had a temporary memory-lapse which caused me to forget my Hotmail password --- I remembered it two days later but by then so much
shit had gone down that my (fifteen character) password wouldn't log me in.
So, because my mail is so very important to me, I have, for the last twenty days, found myself hopelessly entangled in such an impenetrable web of
absolute, gross incompetence, plain stupidity and outright, vicious contempt for (me) the benighted customer that I would imagine that Heller, Kafka,
and Thomas Aquinas must be sloshing around in their final resting places from pissing themselves silly with laughter!
And so, I'm wondering if anyone else has had a comparable experience with the sick, fucking joke we call "Hotmail"?
The situation, BTW, is still ongoing and a resolution seems as far away now as it did at the outset!
[edit]
Some things one takes for granted over extended periods can when they're taken away be very distressing by their loss.
Because the impacted account is my primary one (I've used no other!) it contains all my contacts, some of whom cannot be reached by phone and others
who are more or less on the move continually are effectively lost to me . . .
And here's the real pisser; the password in question was sitting on a piece of paper on my desk for about a year so that I saw it every fucking day
and for some stupid reason assumed it was the PW for this forum!
[Edited on 5-3-2011 by hissingnoise]quicksilver - 5-3-2011 at 06:38
I have a close friend who had this situation arise: same deal. The support is so secondary to them because it's basically not profit-making venture
(they get flash advertising for some large scale companies like auto dealerships, etc) that there's not a great deal of hope especially after you had
contacted them and they started into their "solution" of alteration of the PW. IF by chance they had not - you most likely would have gotten it right,
the memory is a bastard that way. I would only offer that since it's a low priority agenda for them they MAY not have altered the thing and keep
trying the real PW. But if they have the surest method is to actually contact them via snail mail (I understand that it's important to you) as that
way they will eventually give you some substance. You would need to write to a "customer-care representative manager", explain the situation, enclose
a copy of you ID with perhaps the actual number blurred for your own security and ask that they contact you via return mail. There IS NO phone # that
will get you the right person becasue that person doesn't exist. IF you get results it will be co-incidental via a voice contact........sorry. I tried
with this guy I knew and found it to be an exercise in frustration to the point of madness.....so I empathize.
[Edited on 5-3-2011 by quicksilver]hissingnoise - 5-3-2011 at 07:11
Thanks quicksilver and congratulations, by the way!
Your elevation to moderator obviously occurred while I was otherwise engaged!
Experience tells me you'll be up there with the best.
And oddly enough, my plethora of fairly inane posts over the last couple of days was a therapy of sorts!
I have a lot to be grateful for for being a member here.
I've been homicidal, suicidal and even created a few scenes one of which took place in my local police station which is closely visible from my window
. . .
[edit]Shudda' gone the snailmail route at the start . . .
[Edited on 5-3-2011 by hissingnoise]hissingnoise - 5-3-2011 at 07:29
I know quicksilver, it had occurred to me that since the topic is obviously not science-related, Whimsy may be where it best belongs . . .
Magpie - 5-3-2011 at 09:06
Sorry to hear of your nightmare with hotmail. I think quicksilver has indicated a valuable lesson to be learned here. That is, in this age of e-mail
and electronic libraries we tend to forget the power of the written word in a letter, on a piece of paper, properly formatted, with documentation,
signed and dated. Whenever, I have run into a situation where I was being screwed by some bureaucratic incompetence, from a business to the Internal
Revenue Service, I use a properly formatted letter on a piece of paper. That way you know it is going to the person you want it to because you have
addressed it that way. You provide all proper documentation and you make it clear you are keeping a copy for your file. Then you just keep hammering
away at them. And it doesn't hurt to politely threaten to bump the letter up a notch if you don't get satisfaction. If you get no satisfaction, you
do bump the letter up the chain of command. This approach has never failed me. hissingnoise - 5-3-2011 at 09:22
I know that's sound advice Magpie, but I was lulled into a false sense of security by their prompt action the last time I forgot my PW.
I sent them a minimum of info with my IP and had my inbox onscreen in no time . . .
I don't know what's changed---from the pidgin English shit I get from them, I think Nigerian scammers are now running the show!
If I went into full detail about the ins and outs, I'd be accused of making shit up"!
That's how bad it's been.
Eclectic - 5-3-2011 at 09:47
Try Google Mail?hissingnoise - 5-3-2011 at 10:06
I have a gmail account that I don't bother with but I just can't afford to lose the mail in the other account . . .
I'd never have chosen Hotmail if I'd known this kind of shitstorm could hit.
No one should even touch Hotmail with a fucking barge-pole!
My experience should serve as a warning to others!
If you do choose Hotmail you will contemplate suicide sooner or later . . .
quicksilver - 5-3-2011 at 10:22
IF Wikileaks still exists & you can get their info on free Email accounts; you should do so. There is a great deal of interesting issues w/ free
Email.
Personally, I would not engage in a sales agenda or discuss issues wherein you use expressions that can be misconstrued or language you would not use
in public or alliteration to public or political figures, etc.
Many people say things in jest or let off steam and there are places where that is just unwise.
In a sense this discussion could be related to privacy concerns because if one believes [material from WikiLeaks] there is much less privacy than one
may expect. As a "free communications device" the obligation Hotmail, Gmail, & others have to the end user is substantially limited as well as
their obligation to you personal privacy. TTBoMK a free Email account is provided "at the pleasure of the provider" & is not obligated to provide
the same level of service & security as a paid service such as a cell account, snail mail, or one's hard-line phone. I am NOT 100% sure of this.
However I do believe it to be accurate.hissingnoise - 5-3-2011 at 10:37
I'm taking it all in quicksilver --- I have just now gotten this when trying to sign-in again; Error Ox80046501.
What does it mean, does anyone know?
Rosco Bodine - 5-3-2011 at 10:56
After you get the access problem with hotmail straightened out, you should install windows live mail and use that as your e-mail client for the
hotmail account. Then you have an automatic login from the client and complete control over the messages which are stored in local folders on your
machine, where you can save important messages, do wholesale deletions of junkmail, and you can also export the entire client content to backup
folders from which the data can be imported back into the client if you ever need to move everything to a new hard drive or a different machine. That
way when your windows live mail does become windows dead mail (and such death is guaranteed) then you have provided your e-mail account with a plan of
salvation it will enjoy as resurrection to a new life in a future hereafter hardware configuration. As a further insurance you should enable the
instruction within the client to have the mail server save messages, and that way any recent messages which may not have been backed up since your
last backup will redownload from the mail server following that time of resurrection. It may seem strange, but just have faith it will work and you
will see Easter is just around the corner.
[Edited on 5-3-2011 by Rosco Bodine]quicksilver - 5-3-2011 at 11:11
OK....I think that's somewhat strange. I could be totally wrong about this -I am guessing from many years back.
On a machine itself a x800 is generally a "blue screen of death" hardware error. And as I remember what would follow would be the interrupt or memory
assignment but on a HTML screen in a browser.....I am stumped. POSSIBLY, it's just the response to either an incorrect PW, a problem on THEIR end, OR
you have spyware that is actively trying to function as a keylogger (PW grabber). I would scan the machine with Malware-Bytes latest database and see
if you have spyware.
I am making an assumption that your PW does correspond to whatever caps-lowercase-numbers issue and your confident of the PW. There ARE damn
sophisticated spyware now that attempt to use mail to spam outward through another's account. I am really stabbing in the dark here.
I like to think I am a logical, clear thinking guy but my recollection sucks & honestly me trying to be "Mr. Logic" is similar to Mike Tyson
attempting to play Mr. Spock.hissingnoise - 5-3-2011 at 12:07
Thanks guys for the sound advice and for perking me up - I kinda needed it.
What you said about your experience in the PM quicksilver, really brightened things up for me.
The error message said; There was a critical error with the service.
Please try again later.
Could it be that they're having technical problems.
If that's so, the friggers should have told me!
Oh, and thanks for reminding me about wikileaks - I'll sure check it out.
Rosco Bodine - 5-3-2011 at 12:17
That error code looks like one of those server not found or login unsuccessful errors from a timed out connection attempt announcement screen for a
failed client download "details" display
You would get that from an absent or incorrect password entered for an automatic login, or for example if you turned off your modem and then
attempted a connection to the mail server you would get this:
Unable to send or receive messages for the Hotmail account. The host 'pop3.live.com' could not be found. Please verify that you have entered the
server name correctly.
Server: 'pop3.live.com'
Windows Live Mail Error ID: 0x800CCC0D
Protocol: POP3
Port: 995
Secure(SSL): Yes
Socket Error: 11001
hissingnoise - 5-3-2011 at 12:53
I tried signing in again a couple of times - at least that error message's gone!
I'm now waiting for someone called June to reply to my last three emails . . .
I'm a bad waiter, but WTF!
Rosco Bodine - 5-3-2011 at 13:01
Are you using an e-mail client software or are you just using the webmail?hissingnoise - 5-3-2011 at 13:07
You truly should download and install Windows Live Mail and configure it for Hotmail as it was designed for that purpose and replaces Outlook Express
which did the job for years until it became obsolete. Windows Live Mail is free from Microsoft. It can be configured for multiple e-mail accounts
and there are online tutorials for how to set it up. It is very similar to Outlook Express in terms of account setup. It works great and you can
configure it lean so it runs without all the bells and whistles you don't need. It is also good for newsgroups, sort of an all in one client to
replace Outlook Express. In fact if you still use Outlook Express you can deactivate and uninstall it after the upgrade since it is pretty much
history, obsolete, and is not as reliable was Windows Live Mail.
[Edited on 5-3-2011 by Rosco Bodine]hissingnoise - 5-3-2011 at 13:55
Thanks Rosco, I'll get around to it - right now I'm going to skin-up!
It's just a small bit of pretty mediocre weed but it's still way better than the Zyprexas Xanaxes and Valiums prescribed by the usual suspects . . .
Intergalactic_Captain - 6-3-2011 at 01:44
Can't help you here - When I first got involved with computers, I simply refused to use hotmail - I have a vehement, irrational hatred and distrust
for anything involving AOL, Yahoo, or Microsoft - As such, I have used the same 2 netzero email addresses for ~13 years... Not sure I entirely trust
them either, but as for my personal correspondence they seem like the lesser of a fistful of evils...
I can, however, share my experience with a PayPal. I've used paypal since it started, and have a couple of accounts - One of them happens to be my
"legitimate" one that I do virtually of my online business and the entirety of my ebay activity with. They've been VERY good at helping me out when
I've gotten screwed in the past - I've heard horror stories, but in my experience they've been more customer friendly than any real bank I've dealt
with...
...That said, a few years ago I was very active on ebay buying and repairing laptops - As such, I had (still have) a merchant-class, stupidly
oververified and confirmed paypal account - With a checking account, a credit card, and at any given time 2-5 prepaid credit cards tied to it... Oh,
and a paypal debit card (from the days BEFORE you needed a bank account to get one) - I used this for my daily purchases, as it was more convenient
than anything else to carry. Anyways, one day, I went to pick up a pack of smokes - DECLINED - WTF? I knew I had money in the account, so I hit one
of the campus computers and pulled up my balance...
Well, long story short, an IP trace showed that some nigerian jackass got into my paypal, ebay, and email accounts, then proceeded to transfer ~$120
out of my account - there was only $10 in the account, which meant that the other $110 came out of my checking account - Of course, I only had ~$100
in the account, so it ended up getting overdrawn, and the ordeal would have cost me ~$160 in the end... I lucked out, as the information on this
jackass that I was able to piece together was enough to get paypal to reverse the transaction and my bank to cancel the overdraft charge. The jackass
was kind of nice though, as even though he changed all of my passwords he forgot to change the security questions - dumbass... A grandfathered paypal
account and a well-reputed ebay account are something that I could never have gotten back...
Anyways, after this is where it got frustrating. I decided to prevent this from happening again - I decided to remove my credit card from paypal,
de-permission my checking account as a backup funding source, and use one of my prepays for that purpose. For some reason, paypal wouldn't let me
remove anything - So, I called up costomer service. It took me THREE FUCKING WEEKS of calling 2-5 times a day, EVERY DAY, to get someone who was able
to explain to me what the problem was, rather than the "I can't give that information over the pone" line... Turns out that since I was averaging a
purchase or sale every 2-3 days, the 5-7 day payment clearance period meant that my account was perpetually being "held" for clearance - and that
despite being able to CHOOSE what I wanted as my backup funding source, EVERY card and bank account I had tied to paypal was technically a backup
source - If one fails, they move on down the line until they can take money out of something or finally give up - Even if you're RECEIVING a payment,
rather than sending one.
...I was able to straighten the mess out eventually, but their bullshit policies of withholding information FROM THEIR CUSTOMERS (I'm merchant class,
so every time I recieve money paypal gets a cut) had me on edge and ready to end my business with them for good for the better part of a month... I
know this isn't email related, but at the time ebay was my only source of income and the thought of losing that due to a petty thief was simply not an
option...hissingnoise - 6-3-2011 at 02:52
Bad as it was IG at least you got it fixed --- I'm still in limbo.
June, who told me yesterday my password should work hasn't bothered replying to my two emails!
I'm getting inured to it now but what an absolute shower!
Still, it's only a matter of time . . .
Funny thing; the alternate address the resets went to contained the number 13!
Rosco Bodine - 6-3-2011 at 03:05
Send yourself an e-mail to confirm your e-mail is working. If you have more than
one e-mail account just send mail from one account to the other.
You maybe should request a read receipt though ......
just to make sure you got it
[Edited on 6-3-2011 by Rosco Bodine]hissingnoise - 6-3-2011 at 04:48
Thanks for the intuition Rosco, I just checked and it isn't working.
Your suspicions were correct!
I'll have someone look at it tomorrow.
The whole thing is just tiring . . .
I'm putting it out my mind for a while.
hissingnoise - 6-3-2011 at 05:14
Checked again Rosco, and it's working now.
Confusion reigns (groan!).
hiperion42 - 6-3-2011 at 05:18
Windows live mail is the over coupling managing service for hotmail no.
Few years back i was using hotmail to but then it automatically switched over to the windows live website whenever i wanted to login to my hotmail
account.
So you are dealing with windows live support no? hissingnoise - 6-3-2011 at 09:20
They're Hotmail Support, but support is the thing they don't do.
hiperion42 - 6-3-2011 at 09:39
Well i think a lot depends on what one expects from a free service. hissingnoise - 6-3-2011 at 09:58
I guess . . .
Arthur Dent - 6-3-2011 at 11:51
My memory has always been quite unreilable, so I always keep a phone-notebook that contains every single password for the hundreds of sites and forums
I use, including Paypal, my bank account and my government service access. This is the central book I rely on, and it's in a place where i'm sure i'll
remember where it is! LOL
As for email, i'm also quite weary of the Hotmails and Gmails of this world. I only use my Hotmail account for obligatory email address fields in
questionable websites, and to test connections when I'm at a remote location. I have an address from my internet web provider as well as an address on
my own web server from my www.progmontreal.com website.
For important email correspondence, I often BCC my other address so I'm sure that if one account pewters out, I can count on the other. I don't trust
technology even though I make a living with it! LOL
Best of luck with your account and I hope it will be finally be resolved soon. My only recommendtion is redundancy, redundancy, redundancy... Get yourself a crapload of email addresses from several sources.
Robert
Robert hissingnoise - 6-3-2011 at 12:50
But the thing is, there was nothing I could fault Hotmail for until now!
Other times, forgotten passwords were so quickly resolved I was actually impressed.
Major negative changes seem to have occurred recently.
And be assured, all the sound advice I've gotten here will be acted on . . .
I'll never forget another PW---my wife will see to that!
Rosco Bodine - 6-3-2011 at 13:26
Maybe with regards to the freemail ......
Bill Gates can probably afford the generosity ....ya think .....
and what else is the soothing ointment for patch overrun fatigue....
supplemental to unconfigurable toolbar stacking and screen real estate encroachment by so many bells and whistles made a users cross to bear?
slings and arrows ......oh the pain !
Gimme back a classic interface in a skinny toolbar with dropdown menus so
windows stops hogging my window .........pleeeeeeze
Now that would be real progressSedit - 6-3-2011 at 20:42
I didn't read any of this thread but the OP but I must ask, are you serious? I have hacked thru Hotmail accounts for the hell of it. They are so
insecure its not even funny. You have to supply a supliment email address, get your PW sent to there man. hissingnoise - 7-3-2011 at 02:20
Quote:
You have to supply a supliment email address, get your PW sent to there man.
But when your alternate address just happens an old forgotten account you barely remember the name of, let alone the PW,that's when you've got a
problem.
I eventually remembered it and it contains the number 13 . . .
I've entered a zillion would-be PWs.
I'm just one fucking word away . . .
Hacking skills would be handy; I'd hack into MSN and fuck them up, bigtime!
hissingnoise - 7-3-2011 at 03:11
(groan!) I left Orwell out of my opening diatribe . . .
Maybe this can provide some relief.IrC - 7-3-2011 at 23:25
That was so damn funny I watched it twice and then emailed it to a few friends. hissingnoise - 8-3-2011 at 06:00
Whew! The drama is over at last; I've finally, after nearly a month of tearing my hair out, regained access to my account!
It was a hellish few weeks but at least it's over.
Thanks everyone for the empathy, kind words and helpful suggestions.
I guess now, I'd better start on my 348 unreads.
Lots'a junk too . . .
A valuable lesson has been learned, however; I must never again find myself in a position where I have to request assistance from Hotmail Support as
it appears to be staffed in the main, by malignant, knuckle-dragging neanderthals.
I will stay with Hotmail, but only through necessity.
I certainly will not be buying any more of their products!
And my advice to anyone setting up an email account still stands; Hotmail really is the Ebola virus of E-mail and should, at all costs, be
avoided for that reason!
Get yourself a crapload of email addresses from several sources.