[FIXED] PSA: Email woes

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Peter
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[FIXED] PSA: Email woes

Post by Peter »

UPDATE: Email should be fixed.

====

Heads up! We have some email server trouble. Or... email service.
Whew, how do I post this without going into a rage-fueled rant?

Basically, we used SendGrid for a good while. They were a good service, we were happy, our emails went out. Win-win!
Until they decided to discontinue their pay-as-you-go service. So we had to look somewhere else.
Now, there were a few options.

- Shared hosting's email.

The forum runs from here, but you know, spammers register, people with wrong address register, we send out emails that bounce. It's not pretty sometimes. I do correct it from the logs, but I didn't want the shared hosting to breathe down my neck.
- Run my/our own server.
Eh, we do have the option to do this, but I opted not to since you have to monitor email logs, blacklists. Make sure not to end up with too many bounces, if you do you have to cull them. It's just.. sometimes troublesome. I mean it's easy if you operate a webshop, or a gaming community, whatever. But here, we get many spam accounts with addresses that just vanish once they spam. So that requires active monitoring.
- A different service.
This is what we went with. I went with Mailgun, since everyone recommended them. I did too, until now. I always had my personal data with them, I never had payment problems, I am not a criminal. Yet.

So what happened?
Just from one day to another, we got "suspended", and they asked me to verify the account.
Well, not verify, but these were the questions:
What types of emails will you be sending?
It's not like I haven't sent out thousands already...
Where do you source your database of email addresses?
Again, we have a forum in the website's name. But hey, it's okay.
Are all of your email addresses double-opt in?
0 spam reports in years. Uh, I guess.
What is your expected monthly volume of messages?
Again, it's not like we haven't been sending for years.

I did reply to these questions because I thought it's an automated system.
Well, nothing. I just got a reply, that they require even more, and more, and more data, verification, etc.

Very tl;dr:
- Mailgun is utter trash. DO NOT USE THEM. DO NOT RELY ON THEM. If you do, your site, community, webshop, whatever might just stop function from one day to another. Just imagine. And I am not kidding, this actually happened. It's ridiculous. It's not an issue they require verification at any day or time. But to randomly CLOSE an account AND start this bureaucratic process? No. That is NOT okay.
- We will be moving email service ASAP.
- I am sorry about all this. Wish I knew that Mailgun is trash.
Last edited by Peter on Tue May 14, 2019 5:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Killua

Re: [FIXED] PSA: Email woes

Post by Killua »

I think ProtonMail is worth a look
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Peter
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Re: [FIXED] PSA: Email woes

Post by Peter »

[quote="Killua"]
I think ProtonMail is worth a look
[/quote]

Ah, I don't think they allow mass emailing, to be honest, and we need that.
Like it seems like a simple email service that a single user would use.
damiendada

Re: [FIXED] PSA: Email woes

Post by damiendada »

I tested protonmail, a little heavy but it is the only way to preserve the confidentiality ...

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Last edited by damiendada on Fri Oct 11, 2019 3:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
JasonM

Re: [FIXED] PSA: Email woes

Post by JasonM »

Ya I'm not sure how to get away with mass emailing with Proton mail,bathrenovationswinnipeg.com but in terms of privacy and security,treeremovalbrampton.com yes you're correct it is way more preferred than Gmail.website
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