A SKY Email Story for you all.

[GlynUK]

Will keep this story simple. I have SKY Broadband, by the way. For the past month, I haven't been able to get my email from my email account, which I have with a decent-enough company called Freeola. In fact, I can sometimes COLLECT it but sending it...Oooh no. Hmmm. I phoned up Freeola this morning, telling them that my Vista Windows Email programme was no longer "doing the right thing" and what on earth were they playing at. They looked into my settings and said "Nothing Sir. We're innocent."

So, I logged onto the net and sniffed about and found some forums and thingies suggesting that SKY had recently, and deliberatly, done something to the SMTP something or other which prevented people from fully being able to access and send email via an email client such as Outlook Express when being used with another email provider. One poster had suggested this was a commercial decision and possibly illegal because SKY were sort of forcing their users to use their email network. Right.

Well, I don't want a SKY email address. I don't even like SKY. They're corporate criminals. So, I called up their customer service team and queried this with a woman who sounded a bit like an older Lorraine Kelly. She said she'd "heard about this..." and suggested that SKY had switched off this feature due "to spamming." 'Well,' I said, "I have a perfectly good email address thank you and I don't desire a SKY one so you can switch off my Broadband account whilst you're at it my young Scottish wench."

She went away and came back, passing me through to a gentleman who didn't sound entirely unlike a younger John Gordon Sinclair. He agreed with my dilemma, and almost - but not quite - went as far as to say that yes, indeed, SKY are shocklingly sh-t. After a few more minutes of England-Scottish across-the-border banter, he said that even though my contract is not due to expire till May, he would give me my migration code anyway, allowing me to go off and use a different provider. Something tells me he was possibly serving out his notice period at SKY's customer service HQ at the time of our conversation.

As luck would have it, O2 contacted me on Monday and offered me an 8meg broadband service through a 12 month contract for - get this - £2.50 a month. For the whole year. "£2.50 a month?!" I hear you all screaming. "For the whole year!? That's crazy!" Indeed it is. But, as I already have a mobile phone contract with them, that's the deal they offered. I 'declined' their offer at the time, of course, citing my key reason as being the fact that I was already paying a wad of cash to SKY each month and was still in contract with them. However, my conversation with one of The Proclaimer brothers earlier on that day had, of course, cast a whole new light on things.

So, at 1 pm this afternoon, I phoned O2 up and said: "Hey, can I use my own email address with O2 unlike that corprorate-criminal-Murdoch-owned outift based over at Isleworth?" and they replied with: "Why, of course, only THOSE corporate cowboys would go off and remove such a vital tool as that at the expense of their hardworking subscribers..." and I said: "Right, sign me up bitches. To O2 we go."

My wireless modem and whatever else are presently sitting on the back of a DHL lorry north of Watford and I believe I'll have them in the morning. Within two weeks, I also get my email back because SKY Broadband disappears from my abode forever and in its place I get...O2!! Horrah!

[MrStabby]

I rephrased it for those with a short attention span:

Sky don't offer outgoing SMTP for non-Sky addresses anymore so I left.

[mikegc]

My smtp seems to be working just fine.

[NewsreadeR]

I believe you can use SMTP via Skoogle. You need to authorise the address that you wish to use.

http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/sky-e...ry-2008-a.html

Number 8

[IWasNotTheEnemy]

I rephrased it for those with a short attention span:

that made me laugh

although, racist remarks weren't needed IMO...

[richone54]

Will keep this story simple

simple ? but not short

[GlynUK]

There were no 'racist remarks' in my post. Although I can add one if you wish.

[IWasNotTheEnemy]

making fun of the scotish is racist - although not in the strictest sense...

and no, i'd rather you not put one on - although with comments like that i think Sky are better off without you tbh

anywho, your call if you leave over a little email issue...

[Alan b]

anywho, your call if you leave over a little email issue...

You would have thought that Sky are the only email provider and the only option open to anyone joining them.