Cotse down

markwolk · 2 Jun 2010, 03:34 PM

I cannot send email via SMTP. I tried to access their website via one of the numerous domains but all seem dead. downforeveryoneorjustme.com reports that it is not only me; it's down for everyone.

DavidJ · 2 Jun 2010, 03:45 PM

Yup. Webmail and IMAP are also down.

I just switched to Cotse, and this is the second time in a week or so that this has happened.

I hope that they really honor their money-back guarantee.

Can anyone recommend an inexpensive ESP? I'm unenthusiastic about trying Fastmail because of their reputation for slow support responses and because noone seems to know what the Opera purchase will mean.

Thanks.
D.

**********

Update: Their response to my email:

**********
subject Re: Webmail down

On 6/2/2010 1:49 AM, David wrote:
> Good morning!
>
> Cotse webmail is down again, and IMAP is working erratically. In
> effect, I have no email service.

Webmail had it's line out briefly for maintenance, our provider was
working on it. However, nothing is or was wrong with the imap.

/steve
--
Cotse Support
https://www.cotse.net
**********

I'm not too sure I believe them, since:
1. It's a fact that IMAP was up and down. Pity that I don't have Pegasus Mail set for logging.
2. Webmail was not actually down at a stretch; it was also up again down again. This does not conclusively prove that the maintenance story is a fib; there might be reasons to repeatedly disconnect and connect the server for maintenance, but the simple explanation....
3. Since I can think of no reason that the SMTP server should be taken offline when the Web server was taken offline and the IMAP server was left online, we will have to attribute markwolk's SMTP problem to a strange coincidence.

At least they answered quickly; last time I got no response at all.

Thanks again.
D.

janusz · 2 Jun 2010, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidJ

Can anyone recommend an inexpensive ESP?

I didn't realise it's something one can buy

markwolk · 3 Jun 2010, 07:48 AM

It works again, but I am disappointed to see that when it failed, then everything failed at once (SMTP, webmail, all websites and domains, etc.).

Tsunami · 3 Jun 2010, 05:43 PM

Happened a few months before as well when they were late in renewing some domains. Not exactly very professional I'd say for a company claiming that their stability and privacy are their strongest assets compared to other services.

Clive T · 3 Jun 2010, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidJ

Yup. Webmail and IMAP are also down.

I hope that they really honor their money-back guarantee.

D.

I tried Cotse for a couple of weeks recently but became frustrated at some aspects of the service and features. I requested to close my account and it happened instantly (beware!). A full refund followed very quickly after that.

DavidJ · 4 Jun 2010, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clive T

I tried Cotse for a couple of weeks recently but became frustrated at some aspects of the service and features.

Just curious, since I haven't made a final decision yet: What bothered you?

T
D

DavidJ · 23 Jun 2010, 09:39 PM

I suppose that after I saw their history, I should have had enough sense not to sign up with Cotse.

At the moment, once again, Cotse.net webmail is down, although IMAP seems to be working fine.

Thanks.
David.

Update: Webmail seems to be back up again. It may not have been very long - hard to tell, since I have no way of knowing when the outage started - but it's still annoying.

By the way, if I understand the logs of my local email gateway correctly, SMTP was also working while this was going on.

Thanks again.
D.

markwolk · 24 Jun 2010, 05:48 AM

All works fine for me. A good service overall. If these downtimes do not recur, I will stay with them.

ST123 · 24 Jun 2010, 06:31 AM

All works fine for me too.

I've used Cotse for years and have never noticed problems.

Cotse has the best spam and email control of any other provider I have used.

In second place for features is Tuffmail.com

DavidJ · 7 Jul 2010, 04:52 AM

I'm not sure whether it's useful or not to report this, but about a half hour or an hour ago, once again, cotse.net webmail was down for a while. I saw it down for 10 or 15 minutes or so, but of course I have no way of knowing when the problem started, It could have been up to a few hours, for all I know.

As before, IMAP worked fine while this was going on.

Thanks.
D.

ST123 · 14 Aug 2010, 12:28 AM

Over this last week I have noticed the cotse webmail being very slow.

Sometimes not usable.

Anyone else or just me?

DavidJ · 18 Aug 2010, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ST123

Over this last week I have noticed the cotse webmail being very slow.

Sometimes not usable.

Anyone else or just me?

The webmail interface has been very slow for me today.

Thanks.
David.

Tsunami · 18 Aug 2010, 04:31 PM

I considered the service but I think I'll stop considering for now. The amount of negative comments is quite worrying, especially for a service whose self-proclaimed best asset is security. I once emailed the helpdesk to test how fast they'd be ... the response came very fast indeed but they warned you had to be really savvy about everything technical and know very well how to set up mailboxes etc. So it came across as "we are a service for the technically most advanced users only" ; then reading they've had issues themselves quite often lately is quite odd in a worrying way.

ST123 · 19 Aug 2010, 07:36 AM

I think the webmail may have been slow as I had too many emails in my inbox (3000+). I move them to relevant folders and now webmail is back to normal.

2 Jun 2010, 03:34 PM	#1
markwolk Essential Contributor Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Christchurch, New Zealand Posts: 349	Cotse down I cannot send email via SMTP. I tried to access their website via one of the numerous domains but all seem dead. downforeveryoneorjustme.com reports that it is not only me; it's down for everyone.

2 Jun 2010, 03:45 PM	#2
DavidJ Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 178	Yup. Webmail and IMAP are also down. I just switched to Cotse, and this is the second time in a week or so that this has happened. I hope that they really honor their money-back guarantee. Can anyone recommend an inexpensive ESP? I'm unenthusiastic about trying Fastmail because of their reputation for slow support responses and because noone seems to know what the Opera purchase will mean. Thanks. D. ******** Update: Their response to my email: ****** subject Re: Webmail down On 6/2/2010 1:49 AM, David wrote: > Good morning! > > Cotse webmail is down again, and IMAP is working erratically. In > effect, I have no email service. Webmail had it's line out briefly for maintenance, our provider was working on it. However, nothing is or was wrong with the imap. /steve -- Cotse Support https://www.cotse.net ******** I'm not too sure I believe them, since: 1. It's a fact that IMAP was up and down. Pity that I don't have Pegasus Mail set for logging. 2. Webmail was not actually down at a stretch; it was also up again down again. This does not conclusively prove that the maintenance story is a fib; there might be reasons to repeatedly disconnect and connect the server for maintenance, but the simple explanation.... 3. Since I can think of no reason that the SMTP server should be taken offline when the Web server was taken offline and the IMAP server was left online, we will have to attribute markwolk's SMTP problem to a strange coincidence. At least they answered quickly; last time I got no response at all. Thanks again. D. Last edited by DavidJ : 2 Jun 2010 at 05:30 PM. Reason: Update

23 Jun 2010, 09:39 PM	#8
DavidJ Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 178	I suppose that after I saw their history, I should have had enough sense not to sign up with Cotse. At the moment, once again, Cotse.net webmail is down, although IMAP seems to be working fine. Thanks. David. Update: Webmail seems to be back up again. It may not have been very long - hard to tell, since I have no way of knowing when the outage started - but it's still annoying. By the way, if I understand the logs of my local email gateway correctly, SMTP was also working while this was going on. Thanks again. D. Last edited by DavidJ : 23 Jun 2010 at 09:53 PM. Reason: Update

3 Jun 2010, 07:48 AM	#4
markwolk Essential Contributor Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Christchurch, New Zealand Posts: 349	It works again, but I am disappointed to see that when it failed, then everything failed at once (SMTP, webmail, all websites and domains, etc.).

3 Jun 2010, 05:43 PM	#5
Tsunami The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: in between the bright lights and the far unlit unknown Posts: 2,527	Happened a few months before as well when they were late in renewing some domains. Not exactly very professional I'd say for a company claiming that their stability and privacy are their strongest assets compared to other services.

24 Jun 2010, 05:48 AM	#9
markwolk Essential Contributor Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Christchurch, New Zealand Posts: 349	All works fine for me. A good service overall. If these downtimes do not recur, I will stay with them.

24 Jun 2010, 06:31 AM	#10
ST123 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 151	All works fine for me too. I've used Cotse for years and have never noticed problems. Cotse has the best spam and email control of any other provider I have used. In second place for features is Tuffmail.com

7 Jul 2010, 04:52 AM	#11
DavidJ Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 178	I'm not sure whether it's useful or not to report this, but about a half hour or an hour ago, once again, cotse.net webmail was down for a while. I saw it down for 10 or 15 minutes or so, but of course I have no way of knowing when the problem started, It could have been up to a few hours, for all I know. As before, IMAP worked fine while this was going on. Thanks. D.

14 Aug 2010, 12:28 AM	#12
ST123 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 151	Over this last week I have noticed the cotse webmail being very slow. Sometimes not usable. Anyone else or just me?

18 Aug 2010, 04:31 PM	#14
Tsunami The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: in between the bright lights and the far unlit unknown Posts: 2,527	I considered the service but I think I'll stop considering for now. The amount of negative comments is quite worrying, especially for a service whose self-proclaimed best asset is security. I once emailed the helpdesk to test how fast they'd be ... the response came very fast indeed but they warned you had to be really savvy about everything technical and know very well how to set up mailboxes etc. So it came across as "we are a service for the technically most advanced users only" ; then reading they've had issues themselves quite often lately is quite odd in a worrying way.

19 Aug 2010, 07:36 AM	#15
ST123 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 151	I think the webmail may have been slow as I had too many emails in my inbox (3000+). I move them to relevant folders and now webmail is back to normal.