Tuffmail under new management. - Page 2

aleinss · 19 Sep 2010, 01:08 AM

I am "on the fence" about this announcement myself. I sent an e-mail last night to support about honoring grandfathered plans and it was answered in 70 minutes. I was told I would be allowed to keep the plan (for how long, I'm not sure). I have my web site hosted through Sharkspace which can also host e-mail and they have IMP/Squirrelmail/Roundcube as interfaces. I have a bunch of folders and sieve rules at Tuffmail and figured out that aliases are called "forwarders" in Cpanel land and that Cpanel also offers filters which I guess are simliar to sieve rules for sending mail to certain folders.

I built out the structure I had at Tuffmail at Sharkspace and had to get support to help me fix IMP (wouldn't expand the INBOX to show me all the mail folders). I used Outlook to copy the IMAP mail from Tuffmail to Sharkspace and that worked, except the numbering of e-mail messages kind of got messed up (new messages are numbered 1, older messages are 499).

However, Sharkspace is not a email host and I'm sure they aren't keeping backup copies of my e-mail. If there are/were problems with my email hosting, I'm sure they might say "well, we are a web hosting company, what do you want?" I would also lose some
control of my email: Tuffmail gives me total control (reject reports, per e-mail address spam filtering, server blocks, etc). So for $28/year, I'm staying at Tuffmail. If things get ugly, I can change my MX record to point to my web host's MX server
and be back on track within 60 minutes.

cptn0 · 19 Sep 2010, 02:11 AM

Well, FWIW I sent my support request over 3 hours ago and got nothing back. Now, I *did* send a note saying I resolved the issue, so perhaps that's why they don't think reply is needed - but I think it would be a good policy to reply anyway.
I also do think that British Columbia is a few hours after US east coast where previous owner is located, and it's a Saturday - so there may be lots of reasons why there is no answer. But it does not really make me feel warm and fuzzy.

John may not have been all that gentle in his replies, but he sure was fast and to the point - which I always appreciated.

Update: got a reply 4 hours later (but at about 11am new owners time). I guess this is somewhat to be expected with a single-person operation. Let's hope things go well from now on.

Berenburger · 20 Sep 2010, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cptn0

Update: got a reply 4 hours later (but at about 11am new owners time). I guess this is somewhat to be expected with a single-person operation. Let's hope things go well from now on.

I've mailed Derek twice now. Both times I got response in a decent timeframe.

William9 · 20 Sep 2010, 10:34 AM

That's reassuring. Long-standing customers have apprehension when a business changes ownership.

hydrostarr · 10 Sep 2011, 09:02 AM

Longstanding Tuffmail customer here, since way before Derek bought it. Same reliable service, same awesome features. Concur that usability can stand a revamp, but since I'm already "trained," that's a little less important to me atm.

As for email-support responsiveness: Derek's been perfectly acceptable imo if not remarkably good. Maybe not quite as amazingly-freakish responsive as John used to be, but still just fine in my book. Have no problems there.

Overall... Tuffmail remains one of the most-essential parts of my computing life. Host a plethora of email domains there as well as an MX-relay or two. Great stuff, works wonderfully. The MX-level anti-spam and associated real-time reporting is wonderful, in addition to the number of many-email-domain-admin features.

William9 · 10 Sep 2011, 02:46 PM

I'm getting the same great email service since the change in ownership. I've only had to contact support once since the change and that was because I could not login to the account management site with my iPad. Turns out that the site does not support mobile browsers like iOS. I would like to see some updates.

DPW · 15 Sep 2011, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by William9

I'm getting the same great email service since the change in ownership. I've only had to contact support once since the change and that was because I could not login to the account management site with my iPad. Turns out that the site does not support mobile browsers like iOS. I would like to see some updates.

the front page has some issues with iOS browsers, but if you know the link you need no biggie, I just add a shortcut too where I'm trying to go in Safari like https://manage.tuffmail.net/ and https://wmbeta.mxes.net/

New management great service. I've been a happy user since 2006 or so.

William9 · 17 Sep 2011, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DPW

the front page has some issues with iOS browsers, but if you know the link you need no biggie, I just add a shortcut too where I'm trying to go in Safari like https://manage.tuffmail.net/ and https://wmbeta.mxes.net/

New management great service. I've been a happy user since 2006 or so.

Thanks for the info. That URL gets you past the first page, but the site still doesn't fully support iOS. Several buttons and menus do not work.

tknterry · 8 May 2013, 12:24 PM

Derek said one of his priorities will be to redo the cryptic account manager to make it more user friendly. That was almost 3 years ago and I haven't seen any change! In addition I'm seeing more spam leaking through to my inbox. I liked Tuffmail for its iron clad spam control despite the arcane account manager interface but now even that is creaking. It's time to change and I've begun to migrate to PolarisMail. Bye bye Tuffmail!

David · 8 May 2013, 01:21 PM

Tuffmail has been milked (dry) - what did you expect

William9 · 9 May 2013, 02:32 AM

I still have a Tuffmail account and it's working, but haven't seen any obvious development since Jon sold it in 2010 (and the support phone number was removed). It would be nice to have the account manager work with iOS for example. That would be contemporary, wouldn't it? The service is sort of frozen in the state that it was when sold. I'm worried

petergh · 9 May 2013, 03:03 AM

I don't know what to think about Tuffmail anymore.

Over the course of the last two years, I've been told via email on several occasions that there would "soon" be new features, a redesigned account manager, and more and cheaper storage, but I've seen none of that come to fruition yet.

About two months ago, I was told by someone from Tuffmail support (I can't tell who) that "Things are moving along - we've doubled our business in the last year, and we're hiring more staff to expand the service offering." It sounds promising, but given the history of "promises" from Tuffmail, I'll believe it when I see it.

I do hope things work out for Tuffmail, because I've always liked how they cater to more technically-inclined users.

Peter

William9 · 9 May 2013, 05:37 AM

That about sums it up: we as customers don't know what to think. Part of running a business is communication with customers.

jeffpan · 9 May 2013, 10:21 AM

I also wish Tuffmail gets improved.
I always like this service.

Berenburger · 9 May 2013, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffpan

I also wish Tuffmail gets improved.
I always like this service.

Me too. But I quit Tuffmail some time ago because of the reasons mentioned here before.

19 Sep 2010, 02:11 AM	#17
cptn0 Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 2	Well, FWIW I sent my support request over 3 hours ago and got nothing back. Now, I did send a note saying I resolved the issue, so perhaps that's why they don't think reply is needed - but I think it would be a good policy to reply anyway. I also do think that British Columbia is a few hours after US east coast where previous owner is located, and it's a Saturday - so there may be lots of reasons why there is no answer. But it does not really make me feel warm and fuzzy. John may not have been all that gentle in his replies, but he sure was fast and to the point - which I always appreciated. Update: got a reply 4 hours later (but at about 11am new owners time). I guess this is somewhat to be expected with a single-person operation. Let's hope things go well from now on. Last edited by cptn0 : 19 Sep 2010 at 03:10 AM.

8 May 2013, 12:24 PM	#24
tknterry Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 20	Almost 3 years later.... Derek said one of his priorities will be to redo the cryptic account manager to make it more user friendly. That was almost 3 years ago and I haven't seen any change! In addition I'm seeing more spam leaking through to my inbox. I liked Tuffmail for its iron clad spam control despite the arcane account manager interface but now even that is creaking. It's time to change and I've begun to migrate to PolarisMail. Bye bye Tuffmail!

19 Sep 2010, 01:08 AM	#16
aleinss Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 71	I am "on the fence" about this announcement myself. I sent an e-mail last night to support about honoring grandfathered plans and it was answered in 70 minutes. I was told I would be allowed to keep the plan (for how long, I'm not sure). I have my web site hosted through Sharkspace which can also host e-mail and they have IMP/Squirrelmail/Roundcube as interfaces. I have a bunch of folders and sieve rules at Tuffmail and figured out that aliases are called "forwarders" in Cpanel land and that Cpanel also offers filters which I guess are simliar to sieve rules for sending mail to certain folders. I built out the structure I had at Tuffmail at Sharkspace and had to get support to help me fix IMP (wouldn't expand the INBOX to show me all the mail folders). I used Outlook to copy the IMAP mail from Tuffmail to Sharkspace and that worked, except the numbering of e-mail messages kind of got messed up (new messages are numbered 1, older messages are 499). However, Sharkspace is not a email host and I'm sure they aren't keeping backup copies of my e-mail. If there are/were problems with my email hosting, I'm sure they might say "well, we are a web hosting company, what do you want?" I would also lose some control of my email: Tuffmail gives me total control (reject reports, per e-mail address spam filtering, server blocks, etc). So for $28/year, I'm staying at Tuffmail. If things get ugly, I can change my MX record to point to my web host's MX server and be back on track within 60 minutes.

20 Sep 2010, 10:34 AM	#19
William9 The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: San Francisco Posts: 2,281	That's reassuring. Long-standing customers have apprehension when a business changes ownership.

10 Sep 2011, 09:02 AM	#20
hydrostarr Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 55	Longstanding Tuffmail customer here, since way before Derek bought it. Same reliable service, same awesome features. Concur that usability can stand a revamp, but since I'm already "trained," that's a little less important to me atm. As for email-support responsiveness: Derek's been perfectly acceptable imo if not remarkably good. Maybe not quite as amazingly-freakish responsive as John used to be, but still just fine in my book. Have no problems there. Overall... Tuffmail remains one of the most-essential parts of my computing life. Host a plethora of email domains there as well as an MX-relay or two. Great stuff, works wonderfully. The MX-level anti-spam and associated real-time reporting is wonderful, in addition to the number of many-email-domain-admin features.

10 Sep 2011, 02:46 PM	#21
William9 The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: San Francisco Posts: 2,281	I'm getting the same great email service since the change in ownership. I've only had to contact support once since the change and that was because I could not login to the account management site with my iPad. Turns out that the site does not support mobile browsers like iOS. I would like to see some updates.

8 May 2013, 01:21 PM	#25
David Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Canada. Posts: 10,355	Tuffmail has been milked (dry) - what did you expect

9 May 2013, 02:32 AM	#26
William9 The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: San Francisco Posts: 2,281	I still have a Tuffmail account and it's working, but haven't seen any obvious development since Jon sold it in 2010 (and the support phone number was removed). It would be nice to have the account manager work with iOS for example. That would be contemporary, wouldn't it? The service is sort of frozen in the state that it was when sold. I'm worried

9 May 2013, 03:03 AM	#27
petergh Master of the @ Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 1,302	I don't know what to think about Tuffmail anymore. Over the course of the last two years, I've been told via email on several occasions that there would "soon" be new features, a redesigned account manager, and more and cheaper storage, but I've seen none of that come to fruition yet. About two months ago, I was told by someone from Tuffmail support (I can't tell who) that "Things are moving along - we've doubled our business in the last year, and we're hiring more staff to expand the service offering." It sounds promising, but given the history of "promises" from Tuffmail, I'll believe it when I see it. I do hope things work out for Tuffmail, because I've always liked how they cater to more technically-inclined users. Peter

9 May 2013, 05:37 AM	#28
William9 The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: San Francisco Posts: 2,281	That about sums it up: we as customers don't know what to think. Part of running a business is communication with customers.

9 May 2013, 10:21 AM	#29
jeffpan The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Macao Posts: 2,133 Representative of: tls-mail.com	I also wish Tuffmail gets improved. I always like this service.