I'm looking for recommendations for a web-based email account (that isn't Gmail)

I've used Gmail for years without any problems. Today I changed my password (which I do on a regular basis), but now Gmail won't let me back into my account.

When I tried to use the password recovery function, I wasn't offered the chance to answer my security question. Instead I had to give them another email account (I don't have another, so I gave them the email address of a friend who will help with the recovery process).

Part of their investigation included this required question: "When did you open your account?" How would I know that? The only waay I could pin down the month and year would be to look at my inbox.

There is no way to contact a live person at Gmail or Google to explain the urgency of having immediate access to my email account. They have my phone number, but haven't tried to call me. They have my security question, but haven't asked me for the answer.

Instead, after I filled out their form, they posted text that promised they would investigate and get back to me (presumably at my friend's email address) "within 24 hours."

However, I checked their own policy page and learned that it's not "within 24 hours," but instead it's "at least 24 hours." Further checking indicated that locked-out users have often waited days with no response.

So, whether or not Gmail ever decides to allow me to access all those sent and received emails, attachments, drafts, etc., I need a new web-based email address.

I'm wondering if DUers can recommend email services like Hotmail, Yahoo, AIM ... something else ... anything but Gmail.

Thank you.

But, I can say that I have had four accounts--several active for almost 20 years and I have never had a problem with changing or recovering passwords.

HOWEVER, I am concerned that they may inappropriately filter some outside mail sources. Ironic, since massive spam mail has typically been my gripe, but it seems as they have tried to address that problem, others have emerged. I don't know if it is intentional filtering for less than appropriate reasons, but it has happened. That said, I have read reports of that occurring on other emai servers, including Yahoo.

Good luck... I'm not sure there is one good (right) answer...

I've used Yahoo Mail for the past 14 years (and still use them) but I don't recommend them. The problem comes when you try to pull up old emails--there is usually an error--so even though they boast that they have unlimited storage, it's pretty meaningless if you can't search through the mail without time outs etc. Yahoo is one step above Hotmail though, and miles above AIM and other services, IMO.

I'm looking for an email provider who is going to allow me to access my own email account. Gmail is the problem, not the solution

$5 a month gets me 5 accounts, which I can redirect to any ISP I need to; email is accessible by my mail app or via Webmail.

One time I had the same problem as you when I changed my password - and believe it or not I was able to call an actual person and they helped me get access to my account again. And they were friendly while they did it even though I only have a free account.
 

I've been using gmail since the invitation-only beta version (which is why I was able to get firstname.lastname@gmail dot com), and I've not had a single problem.

I didn't type it and then paste it into the "confirm new password" box; I manually typed it both times, and they matched.

Also, in the past, any time I've had a password problem they asked my security question. This time they're not even asking it.

Maybe they can help you retrieve your account.

Otherwise, you're stuck with tuvokrandomwordstinkfart0110876510@yahoo.com.

http://email.about.com/od/freeemailreviews/tp/free_email.htm

Then your own Internet provider should have an account for you with web access.

I killed my Gmail account long ago on purpose because it gave me the creeps with them deciding that my 'conversations' need to be saved together without even asking me, and popping up things in my inbox page offering me chat partners with people I never even added to my address book. I found them WAY too invasive.

Yahoo has been very user-friendly for me, except lately I keep having to re-type my password and that gobbledy-gook code word in TWICE each time I try to log in, all because I won't change my password and upgrade to the New Yahoo for them.

Awhile back when planning to kill my email account with my ISP, I forwarded piles and piles of saved emails to Yahoo that I believe I need to keep for documentation of some things that happened at a previous job. (I forwarded a pile of emails from that job to Yahoo too.)

I am totally confident they will all be safe there til I am ready to sort through them and do what I think I need to do with the information.

It is also not a big deal to have more than one email address, you know. Using just one for real people and another for business transactions online, and another for website access login verifications helps cut way down on the amount of spam you have to filter through, plus you can catch on to where that spam is coming from.

Plus Yahoo has that nifty news page that it jumps to whenever you log out.

to those that are shopping. It's good and has some really nice features.

http://www.gmx.com/

My advice would be to create identical users at both and use the yahoo account as your password recovery address for gmx.

keep more than 1 active email account

and

don't rely on a web-based email account for storing documents and other information

all my online stuff and have a comcast account for personal stuff. I check the yahoo about once a week to delete the 50 or so pieces of crap I get from Newsmax. I have a lot of friends who use hotmail and don't seem to have any complaints.

and I have two Yahoo! email accounts and two Hotmail accounts all are at least ten years old. The only free web-based email accounts that I have had that I truly disliked was Operamail, b/c of the extremely tiny amount of free email storage provided. I never deleted either of the two that I created, but after about a year of not using or opening them, they were apparently eliminated. I also created and used a free Linuxmail email account, about 5 years ago, but it also was eliminated due to "no activity" for a year.

Old, but reliable. I have SBC DSL, so Yahoo is my default webmail client. My GMail accounts actually forward/copy any inbound messages to that account. My only complaint about Yahoo mail is that it's sloooowwww. At certain times of the day, it can take up to 30 minutes for them to process an inbound message and post it to your account. This normally isn't a problem, but there have been a few instances where I've needed a message right away and couldn't deal with the delay. I use GMail for those.

And my 13 year old Hotmail account is still puttering along just fine. It's gone through a number of various incarnations, interfaces, and rebrandings, but it works just as well today as it did when I first registered it in 1997. It's my old school go-to account that all of my friends, family, and old co-workers know they can reach me at.

Get two, one for forms and processes that require an email, and one for friends and family

the 20 something bucks a year for POP access and a few other goodies.

All my mail from Yahoo and two other accounts gets downloaded into Thunderbird so it's accessible on the web and here.

Sponsored by Nokia.

https://mail.ovi.com/home

Reliable, except during a brief span at the dawn of SPAM before filtering...

I like it just fine.

If you do opt for Yahoo, pay the $20/year for their premium account. It's worth it.