Verizon has announced that it will no longer support a special SMTP mail server that it offered its clients because of poor compatibility with other ISPs leaving valuable customers such as me out in the cold.
What does this mean? Well if you use a pop email client such as Microsoft Outlook or Outlook express or many smart phones such as my Palm TREO and you want to send an email from your AT&T email address when using your Verizon service you are screwed.
After hours on the phone with Verizon, they could not solve my issue and get my email to work. They kept pointing the finger at AT&T but whatever ISP I have ever used to send and receive mail other than Verizon it worked fine and the “work around” they supplied (a Verizon SMTP server) worked – I blame them for making something that worked and I need no longer work.
AT&T was just as bad if not worse. After more than 45 minutes with their tech support lady who had me make changes to various settings in my Outlook program all of which I told her I had already done with Verizon and none of which worked she told me there was nothing more that she could do as she exhausted all of her instructions in her computer. I asked that she accelerate my issue with a more advanced tech specialist and she said they would get back to me.
Almost 48 hours passed and no return call from AT&T so I called them. I clearly explained to the person who finally picked up my call the problem I had and that I needed an advanced tech specialist. Rather that listen to what I said I had to waste at least another half hour changing settings.
When I asked the new guy to accelerate me to a more advanced tech or supervisor he refused to do it and sent me to another AT&T department and those idiots wanted to change me $99! I refused to pay and I was finally sent to the "billing and retention" department who said they waived the charges "in 2 places".
I called the advanced technical support after 3pm (by this time I spent more than 3-1/2 hours on the phone with AT&T this day alone and it took them 50 minutes to make an appointment for a tech to get back to me. Mind you people pay AT&T $99 for this service! The appointment they made with me was for 8 am the following day (soonest daytime hour I could get) with a 1 hour window.
By 9:02 I realized they would not call me and I was hunting for my cordless phone when I received a call from AT&T asking me to reschedule my appointment and the soonest they had was 1 pm. I was ballistic. When I asked to get the first possible tech I was told that’s when it would be. When I asked for a supervisor I was there were none there. I asked to have one call me immediately as soon as one came in.
At 10:50 I still did not have a tech call me nor did a supervisor call. Waiting on hold for more than 20 minutes I got a human and I was told I was never scheduled to have a tech call me that the caller at 9:03 am did not schedule me for the next tech nor did they ask to have a supervisor call me.
I insisted I need a tech NOW and I was told I would get a call between 11:30 and and 12:30 pm. I then asked to speak to a supervisor and was told none were available. I said I would wait on hold until one would become available at which time I was told I cannot wait on hold and I was hung up on! For this level of service customer are supposed to PAY $99!!!
I did get a call from a tech named Charles who remotely took over my computer. In about 10 minutes he exhausted the same settings everyone else did. I really at this point did not expect him to be able to fix the problem and was already weighing out what legal action to take. He said he would research the problem and call me back.
20 minutes later the problem was solved and after testing it a few times it works like a champ.
Here are all the settings that need to be done in outlook in order to get AT&T mail to be able to be sent through a PC using outlook on a Verizon high speed (that’s a joke) cellular card.
If someone is having issues with AT&T on FIOS let us know if this works.
On the Main Tab
- Incoming Mail Server: pop.att.yahoo.com
- Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.att.yahoo.com
- Leave the "Require logon using Secure Password Authentication UNCHECKED
Click on "More Settings" button
Under "Outgoing Server" Tab
- "My outgoing server (SMTP) requires Authentication must be CHECKED
- "Use same settings as my incoming mail server" must be CHECKED
Under "Advanced" Tab
- Incoming server (POP3): 995
- "This server requires and encrypted connection (SSL)" is CHECKED
- Outgoing server (SMTP): 465
- "Use the following encrypted connection" SSL
Click the "Ok" Button
Click "Test Account Settings" and it should now work
Shame on Verizon and AT&T. I can't wait to drop both of them when any other service comes up here and I still need a work around for my TREO using VersaMail!
Update 9/12/2012
Changed phones from a Treo to a Motorola Droid more than a year ago. Still have no fix to send my mail from Verizon through my AT&T account. The service from both Verizon and AT&T with this and many other issues I have is deplorable.
