AOL rant

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419Eater Admin Joined: 30 Sep 2003 Posts: 7469

What the **** is it with AOL? WHY do 99% of all my messages to AOL addresses (regardless of the email system I use) always bounce back to me? About a dozen AOL-using forum members have contacted me asking for forum access, and every reply I've sent, whether it be via the Eater mail server, Gmail, Virgin, and Hotmail have all bounced. Each time I get almost exactly the same error message:

Quote:

This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

[email protected]

Technical details of permanent failure:
PERM_FAILURE: SMTP Error (state 16): 554-: (HVU:B1) http://postmaster.info.aol.com/errors/554hvub1.html
554 TRANSACTION FAILED

AOL seems to be the only ISP I ever have any problems with these days. Now all I'm getting are secondary emails from users complaining I am ignoring them. I CAN'T FREAKING REPLY TO YOU PEOPLE!

If you're a AOL user who managed to get here despite the insurmountable odds laid against you, then don't blame me for ignoring you Smile

OK. I'm going for a rest in a quiet, dark corner of the room...

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 6:39 pm

I think it's a default setting on aol that you use their spam filter.

I used my first non personal addie with aol as a catcher and I have all spam filters off (including the aol spam filter) and it receives everything - spam, phishing, the lot - so maybe those members need to adjust their spam settings.

It is also possible to specify addies or domains from which mail can be accepted, but that may then mean they have to specify all other domains/addies.

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 6:45 pm

Shiv:

My dad is an AOL user and my gmail regularly gets through to him. You might consider setting up a gmail to send to those people?

Then when they get here chastise them for using a substandard e-mail system when there are plenty of free ones out there.

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11857 Location: UK

@ The Man, Shiver has tried Gmail Wink

:

shiver wrote:

whether it be via the Eater mail server, Gmail, Virgin, and Hotmail have all bounced.

419Eater Admin Joined: 30 Sep 2003 Posts: 7469

Quote:

...whether it be via the Eater mail server, Gmail, Virgin, and Hotmail...

EDIT: Damn! Beat me to it SP Smile

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 6:59 pm

You must mean aoHELL as I called it when I was unfortunate enough to have to use it Laughing

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11857 Location: UK

You have PM shiv.

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 8:02 pm

Yeah, it looks like AOLOL doesn't like the URL you're sending.

Try SEnding them a mail without the link in it, explaining that theiR ISP is so VEry rubbish that you can't send theM the link. use some kind of a cipher to hide the Page url in the text, though. Send the same mail to 3 people. and that way only those who are truly worthy Can find this fOruM.

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 8:41 pm

AOL has very strict filtering rules. I've run into this a few times. The best way to deal with it is to become an AOL(L)user and send the email from that account. And yes, I believe [email protected] is taken.

Perhaps a resident 419Eater who has an AOL account can send emails for you?

Edit: for spelling so at least I won't look retarded . . . . . much

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 8:43 pm

Stoker Thompson wrote:

. . . . . . . . . . . become an AOL(L)user . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I'd want loser@aol.

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 8:50 pm

I`ve had the same problem sending the eater link to our AOL users. It is very very frustrating!

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11857 Location: UK

We sussed it out earlier, sending the link like this with spaces, works Very Happy

:

h t t p : / / b r a v o d e l t a . s e r v e m p 3 . c o m

When it's a normal link, AOL filters probably see the MP3 in the url and thinks it's spam, thus bouncing it.

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 9:09 pm

shiver wrote:

... WHY do 99% of all my messages to AOL addresses (regardless of the email system I use) always bounce back to me? ...

I feel your pain. I've been having that problem for years now. I've had some very upset customers who refused to believe me that, yes, I answered their emails but that I kept getting my replies back.

Some AOL addies work for me, many don't.

It really sucks. Evil or Very Mad

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 9:18 pm

Yep I tried that SP....but still bounced. Sad

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 9:21 pm

the answer lies in the error message

Your rejection code is a 554

Unless covered by a more precise response code, response code 554 is to be used to reject a MAIL FROM, RCPT TO, or DATA command that contains something improper. Enhanced status code 5.6.0 is to be used if no other code is more specific. Typically a non FQDN will give this error. I know it is cryptic - but that is where your message is falling over

the rejection codes are outlined in RFC-2476 if you want an instant cure to insomnia go and read it! Laughing

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 9:23 pm

Could you please say that again but in english this time? Laughing

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11857 Location: UK

Lotta, tried 2 of the addies for Shiver earlier, both bounced, then with the spaces both went and they have not come back yet, over 2 1/2 hours ago, and the bounce is usually immediate when it does bounce Confused

Did you put spaces in the h t t p : / / bit as well?

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 9:36 pm

Scam Patroller wrote:

spaces in the h t t p : / / bit as well?

Nice trick. I'll have to remember it. Thanks!

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:03 pm

@Shiv and SP:

Guess you can see I skim messages huh Embarassed

I'll just go put myself in time out.

*wanders over to corner for 20 minutes*

Baiting Guru Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 3193

lotta wrote:

Could you please say that again but in english this time? Laughing

Well since there's not much else other than MAIL FROM, RCPT TO, and DATA in an email message, I think he said that there is something improper somewhere. Laughing

Just to make matters worse, the report doesn't have the "In response to..." bit that many of them have. Rolling Eyes

I suppose being astounded by AOL's stupidity in any particular case is rather redundant, but I wonder if AOLusers in Scunthorp have many problems. Wink

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:31 pm

thud419 wrote:

. . . . . . . . I wonder if AOLusers in Scunthorp have many problems. Wink

Only when they spell Scunthorpe.com incorrectly. Laughing

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:39 pm

As a former (and still occasional, now that it's free) AOL user I've been most amused by the fact that a lot of AOL's messages to its own members get flagged as spam. Laughing

Almost every time they announce a new feature, the announcement ends up in the spam folder.

I ran into a problem a couple of years ago when I set up my private domain to forward mail to an AOL account. Because my business address is posted all over the net, every bot in the world has harvested it and I now get over 600 spam emails every stinking day. All of these were forwarded to my AOL account so after a while AOL decided that my server was a spammer, and they blocked it.... None of my legitimate mail could get through. The solution was to redirect my mail to a gmail account, then forward from there to AOL. Pretty convoluted, but it worked -- and best of all, gmail traps 95% of the spam before passing it on. Every week or so I go into that gmail account and delete 3,000-4,000 spams at once.

(So why do I keep the AOL account going? Simply because of archived mails. I have well over 70,000 of them on my hard drive now and the search feature is very easy for a computer illiterate like me, and very useful when I need to find out what I told a customer a year or two ago.)

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:49 pm

Juan Freizwidatt wrote:

... my business address is posted all over the net, every bot in the world has harvested it and I now get over 600 spam emails every stinking day. ...

You're singing my song. Confused

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 12:26 am

^^^
Yeah, I think you and I have some similar issues, KD, both running our own businesses....

419Eater Admin Joined: 30 Sep 2003 Posts: 7469

I too have another site where online ordering takes place. People with AOL accounts can be a pain (not the fault of the users themselves, obviously) though thankfully the CC merchant we use seem to be AOL friendly, so unless there's an order query, I tend not to have to battle with AOL accounts Smile