Another Telecom email foul-up

UPDATE 3pm: Telecom says the issue is resolved.

June 22: Telecom's horror run with email continues.

This morning multiple people have complained online about a fresh wave of problems.

In a statement, the company told NBR ONLINE:

Since this morning, some Xtra customers have been unable to send or receive emails through Outlook.

Telecom apologises for the inconvenience and is fully focussed on resolving the issue and restoring service to its customers as soon as possible.

Customers can still use their webmail accounts (www.xtra.co.nz) which are unaffected by the issue.

A spokeswoman said it was not known how many customers were affected but it was "not all customers".

Telecom admits some email problems continue from Tuesday glitch; addresses compo

UPDATE May 18: Some Telecom Broadband customers are still having email problems caused by a glitch that hit Tuesday.

"The majority of the email backlog caused by a technical issue has cleared now, and service levels appear to be normal, although a few customers may still be experiencing intermittent service with their email," spokesman Richard Irvine told NBR ONLINE this afternoon.

"We're obviously monitoring the situation very closely, and would like to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused. If customers are continuing to experience difficulties, we urge them to contact the customer service team on 123 so we can resolve their issues as soon as possible."

Asked if any business or residential customers would qualify for compensation, or had approached Telecom on the issue, Mr Irvine replied: 

"Yes, some business customers have inquired about compensation and we will assess each on a case-by-case basis."

Angry reader Stewart Knowles told NBR, "The delay in email partly wrecked a business meeting that participants had flown in for from all over the country, [because] meeting papers are emailed out.

"A simple email from Xtra - or a txt to my Telecom mobile - to alert its customers of the problems would have helped enormously.

"It’s basic that any business informs its customers of product issues that may affect them. I searched their site and couldn’t find any “in your face” information, but it was there, deep down within the site if you used advance search."

Have you been affected? Email Chris Keall.

Follow @ChrisKeall

Telecom beavers away on email backlog

UPDATE May 17:  A Telecom spokesman updates: of 10AM this morning, 95% of emails in the backlog had been delivered. The remaining emails are being progressively delivered.

"We’re continuing to monitor the situation closely and apologise to customers affected by these delays."

Another email foul up hits Telecom business customers

May 16: Telecom says that since Tuesday morning, some Xtra and Officemail customers have experienced intermittent delays in email delivery, due to "a technical issue."

A spokesman told NBR ONLINE "Telecom has worked closely with email service provider Yahoo! on this issue, and we believe this issue is now resolved. However, there is a substantial queue of email to be delivered in Yahoo!'s infrastructure. Customers will see their emails arrive as the backlog clears and service levels return to normal. Our technicians continue to monitor the situation closely."

The spokesman said the situation was unrelated to last week's "Sorbs" issue, which saw a spam filter inadvertently blacklist addresses.

Telecom Broadband (formerly branded as Xtra) outsourced its webmail services to Yahoo's Australian operation in 2007 - a move dubbed a fiasco at the time amid ongoing technical problems and customer confusion over the transition to the service then known as Yahoo!Xtra "Bubble."