3 ms·

An email address is an email address. Who cares if it looks weird? It's far more weird to sell someone's data or not respect if they wish to be contacted. If n

An email address is an email address. Who cares if it looks weird? It's far more weird to sell someone's data or not respect if they wish to be contacted. If necessary, blag it. Walmart? `wallace.martin@yourdomain.suffix`.

londons_explore 4y ago
There are more and more sites that now demand you use a hotmail/outlook/bigco email address. If you try to use your own domain, they'll say "sorry, you need to use your personal email for this - for business use contact our sales department".
- hammyhavoc 4y ago
  Then use the `+` system on them and forward your emails wherever you want them to ultimately be stored. https://gmail.googleblog.com/2008/03/2-hidden-ways-to-get-more-from-your.html?m=1 https://gmail.googleblog.com/2008/03/2-hidden-ways-to-get-mo... Works on outlook.com addresses too.
  - dspillett 4y ago
    While this generally works as a way of filtering that one company if needed, it doesn't protect against spam when if they have their mailing lists stolen (or selling them is BAU), and many spammers know about this and will send to the base address instead. Unless you automatically file anything without +something as junk, of course.
    - hammyhavoc 4y ago
      I apply labels and `skip inbox` via Gmail filters automatically. It's probably the one redeeming quality of Gmail at this point and is what keeps me using it so that email can be processed prior to it sending a push notification to my devices. With that said, it's a niche use anyway, stick to the catch-all on your own domain whenever possible, and for anything else, it's a fringe case anyway.
  - JohnFen 4y ago
    That would require you to get an account on the big name mail providers, though.
- scrollaway 4y ago
  I don't believe you. I'm sure a couple of examples of this exist, but they're the exception, and certainly not a case of "more and more".
  - hammyhavoc 4y ago
    And you are very welcome not to believe the commenter because both of your experiences are anecdotal n+1. I have seen this happen with increasing frequency, but I am admittedly terminally online, and of all the sites I visit, it's probably 2 in 10 that don't allow me to use my own domain, but this is again completely anecdotal and based on the sites that I visit and I am not representative of the average user whatsoever.
    - genewitch 4y ago
      give some examples, so those of us with personal domains can test it and see why it's failing. "not having a gmail account" smacks of "lol you have compuserv? everyone else is on AOL!"
      - mthoms 4y ago
        Here's an example, but it only applies to residents of B.C. https://app.bchydro.com/BCHCustomerPortal/createProfile.html https://app.bchydro.com/BCHCustomerPortal/createProfile.html >we can't accept generic addresses (e.g. sales@company.com). Please use an individual address (e.g. john@company.com) Apparently hello@<firstname><lastname>.com isn't individual enough.
        genewitch 4y ago
        that let me sign up with myhydro@domain which i am now going to route to trashcan.
        scrollaway 4y ago
        I have seen admin@, info@ etc addresses being rejected before but that is very different from the domain being rejected… Your problem is with the hello@.
- dspillett 4y ago
  I can't say I've ever seen this, and I've used my own domain for decades, I think it is unlikely to really happen. I can imagine services refusing known temporary address domains and giving that response as a “fake” error message rather than honestly saying they don't accept temporary addresses because they have less value. Do you have any specific examples if it has actually happened for a non-throw-away address? I'll make sure I don't waste time even trying to subscribe to their services!
  - hammyhavoc 4y ago
    Banks and utility companies aren't an uncommon one. When your method of account recovery is email, it's far more trustworthy to trust a major email provider than it is to trust Joe Schmoe running his mailserver at home to keep it secure, or to trust that someone isn't going to be abusive. Example: scorned employee or spouse, they redirect or copy email to x address, and they gain access to accounts via that. "That could never happen." It's happened plenty of times that it's a consideration for a lot of major institutions, and it's happened enough that the radio and bus stops in the UK have ads warning people of the signs of financial abuse. That's without even getting into people not having automatic renewal set on their domain and losing the domain.
  - digging 4y ago
    I've had it happen infrequently because my TLD is an unusual one (not .com, .net, .org, etc). I am told I have not entered a valid email address.
    - TRiG_Ireland 4y ago
      I use a .name address (a .name domain with a catch-all address), and have only once had it rejected by any automatic process. I've had a couple of humans question it, though.
  - mthoms 4y ago
    I thought it unlikely too. But our local utility (BC Hydro) won't allow me to use hello@<firstname><lastname>.com because their system flags it as a generic corporate email address. According to them you must use the email address of a specific person in your company (paraphrased). But I got this error when updating my residential account. Since when did companies get to decide what is or isn't a valid email address?
- marssaxman 4y ago
  I have never used any bigco email address, and I have never encountered this. I almost want to experience this, now, just so I can give them a hard time about it.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  > If you try to use your own domain, they'll say "sorry, you need to use your personal email for this Are these companies really unaware that lots of individuals have their own domains for personal use?
  - hammyhavoc 4y ago
    Can you even register a domain without an existing email address in 2023?
    - JohnFen 4y ago
      I have no idea. All of my domain names are ones I registered decades ago. But, in the US anyway, I don't think there is an ISP that doesn't give you an email address as part of the service. You could use that to register your domain.
      - hammyhavoc 4y ago
        You certainly could use it to register your domain, but then, arguably, the default "personal" email address is the one that isn't on your own domain, even if that's what we consider "personal" as you could forget to set automatic renewal, the payment method could fail, and somebody could register your domain and gain access to the accounts and setup catch-all email, and parse database leaks for @domain.suffix addresses. I do understand where you're coming from though. I remember the days of setting up my first ever domain via post in the UK! I still have the letter lmao.
        JohnFen 4y ago
        > the default "personal" email address is the one that isn't on your own domain I don't follow. That reasoning would mean that if you use a gmail account, for instance, that isn't a "personal" email address either. It seems to me a personal email address is an email address you use for personal communications as opposed to business communications. Where that address is hosted, or what domain its on, isn't relevant to the question.

londons_explore 4y ago

There are more and more sites that now demand you use a hotmail/outlook/bigco email address. If you try to use your own domain, they'll say "sorry, you need to use your personal email for this - for business use contact our sales department".

hammyhavoc 4y ago
Then use the `+` system on them and forward your emails wherever you want them to ultimately be stored. https://gmail.googleblog.com/2008/03/2-hidden-ways-to-get-more-from-your.html?m=1 https://gmail.googleblog.com/2008/03/2-hidden-ways-to-get-mo... Works on outlook.com addresses too.
- dspillett 4y ago
  While this generally works as a way of filtering that one company if needed, it doesn't protect against spam when if they have their mailing lists stolen (or selling them is BAU), and many spammers know about this and will send to the base address instead. Unless you automatically file anything without +something as junk, of course.
  - hammyhavoc 4y ago
    I apply labels and `skip inbox` via Gmail filters automatically. It's probably the one redeeming quality of Gmail at this point and is what keeps me using it so that email can be processed prior to it sending a push notification to my devices. With that said, it's a niche use anyway, stick to the catch-all on your own domain whenever possible, and for anything else, it's a fringe case anyway.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  That would require you to get an account on the big name mail providers, though.
scrollaway 4y ago
I don't believe you. I'm sure a couple of examples of this exist, but they're the exception, and certainly not a case of "more and more".
- hammyhavoc 4y ago
  And you are very welcome not to believe the commenter because both of your experiences are anecdotal n+1. I have seen this happen with increasing frequency, but I am admittedly terminally online, and of all the sites I visit, it's probably 2 in 10 that don't allow me to use my own domain, but this is again completely anecdotal and based on the sites that I visit and I am not representative of the average user whatsoever.
  - genewitch 4y ago
    give some examples, so those of us with personal domains can test it and see why it's failing. "not having a gmail account" smacks of "lol you have compuserv? everyone else is on AOL!"
    - mthoms 4y ago
      Here's an example, but it only applies to residents of B.C. https://app.bchydro.com/BCHCustomerPortal/createProfile.html https://app.bchydro.com/BCHCustomerPortal/createProfile.html >we can't accept generic addresses (e.g. sales@company.com). Please use an individual address (e.g. john@company.com) Apparently hello@<firstname><lastname>.com isn't individual enough.
      - genewitch 4y ago
        that let me sign up with myhydro@domain which i am now going to route to trashcan.
      - scrollaway 4y ago
        I have seen admin@, info@ etc addresses being rejected before but that is very different from the domain being rejected… Your problem is with the hello@.
dspillett 4y ago
I can't say I've ever seen this, and I've used my own domain for decades, I think it is unlikely to really happen. I can imagine services refusing known temporary address domains and giving that response as a “fake” error message rather than honestly saying they don't accept temporary addresses because they have less value. Do you have any specific examples if it has actually happened for a non-throw-away address? I'll make sure I don't waste time even trying to subscribe to their services!
- hammyhavoc 4y ago
  Banks and utility companies aren't an uncommon one. When your method of account recovery is email, it's far more trustworthy to trust a major email provider than it is to trust Joe Schmoe running his mailserver at home to keep it secure, or to trust that someone isn't going to be abusive. Example: scorned employee or spouse, they redirect or copy email to x address, and they gain access to accounts via that. "That could never happen." It's happened plenty of times that it's a consideration for a lot of major institutions, and it's happened enough that the radio and bus stops in the UK have ads warning people of the signs of financial abuse. That's without even getting into people not having automatic renewal set on their domain and losing the domain.
- digging 4y ago
  I've had it happen infrequently because my TLD is an unusual one (not .com, .net, .org, etc). I am told I have not entered a valid email address.
  - TRiG_Ireland 4y ago
    I use a .name address (a .name domain with a catch-all address), and have only once had it rejected by any automatic process. I've had a couple of humans question it, though.
- mthoms 4y ago
  I thought it unlikely too. But our local utility (BC Hydro) won't allow me to use hello@<firstname><lastname>.com because their system flags it as a generic corporate email address. According to them you must use the email address of a specific person in your company (paraphrased). But I got this error when updating my residential account. Since when did companies get to decide what is or isn't a valid email address?
marssaxman 4y ago
I have never used any bigco email address, and I have never encountered this. I almost want to experience this, now, just so I can give them a hard time about it.
JohnFen 4y ago
> If you try to use your own domain, they'll say "sorry, you need to use your personal email for this Are these companies really unaware that lots of individuals have their own domains for personal use?
- hammyhavoc 4y ago
  Can you even register a domain without an existing email address in 2023?
  - JohnFen 4y ago
    I have no idea. All of my domain names are ones I registered decades ago. But, in the US anyway, I don't think there is an ISP that doesn't give you an email address as part of the service. You could use that to register your domain.
    - hammyhavoc 4y ago
      You certainly could use it to register your domain, but then, arguably, the default "personal" email address is the one that isn't on your own domain, even if that's what we consider "personal" as you could forget to set automatic renewal, the payment method could fail, and somebody could register your domain and gain access to the accounts and setup catch-all email, and parse database leaks for @domain.suffix addresses. I do understand where you're coming from though. I remember the days of setting up my first ever domain via post in the UK! I still have the letter lmao.
      - JohnFen 4y ago
        > the default "personal" email address is the one that isn't on your own domain I don't follow. That reasoning would mean that if you use a gmail account, for instance, that isn't a "personal" email address either. It seems to me a personal email address is an email address you use for personal communications as opposed to business communications. Where that address is hosted, or what domain its on, isn't relevant to the question.