6 ms·

Unfortunately (because their services are quite good) google has no support staff. This is well known, and you should take it into account when using the servic

Unfortunately (because their services are quite good) google has no support staff. This is well known, and you should take it into account when using the services they offer. It is not difficult to do without them. Asking for help on HN or Reddit works sometimes, but if your business (or personal life for that matter) relies on their services you should really work towards being able to do without them.

djim 11y ago
simply untrue that google has zero support staff. a better statement would be they have an automated support process for free gmail accounts. they have support staff for many of their products, including the paid version of gmail.
- ceejayoz 11y ago
  It'd be nice if you could pay for per-incident support on their free Gmail.
coldpie 11y ago
Genuinely asking: is there a paid email provider roughly on par with Google's offerings in terms of usability and uptime? I'd consider switching.
- batou 11y ago
  Microsoft actually do a good job and you can always call someone who can actually do something. Never thought I'd say that. However, I'm using an IMAP box on Gandi.net and a domain purchased elsewhere and that is it. I refuse to use any services tied to a single company any more. This change has given me a lot of headspace for other things.
  - fixermark 11y ago
    That seems phishable. I wonder what method Microsoft uses to verify that I'm not calling in to steal someone's account.
    - batou 11y ago
      They send you and email and you have to click through it.
      - fixermark 11y ago
        Do they send an email to an address of the attacker's choosing?
        batou 11y ago
        No. There are several security questions they ask you.
- BillinghamJ 11y ago
  Google Apps does have support staff. You can ring them. There is rarely any holding/queue time.
- smcl 11y ago
  I know HN frowns on "me too" responses but I am in the same boat. I'm heavily dependent on GMail right now and each time I see a story about someone having troubles on Google's non-charging (I hesitate to say "free") services I make a mental note to find a paid alternative, but never follow up.
  - pidg 11y ago
    To me-too your "me too", I switched to FastMail three years ago and haven't looked back.
  - GFischer 11y ago
    I have my work e-mail on Zoho, but I haven't been able to free myself from Gmail... the inertia is too great (plus the integration to all the other Google services). I do have two-factor authentication after a scare.
  - oaktowner 11y ago
    Google offers Gmail paid ($5/mo IIRC). With that you get support (among other benefits).
- farski 11y ago
  If you need all the features of Gmail or Inbox, probably not. If you can get by with what IMAP has to offer, FastMail has been very solid for me. I pay about $50 a year for a single account, which can support lots (unlimited?) domains and addresses (both sending and receiving). The web UI is nice, and the iOS app is pretty good, too. They also blog a lot about what they are doing on the technical side, and seem really invested in the future of IMAP and open source. They have a serious focus on speed. Spam filtering I would say is like a B-, there are some really obvious things that seem to get through no matter how much I train it. Support staff has been helpful when I've needed it, though. edit: just remembered they have a referral system, should you be interested: http://www.fastmail.com/?STKI=13352501 http://www.fastmail.com/?STKI=13352501
  - a3n 11y ago
    Second. Fastmail.
  - coldpie 11y ago
    Thanks for the suggestion, I like what they're offering. I hadn't considered spam, probably because gmail is so good at it that I haven't thought about spam in years. Anyway, seems worth a shot.
    - cmsj 11y ago
      I have heard it said that putting MailRoute in front of your Fastmail account, clears up the spam problem to the same degree that Google does.
  - georgerobinson 11y ago
    Second this too! I've been with Fastmail since 2011 and their service is excellent.
  - danieldk 11y ago
    They are excellent! I had a feature request twice, it was implemented on their beta server within days. Their (standard-conforming) IMAP and Webmail is really fast (they cache recent stuff on SSDs). They have apps now for Android and iOS (basically wrappers around the web app with notification support, but they work well enough). They recently added CalDAV and CardDAV support. On top of all of that, they actively contribute to open source projects such as Cyrus.
- fixermark 11y ago
  Yes: Google. https://www.google.com/work/apps/business/pricing.html https://www.google.com/work/apps/business/pricing.html
- brobinson 11y ago
  I have no idea about usability because I don't use the online interface, but Microsoft's Office 365 offerings are great for $5/mo. You also get unlimited OneDrive space. It also comes with 10 minute turnaround time on phone support. You get a little popup asking if everything is okay and if you want to receive a call for support when you login to the admin interface. I've been quite happy with it for the last three months.

djim 11y ago

simply untrue that google has zero support staff. a better statement would be they have an automated support process for free gmail accounts. they have support staff for many of their products, including the paid version of gmail.

ceejayoz 11y ago
It'd be nice if you could pay for per-incident support on their free Gmail.

coldpie 11y ago

Genuinely asking: is there a paid email provider roughly on par with Google's offerings in terms of usability and uptime? I'd consider switching.

batou 11y ago
Microsoft actually do a good job and you can always call someone who can actually do something. Never thought I'd say that. However, I'm using an IMAP box on Gandi.net and a domain purchased elsewhere and that is it. I refuse to use any services tied to a single company any more. This change has given me a lot of headspace for other things.
- fixermark 11y ago
  That seems phishable. I wonder what method Microsoft uses to verify that I'm not calling in to steal someone's account.
  - batou 11y ago
    They send you and email and you have to click through it.
    - fixermark 11y ago
      Do they send an email to an address of the attacker's choosing?
      - batou 11y ago
        No. There are several security questions they ask you.
BillinghamJ 11y ago
Google Apps does have support staff. You can ring them. There is rarely any holding/queue time.
smcl 11y ago
I know HN frowns on "me too" responses but I am in the same boat. I'm heavily dependent on GMail right now and each time I see a story about someone having troubles on Google's non-charging (I hesitate to say "free") services I make a mental note to find a paid alternative, but never follow up.
- pidg 11y ago
  To me-too your "me too", I switched to FastMail three years ago and haven't looked back.
- GFischer 11y ago
  I have my work e-mail on Zoho, but I haven't been able to free myself from Gmail... the inertia is too great (plus the integration to all the other Google services). I do have two-factor authentication after a scare.
- oaktowner 11y ago
  Google offers Gmail paid ($5/mo IIRC). With that you get support (among other benefits).
farski 11y ago
If you need all the features of Gmail or Inbox, probably not. If you can get by with what IMAP has to offer, FastMail has been very solid for me. I pay about $50 a year for a single account, which can support lots (unlimited?) domains and addresses (both sending and receiving). The web UI is nice, and the iOS app is pretty good, too. They also blog a lot about what they are doing on the technical side, and seem really invested in the future of IMAP and open source. They have a serious focus on speed. Spam filtering I would say is like a B-, there are some really obvious things that seem to get through no matter how much I train it. Support staff has been helpful when I've needed it, though. edit: just remembered they have a referral system, should you be interested: http://www.fastmail.com/?STKI=13352501 http://www.fastmail.com/?STKI=13352501
- a3n 11y ago
  Second. Fastmail.
- coldpie 11y ago
  Thanks for the suggestion, I like what they're offering. I hadn't considered spam, probably because gmail is so good at it that I haven't thought about spam in years. Anyway, seems worth a shot.
  - cmsj 11y ago
    I have heard it said that putting MailRoute in front of your Fastmail account, clears up the spam problem to the same degree that Google does.
- georgerobinson 11y ago
  Second this too! I've been with Fastmail since 2011 and their service is excellent.
- danieldk 11y ago
  They are excellent! I had a feature request twice, it was implemented on their beta server within days. Their (standard-conforming) IMAP and Webmail is really fast (they cache recent stuff on SSDs). They have apps now for Android and iOS (basically wrappers around the web app with notification support, but they work well enough). They recently added CalDAV and CardDAV support. On top of all of that, they actively contribute to open source projects such as Cyrus.
fixermark 11y ago
Yes: Google. https://www.google.com/work/apps/business/pricing.html https://www.google.com/work/apps/business/pricing.html
brobinson 11y ago
I have no idea about usability because I don't use the online interface, but Microsoft's Office 365 offerings are great for $5/mo. You also get unlimited OneDrive space. It also comes with 10 minute turnaround time on phone support. You get a little popup asking if everything is okay and if you want to receive a call for support when you login to the admin interface. I've been quite happy with it for the last three months.