TSO Host no closer to solving customers' email issues as Brit firm pops up on more blacklists

Customers of Brit hosting outfit TSO Host are suffering from a cluster of issues leaving them without email services for a prolonged period or a clear idea when they'll get them back. No one using TSO Host been able to send emails to Microsoft Hotmail or Outlook addresses since the end of July. The company blamed having its IP …

[CrazyOldCatMan]

Getting off a Spamhaus blacklist..

.. is pretty easy. Stop spamming (or allowing spamming through your systems) and clean up your act. The fact that they haven't done so suggests that either they can't or they won't.

Neither of which are good news for an organisation that purports to be an ISP or hosting company.

[BigSLitleP]

Re: Getting off a Spamhaus blacklist..

Spamhaus are a blackmailing, devious, lying outfit that people need to stop using.

[hmv]

Re: Getting off a Spamhaus blacklist..

Trying for the record number of down votes there?

[Cederic]

Re: Getting off a Spamhaus blacklist..

I know, it's almost as though the people voting don't read The Register: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/13/dutch_isp_accuses_spamhaus/

[mbdrake]

Re: Getting off a Spamhaus blacklist..

I wouldn't say they're devious or blackmailers, but they are a massive, massive, massive, massive, massive, massive pain in the arse to deal with. And I found out recently that an IP address assigned to a DigitalOcean virtual host was blacklisted because SpamHaus still considered it to be BOGON.

[Kevin McMurtrie]

Re: Getting off a Spamhaus blacklist..

I checked some hosts mentioned in the comments and the RIPE records are inconsistent. Fixing that would be a good start.

Honestly, the Internet has been on a slow path to destruction when it's going to entirely blacklist itself. Dedicated cybercrime hosting is down (except for in China, Taiwan, and France) and apathy is taking its place. A lot of networks today have a bot reply that your complaint has been ignored and you need to fill out a 5 page form online that's behind a registration wall. China and Taiwan don't even list a valid abuse contact. Google isn't listening. That's not what you want to see when your machine is under attack.

[Warm Braw]

It's a palindrome

If you're in to word games - and if your comms are down you might have little option - anagrams of palindrome include:

Mail ponder - presumably what users are doing

Mailed porn - possibly what users did

Denial romp - TSO's communication strategy?

Dial perm no - Their customer service number answer setting?

Rapid lemon - TSO's brand reputation?

[don't you hate it when you lose your account]

Re: It's a palindrome

You forgot

Totally bleeding useless

Admittedly it's easier if your disleksek

[Doctor Syntax]

"they know hosting back to front apparently"

Perhaps it would be better to know it the right way round.

[Blockchain commentard]

It's easy to get off Hotmail/Outlook blacklists - follow the instructions on the bounced emails. A company I look after fell foul of Microsoft (sending legitimate emails) but a quick click,click,click on their website and their customers were getting emails again. And yes, it happened more than once so I doubt Hotmail has a blacklist memory longer than that of a goldfish.

[Steve Foster]

Not necessarily.

I run a co-located mail server with a small number of users on it, but that means IP addresses that are part of the co-location service's block. Their entire range has been blacklisted by Microsoft, and consequently, I can't get my server delisted.

I've had to resort to routing emails for hotmail.com and outlook.com through the backup server that is connected to my business broadband.

[mbdrake]

But surely there are quite a few filtering systems (including SpamHaus and SpamCop and their ilk) that treat IPs belonging to broadband providers as "bad"? I've experienced issues where customers have been running their own mailservers on a broadband connection and wondering why it's being rejected.

[Anonymous Coward]

No, if it appears this way it is most likely the lack of reverse DNS being setup rather than the IP range.

[Steve Foster]

My business broadband is done properly, with a decent ISP (A&A). I've got my own IP addresses, and A&A provide proper [self-service] PTR support.

And, of course, that backup mail server doesn't normally try to deliver directly, only to the specific edge cases I've had to set up.

[Tony W]

Best before

From my experience over the last 25 years with a few small sites, web hosting providers should be treated as if they have a limited useful life, and you should migrate every five years or so.

[Dick Kennedy]

Re: Well if the US ships want the Chinese to keep out of the way

Nothing new here. I used TSO a couple of years ago. Emails from the domains they hosted regularly got blacklisted. Customer support was a joke. Servers were slow. I moved to a new hosting firm before the year's subscription ran out.

But I also agree that Spamhaus are a bunch of knobheads.

[Snorlax]

"...WordPress hosting provider ..."

I think I see the problem.

[caffeine addict]

I used to be with 5quidhost which was great.

Then they got bought by TSO Host. Which wasn't.

Even billing became a chore.

[Blitheringeejit]

Me too...

5quid were indeed lovely to deal with, unlike any other hosting company I've used before or since.

TSO were actually OK with me at the beginning, when they were still run by the original founders - the migration from 5quid was traumatic, but it was possible to get decent, intelligent tech support when problems cropped up. Though I agree that their billing was a shambles for years after the takeover - they once shut down my VPS for non-payment even though they had taken a direct debit subscription.

But then they were bought by Host Europe, and everything started to go wrong - especially farming out the support to eastern Europe - the quality and availability of support has gradually declined ever since. And the subsequent buyout of Host Europe by GoDaddy can only make things worse in the long run - eventually all your TSO are belong the GoBorg.

If the 5quid guys are listening, there's definitely a big hole in the market for UK-based, friendly and intelligent hosting services like what you used to run. I'm sure you had good reasons for selling up, but your departure was a sad day for a lot of folks, and we'd love to see you back.

[Julz]

Insolvent?

They haven't posted full accounts with companies house since, 31 December 2017. That doesn't look good. They stated they made a loss of ~£1,000,000 on a revenue of ~£16,500,000 not stellar but also not too bad for a service company. The accounts suggest it was a going concern in 2017 but mainly down to assurances from the directors that arrangements were in place to cover their liabilities which were stated as ~£13,000,000. Perhaps those assurances came to nought?

link

[Steve K]

Re: Insolvent?

Accounts not due until 9 months after year-end so not a problem - look at history in your link to see for previous years.

Figures themselves not stellar, but if they have been bought by Host Europe then is not the whole picture..

[Claptrap314]

Would you believe

200000 customers?

[slimer23]

FYI the issue is STILL ongoing - https://help.tsohost.com/status/report/9530 - is 36 days old. 36 days!

[Hants]

recurring - again and again

Anyone else having problems with TSO's inability to get de-listed from Microsoft's blacklists? Seems that it takes weeks for TSO to get the problem sorted, then a few days alter, bouncing again!

August - problems

September - OK

October - problems

November - problems

Is this TSO's way to get ride of unwanted customers on legacy Daily email systems?

TSOhost - we know hosting backwards - or just backward?