Outage blocks Mac.com e-mail
March 11, 2002
Apple posted a message to the discussion boards of its Web site Sunday noting that about 20 percent of customers would be unable to gain access to e-mail because of the maintenance but said it expected to complete the work in about five hours. Apple provides free e-mail accounts and Web page hosting to Apple customers via its Mac.com servers.
However, a number of Mac users complained that the outage was lasting longer and said that in addition to being unable to receive new e-mail, it appeared that their old mail had been lost.
"My e-mail account works now, but all messages and subfolders disappeared!" wrote Mac.com e-mail user Justus Sahlberg on Apple's forums. "I really, really hope that I get them back! I'm currently looking for a new job, and I had very important mails at my account."
Apple responded to Sahlberg and others that it was aware of the issues customers were facing but assured them their e-mail was safe.
"We are aware that some users may be experiencing an issue where their previously stored e-mail is not available," an Apple representative said in a posting on the discussion board. "We are working on recovering all subfolders and messages. The recovery process may take up to 24 hours. Please be assured that no mail will be lost."
On Monday, Apple said on its Web site that new messages were again being delivered but said that it would not be fully up to speed until noon PT. The company said that by 1 p.m. PT all old e-mail should be available as well.
However, later Monday, Apple said that the process of restoring old e-mail was taking longer than it expected.
"This process has proven to be more time consuming than anticipated, and is proceeding alphabetically at this time," an Apple representative said in a posting to the discussion boards. Apple said that as of 8 p.m. PT it was up to the letter "E."
Bill Bumgarner, chief technology officer of New York-based CodeFab, said he experienced difficulty getting his e-mail over the weekend but said the e-mail reappeared Monday, albeit with his old mail showing up as unread messages.
"My mail client 'rebuilt' my iTools mailbox this morning and all of my old e-mail was still there," Bumgarner said in an e-mail message. "It appears that nothing was lost."
An Apple representative was not immediately available for comment.
By Ian Fried, Staff Writer, CNET News.com. Source: http://news.com.com/2100-1040-856987.html