Lycos are one of the biggest names in the Internet search game. In fact most people would find them almost as recognisable a name as Yahoo, possibly moreso that Excite and AltaVista. So if you are looking for a reliable Free Email service – but don’t want to be spammed to high heaven ... Read review
Advantages: reliable and well known name, 15mb mailbox Disadvantages: too often logging in is impossible, unreliable service
Lycos are one of the biggest names in the Internet search game. In fact most people would find them almost as recognisable a name as Yahoo, possibly moreso that Excite and AltaVista. So if you are looking for a reliable Free Email service – but don’t want to be spammed to high heaven with a ‘Hotmail’ account – try Lycos Mail, Right…..errr WRONG.
That’s what I thought when I wanted to use a ... ...and Amazon. For whatever reason, the name I wanted was ‘taken’ on Yahoo, so I thought I’d select Lycos. I have plenty of different email ‘aliases’, but usually for different aspect of my online dealings. They are good and reliable, plus mail does not get ‘clogged up’ i.e take days to get to your inbox, like some of the smaller servers. Similarly, you don’t want to sign up with a service and just get ... more
Lycos are one of the biggest names in the Internet search game. In fact most people would find them almost as recognisable a name as Yahoo, possibly moreso that Excite and AltaVista. So if you are looking for a reliable Free Email service – but don’t want to be spammed to high heaven with a ‘Hotmail’ account – try Lycos Mail, Right…..errr WRONG.
That’s what I thought when I wanted to use a Free email service purely for my Internet Auctions on Yahoo and Amazon. For whatever reason, the name I wanted was ‘taken’ on Yahoo, so I thought I’d select Lycos. I have plenty of different email ‘aliases’, but usually for different aspect of my online dealings. They are good and reliable, plus mail does not get ‘clogged up’ i.e take days to get to your inbox, like some of the smaller servers. Similarly, you don’t want to sign up with a service and just get people used to contacting you at that email address and then the company fails. So you pick a reliable name. But I’m telling you now, from my experience with Lycos of over three months – DON’T BOTHER. Use someone else….Anyone else!
This is – of course – my Opinion, but as a user of the Lycos mail service all I can can go on is my experience. Here goes.
Lycos Mail offer the usual facilities for a webmail service, plus using their site as a whole is easy and information packed. Add to that their search engine and – so I thought – I’d cracked it. You get the pretty standard size of 10mb of mailbox (recently upgraded and enhanced to 15mb). You can send attachments easily, maintain an address book etc etc. But what you don’t want is to be unable to access your mailbox. Once is acceptable. More than that and your confidence in the system goes. Well everything went OK at first. The login was straightforward and quick. Storage of old emails in various folders wasa methodical and easy to set up. Then it started....
I’d have trouble logging into my mailbox. I’d try once, twice, three times – nothing. Later in the day it would work fine. OK Never mind. Then a few days later the same thing. I finally got ‘in’ to lycos email box after 11pm.
Don’t forget, the reason I’m using the email service is for it’s reliability and speed to deal with correspondence to do with my Online Auctions. If I am waiting for contact from a buyer, or checking details from someone I’ve bought from, it’s a pain in the ass if I can’t access my mail!
This ‘outage’ has happened several times. Now Lycos have upgraded their email service. Meaning that last week users were greeted with a nice new interface, brighter and quicker – with many supposed enhancements. BUT – When opening my new inbox, none of my old email was there. They say that you can access your old inbox content by clicking on the link……NO LINK !!! Maybe it’s just teething troubles. It will rectify itself.
I’m writing this a week or so after the enhanced service began. I have been completely unable to access my new Inbox today. Can’t login, I just get a message saying…”Internal Server Error -The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request. Please contact the server administrator, signup@lycos-europe.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.”....GREEEEEEEAT !!
So not only am I unable to access all my old mail that I’ve stored prior to the ‘upgrade’, now I cannot access the bloody email service at all !!! What a fine service – oh yes and when you think “Right I’ll contact Lycos Support or Customer Service”, apart from that email address mentioned in the above ‘Internal Server Error’ message, (which I must confess I’ve not tried yet) there is NO CONTACT details to ask questions or find out what’s going on. Add to that the irony of not being able to login to the service – yet being given an email contact. It’s like having your phone cut off and only having a telephone number to contact BT About it – if you can use someone else’s service.
Nope I think I’ll have to go back to Spam heaven – at least Hotmail is RELIABLE 99% of the time.
>>>>UPDATE - I can now, this morning access my Lycos email account. Are Lycos and Ciao in 'cahoots' ? It has also coincided with Ciao seemingly working as normal again. Will it last? Well.............Would you bloody well believe it - it WAS Working, now it has an 'Internal Server Error' again AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGH
Advantages: There were many once upon a time Disadvantages: I think they've all gone on holiday for the last three months.
Since the year dot (.com!), I've been using Lycos for email. Not just bog-standard email, you understand, but the Mail-Pro version you have to pay for.
All was well (even excellent - credit where it's due), until about a month and a half ago, or so - time flies.
Then strange things began to happen. Firstly, it became incredibly slow. I blamed my modem. I poked it with sharp sticks, and berated it with wholly unsavoury language. It responded by ... ...did in double-quick time. Except Lycos email.
Right, if it ain't my technology, it must be theirs. But time, as I say, flies, and I did nothing. But I did observe. I observed that every time I logged in, I was immediately shunted to a "Log-in expired" screen. I observed that when I did get in there, my mail was so out of date a Penny Black would have been state of the art. Between refreshing the screen and the slowness of response, my caffiene consumption ...
Aspen 22.12.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of lycos.com
Advantages: none whatsoever Disadvantages: no point openeing an account you may have to close at a moment's notice
Until today I had a different email address than the one that appears here. Then Lycos, in their 'wisdom' decided to terminate everybody's account - with just two weeks' notice. Heaven help the folks on holiday!
I have no idea why they have ended the england.com; scotland.com etc addresses, they didn't bother to tell us anything, after all. In fact they didn't bother to tell us, the users, anything at all. They just sent an email which had a bug ... ...us, they can do this to you. They clearly don't give a fig (note polite language!) for how their customers might feel about this. I can understand they might want to change what they offer - fine. But a bit more notice and/or an offer to redirect our mail would certainly not got amiss. After all, they're hardly a tiny company without the resources to do that.
I also noticed something strange about Lycos. It's impossible to find a contact address ...
mrswombat 20.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of lycos.com
Advantages: Wide range of services. Disadvantages: Its too slow!!!!
Lycos is great. You name it they've got it. E-mail, Dating agencies, Search Engines, Mobile phone logos and ringtones, free SMS and now you can even get replies from your text messages to the computer!! Now how cool is that.
The first thing that i used Lycos for, was to get an e-mail address. I did so, but I found it a bit on the slow side so I then changed to hotmail (thats another story). Then I found out that it could be used to send text messages ... ...never had any credit on my mobile. I must have sent 10 messages a day using Lcos, and they were all sent instantly. I have had no problems with sending them as far as I can remember.
Now, Lycos has started 'Reply to Me'. This a service which enables you to receive replies to the text messages you have sent. The replies actually come to your account on the site, and it doesn't cost you anything. (However it costs the person who is replying about ...
Tonij13 09.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of lycos.com
Advantages: No need to have alternative email accounts Disadvantages: Junk mail , slow server
Lycos was my first ever email account and I enjoyed it, it was a nice thig to begin with but then it deteriorated. I startred getting junk mail from the Lucos people in obsceene quantaties. it was like I was the sole target of a spaming campaign. I eventually gave up using the serbice, I still have the account just as a reminder of long gone times I think i still remember the address......... ah well. The server wasn't particulary fast neither in ...
eastanglian 12.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of lycos.com
Advantages: Simple & easy to use Disadvantages: Simple - maybe less colourful?
I have read the ops in this category and I am SO surprised at all the problems that seem to arise. I have been a lycosmail user ever since mailcity joint with it (last summer) and I have never encountered any problems described in the ops! I don't think it is just my personal luck either because I have a lot of friends who use lycosmail and they love it too!
Lycosmail is my favorate mailbox (out of 5 others) and this is not just random likings. ... ...fast. The emails are received seconds after it is sent (which some others take ages). The memory is large - I know this coz i used to get junk mails (before i used the spammer facility) and i didn't run out of memory even after days of not opening my inbox - it even accumulated to over 100 new emails and the memory didn't run out (my other ones nearly did).
the form lycosmail uses is simple. the navigation bars are at the top which is quite easy ...
angel6985 24.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of lycos.com
