From: Mark Nernberg (markdowntownhelpdesk.com)
Date: Mon Aug 01 2005 - 12:38:27 CDT

• Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]

On 8/1/05 1:02 PM, "Cami" <camismweb.co.za> wrote:

> Matt Fretwell wrote:
>> Paul Hutchings wrote:
>>
>>
>>> I've been running the normal version for a day and so far there have
>>> been some rejections of legit mail, mostly due to helo/hostname
>>> conflicts.
>>>
>>> It seems whatever you do it's hard to compensate for other peoples
>>> poorly setup MTAs.
>>
>> Why bother compensating? I have a method of naff all tolerance if someone
>> cannot be bothered to configure their system to the best of their
>> abilities. Why keep accepting rubbish. They will never improve whilst they
>> can get away with it.
>
> Clearly you've never worked in a large environment before.
>
>> So far, this draconian attitude has not generated any complaints. If
>> someone does complain, then I can intentionally ignore their complaints
>> in the knowledge that it is annoying someone :) Why should one have to
>> compensate for someone elses folly or ineptitude.
>
> Ignoring their complaints makes you just as bad as them.
>
> If they are taking the time to complain, the least you
> could do is help them understand and fix (what you
> perceive is) the problem. You would be amazed to know
> there are some sysadmins out there who are willing to
> do what is nessasary to ensure their (clients) mail
> is delivered to your users successfully.

I deal with this all the time, also.

Often, the barrier to improvement is that the idiots (I mean SysAdmins) at
the sending end just don't understand the real requirements. Or that there
is no real SysAdmin at the sender's network.

This is a great opportunity to sell your services. Point out that AOL,
Hotmail, Yahoo, Verizon, et. al., are enforcing stricter & stricter
compliance with the RFCs in order to cut down on spam and bullcrap. Explain
(nicely) the consequences of not making corrections can (and will
eventually) lead to listing on various internet RBLs, some of which can be a
real pain in the a** to get delisted from (i.e. SORBS). Then explain,
finally, that for just an hour or so of your valuable consulting time, at
whatever rate you set, would be sufficient to correct the problem.

Often, I start with this pitch and end up selling a whole mail system
installation.

But, to a great extent, I agree: you should not accept mail from
non-compliant sending servers.

• Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]