Mobile Me is Sheeeite!!!!

[pablol]

OK, so I was one of the few unlucky customers who experienced rather long downtime with this service a month ago and was unable to get mail, etc. after having been a loyal .Mac customer for years.

I didn't complain, although I thought it was a bit ridiculous that this stuff wasn't working better.

But now it's August 13 and this frickin' service is really f'ed up when using via web. First, whenever I try and reply to a mail or send a new one, I type my message and click "send" and it acts like it does it, but opens a new window when it happens and then I get this error message and my mails don't go out. So basically I can only receive e-mail via web, but not send! WTF?

Then my contacts (yes, I've synced with Mobile Me daily) often show up with nothing more than the name - no phone, e-mail, address. Then I worry if I don't close my browser immediately this crap is gonna overwrite my real contact data on my Mac at home.

Apple, seriously, you f'd up so bad on this it's sad. Give me my .Mac back cause it worked flawlessly. Seriously though, who do I call to complain about this and get a refund? Tech support? Customer relations?

pablo.

 

[hardliner]

Try a cool soda. Might help.

 

[profetto]

Try a cool soda. Might help.

Gingerale...

 

[Silver-Fox]

OK, so I was one of the few unlucky customers who experienced rather long downtime with this service a month ago and was unable to get mail, etc. after having been a loyal .Mac customer for years.

I didn't complain, although I thought it was a bit ridiculous that this stuff wasn't working better.

But now it's August 13 and this frickin' service is really f'ed up when using via web. First, whenever I try and reply to a mail or send a new one, I type my message and click "send" and it acts like it does it, but opens a new window when it happens and then I get this error message and my mails don't go out. So basically I can only receive e-mail via web, but not send! WTF?

Then my contacts (yes, I've synced with Mobile Me daily) often show up with nothing more than the name - no phone, e-mail, address. Then I worry if I don't close my browser immediately this crap is gonna overwrite my real contact data on my Mac at home.

Apple, seriously, you f'd up so bad on this it's sad. Give me my .Mac back cause it worked flawlessly. Seriously though, who do I call to complain about this and get a refund? Tech support? Customer relations?

pablo.

*sigh* yet another annoying mobileme post, go cry some where else

search forums

 

[Daveoc64]

*sigh* yet another annoying mobileme post, go cry some where else

search forums

Thank you for being so helpful.

Your post wasn't "yet another annoying mobileme post" it was simply an annoying post.

As for the OP, you seem to have a few issues, so I suggest you contact MobileMe support (that is if you can actually contact them...)

 

[danny_w]

*sigh* yet another annoying mobileme post, go cry some where else

search forums

You're *SO* understanding...

Some people (a lot of people I suspect) have/had having real problems with MobileMe. If that were you I suspect you wouldn't appreciate it if somebody told you "go cry some where else".

 

[alFR]

Maybe the OP would get more helpful replies if he/she had posted some specific issues and asked for help rather than just ranting?

 

[Silver-Fox]

Maybe the OP would get more helpful replies if he/she had posted some specific issues and asked for help rather than just ranting?

Thank you!

It was just another rant, hence why i gave no help

 

[Daveoc64]

Thank you!

It was just another rant, hence why i gave no help

They did actually describe two problems.

 

[pablol]

problems

Um, read the post. I describe several problems, such as the fact that I can't send mails via webmail (it just keeps giving me error messages) and second that some of my address book data shows up missing most of the contact info even though it's been synced, which is not only annoying, but makes me worry it might "overwrite" my data with this blank stuff on my computer at home if I'm not careful. Yes, my post is a rant, but with valid concerns that after nearly 2 months of launching this "service" should not be happening. I just want people to know what they're getting into if they spend their $ on this joke of a service.

 

[adversecamber]

I agree - awful.

And why don't Apple give it away for free instead of charging an annual fee? That way people would accept these issues more and all the shared websites, photos etc. would be a great advert for Apple products.

 

[Advance The Man]

I appreciate the MM feedback. Didn't want to be a beta tester, so I've been patiently waiting and still I haven't purchased. Don't care to get a month free if it's still not right. Apple is making a shocking marketing error in the way they're handling this. This is unlike them and they've got to realize they are creating a reputation they are not used to. I am sure all features initially promised will work, but until then I won't purchase.

 

[adversecamber]

This is unlike them

I'd say this is Apple through-and-through. They concentrate so heavily on keeping their future products and services secret that all their customers become testers.

 

[ToneMonkey]

+1

I've said it before and will say it again...

FWIW, I've been posting on Internet forums since the mid '90s.

I've never EVER seen such a bunch of naricissistic self-referential posters anywhere else. The general tone of most replies is, "if I don't personally have a problem, then no problem exists. Pass the kool-aid, Jobs is God." This suggests that the average maturity level is somewhere in the low to mid teens. Most adults develop at least a shred of empathy along the way.

If your data really matters (as in you need it to do something more mission critical than making it to the skate park some time during the day), this MobileMe stuff is truly frightening - you can LOSE everything.

Never once have I seen a post where someone said, "Wow, MobileMe is working for me, but I can really see how that would be a big problem for you. Hope it works out for you."

You're *SO* understanding...

Some people (a lot of people I suspect) have/had having real problems with MobileMe. If that were you I suspect you wouldn't appreciate it if somebody told you "go cry some where else".

 

[TLewis]

I've never EVER seen such a bunch of naricissistic self-referential posters anywhere else.

While I agree with you 1000%, such posters appear to be all-too-common. I think you're quite fortunate if you've only encountered them here. Here's an old, but good, adage:

Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea -- massive, difficult to redirect, awe inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind-boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it.

-- Gene Spafford​

(Replace "Usenet" with "Internet".)

Just ignore the nice people.

 

[alFR]

If your data really matters (as in you need it to do something more mission critical than making it to the skate park some time during the day), this MobileMe stuff is truly frightening - you can LOSE everything.

Surely if your data really matters you'd

(a) have backups
(b) not be using a service that (as is explicitly stated in the TOS) is for personal use for your "mission-critical" business data, but rather be using something designed for that use case?

 

[ToneMonkey]

Love it.

Thank-you. You made my day.

Be well.

While I agree with you 1000%, such posters appear to be all-too-common. I think you're quite fortunate if you've only encountered them here. Here's an old, but good, adage:

Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea -- massive, difficult to redirect, awe inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind-boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it.

-- Gene Spafford​

(Replace "Usenet" with "Internet".)

Just ignore the nice people.

 

[ToneMonkey]

Personal use?

Then why the outlook integration.

Some more kool-aid, comrade?

Surely if your data really matters you'd

(a) have backups
(b) not be using a service that (as is explicitly stated in the TOS) is for personal use for your "mission-critical" business data, but rather be using something designed for that use case?

 

[OldCorpse]

It's a disgrace. These innumerable problems are the reason I'm staying away from both MM and the iPhone. I refuse to pay for the privilege of being a beta tester. I'll wait until Apple sorts out the problems. This kind of publicity really will limit Apple's customer base. I for one appreciate the OP's warning, he's doing all of us a favor, pointing out unacceptable level of serious problems.

Apple, if you want more market penetration, get your act together. I will wait as long as it takes - or will never buy MM and the iPhone. The quicker Apple fixes the issues, the quicker they'll get more customers.

 

[bigandy]

Then why the outlook integration.

Because it comes with MS Office for Windows, and a lot of Windows users use Outlook for personal use.

 

[tommib]

Quick tip so you don't lose any data on your Mac if MobileMe goes wrong...

Open iSync, go to Preferences and change the Data Change Alert to 'Any' rather than '5%', then you can review each change when you sync coming from MobileMe.

Also to the original poster have you tried unregistering your Mac, deleting your sync info if it prompts you (sometimes you have to unregister your mac twice for some reason to get the option for this), resetting sync history in iSync preferences and then waiting for like a day, next sync you do turn it all again and reset moobile me from the advanced bit of MobileMe system prefs.

Tom.

 

[d21mike]

Surely if your data really matters you'd

(a) have backups
(b) not be using a service that (as is explicitly stated in the TOS) is for personal use for your "mission-critical" business data, but rather be using something designed for that use case?

I have seen this argument a number of times. If your data is important to you (like for business mission-critical) then you should not use MobileMe. I really do not agree with this argument. I do agree that you should have a backup plan but I don't agree that you should not consider MobileMe a cost effective way of getting your mail, calendar and contacts in sync while traveling. MobileMe is a "paid for" service and I believe it should work as advertised. And if it did I think you will see many small businesses take advantage of it. To me there is no reason to be forced to use Exchange or a Blackberry Service "just" because your email is used for business.

I am currently using it for business and personal use. However, like anything I do for business I have an excellent backup plan. I would do this no matter what service I chose to use.

I also use Internet Banking for my business and personal accounts. I sure hope the banks regard my personal accounts as just important as by business accounts. I know, this is not the same as email.

 

[alFR]

I have seen this argument a number of times. If your data is important to you (like for business mission-critical) then you should not use MobileMe. I really do not agree with this argument. I do agree that you should have a backup plan but I don't agree that you should not consider MobileMe a cost effective way of getting your mail, calendar and contacts in sync while traveling. MobileMe is a "paid for" service and I believe it should work as advertised.

True, it absolutely should work as advertised.

But, as for using it as a business service: read the TOS. They don't guarantee data integrity. They don't guarantee uptime. They don't guarantee any part of the service will continue to be available forever. To me, if the things you are using the service for are absolutely critical to your business then you need to pay for a service that offers uptime guarantees etc. That's common sense.

What's happening is that a lot of people have seen MobileMe as a low-cost way to get Exchange-like functionality for their small business. Well, that's fine if it works for you: just don't expect it to offer guarantees that the TOS explicitly says it won't deliver.

 

[d21mike]

True, it absolutely should work as advertised.

But, as for using it as a business service: read the TOS. They don't guarantee data integrity. They don't guarantee uptime. They don't guarantee any part of the service will continue to be available forever. To me, if the things you are using the service for are absolutely critical to your business then you need to pay for a service that offers uptime guarantees etc. That's common sense.

What's happening is that a lot of people have seen MobileMe as a low-cost way to get Exchange-like functionality for their small business. Well, that's fine if it works for you: just don't expect it to offer guarantees that the TOS explicitly says it won't deliver.

Maybe you and I had this discussion before on another thread so maybe we should not just continue here. My point before was I don't believe you can find any service that really "guarantees" anything. I have read other TOS and they pretty much protect themselfs. I prefer to provide my own guarantees by doing my own backup. I found out the hard way with another service (years ago) that I thought gave me a guarantee of uptime and data backup. I really do not have time to go after a service (like in court) to recover the little amount of money I am paying each month. It is best to provide you own backup solution and then change service providers if you are not getting the service you are paying for.

As far as MobileMe, I have been very successful with it. Sure I have had some downtime but it has not been that much (for me, not for others). I am making part of my decision of the fact that I expect it to get better. Apple does understand it has not gone well or they would not be extending the trial out 90 days. At this point I don't see any other service that gives me what MobileMe does for the money (I am going to be using the Family Pack - 5 users for about $120 per year - from Amazon).

 

[TLewis]

My point before was I don't believe you can find any service that really "guarantees" anything.

You can, however, find (more expensive) services that offer more business-important features -- like nightly backups and geographic redundancy. Some sites even claim to offer 99.99% uptime or somesuch; while I imagine that this isn't guaranteed, they probably try to meet that goal.