BT Yahoo spam filter

For about 18 months now I have used BT as my ISP (there was no choice for broadband where I live) but never used Yahoo mail as always use Outlook Express. I have posted here before about missing emails and have now found the answer - BT was filtering them out as spam [evil] .

I had never even opened BT Yahoo webmail but did it today because of something someone said to me and found my Bulk folder, which is where BT puts spam, full of genuine emails including some I knew were missing. There was no spam there and the filter seems completely random, e.g. a friend can write to me one day and it gets through, the next day they can be blocked. I rescued all the ones that were there but since they delete them after a month heaven knows what else I have lost. I have now switched their spam filter off as it wasn't catching any spam but am shocked that this was happening and I had no idea.

Tried phoning to complain (always a mistake with BT) and got a woman in India who insisted on asking the make of my router even though I told her that was irrelevant. Eventually gave up as she was unable to pass the complaint on and have filled in one of their wretched online forms but no chance anyone will take any notice. Can any of you experts explain how this works? Meanwhile, for anyone else who uses BT for email but not webmail, go into it, check your Bulk folder and if it's doing what mine did, switch the filter off !

long time since I looked into BT's spam filtering, but in essence they will block mail from know spam domains - hotmail etc are included in that definition. If you actually use there abomination of a system then it will accept mail from addresses in your address book. Why they believe that they have a right to block emails addressed to you, and then delete them without your permission is totally beyond me.

It is hideous. I hate BT Yahoo nearly as much as I hate microsoft. And let me tell you that is a really serious amount of hate :)

have you tried spamfighter ??

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Originally Posted by NickInTheNorth

long time since I looked into BT's spam filtering, but in essence they will block mail from know spam domains - hotmail etc are included in that definition. If you actually use there abomination of a system then it will accept mail from addresses in your address book. Why they believe that they have a right to block emails addressed to you, and then delete them without your permission is totally beyond me.

It is hideous. I hate BT Yahoo nearly as much as I hate microsoft. And let me tell you that is a really serious amount of hate :)

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I'm so glad someone else hates it. I uninstalled the browser ages ago because it insisted on being the default for, say, links in emails and I use IE. Having never used the webmail I had seen no reason to go into it - know better now.

Yes I have tried spamfighter - in fact recommended it on here a while ago. Maybe now I should issue a warning. It was fine at first, then they started issuing upgrades and each one had a new bug and was worse than the last so now I've uninstalled it and just stopped using that email address. Pity though, it was good and its technical support is super efficient. They just don't test their upgrades properly. But then, who does? When did MS ever issue a bug-free OS?

Anyone wanting an anti spam service which works brilliantly, and fairly transparently could do worse than take a look at www.spamjab.com it's free for home users, protects multiple addresses, and once set up only needs you to click a link in an email to learn what to do with new addresses emailing you.

On a similar note anyone wanting really good internet filtering for their families protection may want to check out www.netmop.com

I've used them both extensively and would do so again if ever I felt the need for that type of service.

Thanks Nick for the suggestion but, sorry to sound, cynical - how long have you been using it? Spamfighter was great originally, very easy to use, I loved it until the first upgrade. After that it was downhill all the way.

used it for over 4 years. No problems ever. That is the beauty of a service rather than a piece of software. They manage all the annoying stuff. You simply use their pop server rather than your own. You register your pop details with them, they then download and filter your messages. You just connect to their pop server to retrieve your messages.

When a message arrives that they are unsure of they send you an email asking whether to accept this time, or for ever, or to treat as spam, click the appropriate link and away you go.

You can stop the service at any time, and it's free so what's to lose...