as very regular gmail user, all i have to say is; what troubles?

Same here: what troubles?!?!?

I'll second that, what troubles? I use it constantly on both my PC and my windows mobile pda phone and have not had any problems

I mostly third the "what troubles?" comment. Last night I had a problem around midnight with accessing gmail. It resolved itself in an hour or so. It's still better than my university's email system.

You are right that google is best. I also like it. But since yesterday I am facing a problem in Google Talk. All my friends in buddy list are coming offline and I am not able to talk. While if I login in gmail web site, then I see my online friends properly online in the left side vertical bar of buddy list. -This is just for informing one trouble. :)

No mail like Gmail Google Trouble-Absolutely No Trouble

I don't use Google as my main email, but use chat and send all commercial email to it. As far as I can see, the beta is always getting better, not worse.

I've switched to googlemail a month ago and have had absolutely NO troubles whatsoever. I LOVE it!

The author of this article doesn't get very specific. It kind of seems like he is muckracking. Which troubles are people having? Of course there will always be some people who have misconfigured their own computers/browsers, but that's not Google's problem. Give me an example and anything your saying might become creditable.

Yep, Gmail is great! I don't know what this article is talking about... maybe it's just popular to dump on Google

actually, for quite some time, i havent been able to get into gmail. its been almost 2 weeks, no matter what computer i use, at school or at home. im kinda worried. im not angry, as i usually never get anything important anyway, but im kinda bummed out about its sporadic availability. and even when it does work, its quite slow.

I eagerly await my first experience with Gmail "troubles". To date it has worked perfectly on any and every occasion. Of the people who I have invited to Gmail here is the percentage currently suffering "troubles'=0%. What are we to deduce from this? Could this article be a geyser of mud?

I dont believe Gmail is problem free, and I can see some browsers like Opera may be facing problems according to posts. I personally didnt face any critical problems, and Gmail is something I can live without now. Its faster than my Outlook email at work and the features keep getting better and better... I am just concerned about the ability to hold the inceased capacity of users...

google is the best. gmail kicks ass. . . .

This news article is biased and doesn't respresent the majority of users that are not having issues. Lets not forget this is a BETA product.

I have not had one problem with Gmail since I've been using it for a little over a year. I've only had a small handful of times when I've not been able to log on, and frankly, it never bothered me. I'd have to say if the worst problem you have in your life these days is occasionally being unable to log into email: you're doing well.

Eh? I have gmail open 24/7... litterally and have never had a problem :S

Outlook???, Pft!!! Gmail is fast, stable, fast, reliable, fast, it works everywhere… Stable on my phone, my laptop, my dev box, etc. Check your plugins and or your grease monkey scripts etc. as GMail is the bomb! I have mine refreshing 7/24 as well and no problems to report!! /Sean

My brother has been using Gmail for urgent/business related issue for the last 2 years, and all the sudden he couldn't access his email, he contacted them and they informed him that the account has been closed, he tried and tried with them until they eventually asked him for memorable information: the name and the address of the person who invited him to Gmail! that couldn't be resolved as there was no way for him to remember what they asked for, long story short, he is now using another email provider, there is no argument if Gmail is the best or not, i use it my self, but i always know its unreliable i do keep backups of all emails i have there cause i believe there is a high chance that one day i will be left in the middle of no where trying to figure out why my Gmail account is not working.

I've been using Gmail all day, every day, since April 2004. I have 17,318 messages and over 1,200 megabytes of mail. I rarely see any downtime, it's the snappiest and most reponsive webmail app I know of, and I've had zero problems with mail not received or delivered. In fact, I've now switched my business email over to Gmail Hosted, and have never been happier. [http://www.google.com/hosted] Count me as one very happy Gmailer.

No trouble here. By shockingly average products you mean? Google Pages? Surely that is it.

No trouble here! We have 17 foster and biological children and they all have a Gmail account and not one gripe! Occasionally the chat will be off, but all being under the same roof, that is no problem! Hooray for Google!! Cat

Google Gmail does have problems but it's not across the board. I have been with them since they started it. As a matter of fact they sent me the invite email. Maybe because I use their Adword services. I have had problems off and on since the beginning but nothing to fuss about. I mainly use it for junk mail and what not. I just don't like keeping mail on someone else's space. I am sure you guys know that Google keeps your deleted mail for a undisclosed amount of time. I am sure you guys heard about Ameridebt and a subpoena that ordered Google to divulge all the deleted email messages. If not just do I search on google+ameridebt.

What troubles are you talking about. It's working flawless on all my pc's. I think this trouble talk is much ado about nothing or making a mountain of an ant's hill.

I actually several of those problems mention about Gmail. I would open Gmail, but my FireFox 1.5 would crash. I would attempt opening emails while log-in Gmail, again FireFox would crash. This was going on multiple times a week and sometimes several times a day. I would also get errors log-in into Gmail. HOWEVER, I fixed although problems. I had a FireFox extension that was causing all the problems. Since i removed it, not one problem. What can i say Gmail is the best.

I use Gmail 10-12x a day at least and I do have loging or send problem less than 1% of the time. I'm happy enough that I don't even bother worrying about it. I use it both on my computer and my smartphone (Treo650)

what's been mediocre? Video - yes, but what did you expect, they are simply just trying to get into the space. not every company can have a hit every time at the plate... if you have problems with gmail go back to yahoo! mail ... because that truly sucks and you'll find out what real problems are. there's also this little label below the Gmail logo that's the second letter in the Greek alphabet. That basically means there are going to be a few issues from time to time...

I am amazed that Google would allow such a high profile product to languish with such problems. So this could point to a critical weakness for Google. If Google's stock drops then they might have problems supporting all these different projects. This would allow Microsoft a opening they have been looking for.

Been using Gmail for over a year and never once had an access or use problem. Great email system. Not sure what "average" products this author is referring to. Sounds like a statement from someone that just doesn't like google as does most of this column. No persons quoted, no stats on products/useage and growth. Just kinda' average lame commentary by someone with othing to do.

I have been using Gmail for well over a year and I have had NO problems save not being able to get their domain every once in a while. Gmail "average"?? Try doing a search for a specific email in other email systems !!! Gmail is very fast.

Um hate to tell you... but yes there are problems- yes it is Beta software (and has been for an awfully LONG time- could the permabeta status be an excuse?). Most of the problems I have experienced have only started very recently- leading me to believe that some fiddling has been going on - to the detriment of the software. Yah it may be better than your Uni's sucky mailserver- but then they probably arent advertizing it as the next BIG thing. and hey.. if you think the author of this article has nothing better to do...WTF are YOU doing? Arent you supposed to be working right now instead of writing RANTS. I know I am.

Google E-Mail Troubles Continue?? This is news to me. Since this is just a blog, I'll cut the author a little slack. The opinion that Ben Charny offers is terribly supported by even more terrible anecdotal evidence. The customers who have problems are typically the ones with the loudest voices. I won't deny that problems exist, but I seriously doubt that they are as pervasive and Mr. Charny claims especially given the positive responses by the readers. There are so many factors involved that it would require extensive trouble-shooting to narrow the faults down to the actual GMail service. Totally irresponsible Ben.

The first thing that people seem to fail to recognize is that news is there to keep worse things from happening. People whine and complain that it's biased. But at least it's not talk radio. I can bet you that this blog was initiated to get a feel for what's really going on -- perhaps a little survey that you are unwittingly participating in. Regardless of the issues or the minor problems they're facing, they need to address them and that's probably what this blog is attempting to aid in doing: speeding up that process. Companies will fix things on their own time if they aren't pressured. When the general public becomes aware of it, they suddenly have added pressure that forces them to address it in a more timely and customer-convenient manner. So I say keep finding the problems in the world and keep pointing them out. I can't imagine a life where I just accept that it's okay to use crappy stuff. Oh wait! We do! It's called Windows!

Don't use free services for mission critical applications. So for the guy using gmail for business for over a year, stop using it for business and pony up! Yee haw.

I:00 AM TOTALLY PLEASED WITH GMAIL, I HAVE TWO ACCOUNTS AND IT IS A LIFESAVER, NEVER HAVING TO WORRY ABOUT LOST MAIL AGAIN. I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS SENDING, RECEIVING, SENDING LARGE PHOTO FILES, ETC. TO I:00 AM NOT SURE WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS TALKING ABOUT. AND I USE MINE EXTENSIVELY. THANKS GOOGLE, CLIFF MILLS

You must all be kidding me right? Do you work at Google or something. The site won't load, loses e-mail, attachments get lost and more often than, message disappear into the night. Maybe the reality is that people you're sending aren't getting your message. Happy paranoia, this is a real problem.

Anecdotal evidence of a system working is not of much value; specific evidence of failure is required for analyzing the situation properly. I use Gmail all the time and have had few problems -- rarely, there will be a glitch but it seems to be resolved quickly. However, just because I'm not seeing problems doesn't mean they don't exist. I hope those who experience them give valid and specific feedback to Google, rather than whining to friends or ranting online. Complaining doesn't fix anything, it just spreads grief. I've been on both sides -- trying to run a beta program where users complain to others instead of giving me the info I needed to fix things, and being a user who experiences problems that others deny exist. {sigh}

Google has always been quite a fine tool for me. It happened in the past to be unavailable but generally never for a long time. Now though I have the strange feeling that something is not going the good way. It has been 5 hours that I cannot connect to my email box. The web page is totally unavailable. I am in the UK and have not found any news about today's problem. But the French Users of Free have been shut out of Google services for around 3 hours. Maybe the ranting French students and unions have done something to my Google. Dran French !!!!(I am French)

GMail was great initially, but it has been frustrating offlate with scores of problem. I am hearing this increasing from others as well. Looking at totally contrasting experience people seem to be having, looks like, it is two different systems we are talking about, or is it google guys desperately trying to save face by posting supportive blogs?

It is the longest beta cycle ever ...he he! Did I miss something or the definition of Beta was changed :) :)

I have had much frustration with login problems, delays and strange messages at sendtime, and today, (10 April) I have not been able to login all the livelong day. Frustrated.

i only started with gmail on monday night and yesterday and today its been freezing on the loading page. cant get into it at all. tried everything.

received important picture attachments that would not open, all that it was doing was google mail account sign in page, and yet does not supply the facility to the Isle of Man. I suggest anyone using g mail account find a better e mailing facility.

I am finding problems in IE6 having used gmail for near a year. Apart from a couple of links nothing activates. I can post a mail for example, but I can't open mails, nor labels, nor folders and so on. What is worst about this is that there is no contact form or address to report this! I have sent a message on their 'happy stories' form, but expect it will be 'lost'. This, with the other stories above is suggesting a real problem. When there is no good way of contacting it raises its own questions. I wouldn't go to a site host that makes contact difficult. Joseph Harris

Beta cycle - way too long. Have been a "beta" user for at least 18 months. Why the cop out? Also the chat availability is sporadic at best (in the middle of a chat - mind you, not a wireless connection). I have chats drop off randomly. To say that there have not been problems just tells me that all of those posts are from Google employees. GMail is a good product but let's not live in denial that it is perfect.

The reason many of you may not be noticing the problems is because they are not problems with what are there but rather what is not there. I have had many occurances where messages are not being delivered to my gmail account. I know this because I have sent them to myself from my yahoo account, which by the way I've never had a problem with. I've also had problems logging on but this seems to have improved lately but who cares if I can log on if my messages aren't being delivered anyway? All in all I am about ready to abandon my gmail account all together.

What's going on? There's the launch of Google Health, Google Notebook, Google Co-Op, Google Gadgets....Google calls Microsoft a "convicted monopolist" ... and much more from Google Press Day...

Quite honestly, until very recently, I've been very happy with Gmail. I am one of the original Beta users and I've been using it for going on two years now, I believe. Never any troubles, mail delivery and receipt was great. However, over the last several weeks, I am seeing more and more problems. Unable to access my mail, unable to send e-mails (error messages abound), some of my recipients are not receiving the mail. Page not loading, e-mails not loading or taking forver to load, unable to apply labels and archive. Server down...server down...server down... These are the same reasons I abandoned my bigfoot account. I use this account for business, it MUST be reliable. If it IS growing pains, I certainly hope that they will outgrow them soon. I am missing critical e-mails for my business. I do not need a chat in my e-mail. I don't need to know who is online while I am. I just want a simple, reliable e-mail service.

I love gmail. However, lately I can't get most of my messages to my best friend, and his server guru says of following message "Technical details of permanent failure: >PERM_FAILURE: SMTP Error (state 9): 550 5.7.1 . >Relaying denied -- Aha. That error didn't come from our mail server. That *appears* to be an error from an internal google mail server that's refusing to relay your message for some reason. All I can say for sure is that *we* didn't reject that message. the only thing that comes to mind is that in the process of the domain xfer, I wonder if nameservers were switched to register.com long enough that the message might have been directed there, and register.com refused it? If not, it just sounds like a freak internal thing at google." I am not savy in this, but now I can email to all over the US except my closest friend. What gives?

I have been trying to access my email on Gmail for the last 6 minutes. I have tried 3 different browsers but they all choke on the Gmail address but browse other web pages without delay. Has anyone else noticed that Gmail has been slowing down?

I just signed up for Gmail about a month ago and it has been probably the most unreliable email I've ever had. Emails either never arrive in my inbox or it takes days literally to be delivered. That is totally unacceptable in my book so I'm off to try to find another. Yahoo works great but when I send to my best friend at work his server rejects them. So I'm trying to find one that isn't block by his server. I was really disappointed that Gmail failed so miserably.

I just migrated my company domain name to gmail hosted. Yes it is some funny things happening. 1. Not downloaded in POP client, but the email is there if you open using webmail. 2. Some email is not sending ... [ lost in the internet jungle ] 3. Some attachments are missing. those 3 major issues , some of my clients have. Gmail is in fact the best .. that's why I convinced my boss to migrate our company email. But now I am investigating this strange behaviour of gmail hosted. The difficult is that .. it is not alwasy happen .. so there are no patter :-( I hope the smartest engineer in Google keep the protocol running as per RFC , and not trying to tune here and there. MY Eudora always complaint when sending email, since google is not completely doing pop3 close connection completely. Go gmail go !! Go fixed it :D !!!

The past two days have had me scrambling for cover as far as Gmail is concerned. It's been so bad, I don't know where to start.

The problems are this

-Slow to download page
-Slow to send email
-Slow to receive email
-Not receiving email
-not sending email

Other then that Gmail is a great program. Great for what, I don't know!

Technical details of permanent failure:
PERM_FAILURE: SMTP Error (state 9): 550 relaying denied for

WHAT IS GOING ON!!!!! KEEP GETTING THIS ERROR MESSAGE, one particular address only