Google lets me down again
So it appears that the Google Apps for Domains I use for my domain 'mattmower.com' is broken. Although I can login to the admin interface any attempt to access the inbox reports a 502 "temporary server error". Googles definition of "temporary" is a bit loose since this has been going on for at least 24 hours now.
It's not bouncing mail so I've some hope it's not entirely lost but it's also not delivering it so I've no real idea. Maybe it's just being forwarded to the great /dev/null in the sky. I had some important ongoing email conversations which have now abruptly stopped and I've no idea if there were responses. That makes me super happy.
Google's idea of help is a useless FAQ backed up by a confusing morass of "themed" forums. The forum names are something of a misnomer though as they should, more properly, be the circles of hell that they are.
I'm quite angry but mostly with myself for trusting something so important to me as my email to a company like Google. Why did I do this? Because Google Apps for Domains is available for free and is pretty convenient. This turns out to be a big mistake.
I suppose it's unfair to complain about the support for a free product. But if I don't expect to be able to get direct support what is also missing are tools to report a problem so that you actually know that there is acknowledgement that there is a problem.
For example I am getting 502 server errors. It would be nice to report it and know that google know they are getting 502 server errors and that this would be dealt with. For a free product that would be enough. Posting about it on a forum with no idea if anyone from Google will ever actually read the message is not. That fits my definition of a shitty service.
I could, I suppose, upgrade to the $50/user "enterprise" edition of GAfD but I've little confidence in Google right now or the idea that it would be $50 well spent. I'm more inclined to sever all my dependencies on Google. They're not a company I like or wish to rely on. Lesson learned.
My options appear to be to look for a mail hosting company who specialise in small business (I'm not but that most closely fits my requirements and spending power) or start hosting my email myself. The latter I am loathe to do because I know that road contains more potential heartache than where I am now.
What a crock of shit.