Adding a contact to my Contacts list and then sending a message to any of the contacts

[roy0147]

I tried to add a contact, put their name and under 'email' wrote the address alongside ' home' and thought that was ok. 

When I tried to send a message I clicked on the name in my contact list and by the side was a 'send message' box. This did not add the contact's e-mail but just had their first name. Sending the message it went to their name only  but obviously did not get to the contact person.
It seems very difficult to organise e-mails with BT mail - easy to receive mail and reply to a message but not so easy to send a message to another person.
Am I being thick?
Any help would be welcome please!

[gg30340]

When you add the contact's name to your email if you hover your mouse over the name in the "To" field it should reveal the contacts name and email address.

Have you checked the contact's details in your contact list to ensure that the contact's First and Last name along with the email address have been saved?

[roy0147]

 Thanks for this, I can see if I hover it shows the full e-mail address but the 'to' box still shows the person's name and not their e-mail address which does not seem helpful. However I cannot send any messages at the moment as BT mail has an ongoing problem for the last day or so when there is a fault on their system with SMPT.

Not a good advert for BT Mail is it?

[gg30340]

How are you using your email, is it via a web browser (web mail) or using an email client/ app?

If it is via an email client, is that where you are storing your contacts? If it is via webmail and that is where you are storing your contacts it will not show the email address when you enter the contact into the address box. It will show the name of the contact not the email address unless you hover your mouse over the name.

What message are you getting when you send an email?

[roy0147]

I am using a browser and webmail and I do get the effects that you describe.
When compiling my contacts list I wrote John Smith for example and the contact was shown under 'S' and not 'J' as I wanted but BT does not allow any other option, unlike Outlook, Thunderbird etc.

When I send to a name only it shows as sent but, a I said, because of the problem with BT SMPT messages are not being sent so I don't know what the other person receives yet.
The BT help line says they are embarrassed and are working on the problem as fast as possible!

[gg30340]

If you want the list to show alphabetically by the first name click on the "down arrow" at the top of the alphabet column at the right hand side of the list. This will give you a drop down box to select how you want the contacts listed.

You are not sending to a name,  you are sending to the email address that you have listed beside that name in your contact list.

The other person will receive the email that you sent to them.

Does your email account receive emails?

Have you tried turning off your BT Hub for about half an hour? If not try that and when you turn it back on you will probably be connected to a different BT mail server. 

[roy0147]

Thanks again for your continued help. I now can work my list of contacts.

Earlier I found that BT must have repaired their output server as I was able to send a message so I did not have to try turning off the hub.