I have noticed in checking out different web hosting businesses, that if they use an unprofessional email provider people tend to look down on the company. They say it does not look professional for a company to use emails that are not the name of their company. For instance, many people look down on businesses that use yahoo or gmail as their contact email in an ad. Does this really make a difference? What difference is it for a business owner to want to use a more thrifty type of email address? Do they no longer have the right to save money just because they are usinf a free email account?

There are certain advantages to using third party email providers rather than your own mail server - for example, we use gmail as it provides an offsite archive of all e-mail and also excellent spam filtering. It may also help with getting mail through to certain destinations, e.g. those who are a bit over-cautious about unknown mail sources.

However, that's no reason not to use your own domain name in the e-mail address and I believe that does look more professional, especially in a business like web hosting. Google Apps mail allows you to point your MX records at their servers to receive mail at your own domain, this gives you the best of both worlds and there are probably other services out there that do the same.

I think businesses need to use their domain for email, or another associated domain name due to branding etc...

If a business is online where is the extra cost for an email address?
In fact even if they are not online you can get an email address that represents your company for less than $50/year.

Any business that cannot absorb that expense is not a business as far as I'm concerned and I would have no confidence in their ability to deliver a service or product.

There would be extra costs if the company was large (like the one I work for with 60k employees using MS Exchange), but it would look totally weird and random for all 60k employees to be using GMail or Yahoo mail addresses and certainly would be frowned upon by our clients who would think we were a bunch of muppets. Also, transmitting emails from a free account would also be frowned up on due to security policies with in the business which require emails to be encrypted in some cases.

So yes, there can be costs running your own email but on a per person basis I doubt it exceeds a few dollars a month at the most as you pointed out Blue. If our business chose to go the free email route then the results could cost more in losses due to clients "moving on" thinking we were not professional.

I'll grant you that in a very large company there will be added expenses for email. In the case of the company I work for with roughly 400 employees and11000 email users the cost is in operating our own email servers etc.

But the OP was in regards to web hosting companies using third party email.
This is never a case where I would find an acceptable reason for using hotmail etc.

Even if it is to add redundancy to your support system a host can always get an account off site for the purpose of backup email.

I have to agree. A brick and mortar shop would never list the pay phoen on the corner as their telephone number and you shoudl never represent your business through someone else's domain e-mail. I don't trust any business that has the money to buy a domain and hosting and not have a domain based e-mail account. I don't expect them to have dozens, but gmail or yahoo isn't acceptable. Especially in a trust based environment its a red flag that they have set up to pull the plug quickly and their host may not be able to trace trouble after they leave.

I agree there. It's a huge red flag when it comes to trust.

what is the point in spending money on a email addess when you can use one like google, yahoo, hotmail, aol, some buissness might not need a email acount but like to have one so that people can get in touch.
i have only just started a buissness but i am not yet making any money so i can not afford a email acount so i just use goolge mail.

and i dont think it makes a diffrents to wether you are using your buissness name or google, i dont actualy care if you are uisng your own name or google, because it isnt the name you are buying it is the products.

so for people like me who cant afford a email acount for my buissness what would you expect us to do

I don't understand where your costs would be ***************. You already own the ***************.co.nr domain name, and have it hosted. What extra costs do you incur by adding mark@ your domain name.com to a system?

i only have a free hosting acount so i have not spent any money on my buissness

I'd recommend stepping back, saving up and starting when you are financially stable.

In other words you don't have a business.

If you have to come to forums and spam and if you can't even afford a domain name or hosting then why should anyone trust you?
Why on earth would anyone put their website or their business in your hands when there are so many legitimate companies to choose from?

Owning a business is not a right. It is a privilege and it has to be earned.