Can’t get mail on iphone

Like so many others, I cannot receive mail on my iphone 4s.  The message is Cannot Get Mail, the connection to the server failed.  I went into the Apple Store and they tried several things including removing the hotmail account, reseting to the default options, changing passwords etc.  They finally told me to call Hotmail support 1 800 986 4764.  I was routed to a call center in India where I could not understand them and they could not transfer me to someone who spoke without an accent.  I called twice and spoke with 4 different people, all difficult to understand.  I think they told me an alert was sent to the server and my account was shut down.  They said it was a hacker and I would have to pay $49 for them to retreive my account information and set it up again but thereafter I would have a protected account.  My account works fine on my IPad and on PC.   I did not pay the money.   When an account is working fine and all of a sudden the connection to the server fails,  do you think it is something I should have to pay to fix?  I read some of the other responses but I can't but think something is going on at your end when so many are having the same problem.