in reply to Timeout using MIME::Lite

I suspect there's a rights issue (e.g. nobody can't run sendmail), however, I'm not sure how to explain this to the "support" team.

If this is a rights (or access list) issue, you should be able to replicate it via telnet (to the SMTP port) when su'd to "nobody". That takes MIME::Lite (and Perl) out of the loop, which should make the problem easier to explain to your support team.