I have yet to try the reset option, and I guess that's next. Nobody here has a note 2 - for most it is too big to carry around. I like it because my vision is not that great so the huge screen is nice for me. No complaints save the email problem, otherwise it is a great cell.
I see. That's unfortunate that nobody else has the Note 2.
That's part of the reason I want to help so much, not only for your benefit, but in the bigger picture of all other Note 2 owners out there (that might run into this issue). I can't even imagine how upset I'd get, if my work emails couldn't come through clearly on this phone.
If you haven't hard reset, I know that would be a complete pain in the rear end (since you'll have to re-configure certain settings again), but I'd say that should be your next step.
And, if you do take that route, I'd suggest setting up your work email first (and get that working) before adding on anything else to the phone (e.g. google account, other email accounts, contacts, music, videos, apps, etc.).
And, #1 thing prior to hard resetting, make sure you back up your internal and external storage beforehand (if you've saved any data for apps, music, pics, vids, etc.).