ALL emails deleted/disappeared from BT email SENT folder in January 2021

[mrwe]

@malcmac unfortunately nothing will come of this, I contacted bt less than 2 days after the emails were deleted and they said it was impossible to recover them. i have changed over to using gmail as I have had none-stop problems with bt.

[janewinter]

Dear mJayL,

Thankyou for your message.  I am so sorry to hear about your disastrous and frustrating experience.

What happened to me was that the emails were deleted when BT switched servers.  I have never been told that my phone sent a message telling BT to delete emails.  Only my inbox was emptied - everything else was still there.

I complained to the Ombudsman, but he said as BT provides emails "for free" I had no comeback.

I remain an unahppy customer, but I don't think I fit into your class action.

Thanks for gettig in touch.

kind regards,

janewinter

[malcmac]

Hi All

I have now received an update from BT and, as I expected, the news is infuriating!

BT have advised the following:

- the cause of my deleted SENT emails is that a request to delete all the emails came from my APPLE phone email app.

-I should contact APPLE to resolve (farcical since APPLE do not have access to the BT email servers to recover the data)

- When you use any 3rd party app to access BT mail you are responsible for any loss of data caused by the app

- There are many recorded problems of this type (from APPLE, Samsung) where emails have been deleted from a persons mail account

- BT cannot recover the emails

I have told BT the following (note. I have numerous years experience of managing IT systems, including email, in some of the largest financial institutions and, frankly, had I allowed this to happen I would have been fired a long time ago!) :

- Why has BT not issued an Advisory Note to all customers telling them not to use 3rd party apps (Apple, Samsung etc) to access BT email?

- I asked why BT have developed their own mail app for APPLE and why they are not publicising its use (but never really got to the bottom of this)

- It is not acceptable to say BT cannot recover the emails - that is simply not true or, if it is, why then did the new email service go live without a document recovery facility when the previous email system, YAHOO, had a recovery function.  Perhaps the BT Email Product Manager could comment?

- That I wish to escalate the problem to the highest levels within BT - I have stressed that numerous people have the same problem and they cannot just IGNORE it.

- I have stressed that I purchased the BT Broadband/Mail service (at a premium cost to other Broadband services) because email is very important to me and thinking that if I had a problem BT would resolve it - how wrong I was...... so I will now be transferring to GMAIL and purchasing a cheaper Broadband service as well - what's the point in staying with BT if they treat their customers with contempt or, the problem happens again?. 

I believe BT are relying here on ignorance from their customers in not complaining or going elsewhere - we are clearly not getting a premium email service.

I did see that someone has raised this issue with OFCOM but was told that they (OFCOM) could not do anything as BT Mail is a free service..... I don't believe this is correct since BT charge to use the service if you do not buy their Broadband - therefore, it cannot be described as a FREE service!

Personally I would like to see us all get together and contact BT/The Press because I don't believe individuals carry any weight whatsoever.  What do others think?

After all, how many others have the same problem but are not aware of this forum?????

@janewinter @mJayL @mrwe @TerryMaley @toad1960  @Frustrated_customer1 @Jezi121 @licquorice 

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[janewinter]

Dear malcmac,

I agree with you, BT is acting outrageously.  Obviously their email service is not free, and even if it were it would not absolve them from a duty of care.  NGOs like Citizens Advice give a free service but can still be sued for negligence if their advice is wrong.

Although my cirumstances are different to yours and others' - my inbox was emptied when BT switched serviers - I am in the same predicament in that they swear they cannot "find" my lost emails, which suggests they undertook a major operation, i.e. switching servers, without any backup, which I think is unbelievably bad practice.

I agree we should join together.

I found the Ombudsman useless - he just sided with BT.  They hold themselves out as relaible and trustworthy, but they are nothing of the kind.

best wishes,

jane winter

[TerryMaley]

Hi All,

Thank you for your posts. I have over the last few weeks sent several emails to the CEO of BT. No doubt that they have been fielded by his PA ! I have lost over 5,000 sent emails that had very important content such as medical, financial and family matters. The dates that they were removed from my sent box don’t match with BT logs. A total breach of data protection as well as a massive inconvenience. I won’t bore you all with the details that I sent BT. What now ?
As some of you have commented, the Ombudsman is hopeless and BT feel they can get away with this service and behaviour.

I have contacted BBC Watchdog as well as the Mail on Sunday. As individuals we are limited in the impact we can cause but I intend to make as much noise as possible. Looking at the moment in researching an aggressive investigator journalist as well as other media outlets. I think this will be a long haul.

Keep in touch.

Regards,

Terry

[janewinter]

Dear Terry,

Really sorry to hear about this disaster.I think there is strength in numbers, so link up with mJayl .

BT have to realise they have a real problem here that is causing serious concern among a number of customers.

best wishes,

janewinter

[TerryMaley]

Thanks Jane,
Best wishes,
Terry

[BJR]

We have just experienced the same issue. Last Saturday my wife discovered all her SENT messages from prior to 18th Oct '21 had disappeared - several years worth. 

Having read various threads on the Community Forum we checked all the usual folders - Spam, Junk, Deleted etc but to no avail. Checked settings in both her Apple devices and also on webmail itself.

Initially used BT Online chat to try and resolve the issue. Thought might be getting somewhere but then was being asked to change settings for incoming emails, rules etc which were not applicable. Eventually was told that if mail disappeared it couldn't be recovered.

Having listened to BT's ad by James Nesbitt about the improvements to BT mail - that all phone contact centres are now UK based we thought that might get a better response there.

Sadly the young lady in the Glasgow call centre was far from helpful. Initially stating that we must have deleted the mail which we clearly hadn't and that it can't be retrieved.

Then she said that must have had too many emails and the system deleted them. This apparently can happen.

Asked how they can just delete emails without notifying their customer she claimed the same had happened to her and it was one of those things that the system does.

I then polity went on to say that BT has known about this problem for some time as had gone on the BT Community Forum at which point she disconnected the call.

Obviously keen to get her shift over without having to try and deal with a difficult issue.

Very frustrating.

The Sent folder is working with only the sent items from 18th Oct. So far nothing seems to be dropping off.

It is very poor that BT seem unable or unwilling to resolve this matter which is continuing to happen as I see that a good number of the other posts on the forum on this issue go back a few years.

[TerryMaley]

Hi, 
Thanks for your email. BT simply do not care about customer service or helping solve these deleted messages in any way. Because of the size of the company and the ineffectiveness of the regulator they know they can get away with this. You will note from the forum so many people have had this problem. Historic information on finance, health, family matters etc has simply disappeared and no one cares.

All people can do in my view is take the business elsewhere, set up another outside account and forward any important emails. It is very frustrating but after a while it becomes pointless challenging the company and BT know this.

Best wishes,

TJM

[janewinter]

Dear TJM,

I share your frustration.

If I thought taking my custom away from BT would make any difference, I would do so, but I| fear they are impevervious.  The hassle involved in changing provider is too great, and that is what they are countering upon.  One can only hope they read these exchages and ponder upon them.   I would certainly not recommend them to anyone, which is all they seem to care about.  They are rubbish providers.

Since no-one seemed interested in my idea of taking concerted action, I have just given up.  

all the best,

Jane