Are you unhappy with the new version of email on PC or is it just me?

[licquorice]

Not wishing to be rude, but not sure what you hope to gain by contacting customer services.

BT are working on the problem and will provide fixes as soon as able. The current problems are a result of rushing something out before it was ready, do you want a repeat?

[bazred1]

I think that is a very fair comment.

[TheAlanB]

As a customer I have a contract with BT, this is just a forum. I wanted to make sure I have raised the issue on an official basis with them in terms of my contract. I am not saying they have to rush a solution to the problem they have made. I would like something on file from them in reference to my contract.  I think that is a reasonable approach.

[pk46]

Licquorice 

We pay BT for email service, they don't provide it from the 'kindness of their heart'. 

I guarantee that nobody would have signed up to BT, if they had known that it was this 'incompetent'. Customers want answers as to why their email isn't functioning correctly, this has been going on for a number of weeks. It's o.k. saying 'they are on top of it', the reality and experience of customers is different. There are no excuses. So I think complaints should be going in from everybody. This is a totally 'unacceptable' situation.   

[licquorice]

Actually you don't pay for email, unless you are not a BT broadband customer and pay for the misnamed Premium mail. BT regard it as a free add on service to their broadband.

As I keep saying, but everyone prefers to keep knocking their head against a brick wall, the email service is fine, it is just the webmail user interface that is abysmal. There is no need to use it, just use one of the many free email clients instead.

As an experiment, I recently timed how long it took to install Thunderbird on a laptop. From clicking the download button to reading an email took less than 4 minutes. Two decisions were left at default setting so all I had to do was enter my email address and password.

The default setting is IMAP so it keeps in sync with webmail should you wish to return to it.

[gg30340]

@pk46 

In case you are not aware. BT no longer offer an email service to "new" BT Broadband customers yet they pay the same price for their broadband package as the "Old" BT Broadband customers who presently have a BTMail account.

BT do not offer an email service to "Old" BT Broadband customers who did not take up the offer of the email service when they joined BT but have now decided that they want a BTMail account. They also pay the same price for their  BT Broadband package as those that did take up a BTMail account.  

In the event that you have a BTMail account and you decide that you no longer want your broadband from BT and move to another broadband provider, you can keep and use your email account for free.

So given the above information it would appear that BT do supply the email service from the 'kindness of their heart' or as BT call it "A Value Added Service".

As has been pointed out, the only people who do pay for their BT email service are those who have taken out a BT Premium email service.

BT Email products | Types of BT Emails | BT Help

However I agree that at present the BTMail user interface is not as it should be and BT are taking an inordinate length of time in fixing it but given the number of problems I don't suppose it will be an easy fix and will more likely be a complete rebuild.  

[Dragoncard]

Thank you for the above, Distinguished Sage gg30340.
On a germane point, my best knowledge is that leaving BTemail is a serious problem, as BT don't transfer your email history. Can we be sure they will always host an account where the provider is another company, or client? I've always been threatened (or "reminded") by BT with losing all my 65,000 past emails back to 2005 if I leave BT.

[gg30340]

There was a time that if you moved broadband provider you would lose your email account but that no longer happens with BT. You would be "downgraded" to a free BTMail Basic account.

You can not transfer an email account to another email provider no matter which email provider you are/were with by virtue of its email address, You can not transfer a gmail account to become a btinternet email account or to any other email provider. Each email account is specific to its providers domain.

If you leave BT you do not need to transfer anything. All your emails remain on the BT servers unless you delete them and you continue using the BTMail service in the same way as you do now.

BT will continue to provide the email service for as long as BT is an email service provider regardless of who provides your broadband account.  They have no interest who your broadband is with.

Your email account will continue to work just as it does now in the same way as it does if you were to use friends broadband to access your email at present.

[pk46]

@gg30340

What BT 'fronts' (marketing) to customers about their costs / services is one thing.

Only BT knows the real facts about costs / services, all customer emails are stored on 'servers', those 'servers' cost money to operate, maintain etc. I doubt BT is swallowing those costs. 

BT has to be made to conform to current telecoms practices by Government, OFGEM, Which etc.

At some point I will be leaving, it's the stuff in your previous posts that I need to sort out. 

[licquorice]

I fail to understand why you think OFGEM can have any influence on forcing a provider to provide a service to someone not their customer.

As already stated, BT are one of the few companies that allow people to continue using their email service when not a paying customer.