Get BTpremium email after ditching broadband and landline

[Paul608085]

Can anyone tell me please what the difference is between BT's "Basic" and "Premium" email services for ex-customers?

I left BT Broadband and landline about 2.5 years ago. I was told at the time that unless I paid a monthly fee to BT still, (Premium), I would get the free, (Basic) service. I was told that this meant that provided I logged in regularly, I would still be able to both send and receive email from the account - but only via a web browser, not an email client.

As I said, that was 2.5 years ago - but I still have full access to my email via Thunderbird email client. My family's sub-accounts are the same.

So what exactly do "Premium" ex-customers get for their money?

[licquorice]

You get the certainty that access via a client or app won't suddenly stop one day when BT get around to realising you are no longer a broadband customer and downgrade your account.

[Paul608085]

@licquorice 

Thanks for the reply. £7.50 per month seems a lot to pay for that "certainty", and of course, there are no guarantees that BT won't decide in the future to stop providing an email service to their existing customers - as some ISPs already have done.

I found this, which seems to confirm that there is absolutely no difference in day-to-day use:

"What is Premium email and how do I get it?

The Premium email product gives you exactly the same functionality as the Standard email product you get with broadband from BT, but you have to pay for it. It costs £7.50 a month by direct debit and you can create up to 10 extra email addresses for family and friends.

If you're an existing BT email customer and have additional email addresses linked to your BT ID, we'll automatically move these all across as part of the order process, creating a single Premium email account for all your email addresses."

From:  https://www.bt.com/help/email/what-is-premium-email-and-how-do-i-get-it-/

I guess that because my family already had their own sub-accounts they continue to work, but I wouldn't be able to create any new ones?

[gg30340]

There is a difference between Basic and Premium.

You can not use Basic on email clients or apps. ie it won't work on mobile devices except via a web browser. I know that you say you can at present but that may/should not last. Your email account should have been downgraded to BTBasic.

In Premium you can still set up more email accounts up to your maximum of eleven. You can not do that in Basic.

Basic email has adverts other than BT ones.

[Paul608085]

@gg30340 

"You can not use Basic on email clients or apps."

Except, you can - or at least I have for the past 2.5 years: Thunderbird email client.

I haven't tried adding it to the GMail app on my Android phone.

[licquorice]

No you can't, your account hasn't been downgraded to Basic due to BTs usual inefficiency,  when/if it is, you will no longer be able to use Thunderbird.

[gg30340]

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@Paul608085 wrote:

@gg30340 

"You can not use Basic on email clients or apps."

Except, you can - or at least I have for the past 2.5 years: Thunderbird email client.

I haven't tried adding it to the GMail app on my Android phone.

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I suggest you re read my post:-  "You can not use Basic on email clients or apps. ie it won't work on mobile devices except via a web browser. I know that you say you can at present but that may/should not last. Your email account should have been downgraded to BTBasic."

I have asked the moderators to have a look at this thread because if you are not a BT customer and not paying for your email account through a BT Premium email account like all the customers who are paying £7.50 pm for it or like all the other ex customers who were downgraded to Basic your email account should not be a "standard" account and should be downgraded to a Basic account. 

[iniltous]

As the first reply to the OP stated , paying for premium email ( or being a BT Broadband customer ) gives the certainty that the functionality that comes with being a ‘premium’ mail customer will continue , for all you know , tomorrow, or in a week or a month , your email client could stop working , or it could continue work for another 2.5 years or longer , that’s the uncertainty, but if the apparent mistake of not downgrading your email is rectified and your email is reduced to basic webmail , you obviously would have no cause for complaint.