BT Premium Mail £5 per month from 6th May 2016

I don't know when BT started sending this notice out but I thought I would post here to spread the word.

I was with BT Internet back in the day from dial-up to ISDN then RADSL before I switched ISPs. I wanted to keep my email address (and several others in my family) so carried on with BT Premium Mail which was fine before the Yahoo switch over and 'improved' pages full of adverts.

This price rise takes the pee!! BT can stick there email. The annoying thing for me now is changing my father's accounts over to a new email provider (if he even remembers all of his accounts ).

In reference to bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/55644/c/7339?s_cid=con_FURL...:

Important information about your
BT email account (Premium Mail)

Hi,

From 6 May 2016, we're changing the price of BT Premium Mail from £1.60 a month to £5 a month.

As we recently upgraded you, you'll still get all the helpful features you get today like unlimited storage for large files and emails, protection against online threats and access through webmail, smartphones and email programs. Not forgetting technical support whenever you need it at here.

We know prices going up can be tough so here's how we can help.

We're here to help
You might be better off with one of our other products (like BT broadband where Premium Mail is included at no extra cost), so if you’d like to chat through your options please give us a call on 0800 032 2114.

Staying on Premium Mail If we don't hear from you, you'll start paying the new amount from 6 May 2016. The way you pay for Premium Mail (like by Direct Debit for example) won't change.

If you have any further questions please visit bt.com/premiummailfaqs

If you want to leave because of these price changes, call us on 0800 032 2114 within 30 days of receiving this email. You'll need to give us 30 days' notice to leave, starting from the date you ask us. We won't charge you the increased price during that time.

All prices subject to change at any time during the contract.

Meanwhile, Sky and TalkTalk let former customers use their email accounts for free after they leave.

And you get adverts?

Sheesh. The term "rip-off" needs a more expressive big brother for the way BT handle line rental and now this.

Probably over two million of their customers don't even know about non-ISP domains and mail services, apart from Outlook.com and gmail.

I can only agree. £60 a year would get many many mailboxes. Even basic domain packages (which usually come with at least one email address thrown in for free) come in much cheaper than that i.e. just over £1 for the 1st year, less than a tenner for a whole year with a .co.uk domain ..... and no adverts. I'd suggest having a look at domain name companies.

More info for readers. It needs a few updates re prices particularly since Nominet (the UK registration authority) upped their prices at the beginning of March, but the principle hasn't changed.

Hi

I too have had the email from BT. I note that they 'have recently upgraded' me. This is a bit strange since I am still with the BT yahoo mail service despite being told that my move to BT mail was imminent two years ago. I was quite happy to pay £1-60 per month to save me the trouble of notifying everyone of my new email addresses - but £5 a month is a bit steep!

I note that I have 30 days to tell them I am leaving and that starts a 30 day notice period. So that gives me 60 days to sort things out.

I suppose the advantage is that it will stop the unwelcome emails that I receive on this account!

Harold

Yep £60 a year for what use to be a free service, and still is with other companies, is an insult.
And trying to get through to BT by phone to talk to them about it is impossible. Anyone would think they are not a phone company.

I got the same email too. I have made a complaint to BT as I believe they are exploiting customers who are reluctant to change email addresses with this 300%+ increase. They have offered me 12 months at the 'discounted' cost of £1.60 per month, i.e. the same as it is now. I've told them this does not address my complaint and asked for justification for such a massive (in percentage terms) increase.

I've also reported the matter to Ofcom and whilst they will not act on individual complaints if enough people report their unhappiness about this increase I'd hope they would investigate.

In reply to a post by HowardWilliam:

I have made a complaint to BT as I believe they are exploiting customers who are reluctant to change email addresses with this 300%+ increase.

Quite possibly, but it's up to you to decide if keeping the email accounts is worth the cost.

In reply to a post by HowardWilliam:

I've told them this does not address my complaint and asked for justification for such a massive (in percentage terms) increase.

By all means ask, but there is no obligation to do so. They can sell at whatever price they like and it's up to you to pay or not.

In reply to a post by HowardWilliam:

I've also reported the matter to Ofcom and whilst they will not act on individual complaints if enough people report their unhappiness about this increase I'd hope they would investigate.

OFCOM will do nothing, as provision of email services isn't regulated and BT do not have SMP (Significant Market Power) in this area. There are numerous alternatives you can choose from - some even at no charge.

It may be somewhat blunt, but either bite the bullet and move elsewhere (perhaps take their offer of a 'reduced' rate whilst you make alternative arrangements), or decide it's worth the increased charge and keep the addresses.

The 'recently upgraded' part is also slightly baffling to me as our accounts are still BT Yahoo and not BT Mail. The partly re-vamped BT Yahoo webmail was 'improved' by more adverts last year but the actual change to BT Mail has never occurred.

I've already switched a lot of my accounts over to another email address. I'll be giving my notice in a week and will not take up any reduced offer.

**edit**
I forgot that prior to the BT Yahoo changes, we did have some value in the BT Premium mail with a premium Flickr account. This was shut down more than a year ago as part of the 'improvements'.

Edited by Yaz (Tue 22-Mar-16 23:55:38)