Moving your email

Martininfrome

I want to change my ISP, but I have a problem. My email address includes the name of my current ISP, and they won't allow me to transfer that address to the new ISP. I will have 90 days grace, after which my email address will go dead. Given how often we need to give email addresses these days (including to this forum) , and to people, organisations, companies, e-newsletters etc whose address we don't store in our own address book, it becomes impossible to tell them the new address. The effect of this is to make changing ISP impossible. Any suggestions?

TadleyBaggie

Start using a non-ISP webmail service (gmail, hotmail etc), makes changing ISP much simpler. Making the switch is painful but once achieved you are set for the future.

Gordon_Hose

I'll echo what TadleyBaggie says. I've used GMail since the Beta and it's very good. The new Outlook web based email (used to be Hotmail) is also very good.

tronator

TadleyBaggie wrote: »

Start using a non-ISP webmail service (gmail, hotmail etc), makes changing ISP much simpler. Making the switch is painful but once achieved you are set for the future.

I'm always surprised that people don't think about that in first place. If I move into an apartment block with a free gym in the basement, do I expect to use it for the rest of my life?

Gmail and Hotmail (not so sure about the latter though) will be around for quite a while. But to think further with the gym analogy, I wouldn't even expect to use a big gym in town for the rest of my life. I would build my own (portable) gym meaning buying my own domain and host it somewhere. If the hosting provider gets bust I just move it elsewhere and keep using it...

slenderkitten

people should NEVER use the stock email address that comes with their service, you should stick with webmail you NEVER have to get rid of it or change it.

yangptangkipperbang

Or get your own domain.................

Martininfrome

Thanks - we will now move to a web mail account. However, two things. First, we have had our email account for at least 10 years, from back when web mail accounts were unusual and little used, so I don't feel our lack of foresight is too extreme.

Second, more importantly, I suspect there must be many people in our position so the fact that ISPs are not required to enable you to move your email address to another provider must in effect freeze up the market. Before banks were required to help, nobody moved their accounts as the faff of setting up new standing orders, direct debits etc was all too much - with the result that customers were effectively held captive. Once the Govt required banks to play ball, the situation changed dramatically, and the same seems to me to apply to ISPs today. With no obligation on them to assist transfers, most people will find it too much trouble and hey presto - captive customers!

Cycrow

it costs the ISP money to run and maintain thier mail servers, why should they do it for people who are no longer customers of thiers?

if you move house, should all letters/parels, etc from all delievery companies have to deliver to your new address instead ?

10 years ago, webmail was not unusal. Hotmail has been around for alot longer and if anything, back then more people had those emails because many ISP's didn't even offer thier own, or many people simply din't know about them, or how to use them

Ralph-y

now is the time to look for your own unique domain name.

This should give you the choice to use web mail and pop3/static email on the same account :-)

Ralph:cool: