BT have deleted my Yahoo e-mail account!

MargUK

I've been having trouble logging into my Yahoo e-mail account this week and on Thursday finally checked the Yahoo webpage where I couldn't log in at all. I tried changing the password but it just wouldn't let me in so, inadvertently, in trying to find somewhere I could contact, I must have clicked on the BT webpage at some point and got an online chat advisor. After a very frustrating conversation a lot of which was scripted automated lines, I was finally told the account had been deleted because of inactivity!

I was gobsmacked. I've used this account daily for literally years and couldn't understand why this was. They then went on to say if an e-mail provider is used such as Outlook Express or MacMail the log in details are not captured and therefore it looks like the account is not being used. But then I couldn't understand why this hadn't happened before in that case. Then I realised the only time I used webmail was at work and I'd had to leave work in 2015 due to illness.

Anyway they said if they transferred the case to their Team it could be re-activated but they would phone at 4.30 next day. They phoned at 3.30 and I couldn't take the call. After many hours of frustration last night I finally discovered where I'd talked to the online advisor and started up another conversation. It was no different from the first one and I was given the same information and told the account could be activated via a phone call this morning between 10 and 12. When they phoned I got a complete repeat of the online chats and told they would phone on Tuesday morning! But with no guarantee I would get the account reactivated.

This is dreadful customer service. Has anyone else experienced this? I seem to remember something similar happening where they thought there was 'suspicious activity' and I talked to someone on the phone without any problem and got my account up and running within the hour.

The thought of setting up a new e-mail address and contacting everyone to let them know is horrifying plus that e-mail address is linked to so many websites it would be a nightmare to change everything. Is it right that BT can do this without warning?

EdwardB

You usually have just 5 days to reactivate, the people you are contacting are tier 1 support, they have very little knowledge, the person that called you back will be Tier 2, so make sure you are able to take their call.

There is a CEO team at BT but strictly speaking BT are not responsible for Yahoo, they do provide better support though.

Also, it is NOT BT who delete your account, it is Yahoo

JJ_Egan

Your BT account help pages best or.
https://community.bt.com/

MargUK

Thanks Edward - I realise it was Yahoo who deleted the account but Yahoo have absolutely no way of contacting them to resolve anything. Their help pages simply send you round in a loop - you can't easily post on their Facebook page (although I did) and you can't get into the community unless you sign in. Which if course I couldn't. I eventually created another account just to be able to do this and that was how I was directed to the BT Support page. The person who was calling me yesterday was supposed to be from the Tier 2 Team but clearly wasn't. I just don't know how to sort this out and not being able to contact anyone at Yahoo is really frustrating. Their community pages are full of posts from very frustrated and angry people with hardly any satisfactory replies.

If I have to create another e-mail account then okay I'll do that but I don't understand why it's so hard just to contact someone and get a reasonable conversation. Surely that's basic customer support?

Neil_Jones

Check the obvious first:

Are you actually with BT? Or is this an email address you set up when you were with BT and you've since moved providers?

If you've moved providers and you're not with BT now, what usually happens is any email address you had with them you will lose eventually when you move provider. It is for this reason that I would say rather than use an ISP email use a Gmail or whatever as you can get to them from any provider and they don't disppear when you shop around.

MargUK

I understand what you're saying Neil but that still doesn't resolve the issue of terrible customer support and why would they suddenly delete my account now out of the blue? As far as I know I'm still with BT.

missile

MargUK wrote: »

... As far as I know I'm still with BT.

:rotfl: Who do you pay for your internet connection?

wealdroam

MargUK wrote: »

As far as I know I'm still with BT.

That's a strange statement.

Is BT your internet service provider or not?

MargUK

I created the account via BT David and I was told they deleted the account because of inactivity. As explained in my post, this is probably because I haven't used their webmail in over a year as I'm not working now and that was the only time I used it (webmail). Apparently if you use an e-mail provide like Outlook Express or MacMail the log in details are not 'captured' or something. I've used Outlook Express for years and more recently the MacMail app after I bought a Mac Mini. That is all well and good but it would have helped to know that and then I could have ensured that I occasionally logged in via the website.

MargUK

BT is my internet service provider.

Le_Kirk

I recall when I switched to BT as my ISP and BT/Yahoo for my e-mail address that you had to log in every 145 days else the account would be deactivated. This was when I was mainly using Outlook as my e-mail client and didn't access my e-mail any other way so I set myself a reminder but now I access it on phone and laptop, I do log in quite frequently and never been an issue.