Forced to leave Plusnet after about 20 years

[#1]

About 20 years ago I signed up with Plusnet because I'd been working alongside computer security professionals and it was what they used and recommended. Since then I rarely had a problem and I often recommended Plusnet to other people. But things began to get flakey in the last 2 years and now it's reached a state where for much of the time I can't get emails through to my friends and relatives. My messages sent to their TalkTalk, Gmail and Hotmail addresses bounce back with an error:

A message that you sent to the following recipient could not be delivered due to a permanent error. ** The remote server ?? responded with: ** [email address] ??:?

I've got about 4 months left on my Plusnet broadband and phone account and when the end approaches I will be forced to leave Plusnet. I'd do it now except that the provider I want to move to only does full fibre and that hasn't quite reached me yet. People to whom I recommended Plusnet have already got full fibre and have already migrated. I feel like I'm a case of `last man standing'. I can get emails through to businesses, universities and other institutions etc but not to friends and relatives.

[#2]

@Garnet 

I can understand you being unhappy with how the email transfer is going, so get that you are leaving as your way of protesting your upset. However, ‘forced’ to leave? Seeing that, as far as I am aware, no other ISP offers a free Email service, I don’t understand why this is ‘forcing’ your hand.

Over the years Email has moved to becoming an essential element of many of our daily lives and is, in my opinion, too important to trust to a tied freebie service.

[#3]

You are not alone in suffering a complete sense of humour failure over the recurrent inability to deliver emails.

[#4]

Oh dear, another one! So many people unhappy with a free service. I'm wondering if the mods would make a sticky out of this, or similar wording:

 I've paid a few pounds a month for an excellent email service, I can move ISP anytime and still keep my email addy, and I do wonder that so many PN customers can be bothered with this flaky facility.

Plusnet provides me with an excellent great value BB service, first ADSL and now fibre which is all that I signed up for. You get what you pay for ...

[#5]

Pay ... that is the whole point of GreenBy it is a paid for service.

[#6]

@PhilipHeyes NOT for at least 2 years providing you are a Plusnet customer at the date of transfer. 

[#7]

It is a paid for service (after 2 years if you’re a customer) without the portability that comes with a personal domain. That’s the price you pay for keeping an @plus.com address.

[#8]

There’s no context to this grumble.  It’s clearly stated that email works to many businesses, professional institutions etc.   The report all relates to other third party FREE email services.  The question is why are there issues with those services not accepting the delivery of email?

Might it in reality be that those users don’t get what they are not paying for … a reliable email service which will accept inbound email, whereas we have seen before that users if PAID FOR Google email ARE receiving emails without issue.

[#9]

Hold on - what's all this about me having a free email service? I signed up to Plusnet to get email and web access in 2007 as shown below and I've been paying them for that ever since...

28/9/2007
Your new account
Great news - your account has been successfully activated. 
Your account details
--------------------
- Access number: xxxxxxxxxx
- Email address: xxxxxxxx.plus.com
- Web address (URL): http://www.xxxxxxxx

09/10/2007
Thank you for choosing PlusNet Residential Generic Services Product as your new account!
To confirm, your PlusNet account details are as follows:
* Your e-mail address is postmaster@xxxxxx.plus.com, where postmaster can be replaced by any word you like or any existing mailboxes on your account.
* Your Web address (URL) is http://www.xxxxxxxxxx

[#10]

@Garnet 

And how many contracts have you signed since then with no mention of e-mail?

As a basic no frills provider PN took the decision to withdraw from email. They then had a choice - shutter the service after giving due notice where people lose their historic email addresses or transfrer it to an email provider. They chose the latter - much to the relief of many poeple (like me) who didn't want to lose their addresses.

You are not being forced to leave - you have may the choice to go. At least you'll keep the email addresses if they're important to you.

Brian

[#11]

@Garnet The world moves on, as does technology and also, just as importantly, your contract terms.

In those near 20 years you will (as have I over a comparable time) have had multiple opportunities to refuse to renew on the revised terms and go elsewhere without penalty.

I no longer use PlusNet's email, in fact I recognised long ago that tying myself to a broadband supplier for email  was not a sensible long-term strategy. As others have noted the norm now is to not expect or use "free" (i.e. packaged) email from your internet connectivity supplier.

So, as others have noted, PlusNet are not really forcing you to leave.

That said, the great majority of posts in this forum are about problems with the email migration to Greenby; it seems to be not going well to put it mildly. 🤣 If I was you I'd seriously work at moving to a different email platform ASAP then look separately at who is best to supply your broadband and potentially migrate you to FTTP if that's what you want.

[#12]

@Garnet  I have been a Plusnet customer for almost all of the last 20 years and my understanding was that email was always an add on service for which there was no charge. My bills showed broadband and phone charges but never any mention of email on a bill. So you have not been paying for email at all.

[#13]

and in any case @Townman is referring to the destinations of the emails being users with 'free' email services

[#14]

@Garnet 

About 20 years ago I signed up with Plusnet because I'd been working alongside computer security professionals and it was what they used and recommended. Since then I rarely had a problem and I often recommended Plusnet to other people. But things began to get flakey in the last 2 years and now it's reached a state where for much of the time I can't get emails through to my friends and relatives. My messages sent to their TalkTalk, Gmail and Hotmail addresses bounce back with an error:

A message that you sent to the following recipient could not be delivered due to a permanent error. ** The remote server ?? responded with: ** [email address] ??:?

I've got about 4 months left on my Plusnet broadband and phone account and when the end approaches I will be forced to leave Plusnet. I'd do it now except that the provider I want to move to only does full fibre and that hasn't quite reached me yet. People to whom I recommended Plusnet have already got full fibre and have already migrated. I feel like I'm a case of `last man standing'. I can get emails through to businesses, universities and other institutions etc but not to friends and relatives.

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The Plusnet ship that we all knew and loved is being steadily steered towards the beach.

Like you we joined some 20 years ago having been recemmended by some of my IT colleagues. Included in our service along with internet access was email, webspace and by paying a nominal £1 a domain name of our choice, providing it was available. We even moved our phone to Plusnet when it became possible.

There are lots of us suffering the same email problems.

Oh, well. Thanks Plusnet Directors!

[#15]

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@Lordwotsit wrote:

@Garnet 

Oh, well. Thanks Plusnet Directors!

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Actually, it is BT who have made the decisions - 'Plusnet' is now just the 'internet only' brand within the BT Consumer Division.