Help with Xtra email

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Help with Xtra email

MarkCerny

88 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 8

#192295 5-Mar-2016 11:53

Hi,

So my dad was with Spark VDSL but moved house and now they only offer adsl internet. Vodafone have fibre installed and therefore he will be switching to them at the end of this month. The problem is Spark now want my dad to pay $10 a month to keep his xtra email address. Is there any way around this? Can I forward those emails to a new address somehow or is it just a case of letting everyone know about a new email address? It's a pain because he uses it for everything and has all his work contacts etc.

Any help would be appreciated.

jmh

458 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 141

#1506431 5-Mar-2016 11:59

I had the same problem with my mum - real pain but considering it was a very poor email service I felt it was a rip off paying for it. I switched her to zoho which is free. She was quite pleased at the drop off in spam. Turn the spam filter off though, at least for now. It caught up some genuine emails that I had to log in online to release.

Long term, leaving xtra is the best option. It's a poor service anyway. It also demonstrates why you shouldn't use an isp's email address for important things like work.

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2526
Inactive user

#1506434 5-Mar-2016 12:19

@MarkCerny This is why one should not use an ISP provided email address, Get your Dad onto a Gmail , Outlook , Hotmail ETC................

Once Spark close the account the Xtra email address will be closed down unless the $10 is paid per month and this is a fair charge I thought it was $20 per month

scuwp

3927 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2510

#1506437 5-Mar-2016 12:27

Get him a Gmail address. Let all his contacts know. Set up a forwarder for a month or two from his old address to catch the stragglers. Then cut the apron strings, cancel Xtra and move on in freedom of ISP dependant email

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

k1w1k1d

1711 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1305

#1506438 5-Mar-2016 12:30

We changed from Spark ADSL to MyRepublic fibre in January last year and had the hassle of changing our email address.

We chose an "outlook.com" email address with the same user name we had at xtra. If we change internet provider we can take this address with us.

It is surprising how many people/contacts etc that you have to notify. An even bigger surprise is how often you have to notify some before they make the change. Gave up on some, because they just wouldn't use our new address.

For some reason our old xtra email is still active after fourteen months. I check it every week or so and delete all the spam, and the odd contact that still hasn't got the message. Just unsubscribed again from our local Fairfax newspaper's newsletter.

MarkCerny

88 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 8

#1506439 5-Mar-2016 12:31

OK, thought that would be the case! Thanks for your replies.

jmh

458 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 141

#1506442 5-Mar-2016 12:38

k1w1k1d:

We changed from Spark ADSL to MyRepublic fibre in January last year and had the hassle of changing our email address.

We chose an "outlook.com" email address with the same user name we had at xtra. If we change internet provider we can take this address with us.

It is surprising how many people/contacts etc that you have to notify. An even bigger surprise is how often you have to notify some before they make the change. Gave up on some, because they just wouldn't use our new address.

For some reason our old xtra email is still active after fourteen months. I check it every week or so and delete all the spam, and the odd contact that still hasn't got the message. Just unsubscribed again from our local Fairfax newspaper's newsletter.

Just guessing, but maybe the fact that you are logging in regularly is keeping it open. Those you've contacted will start using the new one once they get knock backs from xtra. I had a similar issue with another provider. They only close the account when you stop logging in. I'm surprised that they haven't shut it down though, since you are not paying for it anymore.