Ireland.com pulled the plug after 15 years - 3 weeks notice!

Paddy and Ice

15,000 email users found out today that the Irish Times has sold the Ireland.com URL to Tourism Ireland and that with nearly immediate effect their email account is being switched off.

This shows a total disrespect for their customers. I have been using this email service for 15 years and have my whole 'online life' hinged around this email address.

They are not even offering a forwarding service. I am livid and stunned by the Irish Times attitude towards their customers.

bealtine

Paddy and Ice wrote: »

15,000 email users found out today that the Irish Times has sold the Ireland.com URL to Tourism Ireland and that with nearly immediate effect their email account is being switched off.

This shows a total disrespect for their customers. I have been using this email service for 15 years and have my whole 'online life' hinged around this email address.

They are not even offering a forwarding service. I am livid and stunned by the Irish Times attitude towards their customers.

Another email provider rolls back...

jmcc

Bit more than an e-mail issue. I guess the IT needed the money more than its "valued" 15K customers.

Regards...jmcc

Wolff

Have to agree with OP - very tardy all together.

Lovely email yesterday from them - basically telling us all where to go !

I know understand a tiny bit how a CPO must feel like !

:mad:

Paddy and Ice

I spoke with John O'Shea this morning who is their Head of Online and he agreed that the three weeks was very short. I asked him could he put up an auto-forward facility i.e. John Smith is no longer using john.smith@ireland.com from (date) but can now be reached at new.address@email.com etc.

He said they looked at it but there was a problem with implementing it but that he would look at it again. Even if it was in place for three months at least it would help people update their records as opposed to the ridiculously short time frame of three weeks.

This might suit the Irish Times and Tourism Ireland but they have both shown complete disdain for the users. What goes around, comes around.

the_syco

Would be fun if all 15,000 people filed FoI letters to get all their emails... in paper format.

jmcc

What is worse for the Irish Times is that some of these 15K users might be hard core Irish Times readers who may no longer buy the Irish Times and may tell their relatives not to buy it either.

Regards...jmcc

Wolff

did we not once upon a time pay for this service ?

GRMA

Could someone post up a copy of the email they got?

Gingernuts31

Wolff wrote: »

did we not once upon a time pay for this service ?

Yep used to pay for it, think it was 55 yoyo for the year. I stopped using it cause I didn't want to pay for it but then 1 day I tried it and it worked, turned out they'd made it free but I never heard of it cause I stopped my sub to the paying version.

Paddy and Ice

Dear Account Holder,
The Irish Times and Tourism Ireland today announced a digital content cooperation agreement to promote Ireland as a tourist destination. The agreement spans a number of areas, including the sale of the ireland.com domain name to Tourism Ireland. Tourism Ireland will use the ireland.com url to attract more web traffic and enhance the promotion of Ireland overseas.
As a result, we wish to inform our @ireland.com email subscribers that the service will be discontinued from November 7th, 2012. From midnight on this date, you will no longer be able to send or receive messages. You will, however, be able to access your account until December 7th for the purpose of transferring any data (i.e. emails, tasks, documents, appointments and/or contacts) currently saved on your account. We are writing to advise you of this change and to ensure the transition to a new service provider is as seamless as possible.
To aid the transition, we have provided a step-by-step guide and FAQs on ireland.com and a helpline has been established to assist wherever possible. The helpline will operate between 8am and 8pm weekdays on telephone 1890 876 666 or 01 685 6999 or email customerservice@digitalworx.ie .
We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to our valued customers.
John O’Shea
Head of Online, The Irish Times

Danom

The whole situation is a disgrace. I have been using this address for thirteen years. All my logins to other sites use this address. I rang ireland.com today and they said that I agreed to the chance of this happening under section 14 of the user agreement. This is the stock answer that is being given. I paid for this email address for years when the service began. When I asked about the lack of notice I was told that the decision was only made yesterday. There should at least have been some warning. This shows total lack of respect to customers. I was also informed that there was no one in a supervisory position available to deal with any queries.

zokarin

"it was 55 yoyo for the year" - actually I think it was 55 for 2 years.. though I could be wrong.

The whole thing is really, really stupid, and reminds me of the worst years of gombeen capitalism in this country. Who gives a **** about 13 years of customers or the fact that people have relied on their email address for user login, identification, verification, lost password retrieval, have posted it on facebook, linkedin, twitter, and of course to actually email loved ones and give them a way to contact you back reliably.

I don't think most people would have a problem with a reasonable wind-down period and a redirect service.

3 weeks and total cutoff is a ****ing disgrace.

sfag31

My wife has her email with ireland.com for years. She is very annoyed. She uses it for all her internet logons. Eventually they will permit some one else to use her email address so someone else will get her correspondence. What will happen to the servers that hold all her emails - will they be secure where ever they end up - Is there any official watch dog authority that can make them keep the email service going? Its quite a blow to have it pulled like this.

jim1989

GMAIL is your only man!!

28064212

sfag31 wrote: »

My wife has her email with ireland.com for years. She is very annoyed. She uses it for all her internet logons.

She'll have to change them. Annoying, but not the worst thing in the world

sfag31 wrote: »

Eventually they will permit some one else to use her email address so someone else will get her correspondence.

The chances of this actually happening are miniscule

sfag31 wrote: »

What will happen to the servers that hold all her emails - will they be secure where ever they end up

They'll be destroyed

sfag31 wrote: »

Is there any official watch dog authority that can make them keep the email service going? Its quite a blow to have it pulled like this.

No, there is absolutely no onus on them to keep it going. They could pull the plug tomorrow if they wanted

Paddy and Ice

Maybe we should all email the Irish Times MD, Liam Kavanagh and give him three weeks notice that we will stop buying his newspaper. I have bought the paper 2/3 times a year for 20+ years. That works out at about €250 per year. If they do not introduce a forwarding service or at least a 3 month notice period, that is exactly what I am doing.

zokarin

28064212 wrote: »

The chances of this actually happening are miniscule

Actually the chances are not miniscule. If (and probably when) the "new" Ireland.com email service starts, then anyone with a remotely common username is quite likely to see this happen. There is probably no way I can catch all of my former emailees over a 15 year period with an update. And, even when people do get the update, there's no guarantee they wouldn't (reasonably) use the old email address. So, it's entirely possible the gentleman's wife will see emails addressed to her end up in someone else's mailbox.

That's one reason why a lengthy redirect period should be a minimum expectation for good customer service. There is a concept called end-of-product service which these guys have obviously never heard of. The fact they have the *right* to do this in no way excuses the BS customer "service" this move represents.

MagicMarker

It's a bit shítty alright but I think 3 weeks notice is more than sufficient in fairness. How long does it take to create a new email address and update any accounts associated with it? It's a pain in the arse but wouldn't take more than an hour.

28064212

zokarin wrote: »

If (and probably when) the "new" Ireland.com email service starts

Just 'if'. And it's a huge 'if'. It's possible Tourism Ireland might use @ireland.com email addresses internally. In which case you're talking about a handful of addresses, overlap is extremely unlikely.

The chances of Tourism Ireland setting up their own public email service is tiny. If that was anyway remotely likely to happen, do you not think they would have kept the current service going and take advantage of the already engaged user-base?

watty

MagicMarker wrote: »

It's a bit shítty alright but I think 3 weeks notice is more than sufficient in fairness. How long does it take to create a new email address and update any accounts associated with it? It's a pain in the arse but wouldn't take more than an hour.

And finding ALL the places you used whaterver@ireland.com and where you can't change the email if you forgot the password without the email working?

eamonnq

Paddy and Ice wrote: »

I have bought the paper 2/3 times a year for 20+ years. That works out at about €250 per year.

Wow!!!

bealtine

watty wrote: »

And finding ALL the places you used whaterver@ireland.com and where you can't change the email if you forgot the password without the email working?

I'm still finding random websites where I used my 02 email and obviously can't change the logins now as the o2 email is dead...it sucks

mitosis

I am sad to lose mine. As I was to lose my @oceanfree.net, and @iolfree.ie

Sorentox

http://www.dataprotection.ie

email info@dataprotection.ie


If your annoyed by the way you are treated – write to them today. It’s your data, your data history, your electronic address and identification. We are not all IT engineers – this is a cumbersome task to complete properly for an average email user. I have no problem with the sale -- but the time span is not acceptable. They have to show some respect.


Then send the same email to the Consumer Association of Ireland:-

cai@thecai.ie

The notification that the user has changed email address from .....@ireland.com to ......@...... should stay in Place for 6 to 12 months for thoses who need it.


ireland.com had 15,000 users that attracted advertising revenue .... now we are not neeeded (most users paid and supported this venture in the early days too)....now it's sold - fine - but we do diserve a little respect. People who email us should not receive and "Error / Undelivered mail" message after Dec 7th.

cgarvey

What is the DPC going to do for you?

While we're at it, what is the CAI going to do for you?

The reaction (no just yours) to this seems to be quite disproportionate to the fact that it's a free service (and cessation seems covered in their T&C). It's a pity they couldn't hold out for longer, but that's all it is. Running to the DPC is quite the over-reaction IMO.

Sorentox

It hasn't always been free -- I paid a subscription for years.

No one wants to stop the sale or cessation process -- so the T&C point (which is there line too - mind you) is not the issue here.

It's the time span in which the account is been deleted is the issue, and the poor forwarding notification service afterwards that has people up in arms.

& yes its a "free service" now cut -- SERVICE been the word. For IT savy people this might not be an issue - for others there are a lot of registerations on websites that have to be notified and emails sent out to address this issue. (eg) Gov Depts., Organisations, personal suscriptions, Financial & Legal etc

Not many people I know are sitting around doing nothing for 3 weeks waiting for Ireland.com to land them with a considerable amount of work with a difficult deadline.

yomamasflavour

Sorentox wrote: »

People who email us should not receive and "Error / Undelivered mail" message after Dec 7th.

It's from the 7th of November not December, that messages start returning undelivered.

From November 7th to December 7th you're only allowed access for the purpose of making a backup of your emails.

Whilst a three week winding up of accounts is one thing, No forwarding service whatsoever is pathetic.

MagicMarker

watty wrote: »

And finding ALL the places you used whaterver@ireland.com and where you can't change the email if you forgot the password without the email working?

Wouldn't be much of an issue for me anyway, I always keep confirmation emails of stuff I buy online. So I could just go through them and make sure to update what I need. Any websites I'd use regularly for things other than online buying I'd have in my favourites, so I could just go through them too.

Anything I don't have a record of in my emails or favourites, or anything that I simply can't remember is probably something I would rarely, if ever, use. So no biggie there.

crazygeryy

big bloody deal. just get Another email address. first world problem.

Dave!

mitosis wrote: »

I am sad to lose mine. As I was to lose my @oceanfree.net, and @iolfree.ie

Was just about to post to ask about @oceanfree.net

My dad still uses this address and doesn't have any problems - who is maintaining that service still?! Oceanfree are long gone AFAIK

Dravokivich

the_syco wrote: »

Would be fun if all 15,000 people filed FoI letters to get all their emails... in paper format.

FOI Wouldn't be valid. I find it hilarious when people try to use it as a trump card, without actually knowing what it refers to.

Sorentox wrote: »

http://www.dataprotection.ie

email info@dataprotection.ie


If your annoyed by the way you are treated – write to them today. It’s your data, your data history, your electronic address and identification. We are not all IT engineers – this is a cumbersome task to complete properly for an average email user. I have no problem with the sale -- but the time span is not acceptable. They have to show some respect.

There should be no breach of data protection. All they'll be doing is allowing Tourism Ireland to have ireland.com as a host address for their webservers. Irish Times won't be giving out any information relating to your accounts to anyone else.

Sorentox wrote: »

Then send the same email to the Consumer Association of Ireland:-

cai@thecai.ie

The notification that the user has changed email address from .....@ireland.com to ......@...... should stay in Place for 6 to 12 months for thoses who need it.


ireland.com had 15,000 users that attracted advertising revenue .... now we are not neeeded (most users paid and supported this venture in the early days too)....now it's sold - fine - but we do diserve a little respect. People who email us should not receive and "Error / Undelivered mail" message after Dec 7th.

Storm in a Teacup. From what I read earlier in the thread, everything is being done in accordance with their T&C's.

gadgetman101

ok im another victim and i stupidly used it for my very small company. its gone so where do i go i don't want a gmail or vodafone or outlook address any suggestions please.

dahamsta

As others have suggested, register your own domain name and get a hosting account. If your primary target market is Ireland, get a .IE domain name; if not, go for a .COM. A domain name and budget hosting account shouldn't cost you more than €50-100/year. And please, buy Irish!

28064212

dahamsta wrote: »

As others have suggested, register your own domain name and get a hosting account. If your primary target market is Ireland, get a .IE domain name; if not, go for a .COM. A domain name and budget hosting account shouldn't cost you more than €50-100/year. And please, buy Irish!

Depends on how cheap you want to go. I have my own .com domain and email set-up. Costs: €14.50 for two years. Just register a domain and set it up with Google Apps, free for up to 10 users

dahamsta

I assumed when he said he didn't want Gmail, he wouldn't want Google Apps either. Each to their own. Me, I don't put business mail in the cloud, but then I'm spoiled with my own servers.

EDIT: Here's my opinion on cheap. Affordable I like. Not cheap.

28064212

dahamsta wrote: »

I assumed when he said he didn't want Gmail, he wouldn't want Google Apps either. Each to their own. Me, I don't put business mail in the cloud, but then I'm spoiled with my own servers.

Well, he said "gmail [...] address", so I assumed that they just didn't want "x@gmail.com". You know what they say about assumptions

dahamsta wrote: »

EDIT: Here's my opinion on cheap: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=81286649#post81286649

I actually do use an Irish registrar, but Boards doesn't allow discussions on hosting or registrar providers (for good reason), so I didn't mention it

watty

I have .net, .com .info .org and .biz for different purposes. No need for Google Apps (no privacy or long term assurance of operation)

.ie is too expensive and also restrictive on names. I do use Irish hosting and registrar services and a really Irish ISP. (hint, UPC and Eircom are not Irish, though if UPC was available here I'd be mad not to switch to them).

cgarvey

gadgetman101 wrote: »

ok im another victim and i stupidly used it for my very small company.

You're not alone, but at least now you see why it's ill-advised. If you value your brand/name/business, and you do anything online, you need to protect your brand/name by registering your own domain (and making sure to renew it, or transfer it, in a timely fashion so that you don't lose it to squatters).

Once you have your domain, you can control where it's hosted, and move it around as needs be. For example, if you're happy to try out the free Google Apps, you can move your domain away from there at a later stage if you find their webspace (with Google branding) not professional enough for your business, etc.

Owning your domain is step 1. After that there are plenty of options from free to premium hosting services for your email & website.

cgarvey

Sorentox wrote: »

It hasn't always been free -- I paid a subscription for years. [snip]

Doesn't change my opinion that free-loaders' sense of entitlement doesn't add up. Nor did you answer either of my two questions (which directed at you!).

Again, I can appreciate we'd all love more time, but at least there is 1 month.

ItHurtsWhenIP

Dave! wrote: »

mitosis wrote: »

I am sad to lose mine. As I was to lose my @oceanfree.net, and @iolfree.ie

Was just about to post to ask about @oceanfree.net

My dad still uses this address and doesn't have any problems - who is maintaining that service still?! Oceanfree are long gone AFAIK

My wife and I continue to use Oceanfree to this day, having used it since the first week it launched.

I just checked on whois and it is owned by Esat BT, as is IOLFree.ie.

If they ever pulled Oceanfree.net from under me, like the Irish Times have done to Ireland.com, I would be deeply aggrieved. :mad:

cgarvey

MMFITWGDV wrote: »

If they ever pulled Oceanfree.net from under me, like the Irish Times have done to Ireland.com, I would be deeply aggrieved. :mad:

Out of interest, are you more inclined, now, to start moving away from OceanFree?

dahamsta

Hi watty,

watty wrote: »

.ie is too expensive and also restrictive on names.

While I accept it's twice the price of most gTLDs and probably should continue to drop in price, twenty notes is hardly expensive. It's an hour in the pub like. A year.

And while again I'll accept that it's restrictive on names, I've never had any trouble registering domains either for myself or for my customers. It's all in the approach.

And remember, that restrictiveness and relative expense means better /choice/ -- try and register a generic word or phrase in .com and see how far you get!

I'm not a big fan of some aspects of the registry operations, in fact the CEO has made an enemy of me over the recent - and ongoing - security fork-up over google/yahoo.ie, but the managed registry model does have its advantages.

watty

In fairness the restrictions have been relaxed and it's better than the wild west of .com and .net But no excuse on price, of course if it's for commercial purposes then €20 isn't a deal breaker but annoying when alternates are €7

ItHurtsWhenIP

cgarvey wrote: »

Out of interest, are you more inclined, now, to start moving away from OceanFree?

Do you know something - if you hadn't asked, I probably wouldn't have given it a moment's thought.

I wouldn't be at all surprised that if the ireland.com goes away with a whimper, then Esat BT will probably reckon that they could get away with dropping their free-loaders.

I think I might just stake out my own little piece of the Internet, all for me and my wife. :eek:

cgarvey

Might be no harm. The OceanFree domain is probably safe enough in that it's pointing to an ISP who already provide an email service (i.e. no big deal for them to continue to host OceanFree mail as well). However, it's also a domain old enough, with an obscure enough history, and not of any particular importance to the ISP, that it might just be subjected to either a business decision, or an IT admin decision/mistake to get switched off in a whim. Don't want to scare monger, and it's probably a lot safer than ireland.com (who aren't in the ISP business), but it's food for thought none the less!

watty

iol.ie ?

OldDogHardRoad

I'm another of the 15 year customers and not very happy with IT and their very shoddy 'customer service'.
I've added this as an autoreply to my @ireland.com email.

After 15 years as a customer, the Irish Times is closing this account with 3 weeks notice on 7th November 2012. Please update my contact details to mynewname@email.com and consider NOT buying the Irish Times in the future.