The purpose of my previous comment is to assist others in a similar position. It is not my intention to aim any criticism at anyone in particular, although there is no doubt that TalkTalk has handled this very badly.
I first posted about the issue on 17 June, when I received the email from TalkTalk about subscribing. In my post here:
https://community.talktalk.co.uk/t5/Email/Important-information-about-changes-to-your-TalkTalk-Email...
I wrote "The issue here is that the email accounts are linked to a previous TalkTalk account. Please can these email accounts be transferred to my current TalkTalk account. I can provide account details by private message."
I was advised by Mandisa-TT to log in to MyAccount and link the email accounts using the Mailbox Manager. I responded informing Mandisa that my email accounts are all listed in the Mailbox Manager (that is now external to MyAccount), and that the issue is that these email accounts need to be linked to my current TalkTalk account.
Your response to that was to raise a web form to "stop any further comms". I reiterated that I still believe these email accounts must be linked to my current TalkTalk account.
Mandissa-TT responded with "I can rest assure, you have an active account, you will not be charged for email and it has been escalated to be excluded on any further communication regarding the moment [sic]." and "we escalated on our end the last time so that you are not included on the email moment [sic] since you have an active account with us so that you are not charged. And the next communication that was sent regarding the move was today, did you received any email today about signing up to OX Mail?" I confirmed that I have not received any further emails.
The next day, I became aware of the red banners in my email accounts, and information in the Mailbox Manager warning me to subscribe. I posted again saying it appears to me that I am still being identified as an email account user who is no longer a TalkTalk internet service customer. I subsequently provided all of the details about my email accounts and TalkTalk accounts.
Kanya-TT responded "Ideally, we would have assisted you in linking all these email accounts to your current active TalkTalk broadband through MyAccount, but that option is no longer available. Due to the ongoing OX email migration, customers are currently unable to link existing TalkTalk email accounts in MyAccount. This issue is being addressed as a priority." and "We are waiting for further updates on how to rectify this. We will get back soon with an update."
A week later I enquired "Is there no update yet?"
Mandisa-TT responded with "An escalation was made for you to be excluded from the moment. Could you please confirm whether you have received any additional emails regarding the moment since the first communication, or if you are only seeing the red banner when you log into your emails?" I confirmed that I have not received any further emails from TalkTalk about subscribing.
In addition, I wrote "Even though I am no longer receiving emails about the migration, the fact that I am seeing subscribe warnings both in the mailbox manager and in email accounts, makes it appear to me that the process of flagging me as a current customer of TalkTalk, who therefore does not need to pay for email, has not been fully completed. As long as those warnings are there, it seems likely to me that restrictions will be imposed on 28 July, followed by loss of access to the email accounts, if nothing is done. As I have informed TalkTalk of this situation well in advance of the deadline, I will hold TalkTalk wholly responsible for loss of use of the email accounts, if this issue is not resolved before 28 July."
Then Sabelo-TT asked me to send him details of my email accounts, which I did. He then said he was "on it".
A week later, I posted asking "How much time does TalkTalk need to put this right?"
On 21 July, Kanya-TT then investigated "if we ever did submit the escalation on your behalf". Kanya subsequently submitted a web form to request my email accounts are linked to my current TalkTalk account, and later informed me "We've been advised the fault is still being investigated". I am assuming 'fault' refers to the red banners, which are still present in my email accounts.
TalkTalk ought to have foreseen that some customers may have email accounts linked to a TalkTalk account other than their current TalkTalk account, but it appears TalkTalk did not foresee or have a plan of action for this. TalkTalk certainly became aware of the issue after the email sent out mid June. At that time TalkTalk ought to have formulated a plan to deal with the situation, and sent a further email to customers clearly informing them of what steps to take if they have email accounts that are not linked to their current TalkTalk account. Instead it has been a complete shambles. I hope TalkTalk will be reviewing what has happened here, and taking action to ensure there is not a similar occurrence.
