Longtime virgin.net email user seemingly 'dumped' bt VM

[allanwall]

xactly same thing has happened to me! I have had a virgin.net email address for over 30 years. 2 weeks ago I went to login and got a login error. I could not reset my password without entering a new email address so they could send a verification code. I did this but somehow this new address became my default VirginMedia login but it too hit a login error. After hours (and, in fact, days) of working my way through an automated support system setup to only deal with VirginMedia customers/account holders (which I am not), I got into a chat with someone who said they had fixed the issue and I should be able to login to my virgin.net email after 24 hours. This was not true. Still could not login.  My virgin.net email account is my main account. I have a backup btinternet.com address which I hardly use. My wife is severely disabled. I receive important emails regarding doctor and hospital appointments for her as well as invoices for her carers; I also receive all my own health and financial related mail to my virgin address.  Due to a medical emergency I was unable to pursue the issue for over a week, but when I resumed I hit the same problems - I could not get access to anyone who could help specifically with my virgin.net email access. Eventually I tried going through the same process as before when they said they had fixed it. I was much firmer this time but was finally rebuffed when they said they could no longer help me the virgin.net email domain was now being managed by BT (apparently this happened a couple of months ago!) and I would have to take up the issue with them! I was quite angry at this point. How could VirginMedia do such a thing without first informing the virgin.net users? How could it be done without my noticing some change? If VirginMedia no longer wish to support the .net domain then they should at least give users the opportunity to move their data out to gmail or another provider first, not just cut them off. If I cannot get this resolved then I am seriously considering contacting the Ombudsman and also going down the GDPR route. Can anyone help? Are there others suffering the same as me?

[Graham_A]

Sorry to say that you have come up against the hard fact that virgin.net email accounts that are not linked to a current VM broadband account have been working on borrowed time for some years.

These 'free' email addresses were not free as they required you to access them via a premium cost phone number.  When the dial up services were closed some ten years or so ago these addresses were supposed to have been closed down unless they were transferred to a Virgin Media broadband account.

Unfortunately many have continued to operate for years since then but it appears that VM are now catching up with these orphaned accounts and finally closing them down.

[allanwall]

Thanks for that reply, but I feel that users should have be contacted and given the chance to migrate their data to another email. This uncaring approach has thrown a big chunk of my life into disarray. I will be spending months sorting accesses where my login is myname @virgin.net.