Suddenly can't log in to Virgin email account

[Anonymous]

On Sunday I stopped being able to access my Virgin email account.  It is a virgin.net account.  It won't accept my password.  I thought maybe I had been hacked, but when I try to reset my password it won't accept my email address and instead keeps telling me to enter the email for my Virgin Media account.  I have tried to access help (text/WhatsApp/'phone/online) but I get nowhere because I am not a Virgin media customer, so have no account number.  The chat bots ask me to select broadband/TV or mobile customer - of which I am neither.  I tried selecting those anyway but either run in to the same problem (no account number) or am told there is no-one available to help with faults.  I am stuck! 

[Graham_A]

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@Barneygoogle wrote:

I am downloading my emails and realise I need to contact many hundreds of senders to give them a new email address. This is going to take a looooong time. Just a thought - if I took out a Virgin PAYG sim, would it qualify me as a Virgin member? and allow me to keep my virgin.net email address?

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Virgin Mobile no longer have a PAYG SIM offering.  But even if they did it wouldn't help in this situation.

[Barneygoogle]

Thank you for that - it was worth a try! Guess I'd better start my 2023 task of contacting my senders 😬

[Chris_W1]

Hi Barneygoogle, thanks for the email and welcome to the forums. 

You would need a Media account to access the emails. 

Once backed up please use something like Gmail so you are not faced with this issue. 

Chris 

[Pj101]

I hope this might help at least a few of the desperate users of the old email address like I have.

I to have an original email address started by Cable & Wireless email, that Virgin took over way back in early 2000.

Like others here, last Wednesday at 12.34 am to be exact, my email stopped functioning. I have used the email address a ''Virgin.net'' one since the start every day, both incoming and outgoing with a few odd glitches over the 25 years.

The problem started ironically on the Wednesday after receiving a message from Virgin Holidays, after booking a holiday with them!! The message came in at 12.34, and the email ceased at that time. I didn't think much of it, as this had happened before for no reason, and reset after a few hours. However, this time was a little different, as 24hrs later still nothing!

I decided to contact the help line suggested on the Virgin page 0800 519 6986, well what a waste of time that is. After 13 calls, and still to this day waiting for 2 supervisors to ring me back no help from them!! Do NOT waste your time and effort like I have on that number, they are as good as useless. They kept saying your account has been cut off nothing we can do. Total rubbish, they have NO idea what they are talking about an OLD original PAYG dial email address, as it does NOT have an account number. [See my post, as that was the question I asked on this forum]

After all the panic of every single account I have has that email address attached to it, and spending a good day changing the accounts to another email, my Virgin.net email was still not running. I did post a question on here last week about my issue, my first post that is, and I did get a reply. Sadly I have only just managed to get back on here, but thank you for the reply and making me think of something.

Anyway, there could be a solution for some of you! Try this............

Go to this page where you would sign into your email on the web: https://my.virginmedia.com/customer-news/articles/virginmediamail.html...

Try to sign in to email at the top right of the page, you could be told your inbox is locked or not available or something like that. You should be advised to change your password, ''DO IT''. I have NEVER changed my password in 25years, and I took the risk, and 12 hours later my account was running again.

I really hope this works for some of you, as I cannot tell you the amount of hassle this simple issue has caused me. I am not an expert by any means, but I do have a web domain which I have used for years, and I now cloak the Virgin.net address under that name for my emails, as I can change the redirection anytime I like.

Good luck, and I hope at least it works for someone.

Oh, and VM if you are reading this, PLEASE just tell the user to try and reset their password.

[jpeg1]

@Pj101

If your virgin.net address is not linked to a Virginmedia broadband account, changing its password might open it temporarily by it will be permanently closed before long.

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Email/Orphan-Email-accounts/td-p/3492073

[Pj101]

I had that message back in 2014, and as they stated then, make sure the address is kept used within 90 days.

I agree, using just that access to your message service is a little chancy, hence I mentioned I use a web domain, and have for 25 years. The point I would like to make to VM, is think of the older user that supported you all those years ago, not just now!

My experience with VM and this matter was appalling, NONE of the agents had any idea what I was talking about.

Just a note for VM: IF a user of any kind has been told they will receive a support phone call within 4 hours for help and advice, keep to it! I am still waiting for that call.

[Barneygoogle]

Thank you Pj101, that is most helpful. I am holding on for the moment and, for the benefit of any others in this predicament, I shall detail my own experiences.

I used to use Virgin for many services, but stopped the broadband some years ago. I retained the email address and (apart from a similar brief episode a couple of years ago) had been very happy with my virgin.net address. A couple if days ago, I tried to log in to view my emails, on my laptop, but I could not get in at all. However, I could still access my emails on my tablets (Android). I have now opened a new gmail account and managed to get it to forward my emails from my virgin email address. So far so good. Naturally, I do not know how long my Virgin email will continue to receive (and forward) my emails. My next task is to contact my senders (there are a few hundred!). I created folders for most of my more important contacts. I need to open all of these and forward the contents to my new email address. Unfortunately, my tablets do not store more than one or two weeks of messages, which is why I need to access my account via my laptop. But I have now taken screen shots of the hundred or so folders and used Google Photo's clever copy text feature to list them all.

As my emails are coming into my gmail account, I'll contact everyone from there. Once done, I shall try changing my password, to see if I can access my old folders.

[Ilyas_Y]

Thanks for reaching out to us on the forums @Barneygoogle 👋

I'm sorry to hear about the issues with the emails you are facing 😞
May I ask if you were able to gain access again to your emails with the advice given on this thread?
Do let us know 🙂

Kind regards,
Ilyas.

[Barneygoogle]

Hi Ilyas_Y,

The advice has been very helpful. As I can (currently) still see and receive my emails, via my tablet, I have been able to set up a new (gmail) address and have my virgin emails forwarded to it. This is working well and gives me time to contact the several hundred contacts, to give my new address. I don't want to change my password yet, as I am not sure if that will stop gmail forwarding the emails. I will get round to this, as I still need to access my folders. The folders are visible on my tablet, but only show recently stored emails. I need to access the older ones via my laptop.

Thanks to the Community I am progressing well.

Cheers

[Barneygoogle]

Just by way of a PS. If anyone is in my predicament, where they cannot log in to their virgin.net email on a PC, but can still get in via Android. One problem has been that I could not view the contents of my many folders, as my Android tablet only stores a few weeks' worth. However, by using the search function, I found I can view my old filed emails. This is great, as (for example) if I search for "car insurance" I find the contents of my car insurance folder and can see who I am insured with; to let them know my change of email address. Hope this helps anyone in my situation.