VM want me to set up two accounts

[davyscot]

I have a very old (15 years +) VM account that I use purely for accessing my VM email address. This is the main email address that I use. There have never been any charges against this account.

In October 2021 I was suddenly unable to access my emails. When I contacted VM, I wasn't taken particularly seriously because I had no contract and (in my opinion), wasn't providing any revenue to VM. I was persuaded to get a VM broadband connection as I thought that I would at least be taken more seriously and be able to recover access to my VM email address. 

While I've been pleased with the VM broadband service, I do feel slightly conned about this as I subsequently discovered that I could (and did!) regain access to my emails simply by changing my password.

The main point of this post though is that VM then wanted me to set up another My Virgin Media account for the broadband service e.g for e-billing. I was unable to do this by using my existing VM email address. 

I queried this with a VM agent in February as to why couldn't I just merge my old (VM email) account into the one for broadband. He was pleasant and patient, but didn't seem to see anything odd about me having to create a new VM email address purely to administer the account for the broadband contract. It seems absurd to me that VM can't simply link the old (VM email) account to the new broadband account.

My real concern is that my IT skills are decidely average, and I'm very worried that if I go ahead and create a new account (and email address) for the broadband service then I'll end up being unable to access my old VM email address which family, friends and trusted businesses use (and also lose over 15 years of records)   

I have searched for previous answers to this issue, but can't find anything. I would be grateful for any advice on how to resolve this please.

PS I apologise for the length of this post 

[dannylau · Accepted solution]

Virgin can do a move and transfer to link your email to the broadband account provided the names match, as all orphan accounts are being deleted it should be done if you want to keep the email. If you keep an eye on this thread someone from Virgin will assist you 

[davyscot]

Thanks dannylau. I'm grateful that you've taken the time to give me this reassuring guidance. 

It squares exactly with what I was told by VM sales when I entered into the broadband contract, though there was no mention then by VM that 'orphan' accounts were being deleted - I take a very parental view of my main email account! However, when I followed it up with VM in February to link the email account to the broadband account, the agent stated that it was not possible to do this.

I'll continue to monitor the thread for someone from VM assisting me to link the two accounts.

[jpeg1]

Hopefully someone at VM can help you with this, but in the meantime I would strongly recommend that you take local backups of all your old emails and attachments.  Even if a transfer to your new account is promised, things can go wrong. And if it can't be done your orphaned account will finally stop without warning.

Don't rely on anything promised when you signed up for the new broadband account - such promises are worth nothing. 

[davyscot]

Thanks very much jpeg1 for your good advice. 

I understand the wisdom of taking local backups of all my old emails and attachments, but I'm afraid I have no idea how to do this. As I mentioned in the initial post, my IT skills are pretty average, but I suspect that my Norton backup will not be covering emails. If it's not imposing too much on your goodwill, could you advise me or give me a link on how to do a local backup of emails, please. Is it the same as saving to an external hard drive?

To date, no-one from VM has contacted me about how to link the two accounts.

[jpeg1]

Instead of looking up your emails in a browser, you need to install a separate email program or app.  You can do this on a smartphone, tablet or laptop. In fact if you install the same program on all your devices you can use whichever is convenient at the time and they will all keep up to date, saving all your emails off line.. And they will each have a saved record of your emails from the last time they were connected..

There are several email programs to choose from. I use Thunderbird which is free and well regarded.  Whichever one you use, you will set up an IMAP account in the name of your email.  Thunderbird is very good at guiding you through the setup process, but if you get stuck just ask for help here.  

[davyscot]

Thanks again jpeg1 for your helpful and prompt response.

I was wondering how on earth to copy emails in bulk in a browser!

I'd actually come across Thunderbird from an internet search I'd just done, so I'll give it a go. 

[Sololobo]

Here is an archived post which may be of some use: https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Forum-Archive/Backing-up-your-Emails-One-of-many-solutions/m-p/...

Although originally from September 2017 the program suggested is still available, free for home users.

[davyscot]

Thanks very much Sololobo. I've had a quick look at Mailstore and it does seem more straightforward and more directly relevant for backing up emails than Thunderbird.

I'm also very grateful for your parting advice about only only marking a post as helpful if your issue has been resolved. I did this in ignorance earlier in the thread as dannylau's response was a helpful answer. I was a bit taken aback today to see the header 'Solved' when I retrieved the thread, as it certainly hasn't been! I don't want  to give VM any excuse for not assisting me to action linking the two accounts, so I plan to post another question specifically to ask VM for their assistance in this matter.

Finally it does help restore your faith in humanity that people (including lone wolves) in the community freely give their time and expertise like this.    

[Ayisha_B]

Hi @davyscot,

Welcome back to our Community Forums and thanks for your post. 

I would very much like to look into this further for you but have been unable to locate your details on our system. As such, I'll send you a PM now so we can confirm some details and clear security first. We can then take it from there 🙂

Please keep an eye out for the purple envelope icon in the top right hand corner of your page for my message.

Speak soon!