rsm@math.arizona.edu (Robert S. Maier) (07/29/89)
A few days ago I had a bad experience with Compuserve which I thought
I had better share.
I was trying to test out the new Internet<->Compuserve mail link, and
sent a mail message from my machine on the Internet to my account on
Compuserve. Unfortunately I was unable to log in to Compuserve to
check for it. I contacted Compuserve customer service, and they told
me my account was cancelled last week for lack of use. (It's been
quite a few months since I last logged in.)
No problem, or so it seemed. I asked them to turn the account back on
and bill me whatever their fee for that is. But they said, no way.
You'll have to get a new account, and a new mailbox. But what about
mail directed to my old account's mailbox, I asked. Sorry, I was
told. Your mailbox will be new, and all mail sent to the old mailbox
will either be bounced or fall into a black hole.
This is pretty annoying. (At one time I included my old Compuserve
number in my .signature, and I'm sure some people still have it on
file.) Can a commercial firm like Compuserve, which is in the
business of selling mailboxes, deny me access to my mail like that?
I asked about forwarding mail from the old mailbox to the new, but
they said they'd never heard of such a practice.
Comments, anyone?
--
Robert S. Maier | Internet: rsm@math.arizona.edu [128.196.128.99]
Dept. of Math. | UUCP: ..{allegra,cmcl2,hao!noao}!arizona!amethyst!rsm
Univ. of Arizona | Bitnet: maier@arizrvax
Tucson, AZ 85721 | FAX: +1 602 621 8322
U.S.A. | Voice: +1 602 621 6893 / +1 602 621 2617sam@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Sam Neely) (07/31/89)
In article <RSM.89Jul28182221@turquoise.math.arizona.edu> rsm@math.arizona.edu (Robert S. Maier) writes: >I was trying to test out the new Internet<->Compuserve mail link, and >sent a mail message from my machine on the Internet to my account on >Compuserve. Unfortunately I was unable to log in to Compuserve to >check for it. I contacted Compuserve customer service, and they told >me my account was cancelled last week for lack of use. (It's been >quite a few months since I last logged in.) > >No problem, or so it seemed. I asked them to turn the account back on >and bill me whatever their fee for that is. But they said, no way. >You'll have to get a new account, and a new mailbox. But what about >mail directed to my old account's mailbox, I asked. Sorry, I was >told. Your mailbox will be new, and all mail sent to the old mailbox >will either be bounced or fall into a black hole. > >This is pretty annoying. (At one time I included my old Compuserve >number in my .signature, and I'm sure some people still have it on >file.) Can a commercial firm like Compuserve, which is in the >business of selling mailboxes, deny me access to my mail like that? Sure they can. You wouldn't expect the phone company to give you back your old phone number after it had been disconnected for a year, would you? No, they would probably tell you that someone else now has the number and you'l have to get a new one. If I'm not mistaken, a letter is sent out when your account is about to be canceled for non-use or if your credit card is about to expire. All you needed to do was log on, call customer service or write a letter. Heck, in the case of non-use, they sometimes include a credit as incentive to log back on! The mail sent to your old ID number will not land in the bit bucket. It will bounce back to the sender. The way I see it, CompuServe is not in the business of selling mailboxes. They sell an information service, and as a side effect you get electronic mail. (There isn't a yearly mailbox maintenance fee like those who sell mail exclusively, now, is there?) - Sam
davidsen@sungod.crd.ge.com (William Davidsen) (08/02/89)
In article <56378@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> Sam Neely <sam@cis.ohio-state.edu> writes: | The way I see it, CompuServe is not in the business of selling mailboxes. | They sell an information service, and as a side effect you get electronic | mail. (There isn't a yearly mailbox maintenance fee like those who sell | mail exclusively, now, is there?) If there isn't, what was all the discussion in comp.misc (I believe) that they were now charging a $1.50/mo for something or another (a mailing as I recall). If they are billing you monthly and you're paying, how can they claim your account was inactive? You have the receipts to show you paid. Assuming that there is a monthly fee, regardless of the size, If it were me I think I'd have my lawyer send them a letter asking politely that the service for which payment has been made be reinstated, and gently waiving the possibility of a lawsuit. bill davidsen (davidsen@crdos1.crd.GE.COM) {uunet | philabs}!crdgw1!crdos1!davidsen "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me
spcecdt@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Space Cadet) (08/03/89)
The whole thing sounds rather odd to me. I just logged on to CompuServe last month... for the first time since March '88 (that's what the system told me when I logged on, and what I remember). 16 months without logging on, during which time they did not nuke my account, and kept sending me their magazine. They even got hold of my new address when I moved somehow; perhaps from returned magazines since I didn't bother telling them. Most of this period was before they instituted the "account maintenance fee". I had only logged on a few times before that. Hard to imagine them nuking an account after only a few months of disuse. John DuBois spcecdt@ucscb.ucsc.edu ...!ucbvax!ucscc!ucscb!spcecdt