TPG, iiNet, Internode, Westnet email customers to pay up to $95 annually from September
Varun Godinho
24 Jul 2024
Last year, TPG Telecom decided to get rid of email accounts linked to internet brands such as iiNet, Internode and Westnet as it sought to reduce costs.
It moved hundreds of thousands of email accounts linked of those brands to Norwegian-owned The Messaging Company.
From September, TPG Telecom’s former email customers who could previously operate their email accounts for free will be forced to pay between $30 and $95 every year for each account transferred to The Messaging Company.
The Messaging Company is a subsidiary of Brisbane-headquartered Atmail. Atmail was acquired by Norway’s Inbox.com in January, shortly after TPG email account holders were transferred.
As ChannelNews reported a few months ago, TPG Telecom customers charged the internet provider with forcing them to transfer their email accounts, and giving them only a few weeks to respond, prompting some consumers to approach the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC).
“From the day we contact customers, we are providing seven weeks for them to opt in to retain their email service, free-of-charge until September 15, 2024,” a TPG spokesman said at the time.
However, the former TPG email account holders who migrated to The Messaging Company were not told at the time how much it would cost for them to continue keeping their email accounts open post the September 15 deadline.
Now, they have been informed that they will be charged between $2.50 and $7.95 per month from September 15 – depending on the storage – if those fees are paid up front, reported the Australian Financial Review. The charges add up to be more if paid monthly as opposed to annually. Transferred customers will have to pay separate fees for each email account they hold.
Andrea Martins, The Messaging Company’s general manager, claimed to have received a positive response from customers “who consider our fees very reasonable.” She added, “For a service that 83 per cent of our active customers use daily, we consider this excellent value for a service we are delivering 24/7.”
The telecommunications industry ombudsman, Cynthia Gebert, reportedly received more than 250 complaints related to TPG’s email address transfer issue. “I encourage telco customers to explore all available options in the market. What was a good deal some years ago may no longer be suitable, especially if telcos are raising their prices or making changes to products and services that are no longer fit for purpose,” said Gebert.
