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Old 10 Nov 2021, 09:12 PM   #1
Csin
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 189
Tutanota a ripoff!

Even though I paid in full early this year, Tutanota disabled my account recently for not logging in within six months. Who does that with a paid account? Tutanota! I highly advise against a paid account...stick with a free one.
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Old 11 Nov 2021, 12:49 AM   #2
JeremyNicoll
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Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Scotland
Posts: 483
If you've not used it in 6 months, it doesn't seem unreasonable to me that they might suspect you've died and want to prevent someone else using it.

What's more important is whether or not they reactivated it for you, and whether mails, processing rules etc (if you had any) were still present on their servers.
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Old 11 Nov 2021, 07:47 AM   #3
TenFour
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Hopefully they at least sent you some warnings they were going to disable the account. To do it without warning is not good.
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Old 11 Nov 2021, 10:52 AM   #4
Csin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JeremyNicoll View Post
If you've not used it in 6 months, it doesn't seem unreasonable to me that they might suspect you've died and want to prevent someone else using it.

What's more important is whether or not they reactivated it for you, and whether mails, processing rules etc (if you had any) were still present on their servers.
When Hushmail, Fastmail. and others used to disable free accounts for 'inactivity', that was one thing. Requiring regular hand-holding, flowers and attention like some insecure girlfriend for a paid account is far different. I had that account for over a couple years, plenty of time for them to know I don't check in often, and I pay up every year at around February. Also, Paypal and my bank was regularly sending emails, so even if I was not logging in, it was obvious the account was active. You can spin doctor this all you want, but a paid account means you expect to get what you paid for, without any nonsense like Hushmail used to pull with their freebies.

As for reacvtivation, when you click 'contact' you have to sign in to do so, and with the account suspended, guess what that means? With a paid account one also expects to be able to contact the provider to, oh I don't know, demand a refund? I stand by what I said. Do not trust Tutanota with money. Stick to the free account....and remember you have to play the same game as Hushmail used to pull, free or paid....and if paid, be prepared for a rip-off.
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Old 11 Nov 2021, 04:11 PM   #5
Csin
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Join Date: Oct 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TenFour View Post
Hopefully they at least sent you some warnings they were going to disable the account. To do it without warning is not good.
I did not receive any warnings, but having opened the account years ago, I have no idea if I gave another email, and if I did, it could be one long gone. Many have closed down (like woomail & privacyharbor), and many I shut down for BigBro-ish activity (like GMX and Live.com). In any case, that is not the point. That point would be whether or not it is reasonable to pay for 12 months, and expect to get 12 months.

The Tutanota TOS clearly states that their free email accounts can be closed down if not logged in within six months. There is no such threat attached to their TOS for paid accounts, and I specifically turned the free account into a paid one years ago for that very reason. In any case, I have rerouted Paypal and the bank email to another address, and will be employing a more reputable and reliable provider next month, to replace this rip-off artist.
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Old 11 Nov 2021, 09:19 PM   #6
evfrson
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Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: London/Tokyo/Dubai
Posts: 149
Thanks for the heads-up of such shocking behaviour - I will be staying well away from them.
Can't you raise a dispute with your credit card/payment company since in effect you have paid for a service you haven't received ?
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Old 11 Nov 2021, 09:21 PM   #7
TenFour
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Try reaching them via Twitter. I know it is strange, but I have found that sometimes you can get a response using Twitter when nothing else works.
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Old 12 Nov 2021, 11:43 AM   #8
Csin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by evfrson View Post
Thanks for the heads-up of such shocking behaviour - I will be staying well away from them.
Can't you raise a dispute with your credit card/payment company since in effect you have paid for a service you haven't received ?
They are probably okay to use as a free account, so long as you are willing to check in and do the 'romancing' every six months, like Hushmail used to require. Wonder if Hushmail still requires that for their now paid-only accounts? Would not surprise me I suppose.

I could contest via Paypal, but it ain't worth the hassle. I think I paid something like $12 to $15 this February, which comes out to around $1 per month, so I got cheated out of like $4. It's not the money so much as it's the violation of trust, the hassle of switching Paypal and banks to another address, and so on.
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Old 12 Nov 2021, 11:59 AM   #9
Csin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TenFour View Post
Try reaching them via Twitter. I know it is strange, but I have found that sometimes you can get a response using Twitter when nothing else works.
I have already moved on, and have no desire to chase them around like a desperate suitor at the high school prom. The addresses have already been changed to another email provider, they have nuked any trust I had, proven themselves unreliable, and it's over.

Next month I'll look into replacing Tutanota with Lavabit...once I contact him, and make sure he doesn't have a 'hand-holding clause' in his TOS for paid accounts. I'd bet he doesn't. I know of no other email provider with this requirement for a paid account.
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Old 13 Nov 2021, 07:59 AM   #10
jarland
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My guess is that they had that logic down for free accounts and just never differentiated between free and paid for the logic of the automation. Likely they hadn't had many (if any) paid accounts that triggered the automation and then spoke up (meaning people either didn't idle the accounts or didn't notice it missing because they abandoned it).

I wouldn't be surprised if they would be interested in knowing that this happened.
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Old 14 Nov 2021, 09:53 AM   #11
Csin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jarland View Post
My guess is that they had that logic down for free accounts and just never differentiated between free and paid for the logic of the automation. Likely they hadn't had many (if any) paid accounts that triggered the automation and then spoke up (meaning people either didn't idle the accounts or didn't notice it missing because they abandoned it).

I wouldn't be surprised if they would be interested in knowing that this happened.
It could be, but if so, still shows to me a lack of planning and reliability towards paid users. I think if they were all that interested in hearing about glitches in their system, they would have a means of contact that does not require login....I spent sometime on Google early on looking for a means to circumvent that, and none were found. I definitely will not be joining BigBro wannabes like Fakebook or Twitter to do them any favors.
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Old 15 Nov 2021, 09:58 PM   #12
somdcomputerguy
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Posts: 876
There is a 'contact us' link on their website. I know there's an email address in the page that the 'I can't access my account' link resolves to. Do you have another means to send them an email?

- Bruce
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Old 16 Nov 2021, 06:26 AM   #13
Csin
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Join Date: Oct 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by somdcomputerguy View Post
There is a 'contact us' link on their website. I know there's an email address in the page that the 'I can't access my account' link resolves to. Do you have another means to send them an email?

- Bruce
As said, clicking on the 'contact' link goes to the login page. Somewhere in the mishmash there is a 'recovery code' wanted that I no longer have, which probably went the way of whichever alternate email address I used years ago to open the account. I recall an email address that either went no where or cycled back to the login page. About an hour wasted on Google sealed the deal on Tutanota.
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Old 22 Nov 2021, 06:02 AM   #14
webecedarian
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Join Date: Apr 2005
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Posts: 478
I think all email providers should prominently mention any inactivity cut-out right up-front.
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Old 24 Nov 2021, 11:46 AM   #15
Csin
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 189
Quote:
Originally Posted by webecedarian View Post
I think all email providers should prominently mention any inactivity cut-out right up-front.
It was not mentioned "prominently" as it took some digging to find, but it was mentioned that the free accounts were subject to the six month timeclock...they just 'forgot' to mention paid accounts were the same. Probably wanted it to seem like paid accounts were special to encourage the money flow. Anyway, I filed a report on Tutanota at

https://www.ripoffreport.com/report/...ccount-1513567

...so that concludes my misadventure with this email provider. Make of it what you will.
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