Billing for ClaraNet mail / GigaNews

[Kevin Reilly]

Are there any users of what used to be called ClaraNet Mail & News here
who have been as surprised as I to be billed by both Clara and GigaNews?

My initial interpretation of the FAQ at

http://www.uk.clara.net/node/2160

led me to believe that I would be billed GBP9.78 by GigaNews once my
service had migrated. I now realise I have been billed twice, once by
ClaraNet for the mail account and once by GigaNews for the Usenet. The
prices are identical.

While a second reading of the FAQ does allow for interpretation in this
way, particularly Question 2 of Section 1 which takes on a whole new
significance once one realises the new arrangement, I still feel the page
is somewhat misleading either by design or by accident.

Question 2 of Section 2 clearly states "You will be billed from Giganews,
*not* Claranet, in pounds sterling on your usual billing date." (emphasis
mine). At first reading I took this to be some sort of reciprocal
agreement between Clara and GigaNews whereby the former would get some
funding back to cover the costs of the e-mail provision. It's now clear
that this is in fact solely in relation to the Usenet side of things, and
that e-mail is still billable at the same rate by Clara. The fact that the
price for each of the services is an identical and unusual amount just
adds to the confusion.

I'm prepared to take the hit on this one because, to be fair, it's only a
tenner and had I read the FAQ *very* carefully while wearing my tinfoil
hat I may well have spotted this gotcha and not bothered activating the
GigaNews account which I didn't need in the first place. I will certainly
be cancelling it before the next billing cycle.

I'm still annoyed at the less than clear wording of ClaraNet's
documentation, though, and will definitely be letting them know of my
disappointment.

In the mean time (assuming I'm not the only numpty to have misinterpreted
the FAQ) if there's anyone else who's signed up for the Clara/GigaNews
account, kept their e-mail active and is expecting to pay the same as they
did last year, think again. If your billing cycle hasn't arrived yet it
might not be too late to cancel one or the other. Or at least to prepare
yourself to be billed twice.

--
Kev
__________________________________________________________________________
"Till the cowcomes home. Wield toys damage, burn-in prythee wind to
a close wield." Warning on Chinese toy

[Steve]

In article <B7adnZA9ouEuhUbX...@giganews.com>,
use...@denali.org.uk says...

>
> Are there any users of what used to be called ClaraNet Mail & News here
> who have been as surprised as I to be billed by both Clara and GigaNews?
>

Yes, this happened to me too.

>
> I'm prepared to take the hit on this one because, to be fair, it's only a
> tenner and had I read the FAQ *very* carefully while wearing my tinfoil
> hat I may well have spotted this gotcha and not bothered activating the
> GigaNews account which I didn't need in the first place. I will certainly
> be cancelling it before the next billing cycle.
>

I'll be considering cancelling. The gradual removal of features (such a
filtering being crippled) from email accounts make that pretty poor
value compared to some free accounts.

Steve.