Changes to Alias and Virtual Domain Limits - Page 3

raddygast · 8 Apr 2006, 10:17 AM

Yes yes yes that all makes sense and you must feel very proud at being so sensible and logical.

The reason I'm confused is that there is a monthly charge for those extra things (or rather, there was), but it seems to be charged all up front. I'm ok with that practically, but is it conceptually still a monthly charge? If it is, then maybe the remaining months should be credited. If it is conceptually a YEARLY lump sum thing calculated per month, then the pricing plan should reflect that, and instead of saying $1/mth, it should say $12/yr for example.

rmns2bseen · 8 Apr 2006, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by raddygast
Yes yes yes that all makes sense and you must feel very proud at being so sensible and logical.

Proud at having wasted so much money?? Nahhhhhh....

landale · 8 Apr 2006, 10:37 AM

This is fantastic news and I hate to nitpick but with 6 aliases and 10 poplinks having only 8 personalities is woefully inadequate for full customers. Just moving it up to 15 would probably help a lot of people out right now.

raddygast · 8 Apr 2006, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by rmns2bseen
Proud at having wasted so much money?? Nahhhhhh....

I was replying to hadaso. Your post snuck in before I composed mine.

beq · 8 Apr 2006, 12:13 PM

Hey, I counted that we've paid $800-900 thus far to add extra mail storage to my family's various Enhanced accounts.

(In contrast, I think we've only paid less than a couple of hundred dollars so far for other add-ons such as extra bandwidth, virtual domains, aliases, SMS credits, etc.)

So yes, I would also feel sad when (if?) FM lowers their extra storage one-time fees. Especially since most of the other FM accounts are only relegated as backup archives now. Truthfully I didn't really need to store a copy of everything in these FM accounts (which require extra storage), but I had been too impulsive (or rather, obsessive)

DianeB · 8 Apr 2006, 02:06 PM

Wow--my full account now has *more* aliases that I wasn't aware of, until I happened to have time to stop by, and just happened to read this thread.

Sure wish there were *some* way that FM could notify us of changes via email, as I have mine set to "chatty", but very very seldom get anything from FM, when there are changes.

OTOH,,,I'm certainly not complaining about the new increase of aliases, including one that can have only 2-4 characters.

~Diane

David · 8 Apr 2006, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mikedk
Throwing my own pennysworth in; I also have one virtual domain, and one named alias. I don't need anything like the capacity that goes with an Enhanced service either. The increase of $6 is really nothing to moan about but I feel I'm being forced into a service/situation which I would not have entered into if I was in the process of now looking for a provider to service my individual needs. There would have been no logic in me getting and paying for all the services and facilities on offer to the FM Enhanced user if I was not going to ever use them.

I have a Tuffmail account, that cost me $15.95 when I purchased last year. It allows me to have unlimited domains and aliases. A price increased occurred a couple of months ago (some features were added that I don't want or need) The new account that replaces mine is $18 a year currently.

The good news is that Tuffmail have grandfathered my account (although it is not available to new customers) I can renew for $15.95 a year, when my account next becomes due. IMO, Fastmail should have adopted a similar plan - the bottom line - it is not a good idea to upset your (existing) good customers.

Terry · 8 Apr 2006, 02:55 PM

Just enjoy it.....

whats a few bucks in a life time.

David · 8 Apr 2006, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Terry
Just enjoy it..... whats a few bucks in a life time.

Terry: I have a friend who lives in Nigeria, who earns a little over $100 US a month, even though he has a University education - a few bucks is a lot of money to some people.

robmueller · 8 Apr 2006, 08:51 PM

There is only 1 situation where people are worse off. Full accounts who had 1 extra virtual domain + < 5 virtual aliases. All other cases are better off.

So the only thing we could have grandfathered was somehow allowing those people to pay for full + 1 domain + < 5 virtual alaises, and keep what they had. This was literally only about 20 people, and would have been a huge complexity to do just for the 20 people.

Apart from aligning better with other providers in the market, one part of the reasons for what we did was to remove internal complexity on the whole calculation of extra alias costs to go with the subscription costs. This now makes the renewal cost one fixed amount for all people.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that we understand grandfathering, but we believed that this issue affected sufficiently small number of people, and the cost difference was sufficiently small to not justify the required complexity.

I'm sure some of the people that were affected don't agree, but it's a decision we decided to make, I'm sorry if you feel high aggreived by it. Obviously that wasn't our intention.

Rob

robmueller · 8 Apr 2006, 08:53 PM

DianeB: I'm planning on sending out a newsletter soon to let everyone know of the changes.

Hadaso: Thanks for the pointers, I'll fix them up soon. FYI, when you move from a link down onto the area that popped up, it should stay there, it should only disappear when you move off the link and off the area that popped up...

Rob

**ReuvenNY** · 9 Apr 2006, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Terry
Just enjoy it..... whats a few bucks in a life time.

It's not a question of money only - it's a long standing tradition in this industry to "grandfather" existing accounts. Departing from it just doesn't leave a good taste in your mouth, so to speak.

**Shelded** · 9 Apr 2006, 04:27 AM

The feature list has been one of the most poorly written things forever, and I welcome a rewrite. What you have is an improvement.

I think most sites display a feature grid like this with a fixed layout instead of using CSS or HTML that resizes as the window does. I think it's better to have you absolutely control this page so it makes the best possible presentation. This is a marketing tool and I think it is still a bit unsightly.

Rolling over/Clicking the links at the left does nothing but go to the top of the page (I have disallowed scripting). When I allow it I understand what you intended.

Would printing display the additional information for any or all of the items on the page? It appears not to be available unless I turn off scripting, reload the page before printing.

I recommend WHITE background with clear grid dividers for legibility. Also the current gridline is invisible on my print preview.

Wouldn't you dare to create another one of these as a comparison table? I think you should put the Full account and Enhanced in a table against the Yahoo $20 account -- for better or worse, your Full account compares closely to it. Put in a few others too. I think you can show your strength.

[edit: FROM ADDRESS -- this feature is critical to me and you don't clearly show that we have unlimited/unrestricted use of the From Address. I recommend it be in the table distinctly different from Personalities. For example, anyone shopping for that feature will think FM only supports 3 From addresses at a Member level when that is not correct.]

**Shelded** · 9 Apr 2006, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ReuvenNY
It's not a question of money only - it's a long standing tradition in this industry to "grandfather" existing accounts. Departing from it just doesn't leave a good taste in your mouth, so to speak.

If it's a matter of money, FM could offer a $6 certificate to those 20 users who are affected. Offer them a two-year registration with that deal.

Regarding the change: I have a Full account which will be quite happy since it needed more aliases but uses no domains since the domains go through my Enhanced account. I'm quite happy with this news.

mikedk · 9 Apr 2006, 04:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by robmueller
There is only 1 situation where people are worse off. Full accounts who had 1 extra virtual domain + < 5 virtual aliases. All other cases are better off.............

...............Basically what I'm trying to say is that we understand grandfathering, but we believed that this issue affected sufficiently small number of people, and the cost difference was sufficiently small to not justify the required complexity.

I'm sure some of the people that were affected don't agree, but it's a decision we decided to make, I'm sorry if you feel high aggreived by it. Obviously that wasn't our intention.

Rob

As one of the 20 I'm not sure if I should feel either aggrieved by the situation I am now in, or elated in some way by having been such an anomoly in the overall scheme of things.

9 Apr 2006, 04:27 AM	#43
Shelded Moderator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: USA Northwest Posts: 3,849	Pricing Table comments The feature list has been one of the most poorly written things forever, and I welcome a rewrite. What you have is an improvement. I think most sites display a feature grid like this with a fixed layout instead of using CSS or HTML that resizes as the window does. I think it's better to have you absolutely control this page so it makes the best possible presentation. This is a marketing tool and I think it is still a bit unsightly. Rolling over/Clicking the links at the left does nothing but go to the top of the page (I have disallowed scripting). When I allow it I understand what you intended. Would printing display the additional information for any or all of the items on the page? It appears not to be available unless I turn off scripting, reload the page before printing. I recommend WHITE background with clear grid dividers for legibility. Also the current gridline is invisible on my print preview. Wouldn't you dare to create another one of these as a comparison table? I think you should put the Full account and Enhanced in a table against the Yahoo $20 account -- for better or worse, your Full account compares closely to it. Put in a few others too. I think you can show your strength. [edit: FROM ADDRESS -- this feature is critical to me and you don't clearly show that we have unlimited/unrestricted use of the From Address. I recommend it be in the table distinctly different from Personalities. For example, anyone shopping for that feature will think FM only supports 3 From addresses at a Member level when that is not correct.] Last edited by Shelded : 9 Apr 2006 at 04:45 AM.

8 Apr 2006, 10:17 AM	#31
raddygast Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 99	Yes yes yes that all makes sense and you must feel very proud at being so sensible and logical. The reason I'm confused is that there is a monthly charge for those extra things (or rather, there was), but it seems to be charged all up front. I'm ok with that practically, but is it conceptually still a monthly charge? If it is, then maybe the remaining months should be credited. If it is conceptually a YEARLY lump sum thing calculated per month, then the pricing plan should reflect that, and instead of saying $1/mth, it should say $12/yr for example.

8 Apr 2006, 10:37 AM	#33
landale Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Washington DC Posts: 142	This is fantastic news and I hate to nitpick but with 6 aliases and 10 poplinks having only 8 personalities is woefully inadequate for full customers. Just moving it up to 15 would probably help a lot of people out right now.

8 Apr 2006, 12:13 PM	#35
beq Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: USA Posts: 895	Hey, I counted that we've paid $800-900 thus far to add extra mail storage to my family's various Enhanced accounts. (In contrast, I think we've only paid less than a couple of hundred dollars so far for other add-ons such as extra bandwidth, virtual domains, aliases, SMS credits, etc.) So yes, I would also feel sad when (if?) FM lowers their extra storage one-time fees. Especially since most of the other FM accounts are only relegated as backup archives now. Truthfully I didn't really need to store a copy of everything in these FM accounts (which require extra storage), but I had been too impulsive (or rather, obsessive)

8 Apr 2006, 02:06 PM	#36
DianeB Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: USA-South Carolina Posts: 503	Wow--my full account now has more aliases that I wasn't aware of, until I happened to have time to stop by, and just happened to read this thread. Sure wish there were some way that FM could notify us of changes via email, as I have mine set to "chatty", but very very seldom get anything from FM, when there are changes. OTOH,,,I'm certainly not complaining about the new increase of aliases, including one that can have only 2-4 characters. ~Diane

8 Apr 2006, 02:55 PM	#38
Terry The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: VK4 Posts: 3,029	Just enjoy it..... whats a few bucks in a life time.

8 Apr 2006, 08:51 PM	#40
robmueller Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 6,102 Representative of: Fastmail.FM	There is only 1 situation where people are worse off. Full accounts who had 1 extra virtual domain + < 5 virtual aliases. All other cases are better off. So the only thing we could have grandfathered was somehow allowing those people to pay for full + 1 domain + < 5 virtual alaises, and keep what they had. This was literally only about 20 people, and would have been a huge complexity to do just for the 20 people. Apart from aligning better with other providers in the market, one part of the reasons for what we did was to remove internal complexity on the whole calculation of extra alias costs to go with the subscription costs. This now makes the renewal cost one fixed amount for all people. Basically what I'm trying to say is that we understand grandfathering, but we believed that this issue affected sufficiently small number of people, and the cost difference was sufficiently small to not justify the required complexity. I'm sure some of the people that were affected don't agree, but it's a decision we decided to make, I'm sorry if you feel high aggreived by it. Obviously that wasn't our intention. Rob

8 Apr 2006, 08:53 PM	#41
robmueller Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 6,102 Representative of: Fastmail.FM	DianeB: I'm planning on sending out a newsletter soon to let everyone know of the changes. Hadaso: Thanks for the pointers, I'll fix them up soon. FYI, when you move from a link down onto the area that popped up, it should stay there, it should only disappear when you move off the link and off the area that popped up... Rob