Can I convert my sbcglobal.net account to a free yahoo.com account?

[iceblinklk]

I canceled my dsl service with AT&T a few weeks ago, and I got a postcard in the mail saying that I'm going to lose my email address and all email content in 30 or 60 days if I don't sign back up with AT&T. I spoke with someone at AT&T today and they said that when my account is canceled, I'll be prompted to transfer my sbcglobal.net account to a free yahoo account. However, he couldn't tell me the date that this will supposedly happen. The thing is that I'm hearing conflicting stories. I have a friend who canceled his dsl service many months ago, and he's still using his sbcglobal.net email address. He was never prompted to convert his account to a yahoo account. On the other hand, I've seen so many horror stories online of people who suddenly had their account totally canceled and they lost everything. So I don't know what to expect, and I don't really feel like waiting indefinitely to either (a) be prompted to transfer my account or (b) log in one day and find that all my email has disappeared forever. So my question is: can I just go ahead and convert my sbcglobal.net account to a yahoo.com account now? Or is there a way for me to move/copy all my email from my sbcglobal account to an existing yahoo account? And no, I don't want to forward all my messages to myself, one by one.... Thanks in advance for any help!

[akee]

there are 2 possibilities:

1. if your @sbcglobal.net email ID is or shows Powered by Yahoo! in the AT&T system, you will be able to keep the portal and the email access. nothing will change. it will still allow you to access the home/mail pages (@sbcglobal.net) thru att.yahoo.com website even after disconnecting the service.

2. if your email ID is not Powered by Yahoo!, you could still access the email ID @sbcglobal.net for the next 60 days at att.yahoo.com website. sometime after that you can transfer your email information (contacts, email folders, emails etc.) to a free @yahoo.com email ID. you will encounter a TRAP page telling you that your email ID either needs to be reactivated or renamed to a free account. you just need to click on the TRANSFER button.

once the transfer has been completed, you can start accessing your email ID at www.yahoo.com website. no need to type the domain @sbcglobal.net anymore.

ex. akee@sbcglobal.net will become akee@yahoo.com; just type akee as the username when you login at www.yahoo.com

hope this helps!

[akee]

for more info, visit this link:
What happens to my existing Yahoo! ID after my service is disconnected or canceled?

[iceblinklk]

Ok, thank you. I fall into the first category, but I still feel a little worried that at some point in the future, AT&T could change course and decide to delete my account and I would lose everything. So I wonder if I can just convert my account to a yahoo.com account anyway. I would feel a little safer knowing that my account is not tethered to AT&T in any way. Is there a way to do this?

[akee]

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iceblinklk wrote:
Ok, thank you. I fall into the first category, but I still feel a little worried that at some point in the future, AT&T could change course and decide to delete my account and I would lose everything. So I wonder if I can just convert my account to a yahoo.com account anyway. I would feel a little safer knowing that my account is not tethered to AT&T in any way. Is there a way to do this?

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i understand that you want assurance. i'd be a lot concerned too if it was my own email account. but i doubt if you can immediately change your AT&T ID to free Yahoo!. it's an automated option/prompt that only shows after 60-90 days.

to make you feel better, i suggest that you back up your email info. export your email contacts to a CSV file and then save them on your computer. you may also download your emails to your computer thru a client email program like Outlook, Outlook Express etc. just make sure to first set your client email to LEAVE COPIES on the server before you start downloading them to your computer. this way, whatever happens to your AT&T email ID, you at least have a back up file.

[idmom505]

Hi! I accidently transferred my sbcglobal.net account to a free yahoo.com account when my sbc account was suspended temporarily. I had no idea it was permanent...at least that's what sbc tech support says. Does anyone know a way to merge the new yahoo account I created back to my original sbcglobal.net (that is NOW working again)? I feel like my life is fractured since I have my sbc account working again but it has none of my folders, emails, contacts...they are sitting in this new yahoo account that I never plan on using again. HELP!!! Tech support says my emails cannot be merged back to sbc from yahoo. Yahoo says it's sbc's problem. I think that since two clicks made it all happen, that it shouldn't be that hard for sbc to pull the emails back. Thanks,

[andyy_1]

Hi, your post was very helpful and I wanted to see if I could clarify something.  My wife and I just moved to a house that does not have AT&T service available unless we dig a trench and pay for work to run a pipe to the house.  Service that is available to the house is Time Warner which would be no big deal to set up.  My email is @sbcglobal.net (my wife's is also @sbcglobal.net).   our email shows "powered by Yahoo Mail" in upper right hand corner.  if we cancel our dsl service with AT&T and go with Time Warner, does this mean that folks will still be able to send us email using @sbcglobal.net addresses?  for my business and my wife's business, we've been using our @sbcglobal.net email addresses for a while so informing folks of change to @yahoo.com is not trivial.   I'd like to stay with AT&T but right now only reason I'm looking at big expense to dig trenches, pay for electricians, etc. is to keep our email addresses!   related, does AT&T offer a service where you can pay $xx/month to keep your email address even if you cancel their dsl service.   Thank you so much for your input as this is super stressful right now on top of all the other stuff going on with our move.   Andy

[Penny_1]

Hello andyy,

As per the procedure, once a AT&T DSL/DIAL customer disconnects their AT&T DSL service, their Member ID (AT&T Yahoo! email address) will be placed on a free AT&T Dial plan with full access to email and portal for 60 days (at this point if you want you can continue paying for the Dial up services and can use the full access to email). If you do not want to use AT&T Dial up services, on day 61, the free AT&T Dial service is terminated; however, the customer retains access to their Member ID(s), email, and portal. At this point, the ID will be a Free AT&T Email and Member ID. If the former customer orders DSL or Dial service in the future, they have the opportunity to register their DSL/Dial Internet Service with their Free AT&T Email and Member ID.

In order to get more information about the same, it is recommended that you contact AT&T order department at 1-800-288-2020, they will check your AT&T account details and will be able to answer your queries accordingly. Please call them between 8am to 6pm Monday through Friday.

[andyy_1]

Hello Penny, thanks so much for your response.  I will call the customer service number you shared to confirm.  Sorry to be a bit dense on this but wanted to double check I am clear on what you shared.  If we cancel dsl with AT&T and go with another internet provider (not my first choice, but doesn't look like I'll be able to get AT&T at my new house), on day 61+ will my wife and I still have full access to our ***@sbcglobal.net email accounts?  (send, receive, stored messages, contacts,etc).  I took away from your note that the answer was yes, but didn't want to get this wrong.  I also saw on another post that because we signed up for our account through a sbc/yahoo joint offer and that since our email shows "powered by Yahoo" that even if we no longer have our internet connectivity through AT&T, we will retain full use of our ***@sbcglobal.net email addresses.  does this sound right?  This whole thing is very important to us since we've had these addresses for so long and also a bit confusing as I've seen other posts that indicate that if we cancel dsl with AT&T our email accounts will either get turned off and we will get pushed to create a new @yahoo.com address; neither of which is optimal.  

thanks so much for your input.

[Penny_1]

Hello andyy,

I certainly understand your point and will be happy to answer your query about the same. You have understand it correctly, if you cancel dsl with AT&T and go with another internet provider, on day 61+ you and your wife still have full access to our ***@sbcglobal.net email accounts (send, receive, stored messages, contacts,etc) and your AT&T email address will become a free Yahoo! email address.

To get assistance with your free AT&T Yahoo! email address, you'll need to contact AT&T mobility team at 800-331-0500 (they work from Monday to Saturday from 7am-11pm).

[dimi1234]

So, a work-around would be to transfer your free Yahoo! Account to a Yahoo! Asia account (lost of places tell you how too do this. This works: http://tinyurl.com/4mjgzwt.) Then enable POP3. Use the POP3 to transfer all your emails to your new sbcglobal, and continue from there.

[mjalto]

I have a similar issue.  I've had an ameritech.net email address forever, since dialup was available.  We have moved and can no longer have ATT service.  How can we determine if our email address is yahoo powered?  If it is yahoo powered, do we retain it through yahoo? 

Any help anyone can provide would be appreciated.  I've gotten many different answers from ATT. They indicate you won't be able to keep it, but they have no clue about yahoo powered email addresses.

[Lucretia_1]

Hi mjalto,

We understand your concern and realize the inconvenience you are experiencing.

Since you have cancelled AT&T services, the e-mail address would now be a free AT&T e-mail address. However, you would have access to the e-mail account.

Please access the online support at http://support.att.com/freememberid

For further queries and if you are located in the one of the following states AR, CA, CT, IL, IN, KS, MI, MO, NV, OH, OK, TX, & WI, please contact chat support from the web link provided below

https://pattta.att.motive.com/netagent/questionnaire_c2c_dsl_sw.aspx

[Gadget_1]

Not sure the link provided by "Lucretia_1" applies to your situation.

Try this:

http://www.att.net/s/s.dll?spage=host/getatt.htm&ch=mb

(Be sure to click on "I already have an AT&T Member ID".)

Although this (http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB409070&ct=9000741&title=Why+can%27t+I+register+for+a+f...) leads me to believe you can't sign up for free @att.net mail now.

Give it a try and let us know if it works.

[norafabiana]

Help! I have not had sbcglobal for years, and I pay for the premium yahoo service. I do not use my sbcglobal address, and get nothing but spam. i REALLY want to DISCONTINUE my sbcglobal.net address. I have looked every wehre and do not see how to do this. I want nothing to do with sbcglobal or att, I just want my yahoo.com address. PLEASE HELP!

[violet13]

Can someone who posted above report back if they were able to keep their sbcglobal.net address? All the information I see on the att.com website says after 60 days you need to create a new yahooID and your old member id goes away.