Check your e-mail box regularly to avoid extra charge - CHOICE #368

When was the last time you check your e-mail box? It may be filled to the brim if not already overspilling.

The Consumer Council has received complaints about the charges that were imposed by some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for storing excessive e-mails. There were 6 cases in the first 4 months of this year.

In one recent case, a consumer was charged an extra $100 in his monthly bill for exceeding his preset e-mail storage capacity of 5 megabytes.

The consumer complained he had no control over incoming e-mails, including spams, being sent to him, and sought the intervention of the Council. The matter was later resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant.

The company concerned also agreed to adopt the following practices as with other ISPs:

First, once the e-mail storage limits have been reached to a certain level, say 80%, the company will send warning notifications to customers by e-mails to alert them of such imminent excess.

Second, customers can preset the maximum ceiling of e-mail storage capacity so that any excessive incoming e-mails will be automatically stopped. If necessary, they can also opt to allow a certain margin for additional storage at a surcharge.

Apart from normal incoming e-mails, consumers should be mindful of spams in their e-mail boxes. These unsolicited e-mails may easily fill up the free/preset storage limit and trigger the charges for excessive e-mail storage.

To avoid incurring unnecessary charges, consumers are advised to check their e-mail accounts regularly and remove any obsolete or unwanted e-mails.