mail sent to old o2 email account - sender not told undeliverable

[CarolB]

Hi

I had an o2.co.uk email a few years ago. I know all o2 email addresses were closed around 2016.

I have found out recently that some old contacts have sent mail to this old o2 email account and it has not been rejected so from their POV the mail has reached my account and I have not replied.

I thought when an email address was no longer active the sender would receive an automated message to say mail undeliverable - is this not the case with o2? Is there any way to have this undeliverable message activated?

Thanks 

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

@CarolB 

There were undeliverable messages sent for a period of time after closure but that was only whilst the servers were still active.

Once the servers close completely, there is no way of getting a status.

[CarolB]

Thanks @MI5 

[MI5]

No problem.....

[pgn]

---

@CarolB wrote:

Hi

I had an o2.co.uk email a few years ago. I know all o2 email addresses were closed around 2016.

I have found out recently that some old contacts have sent mail to this old o2 email account and it has not been rejected so from their POV the mail has reached my account and I have not replied.

I thought when an email address was no longer active the sender would receive an automated message to say mail undeliverable - is this not the case with o2? Is there any way to have this undeliverable message activated?

Thanks 

---

Actually, @CarolB, an error e-mail is generated, but only because the sender's system cannot connect to the receiver's, in this case, O2.co.uk's, systems.

This error can take a few hours or days to be delivered back to the sender, and in many cases, the sender's system may mask or drop the warning. Eventually the sending system will give up and return an e-mail to the sender. 

Sample error from a Gmail account to an O2 e-mail address, now defunct, given below for ref. 

Your contacts will have received something like this, but it may be filtered into Spam or some other folder or label - ask them to check if you wish to correct the error, and to stop losing e-mail to a now defunct address and system, get them to correct your e-mail address in their address book(s). 

Still kudos to @@mi5 for the solution tho 👍