Wouldn't it be nice?

[frostbite]

......if there was a facility to re-direct emails?

Most of us will probably move ISP etc., at some time or several times, thus losing our email address(es). It's a right PIA when it happens.

So why is there no re-direct facility? Or is there?

[Peter Fanelli]

Yes it is a pain in the butt.
Actually getting people to change your address in their address books can be tiresome.
Here's one way to solve it.
Sign up with a free email service, gmail.com in my case as use that as your email address. You can then access that from whatever email client you wish to use and if for any reason you have to change ISP's later you just don't have to notify everyone of a new address. Just because your ISP gives you an email address doesn't mean you have to actually use that one.

[frostbite]

I am with both Gmail & Yahoo, but I have tended to give my ISP address to personal friends and use the former for groups/forums etc..

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Most of us will probably move ISP etc., at some time or several times, thus losing our email address(es).
I have my own domain. Thus when I change ISPs (and I use several, at once, for different services) the email address comes with me. Last time I switched hosting providers there was zero downtime and zero lost emails.

Yes, it costs a little more than the "free" email addresses from ISPs and webmail outfits, but sometimes you get what you pay for.

[hellsbrink]

All I can say, Frostbite, is check with your ISP/email provider.

Some will let you leave an "automated message" so you can set that to tell everyone that sends you an email to contact you at your "new" email address. The good thing is, the spam can't follow that....

Of course, you do tell those contacts who are important that you have changed your addy, and the right people will tell the company/other contacts/yada yada

[5711N0205W]

For the last 10 years I have used a paid for service (pobox.com). You select your alias (up to 3), i.e. [email protected] and any mail coming to this address is automatically redirected to the email of your choice (more than one if you like). An added benefit is built in SPAM filtering, this service works for me :)

[Keef]

What Gertrude said.

I have several domains, all of which forward (some via Spamcop) to my "real" ISP address. Nobody (but nobody) has that address.

When I change ISP, all I have to do is go into the control panel of the "master" domain and change one setting. I've done that three times now, and it's dead easy.

I pay under £7 for two years service on each domain.

The main one is just [email protected] - nobody has a problem remembering that. I also have [email protected] for those who forget, and put .uk on the end.

The great advantage is that it's totally transparent, the address is easy for my contacts to remember, and I don't have all the faff of webmail etc.