that's what I'm assuming. Their recent hike from $10 to $12 seemed entirely reasonable. And then this HUGE hike they just pulled off is just off the charts.
I gave up hosting my own mailserver a few years ago due to the obsessive mail server security hikes that basically made it impossible to host my own mailserver at my own house anymore. RBLs, certificates, etc. So I just gave up and went to Rackspace because their prices were reasonable. $10 a month for basically just an email is a bit high, but reasonable. And now i have to change again.
I've had my own email domain for decades, and I have NO intention of changing my address to a Gmail. But I only have a few weeks to hunt around, make a choice, and make the change. It's likely they'll be getting a month of their blood money from me before I can get my exit plan figured out.
Like you, I'm assuming they're doing the collosal hike to get out of the consumer email business. When I did a text chat with them the rep flat out refused to acknowledge that I was a private individual and not a company. Even after I'd told him several times that I was an individual with a personal domain, he still continued to talk with me about "your company". So I have to assume they've been told to ignore anything the customer says and treat everyone like a company / business. If you're not a business, they no longer want you as a customer, you're not made of money.
Their service has been good, it's a shame they don't want to do business with us anymore. Who's a good alternative for "the common man"? I'm looking for 2-3 email addresses, with capabiity of handling hundreds of aliases. (used for controlling spam and tracking places I sign up for / sources of spam and marketing emails for easy disconnection)