Backify Closes Free Accounts, Starts to Charge for Storage
by Kristian Vättö on November 16, 2011 9:26 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
- Online Storage
- Backify
Two months ago, we wrote about a new online storage provider called Backify. Backify got our attention because of their magnificent offer: 512GB of "totally free" online storage. I had to use quotes because Backify has now revealed their real business plan, and it's no longer free. From now on, the 512GB plan costs $1.50 a month. All free accounts will be closed on November 22nd, unless you are willing to pay the $1.50 monthly fee.
(Prices pulled due to fraud concerns)
While their new prices are still good, I have to say I'm anything but pleased with their service. I tried to sign up for their free plan several times with multiple email accounts, and every time I faced some kind of an error. I even waited a couple of weeks to see if it was just a temporary server issue, but no, I kept getting the same error. Contacting their support wasn't any better experience either. At first, I sent their support an email asking if we could review Backify (we would have needed some extra details). I waited for a few days but didn't get an answer. I then sent the same email to their CEO, Tarandeep Gill. No answer as of today. I also sent an email about the sign up problem but as you may guess, I haven't received a reply.
Due to their lousy support and fishy business model, I cannot recommend Backify to anyone. In the end, you would be giving them your personal files. Besides, what stops them from increasing the prices again? This is actually a pretty common business model. Mozy used to offer unlimited backups for $5 a month but nowadays, they charge $6/month for 50GB. Keep the prices low (or even free) to attract customers and when you reach a certain customer base, increase the price. Nice.
Update: The plot thickens. We just received a tip that the contract between Backify and Livedrive is no longer valid. Livedrive is the company which provided the technology and service behind Backify, so Backify was just a reseller. Since Backify is no longer able to provide any service, we strongly advise you to cancel your account and contact your credit card company if you have provided credit card information to Backify.
Big thanks to Yoni, Matthew and Jérôme for tipping us!
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MrJawbones - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
"inform you" "terminated", with no explanation of what happened. Seems pretty cold to me. Not that I'm against livedrive or anything. Backify probably was receiving hundreds of Emails for support and made the hallmark of all f-up's, they just ignored them because they didn't haven an answer yet.If you can't fix the problem the least you can do is let me know you're working on it, or tell people there are some serious issues, etc...
/agree on the fly-by-night comment. I was suspicious as soon as they sent me my password in plain text in an Email. That really pisses me off!
CharonPDX - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
I read it as "someone reselling our service did something we consider fraudulent. As such, we have terminated our services through them. You can create an account with us, or here are some non-affiliated companies that provide similar services."Personally, I'm *GLAD* they deleted it. Being screwed by one company is bad, having another company "hold my data hostage" would be worse. If they HAD said "but you can regain access to it by paying us $xyz" I would have considered them complicit in the fraud and *REALLY* been pissed at them. Now I see them as an unwitting provider...
calansvc - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
"Personally, I'm *GLAD* they deleted it. Being screwed by one company is bad, having another company "hold my data hostage" would be worse. If they HAD said "but you can regain access to it by paying us $xyz" I would have considered them complicit in the fraud and *REALLY* been pissed at them. "At this point, I WISH someone was holding my data hostage. I was using briefcase, and now even my local copies are inaccessible from any of 3 different computers. So not only are my online backup copies gone, I can't even get to the local copies. And that is 100% on LD since they won't provide an alternative to getting their software to run locally so I can retrieve my own files on my own local machine.
erple2 - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
Sadly, no, it's not on LD at all. It's on Backify to not screw you over, not on LD at all. In fact, LD went the extra mile to let you know that they were terminating their agreement with Backify due to whatever reasons there were.Visual - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
I'm having a hard time imagining what kind of "fraudulent" thing Backify did, besides maybe not paying up the $60 per month. http://www.livedrive.com/ForResellers
Besides, regardless of what "fraudulent" thing that was, LD should not have taken it on the end users.
It seems possible to me that LD was just not able to have enough servers and storage space for all the data. We're probably talking about tens of thousands of accounts, and I just can't imagine how $60 per month can cover it. So at some point, LD found out that they can't in fact cover it. And decided to delete it.
mino - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
from LiveDrive AD:"Your customers are your customers
As a Livedrive reseller, your customers remain your own. We will never contact your customers for any reason."
SUUUURE ...
If Backify lawyers are any good, they can easily bury LiveDrive for good in damages.
erple2 - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
Ultimately, if Backify is a sketchy dealer, they don't have to even let you know that they're no longer in business. I consider it a service that LD has let customers that were potentially screwed over by Backify know of the shady practices.And you're assuming that Backify even has lawyers...
Visual - Wednesday, November 23, 2011 - link
> I consider it a service that LD has let customers that were potentially screwed over by Backify know of the shady practices.But see, LD did no such thing. They explained absolutely nothing to the customers. Who was screwed over by Backify, and how?
"We stopped our service to Backify, so in turn Backify will be unable to perform their service for you. So you better not pay them or you're screwed."
From this it seems more like I'm being screwed by LD, not by Backify. Ok, letting you know not to pay is good, it can save you some hassle with refunds, etc. But the lack of explanation or reason for the cancelled service is not good.
Also, the very implication that Backify would refuse to refund payments for the service which they will not be able to provide, I feel constitutes defamation and is illegal, unless they actually have proof.
Kristian Vättö - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
I think the truth lies somewhere in between. Both companies are now trying to cover their own ass, by blaming the other company. If Livedrive really received many complaints about Backify, then they had a valid reason to cancel the contract. The reason why they received the complaints is most likely due to Backify's service, which I wasn't pleased with, for example. If there hadn't been any complaints, then I don't see why Livedrive would have cancelled the contract for no reason, unless it was making them too much loss.Either way, I would blame them both. They should have dealt with their disputes without causing issues for the customers.
MrJawbones - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
But if their service complaints were due to Livedrive's faulty API's, Livedrive can't use that against Backify!