Carbonite

I have been kicked off Carbonite four times in the last several months. I do not know why, nor, more importantly, do they. After calling them for the third time, I requested a pro-rated refund because they were not providing me the service I had already paid for. I was refused the refund, so I spent another hour on the phone while they tried to fix their problem. After the fourth time I was kicked off, I once again requested a pro-rated refund. This time I was told they will not refund my money until they determine they cannot fix the problem which, they now tell me, requires two more "escalations". They did not "escalate" me after the second and third call.

This company has proven itself unable to provide me with the service I purchased. They refused to refund my pro-rated fee until they are satisfied they cannot fix the problem. Of course, their achieving satisfaction is completely subjective while my satisfaction is irrelevant to them. They want me to continue to act as their guinea pig as they try to fix their problem at the expense of my time, any more of which I refuse to invest. Who knows how many more hours I have to spend on the phone with them until they are satisfied that they can't fix the problem. Apparently three previous calls to them for the same problem was not sufficient for them, nor was my investment of time during those calls of any interest to them.

They have no problem keeping my money and not providing the service, even after four identical incidents wherein their service failed.

My opinion, based on their actions, or inactions, is that this is a bad company with a horrible business plan. Avoid it like the plague.

TERRIBLE company... Was having issues with deleting files as our limit was reached, and Carbonite just STOPS backing up your files, and customer service just gives you a run around and says "you need to buy more space" when the files that were backed up actually just were double and triple copies and needed to be deleted!
Then, as everyone else here says... NO REFUNDS after we canceled service!
The worst customer service... total jerks... and terrible backup service! AVOID CARBONITE!

My subscription expired Aug. 1. I was given no warning in advance that it was going to expire. At some point in the day I got a msg saying it was expired but they'd give me a little grace period to renew. (I forget actual wording). Then a few hours later, a msg saying it had expired and I had to renew for my data to be backed up. It would not be backed up until I renewed. So I renewed at night 8/1.

I thought after I paid the renewal, my subscription would be automatically extended. No, you need to re-install their software. Which didn't work. I get an error msg saying "renewal is incomplete." I look on their database about how to solve the situation, but neither of the 2 entries are relevant to my situation.

Not only is it not backing up, the custom designation I gave for which files to back up and which not to appears to be lost so I'll have to redo all that, probably.

So I wait till 8/3 morning and call them. The tech supporter I get, not impressed with her. I explain the situation and she says oh, you got an error msg saying such and such. She didn't ASK if I got that error msg., she SAID I did when I hadn't.

She gets into my machine remotely, spends maybe 45 minutes reinstalling and trying to get it to work. Not successful. She says call back in 30 - 60 minutes when server should be up.

I wait 90 minutes, call back, not only am I told server is still down, this time I'm told wait till tomorrow morning! The server is supposedly down for scheduled maintenance, both of them tell me that, but one things it'll be up in 30 - 60 minutes while the other says wait 18 hours?!

Why is resubscribing such a hassle? Why do I need to re-install? Why is a server for "continuous backup" down such a long time for "scheduled maintenance" and why don't the support people know how long it will be down?

They spend too much resources and attn on advertising and not enough on their so-called "continuous backup."

I am extremely satisfied with Carbonite. I worked with a tech support guy named Mike. He helped us locate precious files (pictures) that were in a separate drive. He took the extra time and asked the right questions to help me find these files. He then went above and beyond to help me delete duplicates and straighten out my filing system. I like that Carbonite is clear in warning you that they will only keep files you have deleted 30 days. Their customer assistance is the best I have experienced. They are clear and helpful!

I learned late in the computing game that backing-up files is an absolute must. Anyone who has lost an extensive iTunes library can appreciate the necessity of online backup. I admit that Carbonite is the first back up site that I have used but I speak highly of my experience. I was able to back-up several GB's worth of files from a work computer before returning it to my place of employment.

I was attracted to Carbonite for its economical price ($59 for one year) as well as anytime, anywhere access. So far, so good.

Disclaimer: I am not a tech geek, so this review may lack nerd credibility.

Unbelievable. I have been using Carbonite over the last year. Due to my computer crashing I lost the backup program that runs on my computer. I contacted Carbonite online via chat because their phone support was not available on Saturday evening.
I was told by the chat representative to uninstall the program then go to their website, log on and then reinstall.
PROBLEM: Carbonite would not accept my email in the logon screen telling me that had no record of my email
ANOTHER PROBLEM: This chat person assured me that the email address I was using was correct and I should just go ahead and log on
ANOTHER PROBLEM: He obviously was not paying attention because I told him clearly that the address was not being accepted.
I went around in circles with this guy. He refused to get me a manager. He told me I would have to wait 2 DAYS! To hear back from their customer service department to assist me. Can you believe that!

An error on their end is costing me valuable back up time. I cannot back up any files until I hear from them.

WHAT I DID NEXT: After an hour of stupidity I logged off the chat, and tried again, hoping I would chat with someone who might actually be able to help me. NO! Same thing, different person. EXCEPT: After I threatened to begin lodging complaints about their company they promised me I would receive an email in 2 hours with the password reset imformation. AGAIN, I'd like to remind you that this problem was on THEIR END only and I am a PAYING CUSTOMER who has put my total trust in their service.

NEXT PROBLEM: Did I get the email? NO!

WHAT I DID NEXT: I went back online today and demanded they send me the email that was promised to me. Again I'm told by the chat person that it will have to wait until tomorrow. WHAT KIND OF A COMPANY PROMISED THINGS TO ITS CUSTOMERS BUT REFUSES TO DELIVER AND MAKE GOOD ON THEIR PROMISES? What else is Carbonite up to? What are they doing that we don't know about with our files we're entrusting them with?

ANOTHER PROBLEM: What is the point of 24 hour chat support if they can't help you with a log on malfunction that is on their end?

FINALLY: They make you wait to get answers on the chat screen while they are helping who knows how many other people, even if they are the ones causing you inconvenience. Carbonite needs to hire the right people who know what they're doing. Not just someone who has been trained to say "the right things".

I'll be looking for another backup company and suggest if you are considering using Carbonite, that you do the same.

All I can say is that they will need to reimburse me for the amazing amount of inconvenience and frustration I 've experienced with them.

I just went through the free trial of Carbonite to see if it was any good compared to my current online backup service, Mozy. Online storage and online backup solutions have come a long way over the past few years and there are a lot of new players in the field. So when Mozy decided to up their prices, I started looking for a new alternative.

The interface for the Carbonite product is pretty neat -- it's very simple and it puts a little icon on each folder or file to tell whether it is backed up, waiting to be backed up, or not set to be backed up. I also like their scheduling options, which lets you set as many scheduling rules as you want. Lastly, this is one of the few online backup services that still supports unlimited storage.

What I don't like about Carbonite is the fact that it will not back up certain types of files. Who are they to tell me which files can and can not be backed up? If I want to back up some random system file on my computer, why can't I? In my opinion, an online backup solution should as closely mimic using an external hard drive as possible, but just be more secure. Otherwise, what's the point and why should I spend so much more money? (You can get a terabyte of external storage for roughly the same price as one year of online storage.)

Another issue is that for the free trial, it does not automatically back up your music files. So I will have to repeat the same days-long tortuous process once I actually sign up for the service. Finally the deal breaker -- in order for Carbonite to back up video files, you have to manually select them one by one. Are you kidding me? I have a ton of tiny video files spread across a bunch of different folders, and that would take me hours. I guess I'll keep looking for another service...

I have a copy of Carbonite, a separate disc included with a Serif product I purchased. I've been trying to install it since Dec. 10 last year to replace an earlier subscription that has expired I was unable to transfer that product to my new computer). However, I couldn't install the new one because, according to the set-up dialogue: "The Activation Code you entered is already in use." If so, I told a technician, they're induclging in a scam and in a follow-up message another technician replied that there was a mistake and told me to find another number. After the 6th back-and-forth email exchanges yet another tech told me that "We have reviewed your email and related history and believe that due to the complexity of your issue, we would be much more successful and quicker resolving this issue
Over the phone or by chatting with us." I responded that if they could not resolve the issue by email when they have all the time to study it, how much more difficult would it be with the phone or chat when everyone is obviously under
Time pressure. Anyway I complied but until now there is no resolution to the situation. I have since decided not to waste my time anymore. Although the techs were polite and many surveys came my way to give an opinion of their
Service, I'm still holding an empty bag. Has anyone encountered this kind of problem with Carbonite?