I'm requesting a refund from SugarSynch and will follow your advice re: contacting BBB if necessary.

Phil H.

I was installing the new java update and they were plugging Carbonite, They made a pitch and it sounded good. $5 and unlimited backup. That is actually the best deal around for “unlimited”. So like a lamb to slaughter I gave it a try. Then as I was installing ans signing up, it offered an even better deal if i signed up for 3 years. Also sounded great so I said ok, Ignoring the fact that only companies that have serious customer service issues offer you ANOTHER cheaper deal if you lock in for multiple years, KNOWING I had not even tried the service yet. So for all those reading, DO NOT BUY until you TRY. That was my fault, but they played it to the fullest. They also made sure they HIGHLIGHTED their refund policy, which was another HINT that their product is often returned. But it was late at night and I was throwing caution to the wind and trusting.

It loaded fine and started backing-up and i noticed the interface to select folders to back up was not easily discernible. and it was hogging resources like it was poorly programmed, and my GMAIL was acting up. It kept “Loading…” and was unresponsive. Well this for me was a deal breaker as my gmail is very important to me. In the morning, like 5 hours later, it was still effecting my computer resources and gmail, even after I put it on low priority, So i uninstalled it and called their support. I was like 10th in line on their support billing line which made me feel there were many people calling in for refunds. While waiting I connected to their online chat support. I was 3rd in line their. The phone guy was in India, he told me so. I like Indians so we were cool but he tried to troubleshoot and help and i was like no, gimmie my money back. then he was like. We can’t do that sir, we don’t give back money, Do you want to transfer to another computer? I was like gimmie my money, he was like We wont do it. So i asked him to send me an email telling me that was his companies policy not to refund money even less than 24 hours after purchase and trying the product. Guess what, he sent me an email saying just that. He said I had a chance to try for free and they are keeping the money.

At that same time their chat support came on. i told him i wanted a refund as their product had many problems and I was not willing to waste any more time trying to get my system to work with it. He tried a little, but after i insisted he was like wait a minute…. He asked me to verify my identity and stuff and then he said he sent the matter to the refund department and they would send me an email soon. In a few minutes I received a notification email with a refund number and everything was credited to my credit card. End of story.

So people can get out of this what they want, but to me it seems like carbonite is:
1. java based programming that has compatibility problems with vista and gmail and other java programs.
2. Poor developed program leaves them in their minds with no excuse but to play hard ball with customers asking for their money back.
3. carbonite will learn the hard way that this is a day and age where you HAVE to be cool with customers, and it starts with a cool product. Your product has problems, that is why you offer such a great deal. If I offered people $5 to back up all their stuff and when they signed up I made their live miserable and unmanageably and refused to give them their money because they trusted me and signed up, I would consider myself a bad person.
4. Hopefully carbonite shapes up before the CEO is hearing about this on CNN,ABC,NBC,FOX or CBS. In the age of Aquarius it’s not buyers beware, it sellers beware.

I ask this because I feel like everything you need to know about my experience with Carbonite is outlined in my blog posts. I described my experience with your support team and in there I mentioned that you were cc’d on several of my e-mails, I also cc’d your VP of support. Additionally I described my e-mail issues both in many messages to support and in my blog. When I asked for a refund from support I was told it was against Carbonite’s policy to give refunds. The BBB really was my last resort. I don’t submit complaints lightly to them and I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been compelled in my life to turn to the BBB.

Here are two of the last ticket numbers (411135-1009945 and 986324-HL123) from my case, perhaps you will be able to look up the details of my experience and some good will come from this. Like I mentioned before I’ve worked for many software companies over the years, I’ve managed products, lead QA and Research teams and even lead support a long time ago so I know how it feels to be in the hot seat and I do want to help you guys improve.

Best Regards,
Erik

Dave Friend, CEO
Carbonite.com