Arguing a Yahoo! Account Suspension
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Thursday, March 13th, 2008 (64 comments) | Internet, Your Rights |
I've had a Yahoo! account practically as long as I've been on the Internet. I've practically abandoned the mail because of the amount of spam it recieves every day, but I still use it from time to time and it has a lot of historical and nostalgic value due to the e-mails that are still in there.
I've also used my account for the Yahoo! Answers service to help spread information about credit freezes and avoiding scams like lifelock. I'm guessing that last one is why I got a generic letter like this:
Tags: Yahoo
Oops
Your account has been suspended.
If you feel there has been a mistake, please contact us at answers-abuse@cc.yahoo-inc.com.
Most likely, your account was suspended in violation of Yahoo! Answers community guidelines. Click here to read the full guidelines
In the meantime, feel free to browse Yahoo! Answers
* Back to Home
Ok. I'm pissed, but I'll give them a chance to explain themselves and I sent them this:
Your system is saying that my account is suspended and to read the
guidelines. First, I've done nothing that would violate any reasonable
guidelines and second, the link to your guidelines doesn't work. Third,
I need you to re-instate the account and provide a reason for why you
suspended it in the first place (assuming this isn't a glitch in the
first place).
There was a quick exchange where they mentioned that they can't investigate without knowing the username I was complaining about. Oops. After that, I get this:
Hello,
Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Answers.
We appreciate your inquiry about your suspension from Yahoo! Answers
and/or the deactivation of your Yahoo! ID. We reviewed your case, and
decided that your account is not eligible for reinstatement.
Once an account is disabled for a violation of the Terms of Service, the
subscriber to the account will lose the ability to log in and access the
account and its contents (including email and content stored with any
other Yahoo! service). The account also will not be reactivated.
Should you choose to create a new Yahoo! account, we invite you to read
the Yahoo! Terms of Service and Yahoo! Community Guidelines to help
ensure your new account is not deactivated.
Yahoo! Terms of Service:
http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/utos-173.html
Yahoo! Community Guidelines:
http://answers.yahoo.com/info/community_guidelines.php
Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Answers.
Regards,
Johnny
Yahoo! Customer Care
45742668
For assistance with all Yahoo! services please visit:
http://help.yahoo.com/
Yeah. That's not going to work for me. My response (based in part on a very interesting article from the Consumerist that I read yesterday):
Unacceptable.
You nebulously say that I have violated something in your terms of service with no justification, no explanation, and no recourse what-so-ever? And I'm supposed to guess which part of your TOS I allegedly violated and try again, abandoning the account I've held with you in good standing for over 10 years?
I'm appalled at your complete lack of customer service in this regard. Even if I were to believe that I had legitimately done something wrong, how can you terminate an account with no warning or second chance? I expect that you will cite some technical difficulty in managing second chances, but I assure you it's a trivial process that I can teach your database admins to implement if you'd like.
However, I don't expect you to be moved by simple logic so instead I offer this: If you intend to let this situation stand as-is, I will make sure that I tell my story. I am active in the Internet community and will submit this debacle to sites such at The Consumerist, Slashdot, Digg, and more, giving each the chance to hear what Yahoo! is really like.
Further, I intend to write to Google offering to be a spokes person on their behalf, using my story as an example of why they are the better choice in all things. I'm sure they'd be interested in having another nail for the coffin.
I will give you a period of time to respond to my request before taking any such action and I welcome you to prove me wrong and actually settle this in a reasonable manner. If so, I expect a justification for my expulsion AND immediate reinstatement of my account. Once I am actually aware of what provision of your TOS you claim I violated, I can make adjustments (if necessary).
Jeremy
Now let's see what happens.
The Saga
Update 2008.03.18
Not surprising, but I'm baffled that I was right. Yahoo responded with a form letter:
I've written an e-mail to "The Consumerist" hoping that they'l take an interest in this story or at least provide me with some advice on how to proceed. Sure I've got ideas, but I'd rather leverage the experience of the pros if possible.
Update 2008.04.08
Not getting much traction with some of the things I've tried, but I'm going to file a Better Business Bureau complaint and see what happens. Should be interesting.
And their response:
The case has been reviewed and has now been forwarded to the business for their response. This business has until April 30, 2008 to respond to your complaint. You may contact our office after April 30, 2008 to check the status of your complaint.Mua ha ha ha! Forwarded to them for their response. So there.
Update 2008.04.13
Though they told me that I wouldn't be able to access my e-mail I checked today and it turns out that I can. Since I didn't try it before, I can't tell if was able to get to it all along or if this is somehow related to my BBB complaint. If I find out for sure, I'll post it.Update 2008.04.24
Update 2008.04.25
The BBB has noted that I said I didn't accept their response, but the BBB has closed the case anyway. Not surprising. Next, to Google:
I have always championed Google services over competitors with one exception: Yahoo Answers. Their interface is, sorry to say, superior to what Google offered. However, I recently had my account cancelled with no warning despite the fact that I was a highly rated contributor who was a subject matter expert in Identity Theft issues. Though they claim I violated their policy, I don't believe them and they have refused to provide any justification what-so-ever.
If you are interested in promoting bad press about your competitor, I would be happy to be a spokesperson on your behalf. People should know that a company that treats customers as Yahoo does is not worth getting involved with.
You can read about the entire issue here:
http://www.jeremyduffy.com/arguing-a-yahoo-account-suspension/
My Advice to Others
When something like this happens, complaining to the Better Business Bureau and consumer protection sites like the Consumerist for publicity are good, but won't probably help. Yahoo has the right to deal with whoever they want and, at best, you can argue that as a company that so aggressively entices people to use their services, they have at least some measure of obligation to treat people fairly, but that's a stretch. In the end, the best possible thing you can do is avoid using Yahoo! services for anything. There are plenty of alternatives out there and I, for one, have no interest in spending time with a company that's willing to drop me at any time for no valid reason at all.| Share to another service: |
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I just had this happen to me as I was checking my email and twice, when I tried to reply, a message came up on my screen telling me about some other violation or suspension over me supposedly using yahoo messenger from another computer apparently while I was checking my email on my online computer!! What the hell?!
Makes me wonder if someone hacked my account so, I replied to yahoo that that is what I thought was going on and further more warned them that they’d better find the person who hacked my account before I did.
Being hacked is the only thing that I can think of that may have happened because about a week ago, I did have a loss of temper at yahoo answers under a different account in which I began to make posts directed at trolls to deliberately offend them and I continued with my irrational ranting until I got suspended.
Later, I went back under another old account that I reactivated but, I haven’t checked on it recently so, I don’t know if that one too has been suspended or not but, the account that I use on a regular bases should not have gotten an answers violation as I’ve never been to answers with that account or at least not any time this year so, how can I be suspended over something that I took no part in?!
It’s bound to be a hacker with some kind of key logger planted on me is the only thing I can figure.
I liked your end conclusion, “In the end, the best possible thing you can do is avoid using Yahoo! services for anything. There are plenty of alternatives out there and I, for one, have no interest in spending time with a company that’s willing to drop me at any time for no valid reason at all.”
I have referred to Yahoo! as Yahell for years. Their messenger software is a piece of shit in my opinion (constantly crashing, especially if you try to use your web cam with it!) and I can’t say much for their email service either, especially since you have to pay an annual fee in order to pick it up from a POP server and so many others, like Gmail, you can do either IMAP or POP retrieval with no charge.
And I found it so interesting that they have “partnered” with AT&T to provide the mail service for those with AT&T as their ISP. It was just another confirmation that they are in trouble economically, which I’ve seen reports on. And I would tie their problems to the very poor customer relations/service they provide to those who use their service. Their advertising dollars have to have been diminishing over time because people either leave or are kicked out in droves!
Anyway, thanks for the telling of your tale and the efforts you made. It probably didn’t change Yahoo! but it may have convinced some people to avoid them like a bad headache!
Hi Jeremy,
Thanks for maintaining this log.
I had the same experience as Sudha above – a “Yahoo Messenger” violation. That, of course, is utterly BS because I chat with only two friends on there. Like you, I had a Yahoo email account which was (until the alleged violation) my personal email account for the last 8 years. The spam got into it, of course.
I cannot believe some of the responses from Yahoo I have received. They have actually encouraged me to sign up again. What in their mind are these Yahoos (pun intended) thinking?
I will quit using everything yahoo made. No more yahoo in my life.
I had it happen to me yesterday. I’ve been a member of Yahoo since somewhere around 1996 or 98. Same account all these years, that’s like over twelve years.
I had answered four questions on Yahoo Answers over the weekend all asking how to make money online. I have a blog that deals with that, so I gave my blog and links. It was a hundred percent relevant to the four questions being asked. I wasn’t spamming or anything.
Sure enough, yesterday, I get the suspension letter. I appeal, get the form letter of “no we’re not giving it back and we won’t tell you why.”
That’s what angers me the most, we aren’t told why, and their appeals system is horrible. You don’t get to really appeal anything. Basically, you are considered guilty without the possibility of any recourse. They don’t seem to care what you say or even read what you write, they just spit out a form letter.
I use my Yahoo account for alot of things. And it’s just beyond upsetting, especially after all the years I’ve used it. I was upset when they got rid of Geocities and then the webpages. But this is even worse.
THOSE BASTARDS.I JUST GOT MY YAHOO ANSWERS ACCOUNT SUSPENDED.I WAS LEVEL 5 WITH SIX THOUSAND POINTS.IT TOOK ME TWO YEARS TO GET THIS FAR.AND THEY DELETED IT WITH OUT EVEN A WARNING.MY ANSWER REALLY WAS AGAINST THE TERMS OF SERVICE ANS I WAS “PROMOTING SUICIDE”. ACTUALLY THAT WAS A JOKE BUT THEY SUSPENDED MY ACCOUNT THE FIRST THING IN THE MORNING.I DID NOT GET A WARNING OR A SECOND CHANCE TO EVEN TRY TO RECTIFY MY MISTAKE.I TRIED POSTING AN APPEAL WITH VERY POLITELY,NOT IT GOT REJECTED.I JUST NOW POSTED A BIT MORE STRICT APPEAL HIGHLIGHTING MY INCONVENIENCE.I DON’T KNOW IF THIS WILL WORK BUT IF IT DOESN’T,I WILL GO ALL OUT AND SCREAM AT THEM USING THE F WORD AND EVERY OTHER SWEAR WORD I KNOW.AFTER ALL,WHAT DO I HAVE TO LOSE? IF THAT DOESN’T WORK,I WILL TYPE AN APPEAL IN WHICH I WILL PITY THE STAFF MEMBER IN THE KIND OF LAME JOB HE HAS AND THE MEAGER LIFE HE LEADS.I WILL ALSO MENTION HOW HE MAKES LESS THAN 1/10 OF MY SALARY(not true) AND ALSO MENTION HIS MOTHER IN A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS.THIS MIGHT GET MY ACCOUNT DELETED,BUT I WILL SET UP A NEW ONE IN G-MAIL.IT’S NOT LIKE I HAVE ANYTHING TO LOSE.AT LEAST I WILL SPEAK MY HEART.IF THAT DOESN’T GET MY ACCOUNT DELETED,I WILL CONTINUE TO INSULT THEM.THIS IS HOW PISSED I AM AT MY SUSPENSION.I WILL ALSO TRY WRITING A THREAT LIKE YOU VERY SMARTLY DID (this too will be a lie but who gives a crap).I AM ALSO MAD AS I DON’T KNOW HOW TO MAKE A NEW ANSWERS ACCOUNT WITHOUT MAKING A NEW E-MAIL ID.I CAN’T EBEN ASK IN Y!A AS MY ACCOUNT HAS BEEN SUSPENDED.I HATE THOSE YAHOO STAFF MEMBERS!!!!!
My FRIEND, YOU ARE A ROLE MODEL TO EVERY Y!A MEMBER WHO HAS BEEN UNJUSTLY SUSPENDED BY THE CRUEL YAHOO COMPANY BY STANDING UP AGAINST THE TIDE OF UNJUST SUSPENSIONS.
I’ve also just had my account terminated without any specific reason given. My yahoo account has been my main email since ’98. I am sure that I didn’t do anything to violate their TOS so I am guessing that I got hacked and my account used for nefarious purposes. Yahoo doesn’t seem to care.
It’s completely unacceptable for them to close my account for good, without the chance for appeal, like this. I have so many important emails that I need but I guess they don’t give a damn.
They also said I could sign up for a new yahoo account if I wanted to but there is no way in hell I will ever use Yahoo services ever again.
In fact, I too want to help warn others to move away from Yahoo before they screw more people over.
I guess this is my first step in that regard.
My account was suspended too, I read the terms of service a few times and didn’t find anything that I violated. I have had my account for a few years and I never say anything mean or harmful. Then my account was terminated, so I wrote to yahoo asking for them to tell me why it was terminated and they won’t tell me. This makes me really mad because I don’t think that I did anything wrong. Now I am not sure whether or not I should try and create a new yahoo account or not, because I might have to create a new email and I can’t do that. Does anyone know of another site like yahoo answers that won’t terminate me for no reason?
hello
yahoo suspended my all yahoo accounts both email and small busines so i cant reach my domain control panel , they also changed the nameservers , how can i retake my domains? any iders? will they cancel my domain plan? or will get them after they expires ?
Please advise
best regards
I’m glad I came across this post as I recently had my yahoo account of several years terminated(claims of violation of TOS by yahoo with no specific detail). Who’s knows which of the 10+ items it could have been. I don’t believe I’ve violated any and would have loved to know which one. At first when the issue happened, I thought my account had gotten hacked and reported it as such via the yahoo help channels(we all know that this went nowhere). Reported it a second time and told them that their notice of a 48hr or whatever it was response was never met. I would agree that this is not an organization to count on and that with that type of service, they will not last. Find another provider for services as Yahoo is not the only one and soon it will fall by the wayside.
I had the exact same experience with Yahoo. I bet they pay less than 5 minutes of attention to each case and send the same emails around.
What is customer service focusing their effort on? Their search engine?
i have just recently had my yahoo account suspended after holding it for ten years.
i was told that i had violated ‘tos’ but when i asked which part yahoo would not say. i have tried numerous attempts to get yahoo to tell me which part of ‘tos’ i have presumably violated but they just won’t tell me.
in the ten years i have not received one violation so for this to happen is a very poor situation.
all i can think is that my account was deleted through a mistake on their side which is why they won’t admit to their wrong doings.
it is pointless asking or trying to attempt to restore your account as they seem to just send auto emails.
what is strange is that yahoo seem to want people in these situations to create new accounts,this totally baffles me.
been with google for the same length of time with no hassle or complaint.
as for yahoo their customer service is very poor and people out there need to be aware of this.
mike