I’ve been using this online backup service called Data Deposit Box for a couple of months now. It’s a piece of software that watches the folders you specify and pretty much is running all the time to upload the latest version of your documents. You get billed based on how much you store. Last week I got my first bill (the first month was free) for $19.17, for a month.
And then last night I got three emails from them
To: Steve Portigal
Subject: System – Partner Billing
Name: Interbaun
Systems: 39
Storage: 40.33 GB
Start: 2005-05-01
End: 2005-05-31
Total: 186.82
and
To: Steve Portigal
Subject: System – Partner Billing
Name: Magma
Systems: 193
Storage: 414.33 GB
Start: 2005-05-01
End: 2005-05-31
Total: 1094.02
and
To: Steve Portigal
Subject: System – Partner Billing
Name: Primus Resi
Systems: 2
Storage: 38.54 MB
Start: 2005-05-01
End: 2005-05-31
Total: 4.44
Argh, nearly $1300 was billed to me overnight? I just about flipped. I googled the Magma and Primus names and saw them listed as ISP customers of DDB, and was relieved. I sent in an urgent support request and did receive this back
I?m very sorry you received the other 3 emails. You recieved them in error. I can assure you that your credit card was not charge for these amounts and never will be.
A small problem with our email server caused these emails to go to the wrong list. The problem has been fixed and will not happen again.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
and then this broadcast email
To: Steve Portigal
Subject: Important Information regarding incorrect Invoice Emails
Dear Data Deposit Box Subscriber,
Due to an error in our system last evening you may have received three Data Deposit Box invoice emails by mistake.
Please disregard these emails as they were not intended for you.
This error was due to a mistake on our part and was not a result of any security breach.
Your credit card has not been charged.
We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.
Now THAT is an email error you don’t want to make? They sent all their individual customers the bills from some big clients? Oops!
Tags: billing, data deposit box, email, moronic, online backup, oops
[...] In a previous post I told a story about receiving mistaken invoices from my online backup service. It was a LOT of money and I made the mistake of reading my email during a bit of insomnia, and of course, my adrenalin surged unhappily even though I convinced myself it was probably a mistake (but it was tricky; the first review I read about this service, Data Deposit Box, explained how if your software creates temp files in the target directory, you may find yourself uploading HUGE HUGE files to their system and being charged for it – and at least once in that previous month I found that my DVD software had put some several gigabyte file down without telling me, etc. etc. so I had some rational basis for concern), and eventually they let us all know that they had sent these three invoices out by mistake. [...]
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