I was ANGRY. I replied back asap stating I DID NOT MAKE ANY SUCH REQUEST, and to NOT DELETE MY ACCOUNT.

So I got on the phone with Yahoo after work. Their customer service number is not 24 hours, but here is the number: 866-562-7219. I spoke to a guy named Andrew. He was able to get me back into my account, by about 7:00 PM - I was given a case number to reference the call and the call was ended. But by that time, the 900+ remaining emails in the account were GONE. GONE. I tried to call back, but the support office was closed.

So I called the next day, 10/9/2007. I spoke to Joseph. Joseph actually got around to saying, "Based on the information you are telling me it sounds like somebody has broken into your account." He asked, "Do you know anybody that has a grudge against you?" He also said my yahoo ID was so unique and "cool" looking that perhaps a hacker was paid by a person that coveted the ID. WHAT A JOKE. My user ID was literally constructed as two words like so: mikeOReric@yahoo - because word #1 was taken and word #2 was also taken at the time i created the ID - BACK IN 1998.

Joseph posted his notes with the same case number and was going to transfer me to his supervisor, but he dropped the call because maybe he doesn't know how to transfer calls. I called back and spoke to Katrina. I referenced my case number and I told her enough to get her up to speed and requested to be transferred to a supervisor again. She transferred me to Raymond. Raymond provided me with a new case number to reference him by. What I learned from Raymond was that "It is Yahoo's policy not to delete any emails in any account." So that my account was reactivated but all of the remaining 900 emails were deleted should've been extra spooky. I also learned that "Once emails are 'deleted' and subsequently 'deleted from the trash' (recycle bin), Yahoo is not able to retrieve them again."

Now, I had inadvertently signed up for Yahoo-Music-Unlimited back in August 2007, only because I had been with MusicMatch since 2000, and Yahoo bought MusicMatch. So I was "converted" over to Yahoo-Music and subsequently given a trial membership for Y-Music-Unlimited. I NEVER bothered to test it out. I forgot all about the service. (Sound like AOL to anybody?) So I was annoyed to see $71.88 charged to my bank account. Per the Music Unlimited TOS, fees are not refunded. However, since my account was no longer "secure" because Joseph and Raymond agreed that my account must have been "compromised" I decided I needed a refund for the amount of $71.88. Raymond had to transfer me over to Yahoo Billing. It was there that I spoke to Louise. I was given a new case number. Louise did not want to refund my money, so I spoke to her supervisor, Summer. I received another new case number. Summer put me on hold for a while and then set up the dialogue this way: "Are you planning on using your account ever again?" My answer was "No." She replied with "Well, I must say that the service is 'not refundable'...." To which I screamed into the phone: "THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU ASK ME IF I WAS GOING TO USE MY ACCOUNT EVER AGAIN??? Where are you going with this?"

In the end, Summer did say that I would be receiving a refund for the full amount in 3 to 5 business days. Whether or not that actually happens, I'll have to wait and see.

After reading what I have read on Consumerist.com, I do not believe that my account was broken into my some enemy of mine, or some friend-turned-enemy, or stranger. Either somebody at Yahoo spilled coffee on the wrong server or something like that, or somebody at Yahoo decided I breached the TOS in some "way" they can't talk about, and wanted to go to great lengths to delete my account and cover up the fact that the account was deleted internally, by Yahoo themselves. I can't prove it, but on the other hand, they can't prove to me that I was hacked unless they can tell me who the hacker is.

A real email solution is to buy a cheap domain name you don't care about, and an annual hosting service, and set up "Outlook" or something like that. At least if your hosting service goes down, you still have your stuff on your computer. "Free," web-based email isn't trustworthy.

zog_dot_66

gregoryagogo

eagleflyer

Yahoo is mysterious and can't tell me what part of the Yahoo! Terms of Service I violated and they only tell me to read it. Finally, after reading the Terms of Service for geocities, I realized that I had been breaking a rule for quite a while, and didn't know it. Why can't they tell me about my indiscretion so I can make necessary changes? For the life of me I can't imagine anything I did that is worth deleting an 8 year account! I made a mistake, and told them I am willing to correct it. What's the matter? They coldly stand by the Yahoo! Terms Of Service.

I believe what attracted Yahoo! to my account was some activity in Yahoo! Answers LGBT Category. I would answer someones question, then in the sources box, I put a link to one of my sound files as an added fun thing that I do. It was to a vintage radio commercial for Ipana Toothpaste. They automatically thought it as spam, then noticed it was to my geocities web page.

I explained to them that technically it wasn't spam, since it wasn't a product that does not exists today, and it was my "humor". They still will not listen to me and again coldly say "If you continue to use Yahoo! Products, then read the Terms Of Service".

So why is Yahoo! not flexible to someone who has made an honest mistake? Why is Yahoo so quickly willing to delete and get rid of a customer of 8 years? I'm begining to think that Yahoo!

Some advise: If you use more than one Yahoo! Service then have several accounts. Don't use the same account for Yahoo! Answers that you use for Yahoo! Photos. I lost 8 years worth of uploading personal photos. In general, Yahoo! Answers attracts negitivity to you. If you are going to do Yahoo Answers, I reccomend creating one account especially for that only. The moral of my story: Don't Put all your Eggs in One Basket. Or in this case one Yahoo! Basket!

What am I suposed to think when Yahoo is so evasive?... I'm not a bad guy... and I'm a paying customer! So what gives?

gregoryagogo

I had recieved four or five violations in the Religion and Spirituality section expressing my views... A couple of christians going around report me, and then I get the violation... I did not dis anyones religion or anything... I just stated my own opinions...

Later I recieved a violation for something that I said, In fact I kinda agree with why they suspended my account...

There was a lady that posted a question about tightening the Vaginal walls... And yahoo isnt a doctoral site.. So I posted this...
"Stab it vigorously for about an hour with a knife, and if that doesnt work, get off Yahoo, and see a gynecologist..."

Of course I was a bit sarcastic, but It was a stupid question in my views... People post questions like, "My mom died, and I put her in the closet, should I call 911?" or "I cant breath, what should I do?"
And in my opinion, I think that smart-A questions deserve Smart-A answers...

So I see why they deleted me, but my problem was that everytime I asked them why I got a violation, I never got an email or response...
Yahoo is like communism, if you have friends in high places, you are fine, otherwise, one slip up will get you out...

I had my myspace account, among about ten-twenty other websites that I subscribe to and now I dont know what they all are, I lost all the password verification letters, and I no longer have any of my important emails, I had an addressbook full, and I used to send stuff to myself, If I thought it was something I wanted to remember, so I could check it later... And now all of about 4 yrs work is gone... I asked them nicely, that even if they did delete my account, that there was probably a reason, but if at all possibility could I have any of the information that was in the account...
no reply whatsoever...

So I made a new one, and now I also have two other accounts, and I made sure not to put an alternative email, or any affiliations, that way if they decide to cut me off again, they dont have but one that they can ruin...
I too had reached level 3, I had a few thousand points saved up, and I thought nothing could be worse, but it happened...

Imatwirp

logisticslord

They gave me no warning at all and I have never had a reason given except that my account is 'not eligible for reinstatement'. I have no idea why they did this or what I was meant to have posted that could have caused it. I literally dont know and they wont tell me.

Yahoo seem to want to drive people away, if you look on the violation forum there are more people springing up every day whove had their accounts deleted and have no idea why except that some over zealous autocrat in Yahoo has decided to erase them.

I wouldnt touch Yahoo with a pole now and Ill make sure anyone with a Yahoo address knows about what theyre doing.

ruggedtoast

i have a same disaster as andrew, my yahoo mail ac was deactivated without any reason i think, i cant log in with my id and password. after trying to retrieve my password, message came off as this account has been deactivated?? What a bad disaster i came across.

Have log in to contact them, no news yet, dont will take how long before i can get the final answer from them. have send in many mails now.

Is been a nightmare for me now, i have lost all my contact, important info, messages, i am like a lost man now, what a day. As for the yahoo Answer, i have been to level 2, and have awarded many times for the best answer!! Still my yahoo account was suspended atleast for this moment before the actual answer to me. Hopefully it is not that """Suspended"""

flwong

sapireli

Of course I can not speak on behalf of Verizon when I say this, but I think I'll recommend users in any direction other than Yahoo from today forward. Yahoo! seems to treat our customer's "not so friendly" by constantly missing committment deadlines to have "portal partnered" accounts (specifically email) in regard to repair issues. After reading this I've decided I'm sick of having to take the bullet for lacking customer service when I work for a company that treats me very well and we honestly do care about our customer's internet troubles. And I feel Yahoo just doesn't step up to the plate when it comes to customer service. I at first thought it was just because these were not their direct accounts. But not warning a customer of a violation (if such existed) tells me I was wrong to have thought that. Clearly Yahoo! likes to bite the hands that feed them (I mean their direct customers, not Verizon when I say this.)

I obviously can not agree with Yahoo! or Andrew in this case because who knows whats going on in that "gray" matter. But I did want to voice the above in regard to Yahoo!

- Anonymous

Anonymous_FSC_CSA

I am the product manager responsible for Yahoo Answers and hope to have an opportunity to respond to this thread.

-tomi

tomi_poutanen

You CAN move your domain name to another domain name registration service provider. Log into your control panel for your domain name through Yahoo! small business domain management and change your administrative contact email address to a valid email address.

Don't remember your login information? Contact Yahoo! and ask them to update your administrative contact email address. They will ask you for your security "secret question". Answer this correctly and they have to update it for you.

Don't remember the answer to your secret question? You can still request them to mail you your username and password to the mailing address that you provided to them on signup.

No longer live there? Request the offline form to update your contact information. You will need to provide proof of your identity, likely involving a photocopy of government issue photo ID. They will probably also slap you with a service charge for this option.

lorenjfisher

He doesn't even offer it.

Obviously there is more to this story then he wants us to know. CHECK YOUR FACTS CONSUMERIST.

brundlefly76

Yahoo has NOTHING that you can't find somewhere else. Competition is fierce. Nothing is stopping any of you from banning Yahoo.

But yet, we all let this shit happen, thinking it won't happen to us, and so they get away with it. There is no accountability because nobody holds them accountable. We simply can't be bothered.

I dropped Yahoo and MSN/Hotmail for Google and my own hosting companies...because of stuff like this Spend the time to try other services, stop feeding the trolls.

oldhat

So, yes beware..don't post your opinions on Yahoo. If they disagree with your opinions..the liberals will ban you.

kinged

If you would like my offer, then send me an email: - daniel.neville@gmail.com

Danltn

nffcnnr

Promise to keep up a "x days of no response from Yahoo" ticker if, say, a week passes with no response. We've seen their a tad irresponsive to paying, involved, formerly loyal customers. It'd be interesting to see if anyone can penetrate the impervious shield that Yahoo erects around themselves.

Trai_Dep

* Yahoo answers gets worse comments than youtube.
* The yahoo email that I was forced to sign up for by flickr and have never ever used gets more spam than the address that has been on my usenet sig for 10 years.
* Your search engine still sucks, and it ruins Opera Mobile.
* Oh yeah, that turning over chinese dissidents to be tortured thing. Can't forget about that one.
* Every company you buy and mess with dies. Flickr and del.icio.us are going the way of geocities and blo.gs.
* @yahoo.com = @aol.com I'd throw a resume with that on it in the trash, too.

Mr. Gunn

Her Grace

The only saving grace is the lack of connection between their "lame" services and del.icio.us

I'm going to export my bookmarks just in case.

TourPro

mikelotus

And Y! mail? That's my email address for things where I'm not sure whether it's going to get sold to spammers or not.

AcilletaM

No response out of an action like that? What IS Yahoo doing?

Bryan Price

Here's my advice on email accounts:

1. Register your own domain name. You can do it for less than $10 these days.

2. Sign up for some really cheap hosting. You can find cheap domain hosting that will suffice for email for about $25/year.

3. Get a Gmail account. Google will act as a mirror for your mail. You simply forward your own domain-based address to your Google mail account. You can even setup Google mail to send as that address at no cost.

4 (optional) Use a POP mail client to download and send mail through the Google service and you have a local copy and a constant online backup for free!

Eitheway, if Google steals your mail, shuts down, or "suspends" your account, you can still use your email address without worry. Forward the address somewhere else... create another Gmail account etc.

And don't forget #5. ENJOY.

yoink

http://messages.answers.yahoo.com/answers/threadview?m=tm&...

Funny enough Yahoo did not even care to look at its own community guidelines before posting an answer. Look at my subject link, and view Don't #1

http://answers.yahoo.com/info/community_guidelines.php

The moderator did not bother to even answer my question, which was clearly a request to speak with a Supervisor or someone in charge

"Otherwise violate the question and answer format"

Now I don't know exactly how much space I have left on here, but view Yahoo Terms of Service #6 Section J
http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/utos-173.html

J. interfere with or disrupt the Service
or servers or networks connected to the
Service, or disobey any requirements,
procedures, policies or regulations of
networks connected to the Service;

I had request a service be performed
which was to explain why my post was in
violation of the community guidelines
and explained why in the proper format
stated by Katie, and they deleted my request for a service (to have an appeal done, and to speak with a supervisor) which was also without notice. I've also been refused the request to speak with a supervisor 4 times now.

vhunterd

Yahoo can't tell me what part of the Yahoo! Terms of Service I violated and they only tell me to read it. Finally, after reading the Terms of Service for geocities, I realized that I had been breaking a rule for quite a while, and didn't know it. Evidently you aren't supposed to post links to your geocities page from Yahoo Answers or any other message board. OK, Fine, then why can't they tell me about my indiscretion so I can make necessary changes? I asked them and they said "After re evaluating your case, Mr. May, we have decided not to reinstate your account"... For the life of me I can't imagine anything I did that is worth deleting an 8 year account! I made a mistake, and told them I am willing to correct it. What's the matter? They coldly stand by the Yahoo! Terms Of Service.

What attracted Yahoo! to my account was some activity in Yahoo! Answers LGBT Category. I would answer someones question, then in the sources box, I put a link to one of my sound files as an added fun thing that I do. It was to a vintage radio commercial for Ipana Toothpaste. They automatically thought it as spam, then noticed it was to my geocities web page.

I explained to them that technically it wasn't spam, since it wasn't a product that does not exists today, and it was my "humor". They still will not listen to me and again coldly say "If you continue to use Yahoo! Products, then read the Terms Of Service".

So why is Yahoo! not flexible to someone who has made an honest mistake, and is willing to correct it? Could it be because I am Gay? Is Yahoo! discriminatory against gays? Are the "Hamsters" that run Yahoo! biased against gays, and are more ready to delete Gays accounts when they make little indiscretions and break the Yahoo! Terms of Service? Why is Yahoo so quickly willing to delete and get rid of a customer of 8 years? I'm begining to think that Yahoo! leans towards being anti-gay. What do you think?

A bit of advise: If you use more than one Yahoo! Service then have several accounts. Don't use the same account for Yahoo! Answers that you use for Yahoo! Photos. I lost 8 years worth of uploading personal photos. In general, Yahoo! Answers attracts negitivity to you. If you are going to do Yahoo Answers, I reccomend creating one account especially for that only. The moral of my story: Don't Put all your Eggs in One Basket. Or in this case one Yahoo! Basket!

This is from my Yahoo 360 Blog... What am I suposed to think when Yahoo is so evasive?... I'm not a bad guy... and I'm a paying customer! So what gives?

gregoryagogo

Yeah, don't tell anyone how to play with a piece of electronic hardware they actually own, because Yahoo will shut your ass down. Sounds to me like some moron working there doesn't understand the difference between hacking a network and "hacking" something you own. Jeez.

Meghann and Ben-- please do your magic and pursue Yahoo for an answer on this; their response will determine whether or not I cancel my Flickr pro account with them.

formergr

Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
United States - Map
Phone: 408-349-3300

Fax: 408-349-3301
Web Site: http://www.yahoo.com

KEY EXECUTIVES

Mr. Terry S. Semel , 63
Chairman of Board and Chief Exec. Officer $ 600.00K

Ms. Susan Decker , 44
Chief Financial Officer, Exec. VP of Fin. & Admin. and Head of Marketing Products Division-Advertiser & Publisher Group $ 1.50M

Mr. Farzad Nazem , 45
Chief Technology Officer and Exec. VP of Engineering and Site Operations $ 1.25M

Mr. Michael Callahan , 38
Sr. VP, Sec. and Gen. Counsel $ 525.00K

Mr. David Filo , 40
Co-Founder and Chief Yahoo! N/A N/A

lonelymaytagguy

Trai_Dep

Are the Yahoo Answers TOS linked to all the others??? No. It makes absolutely no sense. That's what happens when you have automated systems.

Baz L

I'm over 18, I swear! However, thanks to their poorly organized system, there's no possible way to fix this. It won't even let you view what they think your birthdate is.

And yes, Yahoo Answers is ridiculous. I always hear about the questionable reliability of Wikipedia's un-refereed content, but Yahoo Answers is far worse for that.

karimagon

Here, if you do a whois on the domain yahoo.com you will get all a lot of information that will help you. Now, these are local california number, so you may be calling the ceo in his office, or an IT Admin, but I'm sure that these numbers are very high up, if they do work and are valid.

Here is the unformatted printout from the whois request, and good luck:

04/12/07 16:56:16 IP block 69.147.114.210
Trying 69.147.114.210 at ARIN
Trying 69.147.114 at ARIN

OrgName: Yahoo
OrgID: YHOO
Address: 701 First Ave
City: Sunnyvale
StateProv: CA
PostalCode: 94089
Country: US

NetRange: 69.147.64.0 - 69.147.127.255
CIDR: 69.147.64.0/18
NetName: A-YAHOO-US5
NetHandle: NET-69-147-64-0-1
Parent: NET-69-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: NS1.YAHOO.COM
NameServer: NS2.YAHOO.COM
NameServer: NS3.YAHOO.COM
NameServer: NS4.YAHOO.COM
NameServer: NS5.YAHOO.COM
Comment:
RegDate: 2006-06-26
Updated: 2006-09-22

RAbuseHandle: NETWO857-ARIN
RAbuseName: Network Abuse
RAbusePhone: +1-408-349-3300
RAbuseEmail: network-abuse@cc.yahoo-inc.com

RTechHandle: NA258-ARIN
RTechName: Netblock Admin
RTechPhone: +1-408-349-3300
RTechEmail: netblockadmin@yahoo-inc.com

OrgAbuseHandle: NETWO857-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: Network Abuse
OrgAbusePhone: +1-408-349-3300
OrgAbuseEmail: network-abuse@cc.yahoo-inc.com

OrgTechHandle: NA258-ARIN
OrgTechName: Netblock Admin
OrgTechPhone: +1-408-349-3300
OrgTechEmail: netblockadmin@yahoo-inc.com

# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2007-04-11 19:10
# Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database.

shdwsclan

For those looking for legitimate answers on Yahoo!, you're barking up the wrong tree. Keep in mind that this is a Q&A system where the questions can be asked by anyone as well as answered by anyone. Anyone can give false information, which is somewhat true of Wikipedia as well.

I know what it's like to try to get a hold of them though. Ironically I typed "Yahoo telephone" on their search field and got a few pages, one at the bottom being their normal answer. The number shown was 866-562-7219.

emax4

SpyMaster

Like the book says, everybody poops.

Now about Yahoo Answers -- it looked kinda cool when I first saw it, but then I gave up on it because it didn't look like there were any controls on content. For example, I had a legit question about U.S. immigration law, so I typed that into the search field. I ended up wading through a lot of bigoted, ignorant, rhetorical questions, like "Why can't we just shoot the wetbacks instead of letting them suck up all our hard-earned tax money?"

So after that happened, I gave up on Yahoo Answers -- too much stupid crap and not enough useful information.

acambras

I'd bet that's a Hell Yes.

That's pretty spooky, especially considering how opaque Yahoo is when trying to contact them in a dialog to clear things up.

I remember losing a yahoo email acc't ages ago for unknown reasons. Gave up figuring why after realizing it was taking me longer to find someone to talk to at Yahoo to clear it up than it did to create a new email address.

That's why Yahoo is only good for throw-away services to me. And give them money? Are you insane?! Expect every day with Yahoo to be your last, plan accordingly and you'll do fine.

Seems like a bad way to run a business, though. No wonder their stock price is down. And everyone else is eating their lunch.

Trai_Dep

Yogambo

mathew

He most likely said something that they thought was all for abusing animals, but there should be a warning. I also think canceling all of his accounts was way out of line. Just kick him off answers.

In the event that he never wrote anything that they think he wrote, isn't there some way for them to show what it was so that he can dispute it or so they can show they are right to kick him off?

vanilla-fro

I was a little addicted to Answers by then... but I eventually got another account canceled by (facetiously!) asking for good baby recipes.

Jonathan Harford

Yogambo

QuirkyRachel

Apparantly, that's not the case. Flickr users, make sure you back up all your flickr photos in a safe location, like your hard drive.

muddgirl

I'm also concerned that all of this happened without any fore-warning. By all means, block them from Yahoo Answers, but it does seem inappropriate to disable the entire account and all related paid services without any recourse.

MerryOtter

rickspeaks

Not to mention that, if you change ISPs, you need to remember to change *everything* that uses your ISP email, and you need to do it *after* signing up the new service but *before* canceling the old, since you'll need access to both accounts at once.

Indecision

Dragontologist

I remember when it started up and it seemed like a interesting idea until I checked it out. I was horrified at the amount of "answers" that had completely erroneous information. I was also dismayed at the election system used for the "Best Answer" often left answers with good, accurate information overlooked. Worse, because of the popularity at the site, many of my searches for info in google will turn up "Ask Yahoo" pages with again, their sorry mistakes for answers.

Bah.

NeoteriX

Anyway, I assumed one would have to get several warnings before being suspended unless you were going around using "nappy-headed" and "ho" in the same sentence.

simian-fever

donnie5

BillyShears

OnceWasCool

However, suggesting that yahoo is pro-animal cruelty because one of their users posted a Korean duck-hunting video is a bit inflammatory.

Posting it on a very popular consumers website, using way too much personal info, is enough to keep you suspended.

I do feel some pity for you. You spent some cash. You followed your dreams. You gave some answers to some bunny killers and pissed off the bunny huggers. Then, you got suspended.

A letter carbon copied to the right people would typically open some doors. If that doesn't work, there's always small claims court. Just enough of a pain in the ass to get you either satisfaction, or a refund (plus court costs).

But, the important thing is to stay professional and focused on your issue. Do drag anyone else into it, and try to refrain from insinuating a pogrom of duck genocide, directed by Mr. Semel, Yang or Filo (even though it might be true). Staying professional is the only way to get any real, satisfying resolution.

lincolnparadox

While I'm about to spew some advice on the guy, I think I may need to heed it also (though I am a Google-man). Always, always have two separate e-mail accounts and split your services between them. That way, if Yahoo! or Google ever decide to "suspend" your account, you only lose half of your services and can get them transferred a tad bit more easily.

I feel for ya Andrew, especially because of flickr. If anything happened to my (Pro) flickr account, I'd die.

P.S. Consumerist, in both cases, "effect" should be "affect."

SquareBubbles