I work in the IT support industry and if i was to speak to a custome the way the lycos rep had i would be fired on the spot and maybe even beaten with a big stick.

This right to change the rules is written into the rules. Additionally, on web hosting sites such as Tripod, members think they can post anything under the guise of “free speech” Unfortunately, very few (none) of these companies are owned by the U.S. government.

Free Speech protection is reserved to protection from government action. The terms of service is essentially a contract that allows the company to do pretty much anything, including change the terms without notification and delete content (sites and mail). They have all the power.

I got the response that the changes will be acted upon within two days and I can now receive and send emails.

I have also sent an email to support@support.lycos.com and received an immediate response which stated that I was with Lycos UK and they could not help me, being Lycos US.

I hope this helps.

cheers,

Gwne

One need not search the legal garbledy gook within the Terms of Service contract to realize that there is a 30 day life span on basic Lycos Mail accounts. This policy seems common among the many other mail providers. And yes, those of us who can actually read will find it on the Lycos Mail home page (http://mail.lycos.com), as well as the Lycos Mail registration page.

While the customer service manager could have handled the situation better, he certainly took the high road but not pasting this stupid person’s personal information all over the Internet — in a hidden blog or dumping into a bunch of Internet tabloids.

It’s clear to me that the dumb writer is simply in it for attention. If not, she would have 1.) turned on her spam filtering, 2.) Removed her mail messages in a reasonable amount of time, 3.) Logged in often enough to prevent some automated process from deleting her e-mails until she could pull them off of Lycos mail 4.) Paid the recovery fee (which amounts to 5.5 cents per day for the year) to get her messages restored.

I am guessing that the other mail providers, who delete messages on free mal accounts that people “abandon,” will make reasonable accomodations for people who want their mail restored. The Lycos Customer Service Manager certainly communicated options to her. It’s too bad he didn’t just do it in a nicer manner.

As for the four years of messages that were not worth five cents per day and were removed: too bad, so sad. If you don’t read the blatant warning messages, you probably would not have read any of the old e-mail messages anyway.

I had been happily using Lycos since also early 2000. So much history I had on the site, so many letters from loved-ones lost to this world, and one fine day, about a year or so ago, all letters from 2000 to 2004 were deleted although I checked the site daily. To my requests as to why, no response. All of my father’s letters to me (who has since passed away), gone…our arguments about politics (his blind support for the monkey holding the White House hostage, his fatherly words of wisdom, etc.) gone!

Then, I too noticed an unreal amount of spam…200 letters a day telling me how to grow certain parts of my body, etc. So, I too switched over to google. And in the course of life, yes, my weekly checks (so as not to lose the remaining bits of life-history that the Lycos Bureau of Censorship didn’t kill) turned in bi-monthly and then, last week, due to a hectic travel schedule, it happened…Lycos dropped the switch on the rest of my email-history and yes, I too, received the “$19.95 letter which is non-negotiable”…Lycos sucks ass and has for the past 2 years and anyone running that sinking ship should look in the mirror and say “I am a big-business asshole whose only goal in life is profit!”…so, Lycos, go fuck yourselves! You can’t take the money with you when you too die and you can’t kill the memories I have…although, you did manage to steal the jargon and “speech” mannerisms my loved of yesteryear had effected so “livingly”.

By the way, Lycos will fold and as they lie on their vitural death-beds, they figure, let’s bleed 10,000’s of $20 before we do close shop…it called, “good business”

“When I went to check my messages this morning, all of my messages were gone. I know I had at least 300 messages. I need them back.”

They sent this in return.

“Our IP logs and login records indicate that it’s been more than 30 days in between logins for your account. As stated on our site, and in our Terms of Service, your account became classified as “inactive”, and the contents of the account is deleted.

This is our policy, which we are forced to enforce to ensure there’s room for new, active members of our service.

To reactivate your account, all you need to do is log in as you normally would, using your Lycos Mail user name and password. However, reactivating your account will not restore your previous e-mails, address book, or blocked senders lists.

Should you want to restore the previous contents of your account, you will need to upgrade to the Lycos Mail Plus service, within 30 days of deactivation. You can upgrade by logging in, and clicking “Options”, along the left hand menu, then select “Membership Status”, and click the “Modify Your Plan” button. Select the “Lycos Mail Plus” option (Restoration is not available for Account Preservation upgrades), and follow the onscreen steps.

Lastly, it is very important that you respond to us, to let us know you have upgraded. The restoration needs to be done by hand, and we will not know to restore your account until you notify us that you’ve upgraded, and we verify the upgrade.

Restoration is not available to members who do not upgrade, and our policy will be strictly enforced. To have your account restored, you must upgrade, and pay the $19.95 upgrade fee. This is non-negotiable.

For more information please see our Terms and Conditions. This link may be found at the bottom of any Lycos Mail page.

–
Lloyd D.
Customer Service - Lycos”

I log into and send email pretty much everyday. I sent this email explaining that I had been using it frequently over the past 30 days.

“It had not been 30 days between logins. I had logged in just the day before the messages were deleted. I generally check my messages each day, leaving just a day or two in between. I expect these messages will be restored. I will not be blackmailed into upgrading to your service where I am required to pay. Please send me your contact information, including mailing address and phone number.”

Lycos sent this in return.

“I do apologize, but according to our logs, your account was deactivated on
2/23 due to the 30 day inactivity policy.

As mentioned earlier, if you wish to have your emails restored, you will need
to upgrade to the Lycos Mail Plus subscription. You have 30 days from 2/23
before the emails are permanently removed from our servers.”

So basically I won’t see my messages unless I pay them $20. The only thing I can do now is put my story out there and hope that word spreads about how lousy this company is. Please let me know if there are other sites that I can post to to get the word out.