Want your images back? That'll be $5

joaquincabezas

5 dollars for having that story to tell, not bad

echoangle

Just do a GDPR request and get all the data they have on you for free. I’m pretty sure they would have to give you your photos as part of that.

equinoxnemesis

Considering they explicitly said they had some photos of yours ("You shared them. We protected them."), this seems like chargeback territory.

inigyou

Every time I see one of these I make a note that it's a successful strategy to make money, so I might apply it in a future project.

okramcivokram

I have received the email that my photobucket account is going to be deleted, so I've logged in after who knows how many years and got offered the same thing, to subscribe. Instead I've went to close the account and in the process (or somewhere else, don't remember exactly) there was an option to first download all the data which I've used and got the images back (there were just a few as I haven't used the service really), then I've closed the account. There was no need to subscribe.

jadar

Wow, shocker, a company will not indefinitely store your data for free.

carlosjobim

Photobucket sent me multiple e-mails during a long time period to alert me about this change. So the author quite willfully ignored those.

MarkusWandel

You have to view all cloud storage - all free cloud storage anyway - as ephemeral. If you want your childhood pictures to survive, store them someplace you have control over.

hamburgererror

Why store "childhood memories" on an online service though? Those websites get hacked all the time, you're lucky if your privates pictures don't endup in the wrong hands...

mannanj

There’s a emphasis and repetition of sound bites and empty words in our culture, as though they mean something clear and understandable though it’s really a sound bite and a phrase to ease your discomfort and help you feel better about yourself: corporate greed is one of those words. There is no such thing as a corporation being conscious or taking a will of its own and choosing to be greedy. It’s just a symbol to represent humans being greedy. Let’s call it what it is: it’s human leaders and bourgeois people being greedy. I don’t find it honest when we continue to use inaccurate phrases in this deceptive manner since we don’t want to look at the situation for what it really is. Or assume our responsibility in the matter. We’ve allowed this greed by tolerating it, interacting with the humans (or not) and pretending the reality isn’t what it is. What is complaining and stopping there asking about it? Surely we can do more than just make an internet article about it and think it will change.

selimonder

Wow this is a next level scam lol

psychoslave

So, like and a kind reminder they have legal obligation to give all the personal data they have about you under Europeans laws, and that's it?

nekusar

Chargeback time. They claimed to have your photos, then fucking lied about it. And a chargeback costs them like $20.

joshstrange

If ever there was a use-case for chargebacks, this is it. Threaten their support to refund or you will file a chargeback, and then file one if they refuse.

jmathai

Given this is a largely technical crowd, I feel it my duty to share just how good (and free/open) Immich is. If you’re like me and don’t want to be an “admin for life” then it’s still for you. What has worked for me for over a decade is to keep the source of my photos in a boring old folder (backed up to my synology and Dropbox). And then layer photo viewing and sharing apps on top. The day I’m sick of Immich and there’s a better alternative, I switch. I’ve written about how it works as I’ve gone along. Recommend reading and putting your own twist on it. https://jaisenmathai.com/articles/my-ridiculously-robust-pho... https://medium.com/vantage/understanding-my-need-for-an-auto...

Liftyee

Regardless of whether this is legal or not, I think this move is subjectively scummy. I know that profit maximisation means going against common ideas of what is "a nice thing to do", but there's a line that's been crossed here between "the business has to support itself" and "trying to exploit and milk our customers". Honestly, if storage costs were an issue, I would have preferred they delete it with notification than sell hope at a ransom. Wonder if there any startups that have grown without resorting to these low blow tactics - just the idealised free market of "we provide such a good service that you're willing to pay us our fair price".

ur-whale

> Want your images back? Sure... That'll be $5! That kind of long con is (and has always been) part of the basic business model of most of the "free" service providers on the internet. First one is free, played on a decade time scale, works fine in a world where capital is quasi-free. The hyperscalers play it a little more subtly, but the principle is the same.

mihaaly

Just like with almost everything Photobucket was sold or raised money from investors throughout the years repeatedly. That money they want back! From somewhere, any way, pimping the EBITDA and ARR numbers to the expected one for the 5-7 years resale cycle or such. ARR needs subscription, and if you have user lock in - well, otherwise you wouldn't buy some trivial service like this wouldn't you? You counted on the lock-in, that is central to you 'business model', or more like exploitation - then try cash it. Now! You can alienate people down the line? Let that be the problem of the next owner of the product, you will cash out soon anyway. And next PE look at the price/ARR ratio mostly, anyway, it will be a fine add-on to some other PE target at least, if the ARR ratio is fine. PE is shitting where it eats.... and others eat too ... ruining it for everyone. Don't care. Why don't they buy oil or beef farms or whatever, why they need to ruin the internet too?

justinclift

That's pretty deceptive conduct on Photobucket's part. $5 recovery in small claims court maybe? :)

poody

Oh man.. you made my day.. I especially loved the tiki spongebob memes.. I still have Jacques Cousteau's voice going thru my head "One Hour Later"......