feng_shui_house

After at least four different emails to Flickr help (starting March 5), they reinstated my account yesterday.

In my first email I asked them to check if it was a mistake, in later emails I tried to get them to at least tell me what happened- was it because I used a different computer and had to click on a link from Flickr.net (not flickr.com), had I been hacked? Could they at least tell me what rule had been broken?

Each time they told me they'd reviewed my account, and I'd violated a rule. First, they said they wouldn't restore it, give me any details WHY, or give me any copies of my content. Then in later email they said in addition to that, I wouldn't be allowed to possess a new account nor access or use Flickr services. If I tried to get a new account they would delete it immediately.

Finally I said, I'm not asking you to do anything for me, I'm not going to try to get a new account or recover my photos. Just please could I forward the emails I got from Flickr.net for you to see if that was a hacker, so maybe they could catch them and at least save my friends on flickr from that?

SO yesterday, March 9, I got an email from Flickr.

Upon review of your account, it appears as though it was inadvertently caught up in a mass-deletion event that we did as part of our spam prevention process. We have restored the account for you and apologize for the indiscretion.

EACH reply I'd got from them SAID they'd reviewed my account and found that I'd violated their rules. So, after like... I lost count... four tries? Five if you count the useless form I had to fill out on the website to get started at all... they finally did what they said they did the first time and looked at my account.

Apparently it was all boilerplate and no actual checking, until maybe someone said, 'I'm tired of seeing this person begging us to tell them why their account was deleted, have a look so we can say 'you sent X amount of spam/ showed obscene photos, used hate speech,' whatever, to make them shut up.'

'Um... I'm looking and there are kittens and butterflies and teddy bears on the account... the forum comments are about surface design and, you know... art... hmmm....maybe we made an oops?'

Also, I do not think 'indiscretion' means what they think it means.

Maybe they meant to say 'incompetence'.