Problems at Xdrive?

By | September 9, 2005

I hear from a reader that Xdrive, the online storage service recently bought by AOL, is not performing well:

Xdrive has been basically non-functional for at least the last 4 days, and a customer service email says they have no idea when their “major upgrade” will be fixed.

As I’ve recommended Xdrive in the past, I’m slightly perturbed. Certainly I’m not able to access my account at the time of writing:

Xdrive

What gives, AOL?

[Update a few hours later: I’m now able to access my account.]

62 thoughts on “Problems at Xdrive?

  1. Jeremy

    Here’s Xdrive’s response:

    Xdrive, together with AOL, is in the process of making significant upgrades to its technology infrastructure that will greatly enhance user experience. The move will allow Xdrive to leverage AOL’s massive infrastructure, network redundancy, and exceptional safety and security, and expand our storage technology to a whole new audience. It will also allow us to rapidly develop and deploy innovative new web, mobile and desktop applications to our storage platform and use them to enhance a range of AOL products. Xdrive users will benefit from AOL’s technology and support infrastructure and will have full access new products and services as we continue to grow. If issues arise during the integration, users can email support@xdrive.com, access our 24/7 Customer Support center, or call our support department toll free at 866.GO.XDRIVE (866.469.3748), Monday-Friday, between 6:00AM – 6:00PM PST.

    Reply
  2. CHUCK PHIPPS

    Xdrive is still not working at all, two weeks later. My data is held hostage, while I cannot log on — much less, retrieve anything. My complaints brought a one-month refund, but talk about a total f–up? This is the biggest finger-to-the-customer upgrade transition I’ve ever seen. Leave it to AOL . . . the new FEMA of the online world! But I still need to get back from Xdrive the full-year fee my company recently paid for a commercial account.

    Reply
  3. Anon

    X-Drive has been very unreliable for me as of late. Many login problems, and files that are supposedly “successfully uploaded” that don’t appear in the directory!

    Reply
  4. Eric

    Xdrive – one of the worst services I have had of any web-based provider. I couldn’t sign up for the automated free trial, and after leaving messages there eventually someone called back to take my credit card. Since then, I have been unable to login to the account on a number of occasions, and tech support has yet to call me back. thumbs down for xdrive! can anyone recommend another web-based storage provider? Thanks,
    eric

    Reply
  5. Michael K. Campbell

    I’ve been hosed for the past 7 days as well. Which is too bad – because the service really is cool.

    But ANY BACKUP company that will just STICK IT to me for 7 days… doesn’t get the point of a backup company.

    I’ve only been able to log in intermittently, and when I’ve done so I’ve seen that I’ve lost tons of data/files/etc.

    I work with software – so I know problems can happen – but they’ve gone completely over the top.

    Looking in to IBackup right now. Roughly similar – doesn’t look to have the same polish/simplicity. But then again, if it works… that would be nice.

    Reply
  6. Jason

    This is rubbish. I prepaid a years service and cannot get access. They keep saying it will be fixed within a couple of days. They will not advise if my contract will be extended by the weeks I have had no access. They just send out a proform sorry letter.

    Reply
  7. Jacint

    I agree absolutely with this comment: “X-Drive has been very unreliable for me as of late. Many login problems, and files that are supposedly “successfully uploaded” that don’t appear in the directory!”
    Are they unable to fix their problems?

    Reply
  8. eServicesPlus

    I just signed up for the free service; man, I should have looked here first!! Server errors, plus the phone number for support is no longer functional!!! Definite problem — no response from support, nothing works — help!!!

    Reply
  9. Darrell R.

    These problems with Xdrive have put me over the edge. I’m still trying to get a refund. I’m now using shadowstorage.com. It’s fast and reliable. They may be an up-and-comer in the industry.
    -Darrell

    Reply
  10. Haavard

    I am an very unhappy customers as well. I do not know how many email I have written in order to get even a monthly reimbursement. A true disgrace!

    Reply
  11. Jason N

    Wow, its christmas and I have been down for 2 weeks the admin known as molson has been giving me the run around.
    I have called and left voicemail but no one calls me back. I’ll be patient until the end of the year then I’ll write a letter to the president of the company letting him know how bad the service really is.

    Reply
  12. eSkeptic

    As of last week and this week, reliability is no better. It seems that “AOL’s massive infrastructure [and] network redundancy” are not massive nor redundant. Last week I waited on hold with the support line for 20 minutes, then got escalated to 2nd level support when I couldn’t login (“Username or password invalid”). The fellow at AOl indicated that the “user database was down and should be back up in an hour”. So much for redundant infrastructure.

    Today the classic “Cannot communicate…check your internet connection” message is occuring…

    Reply
  13. Scott Joslin

    X-drive is great when it works, but our corporate experience with the product has been erratic at best. Unable to log in to our X-drive account again this morning, with tech support hold times “greater than 10 minutes” by the message we’re waiting on right now. How do account holders most effectively communicate that a back up drive service without access to the back up drive is not acceptable?

    Reply
  14. L. McIlwain

    Don’t buy it. In three months, it never successfully completed a full back-up. Customer support did not respond at all, literally. Attempts to get a refund were met with a run-around.

    Reply
  15. jessy

    I am an ex user of this service. Many years ago I switched to IBackup and they are quiet reliable. Their customer support is very good and they even have a live chat to talk to them.

    Reply
  16. Addled

    Should have come here first. Signed up for 10 seat workgroup on credit card yesterday, but Xdrive gave me free 6 seats. Phone calls bounced to voicemail; no reply from phone or email tech support in 24hr. Won’t upload docs (0 files out of 2 were successfully uploaded. Your account is undergoing maintenance right now. Access to your files will be limited for a while. Full access should be restored shortly. Error Code: 372.) Does anyone have the CEO’s phone number?!

    Reply
  17. JD

    I’ve been experiencing tons of problems since I (unfortunately) bought a year of service back in September. This week I can’t login. They’ve apparently locked my account because they’ve tried to start billing me monthly—I’m annual and not due for renewal for months. After much time and no help from entry level tech, someone in higher level tech support unlocked my account, but says I’ll experience the same problem again if I don’t talk to billing. Now my storage amount is wrong–only 5GB, when it should be 50GB. I’m in voicemail and tech hold hell now trying to find someone who can fix things.

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  18. Rodney McManamy

    I also got screwed. Luckily it doesn’t look like they charged me yet but just the hassles of trying to cancel drove me mad.

    I didn’t find the CEO’s info yet but I did find a media contact and they should care enough about bad PR to pass this on.
    kristadthomas@aol.com

    Their support pissed me off so bad I’m going to upload the full correspondance to our site at http://www.cadzation.com/xdrivesucks.com if anyone wants a good laugh.

    1.) Didn’t AOL buy this company?
    2.) Aren’t both companies in the internet business and why would they not allow you to cancel online? Only thing I can figure is they are like cell phone companies and they want to reel you in, get your money, and then not allow you to cancel.
    3.) Couldn’t a beginner programmer add on online cancellation form to it in about a day?
    4.) Isn’t it false advertising if they say “easy cancellation” but then you can only cancel over the phone which puts you on hold for over 30 minutes? It took me 3 times before I finally got through in under 30 minutes. 26 to be exact. Total time. 1.75 hours.
    5.) How does a company with the resources of AOL buy into a crap company like this? Connected.com’s performance is way better as is their support.

    I’m about ready to file complaints with the FTC and the Better Business because this is a load of crap and other users shouldn’t have to go through what I went through.

    Reply
  19. Jay

    Same problems. Can’t get my money back. I’m getting to use only about 50% of the space I purchased before getting a “Out of Disk Space” error message. None of my backups ever saved successfully over many months. Now I’m caught in the tech support hell, getting form letters from “AOL Support” and assuring me that my “AOL Service” request will be handled promptly. The help line is answered as AOL and they seem confused when you tell them you’re calling about Xdrive. At this point, I just want my money back. They’re advertising a service that they simply cannot deliver. It’s fale advertising. Any class-action attorneys? This one’s a no-brainer. Please contact me!

    Reply
  20. Uncle Bob

    Between 6/1/06 and 6/6/06 Xdrive used my monthly direct-billing to bill me six times!! That has put that account in overdraft.

    When I speak to support at 703-499-0141, they can only refund the amount billed and that will take 7-10 working days.

    To get reimbursed for overdraft fees I must fax my statements to Mike Bishop at 703-265-7981 with no promise of when I may get reimbursed.

    On the three times I asked to escalate my complaint I was transferred to “Tier 2” at which, after being on hold for about two minutes, a recording came on stating that this was the line for “AOL City Guide”, to address City Guide inquiries to John Gaines at 310-979-5245, and to call 866-469-3748 for any XDrive inquiries.

    One of the five reps I spoke to admitted that the multiple billing was a systemic problem, and it was obvious to me that they had attempted to put a remedy in place but it is not working, eg. referring escalations to a non-working number.

    Has anyone else reported these problems?

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  21. Laura Lee

    xdrive… what a crock! They have been having major problems for nearly a year now I guess (from what I’ve read in message boards, etc.)

    Stupidly I signed up in March. Had problems right from the get-go. I could drag files to be backed up but could never get one scheduled job to work.

    Effective April 1, you can’t quit unless you call someone at their level 2 support (oh have fun trying to do that!). This should be outlawed. Until March 30, there was a way on the site to cancel! I’m sure they’re trying to prevent floods of people from quitting.

    My first email to them regarding my problem (they promise 3-4HOUR response from email problems) came back with a reply from them more than 30 days after I sent the message! Of course it DID NOT answer the question, they asked a question in the email that was already answered in my initial email! Stalling tactic, no doubt.

    Of course my trial was up.

    I suspect the reason they took the button to cancel the service from the user interface is that they were losing so much money. Now they can hold you hostage.

    It is impossible to get someone on the phone. When you call tech support, after 2 minutes YOU HAVE to leave a message on voice mail (they say they’ll call you in 15 minutes!) What a joke. I think a class action lawsuit is warranted here. They know they cannot deliver.

    It seems they have been in trouble for a long time now, I was just unaware before I signed up.

    Boo me. How stupid I feel.

    Reply
  22. Rodney McManamy

    It just makes me mad to see people still having problems months after I complained so here’s some interesting info.

    The Better Business Bureau should also allow you to file a complaint. I never thought before but you can check the status of companies that have complaints filed against them and it looks like they have an F rating currently.
    http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportPage_Expository.aspx?CompanyID=13127017

    And since the phone message is incorrect and the button was taken down to cancel you might try filing a complaint with the FTC which governs advertising also. I think this is the link that I used with my cellphone company and it was the only way that I got things resolved.
    https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01

    This is really cool. The BBB report gives the name of the Director of Business Operations which when I pump it into whitepages.com comes up with a name and address that is in the same town as the XDrive company headquarters. [[part of comment deleted; person no longer works at XDrive/AOL]]

    I’m not telling you to call but if I had thought to look up this info when I was having my problems I think I would have tried. If she’s the Director of Business Operations all of this falls under her responsibility and I always like going straight to the top.

    Now AOL has 3500+ complaints over the last 12 months so maybe this is just typical of all the companies they own. But there are notes on the BBB report that they do have a large number of users so the percentage may be with any other company.

    Also since even with the BBB XDrive has not resolved all of it’s reported complaints or even assigned one of them I doubt they really care at all over there. They got their money from AOL and now they are probably serving their terms before splitting from the company to retire.

    Reply
  23. Kay Bentley

    I am in Australia and have been waiting for a refund from Xdrive for two accounts one from March and one from April and I have even rung America twice and on both occasions been told it is pending. Pending for what?????? I have sent numerous emails and have even sent emails to AOL Legal with no response. I don’t know what to do next. HELP

    Reply
  24. Car

    MY GOD X drive is anightmare, they billed me three times, i cannot log on, now the phone lines are all busy and you cannot log on..this is a MESS, i called my bank today and told them the charges were not varified by me.

    Reply
  25. Jerry

    Tried XDrive, they’ve got big name. However, the website didn’t work well. The desktop client was even worse, hangs and crashes like a hell. Now I have switched to DriveHQ, used wwwbackup to backup the whole my documents folder, 5GB, worked great, like magic.

    Reply
  26. simon

    I cancelled my Xdrive account in January and they are still billing me.

    Reply
  27. John P. Enright

    A few months ago, XDrive started to bill me $4.95 PER DAY through my credit card through which I pay for AOL. I had not even tried the trial usage yet, much less signed up for the service. They gave me a credit for all days except one. They continued to bill me $4.95 per month and suddenly have AGAIN started to bill me $4.95 PER DAY to my credit card. I checked the “Doctor Xdrive” Forum and saw their recommendations [1] to use Firefox as the better browser; [2] “clear the cache and cookies in your browser”.

    Reply
  28. clive Hinchcliffe

    I was living in the UK and yes I was billed twice a month for 3 months durring the last 12 months.

    I have also been unable to log on to my account at times.

    I have moved to Brussels and used my xdrive as a back-up.

    Still unable to log on once I do get loged on I will download my files and close this account a waste of time.

    Was OK when they were starting out now I am lost for words.

    Reply
  29. D'anna

    i got one to top these. i found xdrive accidently through a google serch. well, i signed up using my credit card and on the last page they said i qualified for a 50% reduction in rate because i am an aol member. then they said that their records told them that i pay by credit card for my aol service and that if i would like they could combine these two bils into one. so i thought hey cool, my family pays for aol. so i try downloading the software and i never got it to work. so i just used the web-based portion to try it out. after that i didn’t use it for months. it was just too much of a hassle because the software didn’t work. that’s about when i realized that they were charging me full price and i started thinking that maybe i don’t really feel comfortable with the fact that all they needed to add this charge to my parent’s card was my aol screen name! so i called aol and inquired about it and they denied any associatin with them and made it clear that they were seperate companies and that i should take it up with them and that they would look into the credit card thing even though they expressly denied that it was possible. so i then called xdrive up because i’ve really had enough. it turns out that they can’t refund you money when you go to the option for billing disputes without forwarding you to some other elevated line with a wait of forever and a full message box. so i call again and talk to a lady who says that she can’t do any refunds. so i ask to talk to her supervisor. she tells me she can transfer me to the elevated line and i explained why i didn’t want anything to do with it. she put me on hold and then told me that someone said she could waive my aol bill for three months, basically equivilent to the amount they overcharged me. she then thanked me for choosing aol!!!! well now, the first time that i have tried to access it since then i get a pop up about updating to the newest version. you have no choice but to say ok because it says that you cannot login without it. so i hit yes and the program shuts down. i tried the website and it shows that there is nothing there to upload even though i know i saved things to xdrive! if xdrive were hardware instead of software i would throw it across the room!

    Reply
  30. Kato

    Xdrive sucks. so much for their online support. I signed up, but could not get my account canceled, after several weeks of emails with no response, I found a phone number for xdrive on this site, and called, which I was finally able to cancel over the phone. FINALLY!!!

    Reply
  31. John Zee

    What is the deal with Xdrive anyway? I had been a subscriber for more than a year. Since July 2006 I haven’t been able to get logged on and can get no live customer support.

    Reply
  32. Kevin

    i just signed up for the free service, i managed a backup of my “my documents” folder with no problems using the client software.
    contrary to popular belief, it seems that xdrive is working fine. it annoys me a little when they give no email address for the free service, or a phone number, but one can deduce that the email is support@xdrive.com, makes sense right?
    otherwise, i have no quips, almost forgot, web grab doesn’t work, period.

    Reply
  33. Cortland Coleman

    X-Drive is truly a piece of crap. Signed up for the free service yesterday and I still have not been able to upload ONE file. Typical AOL shenanigans.

    Stay far away from xdrive.com!

    Reply
  34. Jonathhan Turkle

    For 7 years I have been a happy Xdrive user. Since AOL took over I only have problems. For the past several weeks, I have been unable to download any of my files, as the Xdrive server keeps disconnecting in the middle of the download. This occurs on several computers in different locations. Even off site customer are having the same problem. The AOL support is just scary. They completely misdiagnose the problem and send back e-mails which never address the fact that this is a serve issue. all I get are basic user instruction on how to download a file. it is really insulting. To make matters worse, AOl refers users back to the Xdrive web site where there is no other support other than AOL. Their first level support team is completely ill equipped to handle anything but the most rudimentary calls, and are unable to directly contact second level support. No one is taking ownership of what has become an awful problem..

    Reply
  35. Jay of Boulder

    I signed up yesterday based on Xdrive’s excellent looking website.

    The past 24 hours have been a nightmare! Although it’s free, I’ve wasted many many hours. The problem: the system crashes while you’re uploading files. It crashes and then it crashes and then it crashes and then it…

    Reply
  36. Sancho

    If you need some trusted service to backup your critical data, try a pioneer service like IBackup. Xdrive interface is clunky and uploads data very slowly.

    PC World has recently rated IBackup as the `best all-round backup service’ in a review of such services. And UK’s best selling Internet mag ‘Webuser’ has selected IBackup for the ‘webuser gold award’. With IBackup for Windows one can perform interactive and automatic scheduling of backups with compression and encryption during transmission, incremental/full backups, synchronization, advanced logging and reporting. You can also backup open files with IBackup. IBackup supports backups for UNIX and Linux-based computers using rsync. IBackup accounts are compatible with most FTP clients on most platforms providing a powerful flexible tool to transfer files.

    Try this cool application IDrive. Using this, you can map the online account as a local drive on your computer and work on the documents or data as if they are on your PC. Installing and using it is very easy and it has 128-bit support. Backup your music or video files in your account and use ‘IDrive Multimedia’ to create playlists or fast forward songs. With Web-Manager share files by creating sharable links and emailing them to your buddies and partners. The `Private Share’ feature allows an IBackup account holder to instantly share portions of the account with another IBackup user..

    If you are obsessed with security of data, then IBackup Professional will be the best for you. This application encrypts data based on a user-defined key so that the data stored on the IBackup Professional servers cannot be decrypted by anybody other than the user. The backed up files are stored by default in the encrypted form using AES 256-bit encryption and automatically decrypted during restores. You can also restore up to 30 prior versions of files and folders backed up, including the most recent version of the data files.

    Reply
  37. Jeff Power

    Just to let Everyone know , apparently there are still problems. Trying their free account i get disconnects when uploading multiple files, this is not a service I could recommend

    Reply
  38. Tom Harrington

    Thanks for posting these comments, I can only download half or less of my files stored on Xdrive. The downloads start out OK then about 30 sec. into the download it just says “download complete” (it wasn’t) and then stops. I thought it was me! I Googled “Xdrive Problems” and this is the first spot I saw. At least now I know that the service cannot be trusted. Thanks!

    Reply
  39. Tom Thumb

    The only comment I wish to say is beware of uploading zip or rar files to your xdrive. I recently uploaded a large collection of digital photos are are compressed as bundles (zip format). After finally getting them uploaded, silly me removed them from my computer thinking these files are now safely stored. Durrr. Turns out I needed to retrieve some photos. After downloading a few zip files, I discover I cannot open them… zip file corrupted. It seems somehow xdrive corrupted my zips, either from the original uploading or later downloading. Not sure what caused this. Even using various zip repair programs to try and recover my files… no luck. I am out by about $13,000, the estimated value of my digital collection. Stupid stupid me for trusting a free online storage system. Other than xdrive corrupting my zip files (of any size), xdrive seems to work fine for me. But the sadness of being unable to open any zip file that I uploaded to xdrive still remains present in my mind as I fall asleep each night.

    Reply
  40. Stormy

    I’m livid! I just tried to download all my client files and just as it got to the end of it I got an error message and at the same time it deleted the entire file all 2.5 gigs of it!!! All of my client files are gone!!!

    Support was no help at all, they said I had to wait up to 5 day for a response from some other level 2 tech through email! WTF!

    If you value your files, NEVER use XDrive to store them!!! 🙁

    Reply
  41. Steve K

    XDrive is not alone in these problems. I use Mozy.com and recently had major issues trying to restore my stuff. These companies all speak about how great they are at backing up but the restore process sucks! You’re only as good as your weakest link!

    Reply
  42. Smridh Thapar

    The problem with broken downloads is the fact that the uploads never went across. This problem occurs not only with zip files but all of them.

    This problem only occurs when you use the “X” Drive created in your “My Computer”. Apparently, the copy-paste function on this drive doesn’t work perfectly fine. So, whenever you use this feature remember to check the uploaded file before deleting from your local memory.

    The backup feature and the web upload are more reliable.

    Reply
  43. Tyler Willis

    For my backup stuff, I’m waiting for a mac version of Carbonite. Not the same webapp slickness, but I know the thing just flat out works, that’s all I care about for backing up machines.

    Reply
  44. Need I say more?

    What stories I could tell you all about Xdrive! But I can’t! NDA! What I can say now is to confirm some of your above comments. Yes, that’s the number to call for Xdrive support but it’s not the only one consumers can use to reach out to AOL for support on any of their services. So keep that in mind next time. Another thing, AOL recently pulled off any references to the support phone number or email address from within your account. I am sure that some of you might have noticed this! You won’t find it listed anyplace in the TOS, web page, FAQs, or anywhere. Think of it this way. How can any employee of AOL support a product that he/she has never even used? Did AOL train every employee at their Manila or India call centres to support this feature rich, mutli purpose, interactive Digital Asset Management application? No way! Impossible! So that’s the level of support you are going to get from any company that has to save money by employing outsourced ‘talent’. This ‘talent’ pool will not be able to help you fix any issues, wether it be an issue with the Desktop Appication, the Web Interface, Xdrive Shows, not to mention the more complex issues, like, network protocol issues, error codes that get thrown at consumers. They have never seen it or used the product let alone done any trouble shooting to that high level of technical expertise. They read a script and give you suggestions of things that were given to them from experienced Xdrive staff that are outdated and don’t even apply anymore. Need I say more?

    P.S. Let’s not spread incorrect rumors about a true Xdrive evangelist like Doctor Xdrive. I meet him, over at MySpace.com! He helped Xdrive consumers in the Xdrive Forums and in oh so many other ways but he lost the fight to keep support in house at Xdrive and out the door he went! Along with many other great contributors to Xdrive.

    Reply
  45. DeltaV

    I opened an XDrive account back in Feb of 06 on a “trial” where you had to put in your CC# first and they only billed you if you kept it past 30 days, or something similar.

    I used it three weeks, found that I really did not need it and called to cancel it – it took forever on the phone but they canceled it. Before I hung up I confirmed it was canceled and I would not be billed, not once but twice.

    In July 06, I return from 120 days of being overseas and I find they are charging me! I call and complain and it takes me well over an hour on the phone, escalating from the first guy to his supervisor, then to the next supervisor. They will only refund me a maximum of three months service ($30) because I “did not cancel on time”.

    “Bullsh!t,” say I, “I have the conf number and it is XXXXXXXXXXXXX.”

    They reply, “We are sorry but that confirmation number is not recognized by our system thus it is invalid. However, we will do you a FAVOR and refund the last three months.”

    After 30 minutes of arguing, I end up settling for that.

    Fast forward to this summer.

    I return from another, much longer trip to someplace hot and sandy and what do I find when I’m going thru 12 months worth of mail?

    07/02/2007 XDRIVE.COM 703-433-0141 CA
    [REFERENCE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX] $9.95

    “WTF?” say I.

    So I call them on 5 July and go thru this loooong drawn out ordeal with two people who seem to have flunked ESL.

    During the two hours on the phone and much talk on their ends about “let me set your expectations” and other CSR distractions such as “let me put you on hold so I can check and see what I can do to help you”…

    I finally told the guy to never say that to me again because I’d be setting my own expectations – and my expectation is that they credit my account for the full balance for the entire time they have been charging me.

    I escalated thru 4 people this time and got only 5 months of what was probably over a year of charges out of them and yet another confirmation that it was indeed and for certain, canceled.

    Guess what shows on this months bill.

    07/11/2007 TWX*Xdrive by AOL 0707 866-GOXDRIV NY
    [REFERENCE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX] $9.95

    07/11/2007 XDRIVE.COM 703-433-0141 CA
    [REFERENCE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX] +$49.75

    08/11/2007 TWX*Xdrive by AOL 0807 866-GOXDRIV NY
    [REFERENCE XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX] $9.95

    Sure – they issued the refund alright.

    But then the little bast*rds continued to bill me under a slightly different name with a different contact number.

    So now instead of “XDRIVE.COM 703-433-0141 CA” it is “TWX*Xdrive by AOL 0807 866-GOXDRIV NY”.

    Finally I get my banks credit card department involved – which I probably should have in the beginning.

    While we are on a three way call with someone at XDrive, I semi-politely explain to her that no only do I know they have an “F” rating with the BBB but I am going to complain to the states attorney generals office but also talk to my JAG office to see what they can do about getting AOL/XDrive put on the “banned/barred” list and also tell as many people as I can where ever I go.

    I think I may have made the poor girl cry.

    So sorry, but the is way past the point of polite.

    It’s even past the point where some people just could possibly be pissed enough to come and burn your shiny corporate headquarters down… theoretically… in a movie or something… maybe.

    So they refund me another $120 on top of the $49.75 they refunded me last month as well as the $30 they refunded me last summer.

    AOL/XDrive will try to screw with you to keep their money.

    If you have to deal with them you need to get your bank and CC involved and you need to threaten legal action, (my brother in law is a lawyer and he is a nasty bloodsucking litigator, etc…) and I’m going to complain to every government official I can reach…. etc etc etc…

    Cancel it and then double check your bills to be sure that it actually got canceled and THEN double check to see that they did not double bill you on some months like they did to me!

    Good luck.

    Reply
  46. Jason Lee

    I could not log-in two weeks ago.
    1. It took me an hour to find out their numbers.
    2. I tried to figure out the problems for three times with their tech support.
    3. I received a letter that it would take 7 to 9 days before some specialist would contact me with a solution.

    Simple log-in problem. They do not have an answer.

    Reply
  47. Graham Toal

    Well, about a year and a half later than most of the comments above, and XDrive now gives 5Gb free … of which after 3 days of trying I’ve been able to use about 200K. The software they supply that lets you map to drive X: is severely broken, I’ve tried it on two different machines (both reliable until now, and both configured quite differently) and the X: drive fails to connect, it hangs, it crashes, and even when it apparently starts up OK, maybe 1 in 5 transfers actually completes successfully. (And I’m on a VERY fast net connection that almost never goes down)

    What I don’t understand is that if it has always been like this, how are they still in business?

    There’s an unsupported, unfinished, alpha piece of software called “s3drive” that I use with Amazon S3 and it has worked *perfectly* since the day I installed it.

    Even at ‘free’, this isn’t worth the money. I’m uninstalling it right now :-/

    Reply
  48. Steve

    All of the stuff I uploaded to xdrive is corrupted. don’t use this service

    Reply
  49. Warren

    Funny. I see that the first entry to this log was in 2005. It’s now 2007 (almost 2008) and I just tried to give Xdrive a spin. My verdict: still crap. First the screen name setup process with AOL is a joke. I won’t go into the details because it would take too long, but it’s clear that they are trying to stick multiple systems together with duct tape (either that, or they have the worst development team on earth). Then the Xdrive doesn’t work. I’ve been trying to upload on and off for two days, and I’d say that the upload fails 70% of the time, gets through at a trickle speed (2-4 kbps) probably 10% of the time, and works properly about 20% of the time (if that). Absolute junk.

    Reply
  50. PG88

    Wow, I use to live in America in 2005 and wanted to share files with family in Europe. Xdrive was crap then. Since, I have tried in 2006, 2007 and now mid 2008 and it still doesn’t work. Can’t login, software is crap, etc. Amazing. I now live in Europe. My international move was easier than xdrive.

    Reply
  51. Esteban

    I have spent (no, wasted) hours try to log in. After I wasted trying and re-trying the log-in I finally got a User Name. But now it tells me the password is no good. I push the button to reset the password and they never email me the new password / link. So stupid me I start all over again. Well I could go on; but you know how the story ends. Yes X-Drive is a crock and I wasted hours trying, with zero success, to log in.

    Reply
  52. tom.trente.trois

    My problems are 2. One: Neither Safari nor Firefox permit me to login to my account. Firefox did before but not now. I have to use Netscape 7+ but it isn’t my favorite browser. Second: I can’t share my stuff with anyone. The browser goes to the download on xdrive site and just sits there. Doesn’t work for Safari, Firefox, or Netscape. So I can’t share via email access. Can’t get any help because I don’t pay for more than 5 gig. It all worked before but now it is falling apart. Oh, well! All thing go bad!

    Reply
  53. tom.trente.trois

    My problems are 2. One: Neither Safari nor Firefox permit me to login to my account. Firefox did before but not now. I have to use Netscape 7+ but it isn’t my favorite browser. Second: I can’t share my stuff with anyone. The browser goes to the download on xdrive site and just sits there. Doesn’t work for Safari, Firefox, or Netscape. So I can’t share via email access. Can’t get any help because I don’t pay for more than 5 gig. It all worked before but now it is falling apart. Oh, well! All thing go bad!

    Reply
  54. Andy

    Just tried to create a free account, but couldn’t get past the security check. Having now found and read the above, I shouldn’t be suprised. Time to try elsewhere….

    Reply
  55. oscar

    What a crap service
    Register an account fails on the security check. Searching for support contact: not there. They simply stopped any personal support by email (forget about phone) and thats the end of the trial.
    Funny enough, on the first support page they talk about their “trained” support that will guide you through registration.
    Never seen such a bullshit.
    Problem is now, where to go. jungledrive is too complicated with too much account registration and there aren’t many internet drives that give you a drive letter or explorer integration. Tried driveHQ, other problems and there so called explorer integration is buggy.
    How to get a proper and secure file service that can share data with others securely. Not even the simplest thing like a file lock while editing is provided.

    Reply
  56. House Shutters

    I tried to sign up for an account today. Still not passing the security check. Even their audio confirms I am entering it correctly. You can’t even sign up for a paid account if you want to.

    I am not impressed.

    Reply
  57. user

    signed up for xdrive. is a crappy service, i had the same problem of security check while using firefox IE solved it. my biggest complain is that there is no way to avoid an aol screen name, which can never be unregistered, and now i can’t login it says pass and user names don’t match. can login to aol though, but that is my point i don’t want to be affiliated with aol. aol sucks

    Reply

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