How can you tell if a web service is just an empty shell where the only real functionality is collecting your money? That's the situation one reader suspects he finds himself in with a data backup service called Virtual Backup.
"A couple of years ago I subscribed to VirtualBackup.com," the reader wrote. "It seemed like a good deal at the time -- some online storage for under $40 a year. They had a poor interface and they proceeded to make it worse, but I was able to get through to their support and talk to someone who was helpful a few times."
Recently, however, the reader went to the site to upload some more data and found it was no longer working. "They seem to still have an active website to bring in customers, but they don't seem to be backing up anything or allowing you to recover your data," the reader said. "When you try to go to their Admin site, they let you sign in with your password, but then they say their Admin site is 'temporary' being re-worked."
Virtual Backup's home page claims that the company is partners with NTT/Verio, but the reader could not find a way to contact VirtualBackup.com that still works. One very bad sign was that their toll free number now connects to a recording that refers the caller to a 10-10 number in order "to be connected to a new national directory assitance service" that costs $4.99 per call. "And when you call their regular toll number, you are told to e-mail them from their support web page," the reader adds. "When you do that you get the response that 'this is an automatically generated delivery status notification ... delivery to the following recipients failed...' I will assume that they are no longer providing backup support. Fortunately, I don't have any data I need to recover."
The reader says he will just find himself another backup method, but it bothers him that others may shell out money for VirtualBackup.com because it's presenting as being operational. "The home page still reads like a company that is still in business, and it looks like you could still sign up for a service that will not be provided," the reader wrote. "I'm just concerned about a company that doesn't let you know that they are no longer functioning -- they should be up front with their status."
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