Cancelled MobileMe-- Lost 5 years of Contacts

[gadgetfreaky]

Had 5 years of contacts on my phone--made it through tons of different phones no problems. Finally gave in to one of those "free trial" messages.

Tried MobileMe--it was horrible and a ripoff so I cancelled.
It warns me that i will lose all my synched contacts, yet it deleted all of them. Can't find them anwhere. Do I have to subscribe to Apple's **** ball service to get them back?

formatting my phone now and trying to find an old backup.

 

[anitrajw]

Shouldn't they be on your address book on your comp?? (I'm assuming you have a mac)

 

[gadgetfreaky]

Shouldn't they be on your address book on your comp?? (I'm assuming you have a mac)

I do not use Mac OS and they were always on the phone--not backed up to anything else. There was like 1000 of them

 

[Willis]

ouch... sad to say I think they might be gone.

but they should be in a backup prior to mobileme being added.

good luck

 

[gadgetfreaky]

They have no right to delete the contacts that were on my IPhone before. Apple only keeps the backup right before....

This is insane. The minute I subscribe I turn my contact data over to apple and if I decide to cancel the trial they confiscate them?

What kind of ******** is that.

Steve Jobs wants to talk about what kind of "company they want to be when they get big". What a scary crock of ****.

FORCING people to subsribe to their crapball mobileme service or deleting contacts they've had for years shoudl be illiegal and criminal if it isn't. I pulled up the FTC website and am filing a complaint. No wonder FTC is up Apple's ass.

 

[Willis]

Apple isn't out to get you... it's just you synced your contacts over the air, if you delete it, then it will remove all data associated with the over air sync.

Not being funny but you should have made a backup of your contacts. For example, what if you lost your phone with all those contacts and no way to retrieve them. This is a similar situation but as I said before, they should be in a previous backup

 

[gadgetfreaky]

Apple isn't out to get you... it's just you synced your contacts over the air, if you delete it, then it will remove all data associated with the over air sync.

Not being funny but you should have made a backup of your contacts. For example, what if you lost your phone with all those contacts and no way to retrieve them. This is a similar situation but as I said before, they should be in a previous backup

Synched over the air?
I never used Mobile me that I was aware of. Why? Because it wasn't actually useful for anything. That's why I cancelled it.
Mobileme DELETED THE CONTACTS on the phone. I had them this way for years without having to do anything and they deleted them because I cancelled my free trial. Free trials shouldn't delete private info.

The only way I can get my data back is if I sign up for the $90 bucks and then backup then cancel again to get my own data back. That's extortion and ****ing evil.

 

[Matthew Yohe]

They have no right to delete the contacts that were on my IPhone before. Apple only keeps the backup right before....

This is insane. The minute I subscribe I turn my contact data over to apple and if I decide to cancel the trial they confiscate them?

What kind of ******** is that.

Steve Jobs wants to talk about what kind of "company they want to be when they get big". What a scary crock of ****.

FORCING people to subsribe to their crapball mobileme service or deleting contacts they've had for years shoudl be illiegal and criminal if it isn't. I pulled up the FTC website and am filing a complaint. No wonder FTC is up Apple's ass.

You have the wrong idea here. Have you even attempted to contact apple regarding this? I would imagine that accounts in MobileMe stay in a limbo state for a period of days because of these exact situations.

They didn't delete contacts that were on the phone, you deleted the account that was syncing them to your phone. Just because your idea of how an implementation of software works differs greatly from reality, doesn't mean that Apple was wrong and you were right (or that Apple was right and you were wrong), it just means that Apple gave you clear warnings about data being lost, and you failed to back up the data, or reach out to Apple to ensure that your data was safely stored on your computer.

1-800-APL-CARE

 

[Matthew Yohe]

No, this is not how it works. When you originally set up MobileMe you must have chosen to "Merge contacts" with MobileMe. If you had chosen to not merge, then MobileMe contacts would've been stored separately from your contacts.

All of which is well documented on Apple's website.

 

[gadgetfreaky]

You have the wrong idea here. Have you even attempted to contact apple regarding this? I would imagine that accounts in MobileMe stay in a limbo state for a period of days because of these exact situations.

They didn't delete contacts that were on the phone, you deleted the account that was syncing them to your phone. Just because your idea of how an implementation of software works differs greatly from reality, doesn't mean that Apple was wrong and you were right (or that Apple was right and you were wrong), it just means that Apple gave you clear warnings about data being lost, and you failed to back up the data, or reach out to Apple to ensure that your data was safely stored on your computer.

1-800-APL-CARE

Yes--they said I have to pay the 90 bucks to get my own data back.
My contacts were not downloaded from say outlook or some mac contact software. They were never anywhere but on the phone. Mobileme never put them there or synced them there. Why would something mobileme never put there be deleted. mobileme never did anything for me which is why it was deleted.

Anotehr example--my browser was also wiped. I had it set up exactly the way I wanted yet it deleted that too. Sorry dude, but that's just ********. It's not as if mobile me did all this extra work on it...yet it puts the browser to default?

That is evil...and to defend it is just as horrible. 90 bucks to get it back the be forced to buy some program to back my own stuff up to then cancel again and to pay apple for the privledge? That's ****ing evil.

 

[sushi]

It warns me that i will lose all my synched contacts, yet it deleted all of them.

I know that you are frustrated at this point.

When you sync things like this can happen. For example, if device A has 100 contacts and then you sync to device B the first time, then the contacts from A will go to B. Now if you delete 70 contacts on device A, then device B will go from 100 to 30 automatically.

In your case, it sounds like MobileMe was synched with your iPhone. When you deleted the contacts on MobileMe by canceling MobileMe, you received a warning that you will lose your synched contacts which is what happened.

Prior to canceling your MobileMe account you should have turned off synching.

What to do at this point? Not sure. I would contact Apple and see what they say.

 

[gadgetfreaky]

I know that you are frustrated at this point.

When you sync things like this can happen. For example, if device A has 100 contacts and then you sync to device B the first time, then the contacts from A will go to B. Now if you delete 70 contacts on device A, then device B will go from 100 to 30 automatically.

In your case, it sounds like MobileMe was synched with your iPhone. When you deleted the contacts on MobileMe by canceling MobileMe, you received a warning that you will lose your synched contacts which is what happened.

Prior to canceling your MobileMe account you should have turned off synching.

What to do at this point? Not sure. I would contact Apple and see what they say.

they said I had to subsribe to get my data back.
i pulled up the FTC website and am writing a letter. tried writing to steve too.
that's soo ****ing bad.

 

[Matthew Yohe]

they said I had to subsribe to get my data back.
i pulled up the FTC website and am writing a letter. tried writing to steve too.
that's soo ****ing bad.

This is your problem. The FTC won't care about this because they don't cover user error issues.

Just sign up and get your contacts and this will be over. You have all of these paranoid ideas about how Apple is out to get you and take your contacts from you, but you simply didn't read the documentation prior to using the service.

Now you're saying that your browser is reset. Well, again, that's another thing that was most likely syncing to MobileMe. You had it set up how you wanted it and MobileMe was syncing it to their servers so that any other browsers (other iPhones/Touches/iPads/Safari on a Mac) would also be in sync. You removed MobileMe and of course those went away.

 

[gadgetfreaky]

No, this is not how it works. When you originally set up MobileMe you must have chosen to "Merge contacts" with MobileMe. If you had chosen to not merge, then MobileMe contacts would've been stored separately from your contacts.

All of which is well documented on Apple's website.

sync typically means two sets of data are set up and you have access to them from multiple points and they stayed "synchronized" with various points of access. It often means multiple backups or redundancy too.

In the history of technology syncing has never meant less copies of data that you lose if you cancel. In short "all your data belong to us". People hate apple because this stuff is really absurd. Mobile me is absurd and stealing decades worth of contacts is even worse.

I honestly don't know how you can defend it. "oh you should have read the documentation" before signing up. ITS A TRIAL. The purpose is to see it if I like it--not to have my data held ransom.

Totally unethical, as is your defense of apple.

 

[gadgetfreaky]

This is your problem. The FTC won't care about this because they don't cover user error issues.

Just sign up and get your contacts and this will be over. You have all of these paranoid ideas about how Apple is out to get you and take your contacts from you, but you simply didn't read the documentation prior to using the service.

Now you're saying that your browser is reset. Well, again, that's another thing that was most likely syncing to MobileMe. You had it set up how you wanted it and MobileMe was syncing it to their servers so that any other browsers (other iPhones/Touches/iPads/Safari on a Mac) would also be in sync. You removed MobileMe and of course those went away.

Actually the FTC does care about blackmailing people for money for their own private data. Apple thought the FTC wouldn't care a lot of things and because of just pure idiotic moves it's now got a nice open investigations. It's how Microsoft got started. It's my own data and it was a free trial to see if I wanted to use it--it was a deficient lazy inferior product so I didn't sign up for it.

I'm not gonna pay them for bad software that google blows away for free. If you do --that's your own business. But Apple doesn't have an variety of FTC complaints open for nothing....

 

[Matthew Yohe]

sync typically means two sets of data are set up and you have access to them from multiple points and they stayed "synchronized" with various points of access. It often means multiple backups or redundancy too.

Your idea of sync however is that MobileMe would have a copy and your phone would have a different copy and your PC would have a copy. Well, yes that's true, but what's keeping them all in "Sync" is MobileMe. The service which you disabled, breaking the sync.

Also, it looks like you simply did not even read what you were doing when you were deleting MobileMe. It appears that Apple has made it near idiot-proof to kill your contacts when you stop syncing.

From this: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3589

Disabling Sync or deleting a MobileMe account from iPhone/iPod touch

When deleting a MobileMe account from an iPhone/iPod touch, you may see a dialogue stating:
“What would you like to do with MobileMe contacts, calendars, and bookmarks on your iPhone/iPod touch when the account is deleted?”

Choosing Keep on My iPhone/iPod touch will keep the data on your iPhone/iPod touch, even if you are no longer syncing with MobileMe. If you tap Delete from My iPhone/iPod touch, the data you were syncing will be deleted from your iPhone/iPod touch.

Looks like you DID get a warning.

In the history of technology syncing has never meant less copies of data that you lose if you cancel. In short "all your data belong to us". People hate apple because this stuff is really absurd. Mobile me is absurd and stealing decades worth of contacts is even worse.

I honestly don't know how you can defend it. "oh you should have read the documentation" before signing up. ITS A TRIAL. The purpose is to see it if I like it--not to have my data held ransom.

Totally unethical, as is your defense of apple.

So anyway, the real issue isn't even that you didn't read the documentation, it's that you didn't even read the warnings provided to you when you were disabling sync or removing MobileMe, because you assumed your way of "Sync" was correct and ignored the words "Keep on My iPhone or iPod touch / Delete from My iPhone or iPod touch"

Your data is not being held for ransom, you're just throwing a tantrum on an internet website because your view of technology is not how the world actually works.

 

[Matthew Yohe]

Actually the FTC does care about blackmailing people for money for their own private data.

This sounds like a serious issue. I would contact the New York Times if I were you, they would love this scoop.

 

[gadgetfreaky]

Your idea of sync however is that MobileMe would have a copy and your phone would have a different copy and your PC would have a copy. Well, yes that's true, but what's keeping them all in "Sync" is MobileMe. The service which you disabled, breaking the sync.

Also, it looks like you simply did not even read what you were doing when you were deleting MobileMe. It appears that Apple has made it near idiot-proof to kill your contacts when you stop syncing.

From this: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3589



Looks like you DID get a warning.



So anyway, the real issue isn't even that you didn't read the documentation, it's that you didn't even read the warnings provided to you when you were disabling sync or removing MobileMe, because you assumed your way of "Sync" was correct and ignored the words "Keep on My iPhone or iPod touch / Delete from My iPhone or iPod touch"

Your data is not being held for ransom, you're just throwing a tantrum on an internet website because your view of technology is not how the world actually works.

1. You keep trying to pawn this off on "User Error". That's what bad software writers say whenever people complain about their bad software. No matter how they designed the software, it should never under any circumstances destroy what was there before. Whether it be the browser bookmarks or the contact info. The only purpose to do that, is to keep the user subscribing to the service. In other words, trying to keep them to subscribe so their private information is not stolen rather than actually bothering to have a decent product (that everyone hates by the way).

2. You keep talking about documentation and all these various things I should have read to know that my data could have been deleted upon cancelled. you also say I deleted mobileme--I did not --I simply cancelled the free trial. And in fact, that's the larger point, it's a FREE TRIAL. I was there to try it out and see if it acutally did anything for me. At no point did I consent to have my data deleted and no software should use that as a method to gain subscribers EVER.

 

[gadgetfreaky]

Also --I never deleted Mobile me and got some dialog about losing my contact info. So your point about getting some warning is another one of your horriblely bad assumption and unethical opinions.

In fact, I never touched the phone-- I went to mobileme online and just cancelled the subscription. At no point did it give me a dialog about keeping my contacts. I wish it had.

 

[Matthew Yohe]

In fact, I never touched the phone-- I went to mobileme online and just cancelled the subscription. At no point did it give me a dialog about keeping my contacts. I wish it had.

Then you need to tell us exactly what happened, because what your describing does not happen. MobileMe does not just remove accounts from iPhones and computers, they just fail with password issues until you delete them.

It's hard to tell if your retelling of the account of what ACTUALLY happened is real or not because it flies right in the face of reason.

If you're saying that you cancelled MobileMe and then you went to your phone and the contacts were gone, then you are mistaken. That's not how it works.

 

[gadgetfreaky]

Then you need to tell us exactly what happened, because what your describing does not happen. MobileMe does not just remove accounts from iPhones and computers, they just fail with password issues until you delete them.

It's hard to tell if your retelling of the account of what ACTUALLY happened is real or not because it flies right in the face of reason.

If you're saying that you cancelled MobileMe and then you went to your phone and the contacts were gone, then you are mistaken. That's not how it works.

Actually, I believe the words I used were "I cancelled my subscription". I expanded on that in the post above and said I went on to the internet and simply cancelled my subscription--no deletion of mobile me. That is exactly what happened.

You do not appear to be reading very well....I think you are having a user error.

 

[sushi]

Actually, I believe the words I used were "I cancelled my subscription". I expanded on that in the post above and said I went on to the internet and simply cancelled my subscription--no deletion of mobile me. That is exactly what happened.

You do not appear to be reading very well....I think you are having a user error.

I'm sorry to throw salt in your wound. I know it's not fun when we as users make mistakes.

Here is what you said in your OP which started this thread:

It warns me that i will lose all my synched contacts, yet it deleted all of them. Can't find them anwhere.

Now you are changing your story.

Initially you said you were warned. Now you say you weren't.

Bottom line, is that somewhere along the process a warning was given and you choose the option which resulted in your data being deleted. This included your contacts and Links.

As you found out, syncing your data is not backing up your data. The two actions are very different. Backing up your data means making a backup copy of your data. Syncing your data merely means keeping 2 or more devices in sync with each other.

I would venture to say that many of us have learned the hard way like you just did. It's not fun, that's for sure. Sometimes these lessons are expensive lessons. But we live and learn. In your case you are very lucky. All you need to do is pony up $100 and you can recover your contacts. At least you have that as an option. It would be worse if you didn't.

 

[gadgetfreaky]

I'm sorry to throw salt in your wound. I know it's not fun when we as users make mistakes.

Here is what you said in your OP which started this thread:


Now you are changing your story.

Initially you said you were warned. Now you say you weren't.

Bottom line, is that somewhere along the process a warning was given and you choose the option which resulted in your data being deleted. This included your contacts and Links.

As you found out, syncing your data is not backing up your data. The two actions are very different. Backing up your data means making a backup copy of your data. Syncing your data merely means keeping 2 or more devices in sync with each other.

I would venture to say that many of us have learned the hard way like you just did. It's not fun, that's for sure. Sometimes these lessons are expensive lessons. But we live and learn. In your case you are very lucky. All you need to do is pony up $100 and you can recover your contacts. At least you have that as an option. It would be worse if you didn't.

No you are not being precise....I got a warning, but not the one you had in your post.

 

[sushi]

No you are not being precise....I got a warning, but not the one you had in your post.

According to you, in your first post, you received this warning:

It warns me that i will lose all my synched contacts

What am I missing?

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

Only a fool would keep important information like that in one place. Back up. Back up. Back up.