Charter accidently deletes 14,000 e-mail accounts
Dude, where's my e-mail?
That's what thousands of Charter Communications customers asked on Monday when the company inadvertently deleted 14,000 active e-mail accounts, according to an Associated Press story published on Thursday.
Officials at Charter believe a glitch in software during routine maintenance caused the e-mail accounts to be deleted. The company is offering $50 credits to customers who were affected.
A company representative told the news service that there was no way to retrieve the messages, photos or other attachments that had been sitting in people's in-boxes when they were deleted.
Anita Lamont, the Charter spokeswoman who spoke to the AP, explained how the mistake happened. She said Charter gives each broadband subscriber a free e-mail account. But since many people use other e-mail addresses, the company routinely deletes unused accounts. On Monday, some active accounts wound up being deleted with the inactive accounts. Lamont said it had never happened before.
Charter provides broadband Internet, TV and telephone service in 29 states. The company has about 2.6 million subscribers to its broadband Internet service. The customers affected by the e-mail deletion were spread throughout the country, according to the AP story.
Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies. E-mail Maggie. 
records, etc.) on online databases is an incredibly stupid thing to
do. We read almost daily about compromised databases, stolen
credit card information, lost laptops, hacked servers and the
like. Crap like this happens on a regular basis. Data you store
online is not secure, not reliable, and can be wiped out in an
instant by some ham-fisted neanderthal who hits the wrong key
at the right time.
Oops! All gone! Sorry! Here's $50 for your trouble.
Back it up people! Back EVERYTHING up!
I really hope Verizon hurries up and offers Fios in my area soon.
- Charter
- by Drsbhm January 30, 2008 1:22 PM PST
- Here's one: Charter "Upgraded" my internet to the advertised "5mb" speed sometime after 1/8/08. Supposedly this upgrade was a "system wide" update eliminating the lower speed account (also a lower cost). I wonder if this was just a coincidence (deleting email and upgrading system speed)? When I found my email accounts missing, I phoned Charter Customer Assistance line and received the recorded message that a "few" of their internet customers had been affected. "a few" = 14,000+ The $50.00 does not begin to replace the mail account contents.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(8 Comments)Charter customer service really stinks. I've had to deal with them numerous times in the last 3 years and each time I finished either enraged or disappointed.
I will complain to our state governing agency and the local municipality licensing agency governing Charter in my area.