Carbonite

Carbonite lost a file folder that was critical to me. The 'service' was terrible. After complaining via multiple emails, they offered a refund of my purchase price. Although this would not compensate the loss of the files, it would be some compensation, so I accepted it. Then they cancelled my entire account! So here's Carbonite: 1) incompetent at backing up and 2) dishonest! I have since switched to Livedrive - so far so good.

They bought Mozy, a reputable cloud backup service, then trashed the service; but charged more. It slows the computer drastically, on programs that have nothing to do with backing up. Try to cancel? Good Luck. There is no way to directly email or call them. No matter where you search on their "service" links, it a circular in responsive system. Then try to get a refund. I suggest filling a complaint with the BBB, and your States Attorney General.

I've been using this service for years and it's pretty good. A few months ago, it stopped doing the autobackup and after several calls and remote sessions, they still couldn't solve the issue. When I asked for a pro-rated refund (I signed for 3 years) they refused, so I just took the loss and switched to IDrivel.

My laptop died and needed to port my subscription over to the new one. Very confused how that's done.
However, an employee named Kevin helped me remotely and did it all perfectly. Very helpful, friendly and took care of everything.
I'm a very, very happy camper with Carbonite and their tremendous customer service!

Jim Matthews, CPA
Dallas, TX

Checked a week ago to see the status of my Carbonite backup and discovered that my files have not been backed up for over a year. My subscrition ends Jan 2024. Contacted the suppor vie email as this is the only way. They responed with a case number and a message that they will look into the problem within 1 business day. It's been a week. Files are still not being backed up. I re-installed the Carbonite software and for the past two days am getting a status "Backup in Progress" but nothing is being backed up. No way to contact anyone at Carbonite. Terrible service. Used to be very good when I signed up 10 years ago. Have to find another backup service.

The subscription was set to renew automatically but in 2018, Carbonite wanted to increase the yearly subscription by more than 50% with low upgrades without warning, Also you have to waste your time calling the Carbonite representative if you need to restore older files from a backup instead of doing it your self.
Now I am using Gs Richcopy 360 which has a very good license policy (for once), I can do any type of backup by myself, no need for the support because of the easiness of the tool.

I wasn't going to write a review but after 30 days of back-and-forth emails, I've decided to make sure no one ever uses this service.
I have managed to keep track of my work since I started composing on a Mac SE in 1990, yet Carbonite corrupted ALL my creative work - musical compositions I have composed over the past 15 years. I connected my computer to a wired connection and spent days backing up files. The app said the back-up was complete, and there were green circles by all the folders, however the backup apparently did not finish.

When I reached out to customer support, I was told I needed to see a green dot next to every file in every folder, even if the app said it was complete, to verify the upload. It is extremely unreasonable to ask the customer to double check the App by sorting through 80 gigs of files. Nonetheless, after the restore, I had a file tree filled with nothing but corrupted files.

If that weren't enough, I was using the free trial when I reached out to them about issues getting my files back. It took them so long to get back to me, the free trial ended, and I had to pay for the service to get help. I was told I could get a refund. 25 days later, I am still going back and forth over email with DAYS between responses waiting to get a refund. I've been asked to give the last 4 of my card number, my address, the amount of data I backed up, my account creation date...on and on trying to prove I paid them so I can get a refund. Why is this so difficult to get done? Once my account hits 30 days, I won't be eligible for a refund according to their policy. I do not feel confident I will ever see the refund.

I STRONGLY suggest you look elsewhere for cloud backups. The loss of my original work was tragic, and now I've had to pay them for this crappy service, and their total inability to resolve customer issues with any sense of efficiency or urgency.

I can;t get into my work computer from home. NEVER was able to after 7 months. Now I am sick but will have to go to the office. This is not what I signed up for. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES pick carbonite. Customer service is a disaster. I wasted an enitre morning trying to fix this problem once and for all.

I was a paying subscriber for years. In January, my house burned and I lost my computer as well as all the backups and hard copies of my documents. I wasn't worried as I had carbonite but when I attempted to recover my documents, the process failed. After several attempts and many conversations with carbonite, they had to admit that for 'some reason', my documents hadn't been backed up and couldn't be recovered. I've lost years of work with no hope of recovery. Don't trust carbonite!

Cannot even get one stinging file I need, Save you money. Service is nonexistent Not what is was once

Carbonite worked slowly for us - support was not great either. This was our experience and we tried to cancel and that was challenging/impossible to get reimbursed for future years we would not use.

A number of years ago, near 10, when I first bought Carbonite, it was a great service. It saved me twice. It is now redundant and useless. I still have it and when I needed it to recover what I couldn't from iCloud they had deleted it. I will not renew my subscription and, I suspect, they will not last long without some major changes in their operation.

The tool gives a good value for the price when it comes to backup desktops, but the opposite when it comes to server-level backup.
I came across many tools after that but finally, we found a good value for the price of backing up desktop/server level from Gs Richcopy360, it was a good experience.

On June 24,2021, Carbonite data backup failed without indicating on the desktop app that backup of data had terminated. Three service calls with remote work by Carbonite tech support did not resolve the problem. My account also shows that I have been charged twice for two different levels of services on the same date, one service is for $164.00 for 2 years of Carbonite Safe Prime, and the other was for Carbonite Safe Plus for 1 year for $119.99, both processed on 05/25/2021 with the same card number. This is obviously a mistake, as I am on automatic renewal. I ask for a refund and was refused. My initial subscription was processed on 05/21/2020 for 1 year. Therefore, I only had one month of working service in 2021. It is now August. Tech support advised me to not escalate to tier 2 because they could lose their job. This is concerning.

I am from The Netherlands and buy a 1-year subscription on Carbonate backup.
I have an iMac with M1-chip and the Carbonate program does not function on my iMac.
So I asked a refund of my subscription by email (Case Number: *******).
Afterwards I can not have contact with Carbonate

Drs. J.H.Jansen MD Radiologist in The Netherlands

It's December 2, and Carbonite still uses Covid as an excuse for absolutely TERRIBLE customer service. Yesterday, the wait time was 55 minutes, left a call-back #, no one ever called back. I have a priority case because my entire back-up was erased from the Carbonite system. I pre-paid a full year, so it's not for a lack of $$. I'm now on hold a second day. Was transferred over to as a priority. Been on hold now for42 minutes. I'm cancelling. This company is the WORST!

I learned late in the computing game that backing-up files is an absolute must. Anyone who has lost an extensive iTunes library can appreciate the necessity of online backup. I admit that Carbonite is the first back up site that I have used but I speak highly of my experience. I was able to back-up several GB's worth of files from a work computer before returning it to my place of employment.

I was attracted to Carbonite for its economical price ($59 for one year) as well as anytime, anywhere access. So far, so good.

Disclaimer: I am not a tech geek, so this review may lack nerd credibility.

It didn't backup my data, then wouldn't refund half of a 2-year renewal when the data was lost. I had it for many years and didn't need it, but when I suddenly lost 200 MB of data I immediately stopped using that computer, copied the remaining documents on it to a hard drive, and ordered a full backup on a hard drive from Carbonite. After the Carbonite data was installed on the new computer, it was shocking to find that the folders didn't have all of the data that should have been backed up. One folder had one document when 23 documents should have been there and still existed on the hard drive copy of the documents on the old computer after the crash. That means they either never backed up or Carbonite lost them. I was half way through the 2-way renewal, but Carbonite will only issue a refund within 30 days of the INITIAL purchase even though I must cancel because of their BAD service.

I am very disappointed and disgusted with Carbonite. After spending over an hour on the phone with a customer service rep who took over my computer and determined that I should receive a credit of $148.00 and a refund of $284.00 I did receive my credit but never received my refund. They are now claiming that the employee made a mistake and the refund was not approved. Since they record all calls I encouraged the manager to listen to the entire hour long call. I clearly confirmed with the rep that YES I was getting a credit of $148 and a refund of $284. I told the manager he was happy to listen to the call since they are all recorded. I told him I expected him to apologize, and give me my refund. He said that no matter what his employee said to me I would not be receiving a refund even if I was promised one! The $284.00 refund was due to Carbonite continuing to charge me for an old computer that had not been backed up since 2016! The company sends out numerous misleading emails about your data being at risk of not being backed up, etc. I understand that some of this was my fault since I was stupid enough to pay the invoice. But, I tend to panic when I think my data is NOT being backed up. So, I continued to pay on a computer that had been destroyed. My main reason for being so mad is the refund was offered to me and I was quite happy about it. The refund never came. When I called and stayed on the phone for another hour, wasting my precious time, I was told that no matter what the employee (Cameron) said I would not be receiving a refund. But, rest assured they would speak to him. Unreal! This was after I transferred my license from another computer to my new laptop. Carbonite never transferred the license (I had $148 left on that subscription). So, in a panic due to my new computer not being backed up I purchased an entire new subscription the next day. When I realized what had happened (1 day later) they refused to refund me the $148.00 and told me I must take a credit that I would not be able to use for 2 years! So rude! I am just in shock that they would treat a good customer this way. So in the end I am getting a refund for the new "mistake" subscription but ended up being cheated out of the $284 refund and then some. I will never do business with them again! They are very dishonest and send misleading emails to try to get you to accidentally buy a new subscription. Just a terrible company all the way around!

I've had Carbonite on my MacBook for some years and a few times used it to recover lost files so the fact that it seemed to get "stuck" on some files, and I needed their tech staff to fix this remotely, was something I'ld forgive.
Not any more. On 26 June 2021 it stopped backing up. Each time I pressed "resume" it immediately stopped. No help from tech staff who just pointed me to their FAQs pages.
Mysteriously the MacBook's 250 Gb hard drive was being used up. Four weeks after 26 June it filled up completely, I couldn't open Mail or even TextEdit. I didn't suspect Carbonite at the time but...
At the local Apple store, a staff member overviewed disk usage with a tool called DaisyDisk. He found the Carbonite program (client) had written 113.4 Gb of error messages to a log file—without ever telling the folk back at Carbonite server-side that something was wrong. There was no disk space to make a screenshot so I attach photos of the DaisyDisk display, that I took with my phone. He deleted the log and the machine came back to life.
Since I reported this, Carbonite staff have completely blanked me. There have been no responses to my emails, though I quoted Case number etc that had they issued me previously.
Carbonite might have offered an OK service once, but now—maybe the best is if we all help it to implode.

I requested a refund during the Covid crisis being unable to afford their service and the answer was no. Apparently they told me I can get a refund only in the first 30 days in a yearly subscription and not being prorated for the last 6+ months left. I was with them for more than 7 years. I will not recommend this greedy busines.

I have 2 Mac's in the house. It took 3 months but I finally resolved the backup problem with one of them. Now the other one refuses to back up. I've gone thru their directions, and it backed up on time in a month. They want to have a remote session where they will take control of my computer--I don't think so. Requested a partial refund, got an emphatic no, we don't do that. Unfortunately I'm just going to have to bit the bullet and totally get rid of this so called back up. It just doesn't like and IOS operating system. Just get an external drive and use Time Machine, it does the same thing. And if you want a cloud based back up, use ICloud--you know that will work with a MAC.

I am extremely satisfied with Carbonite. I worked with a tech support guy named Mike. He helped us locate precious files (pictures) that were in a separate drive. He took the extra time and asked the right questions to help me find these files. He then went above and beyond to help me delete duplicates and straighten out my filing system. I like that Carbonite is clear in warning you that they will only keep files you have deleted 30 days. Their customer assistance is the best I have experienced. They are clear and helpful!