Concerned about choice of @backblaze ... After 2days usb drive restore request disappeared from acct page & only email support #fail

Restore requests are supposed to stay on the restore page for 7 days, it's been 4.   The USB drive restore request, which I had to pay for, disappeared also with no notice or tracking number so I have no idea if it's been shipped and when to expect it or if backblaze just lost my request through a system glitch.   Argghh!!!   The only way to contact someone is through a support request form that promises 1 business day turn around which puts me into the holiday.   I tried calling their paid support line, but they can't help with actual http://backblaze.com issues.  They have no access to their records. This is a very opaque process, especially for one that customers are buying as insurance against data loss. Epic customer support fail. 

Chubb Insurance has a great tag line...   "Who insures you doesn't matter. Until it does."    I guess your backup provider doesn't matter until it does... then your SOL.

Update: Backblaze got back to me.  Said it shipped after the cutoff... look at the tracking info I have.... looks like it was never really shipped!


I'm going to loose a bet to a 7 year old... And learn something in the process.

My 7 year old son is a boisterous ball of kinetic and frenetic energy. When his energy level is high, he can not stop making noise. Be it talking loud and fast, singing loud, making nonsense sounds loud or just plain yelling at the top of his lungs. Mix that with his love of video games, particularly the Nintendo WII and almost any Mario game, and he is off the charts.

He has been looking for a way to get Julia and I to buy him another Mario game called "Mario Smash Brothers Brawl" but we have resisted since Christmas is so close. "Put it on Santa's list" we've said repeatedly. But he keeps wheedling.

To make a long story short, he was bouncing off the walls when we were out to dinner earlier this evening. I finally told him if he could remain quiet till I woke up in the morning, I would get him the Mario game.... I never saw him shut his mouth so fast. He just shook his head, "yes".

In my mind this was a safe bet. It would keep him quiet for a bit but there was no way he would last the rest of dinner. I expected him to
crack in under 20 minutes. To my surprise he started passing me notes on napkins clarifying the conditions. "Can he cough or sneeze?" "when
exactly in the morning can he start talking?" Uh Oh, he was "in it to win it".

Well it is now 10 pm and he hasn't uttered a word and he's snoring in bed. Although they enjoyed his silence, his sisters sided with him and took turns reading him a book when we got home.

I am impressed by how seriously he's taking this. I knew that his video games were a powerful motivator, but underestimated his self control and ease with which he is carrying out the bet.   I think I've been hustled!

[Sent from my iPhone 3GS]

I now know how @backblaze makes their money...

Online restore only supports zip files so it's limited to minor
restores. To restore more than 250gb I have to pay them about $199
to fedex a drive to me in about 3 days. In the end, it may be well
worth it. It took almost two weeks to back up that much data over
the Internet. Probably the same if they had a real restore service.
I'll let you know when it arrives and how it goes.