Photopoint! Is this fraud??

Joe Hawblitzel said:

On May 31 Photopoint charged my credit card for a year of service.
Today, six days later, I received an email informing me they have
eliminated the SmashCast movie feature, and WITHOUT NOTICE, wiped
out all movies I had stored on their site.

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Steve Herzog said:

Joe Hawblitzel said:

On May 31 Photopoint charged my credit card for a year of service.
Today, six days later, I received an email informing me they have
eliminated the SmashCast movie feature, and WITHOUT NOTICE, wiped
out all movies I had stored on their site.

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Joe --

If they aren't giving you what you paid for, call the credit card
company and dispute the charge. Since the charge is new, and
because they terminated the feature you were most interested in,
I'd bet the chances are good that the card company will reverse the
charges -- and let Photopoint eat it. There's no way they should be
able to keep your money and give you nothing in return.

Steve Herzog
http://www.4incite.com -- information for wedding/portrait photographers

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Joe Hawblitzel said:

I have previously defended Photopoint against the slings and arrows
of many E10ers here, but I've suddenly had my consciousness raised.
On May 31 Photopoint charged my credit card for a year of service.
Today, six days later, I received an email informing me they have
eliminated the SmashCast movie feature, and WITHOUT NOTICE, wiped
out all movies I had stored on their site. As a multimedia
instructor, the only reason I forked over $$ to these folks was
because of the ability to design multimedia movies on line. I
consider it highly deceptive (if not fraudulent) to promote a
service, take your money for that service, then drop the service
without offering a refund. I feel further discouraged because I
encouraged some of my students to sign up for this service, and
they, too, are screwed without notice.

Below is a text of the email I received:

Dear Member,

We regret to announce that effective immediately, we will not be
offering SmashCast movies any longer on PhotoPoint. We have had
to discontinue our relationship with SmashCast, the provider of
the movies.

Unfortunately, there is no way to save your SmashCast movies, and
as of today, they are no longer viewable.

We sincerely apologize for the removal of this service on such
short notice.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our
Customer Service team.

Sincerely,
The PhotoPoint Family

--
Joe Hawblitzel

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cool pool said:

Joe Hawblitzel said:

I have previously defended Photopoint against the slings and arrows
of many E10ers here, but I've suddenly had my consciousness raised.
On May 31 Photopoint charged my credit card for a year of service.
Today, six days later, I received an email informing me they have
eliminated the SmashCast movie feature, and WITHOUT NOTICE, wiped
out all movies I had stored on their site. As a multimedia
instructor, the only reason I forked over $$ to these folks was
because of the ability to design multimedia movies on line. I
consider it highly deceptive (if not fraudulent) to promote a
service, take your money for that service, then drop the service
without offering a refund. I feel further discouraged because I
encouraged some of my students to sign up for this service, and
they, too, are screwed without notice.

Below is a text of the email I received:

Dear Member,

We regret to announce that effective immediately, we will not be
offering SmashCast movies any longer on PhotoPoint. We have had
to discontinue our relationship with SmashCast, the provider of
the movies.

Unfortunately, there is no way to save your SmashCast movies, and
as of today, they are no longer viewable.

We sincerely apologize for the removal of this service on such
short notice.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our
Customer Service team.

Sincerely,
The PhotoPoint Family

--
Joe Hawblitzel

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Click to expand...

cool pool said:

Joe Hawblitzel said:

I have previously defended Photopoint against the slings and arrows
of many E10ers here, but I've suddenly had my consciousness raised.
On May 31 Photopoint charged my credit card for a year of service.
Today, six days later, I received an email informing me they have
eliminated the SmashCast movie feature, and WITHOUT NOTICE, wiped
out all movies I had stored on their site. As a multimedia
instructor, the only reason I forked over $$ to these folks was
because of the ability to design multimedia movies on line. I
consider it highly deceptive (if not fraudulent) to promote a
service, take your money for that service, then drop the service
without offering a refund. I feel further discouraged because I
encouraged some of my students to sign up for this service, and
they, too, are screwed without notice.

Below is a text of the email I received:

Dear Member,

We regret to announce that effective immediately, we will not be
offering SmashCast movies any longer on PhotoPoint. We have had
to discontinue our relationship with SmashCast, the provider of
the movies.

Unfortunately, there is no way to save your SmashCast movies, and
as of today, they are no longer viewable.

We sincerely apologize for the removal of this service on such
short notice.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our
Customer Service team.

Sincerely,
The PhotoPoint Family

--
Joe Hawblitzel

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

cool pool said:

Joe Hawblitzel said:

I have previously defended Photopoint against the slings and arrows
of many E10ers here, but I've suddenly had my consciousness raised.
On May 31 Photopoint charged my credit card for a year of service.
Today, six days later, I received an email informing me they have
eliminated the SmashCast movie feature, and WITHOUT NOTICE, wiped
out all movies I had stored on their site. As a multimedia
instructor, the only reason I forked over $$ to these folks was
because of the ability to design multimedia movies on line. I
consider it highly deceptive (if not fraudulent) to promote a
service, take your money for that service, then drop the service
without offering a refund. I feel further discouraged because I
encouraged some of my students to sign up for this service, and
they, too, are screwed without notice.

Below is a text of the email I received:

Dear Member,

We regret to announce that effective immediately, we will not be
offering SmashCast movies any longer on PhotoPoint. We have had
to discontinue our relationship with SmashCast, the provider of
the movies.

Unfortunately, there is no way to save your SmashCast movies, and
as of today, they are no longer viewable.

We sincerely apologize for the removal of this service on such
short notice.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our
Customer Service team.

Sincerely,
The PhotoPoint Family

--
Joe Hawblitzel

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

cool pool said:

Joe Hawblitzel said:

I have previously defended Photopoint against the slings and arrows
of many E10ers here, but I've suddenly had my consciousness raised.
On May 31 Photopoint charged my credit card for a year of service.
Today, six days later, I received an email informing me they have
eliminated the SmashCast movie feature, and WITHOUT NOTICE, wiped
out all movies I had stored on their site. As a multimedia
instructor, the only reason I forked over $$ to these folks was
because of the ability to design multimedia movies on line. I
consider it highly deceptive (if not fraudulent) to promote a
service, take your money for that service, then drop the service
without offering a refund. I feel further discouraged because I
encouraged some of my students to sign up for this service, and
they, too, are screwed without notice.

Below is a text of the email I received:

Dear Member,

We regret to announce that effective immediately, we will not be
offering SmashCast movies any longer on PhotoPoint. We have had
to discontinue our relationship with SmashCast, the provider of
the movies.

Unfortunately, there is no way to save your SmashCast movies, and
as of today, they are no longer viewable.

We sincerely apologize for the removal of this service on such
short notice.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our
Customer Service team.

Sincerely,
The PhotoPoint Family

--
Joe Hawblitzel

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Jerry Doctor said:

Joe,

Have you told Photopoint you are not interested in the service
without Smashcast and asked for your money back? If so, what was
the response?

Jerry

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Joe Hawblitzel said:

I have previously defended Photopoint against the slings and arrows
of many E10ers here, but I've suddenly had my consciousness raised.
On May 31 Photopoint charged my credit card for a year of service.
Today, six days later, I received an email informing me they have
eliminated the SmashCast movie feature, and WITHOUT NOTICE, wiped
out all movies I had stored on their site. As a multimedia
instructor, the only reason I forked over $$ to these folks was
because of the ability to design multimedia movies on line. I
consider it highly deceptive (if not fraudulent) to promote a
service, take your money for that service, then drop the service
without offering a refund. I feel further discouraged because I
encouraged some of my students to sign up for this service, and
they, too, are screwed without notice.

Below is a text of the email I received:

Dear Member,

We regret to announce that effective immediately, we will not be
offering SmashCast movies any longer on PhotoPoint. We have had
to discontinue our relationship with SmashCast, the provider of
the movies.

Unfortunately, there is no way to save your SmashCast movies, and
as of today, they are no longer viewable.

We sincerely apologize for the removal of this service on such
short notice.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our
Customer Service team.

Sincerely,
The PhotoPoint Family

--
Joe Hawblitzel

Click to expand...

Joe Hawblitzel said:

I have previously defended Photopoint against the slings and arrows
of many E10ers here, but I've suddenly had my consciousness raised.
On May 31 Photopoint charged my credit card for a year of service.
Today, six days later, I received an email informing me they have
eliminated the SmashCast movie feature, and WITHOUT NOTICE, wiped
out all movies I had stored on their site. As a multimedia
instructor, the only reason I forked over $$ to these folks was
because of the ability to design multimedia movies on line. I
consider it highly deceptive (if not fraudulent) to promote a
service, take your money for that service, then drop the service
without offering a refund. I feel further discouraged because I
encouraged some of my students to sign up for this service, and
they, too, are screwed without notice.

Below is a text of the email I received:

Dear Member,

We regret to announce that effective immediately, we will not be
offering SmashCast movies any longer on PhotoPoint. We have had
to discontinue our relationship with SmashCast, the provider of
the movies.

Unfortunately, there is no way to save your SmashCast movies, and
as of today, they are no longer viewable.

We sincerely apologize for the removal of this service on such
short notice.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our
Customer Service team.

Sincerely,
The PhotoPoint Family

--
Joe Hawblitzel

Click to expand...

Joe Hawblitzel said:

Yes- I got one of those electronic replies telling me I would get a
"real" reply within 48 hours.

Joe Hawblitzel

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Stew said:

In this e-commerce, e-banking, e-everything world we're spiralling
into, this incident reinforces the age-old rule of thumb when
dealing with electronic media: back-up, back-up, back-up. If anyone
is using the web as an exclusive storage device for their media,
you're asking for a fall. Sorry to beat a dead horse.

Stew

Joe Hawblitzel said:

I have previously defended Photopoint against the slings and arrows
of many E10ers here, but I've suddenly had my consciousness raised.
On May 31 Photopoint charged my credit card for a year of service.
Today, six days later, I received an email informing me they have
eliminated the SmashCast movie feature, and WITHOUT NOTICE, wiped
out all movies I had stored on their site. As a multimedia
instructor, the only reason I forked over $$ to these folks was
because of the ability to design multimedia movies on line. I
consider it highly deceptive (if not fraudulent) to promote a
service, take your money for that service, then drop the service
without offering a refund. I feel further discouraged because I
encouraged some of my students to sign up for this service, and
they, too, are screwed without notice.

Below is a text of the email I received:

Dear Member,

We regret to announce that effective immediately, we will not be
offering SmashCast movies any longer on PhotoPoint. We have had
to discontinue our relationship with SmashCast, the provider of
the movies.

Unfortunately, there is no way to save your SmashCast movies, and
as of today, they are no longer viewable.

We sincerely apologize for the removal of this service on such
short notice.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our
Customer Service team.

Sincerely,
The PhotoPoint Family

--
Joe Hawblitzel

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Joe Hawblitzel said:

I have previously defended Photopoint against the slings and arrows
of many E10ers here, but I've suddenly had my consciousness raised.
On May 31 Photopoint charged my credit card for a year of service.
Today, six days later, I received an email informing me they have
eliminated the SmashCast movie feature, and WITHOUT NOTICE, wiped
out all movies I had stored on their site. As a multimedia
instructor, the only reason I forked over $$ to these folks was
because of the ability to design multimedia movies on line. I
consider it highly deceptive (if not fraudulent) to promote a
service, take your money for that service, then drop the service
without offering a refund. I feel further discouraged because I
encouraged some of my students to sign up for this service, and
they, too, are screwed without notice.

Below is a text of the email I received:

Dear Member,

We regret to announce that effective immediately, we will not be
offering SmashCast movies any longer on PhotoPoint. We have had
to discontinue our relationship with SmashCast, the provider of
the movies.

Unfortunately, there is no way to save your SmashCast movies, and
as of today, they are no longer viewable.

We sincerely apologize for the removal of this service on such
short notice.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our
Customer Service team.

Sincerely,
The PhotoPoint Family

--
Joe Hawblitzel

Click to expand...

Joe Hawblitzel said:

Reading the fine print in the Photopoint Terms and Conditions is
very enlightening. Did you know you are handing them the right to
every picture you upload, to use in anyway they see fit, even ways
not yet invented? And you give up the right to sue them if you
don't like the way they have used or misused your work?

You agree to grant to PhotoPoint a non-exclusive, worldwide,
royalty-free, perpetual license, with the right to sublicense, to
reproduce, distribute, transmit, create derivative works of,
publicly display and publicly perform any Content you submit to the
Site by all means and in any media now known or hereafter developed.

PhotoPoint offers a variety of services on the Site, including
e-greetings and a number of other products that can be personalized
by the user with photo images selected from PhotoPoint stock
photos, from members' own albums, as well as from other members'
albums that are accessible to such member or on any public portion
of the Site. The license granted by you to PhotoPoint expressly
includes PhotoPoint's right to offer these services without
compensating you for any use that is made of your photo images.

You agree that you shall have no recourse against PhotoPoint for
any alleged or actual infringement or misappropriation of any
proprietary right in any Content you submit to us.

So does this mean that even when you mark an album "private" they
still have the right to do anything they want with pictures in it?
I have posted pictures of pre-teen children in private albums (with
passwords) so they could share the pictures and memories of school
events with distant relatives. Granting Photopoint the right to use
these pictures without permission of the children or parents
pictured is just too much for me to swallow - Private doesn't seem
to mean very much, does it?

Joe Hawblitzel

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