Grab Bag of Reader Gripes
Curious sites and Web-mail outages have readers seeking help and answers.Tom Spring
Have you stumbled on a fishy Web site? Are you having problems with a Web service? Can't get a promised refund? Drop me an e-mail at watchdog@pcworld.com and let me know if I can help.
If my Net Watchdog inbox is any indication, gripes about Web sites and Internet services are up in 2007. I've been fielding a flurry of angry e-mails complaining about everything from questionable Web sites to Web services like Yahoo Mail that are causing headaches for some users. This month, I'll address two of the more interesting reader complaints.
Mystery Error
One comes from Clifford Tong, of Lafayette, California, who says he has been locked out of his Yahoo Mail Plus account for months. He reports that every time he tries to access his e-mail account, he gets a cryptic 'Error Code 1' pop-up message. The problem has been a major headache, he says.
He claims his premium Yahoo Mail Plus account, for which he pays about $20 year, has been out of service since late November 2006. Since then, he has tried to access his e-mail account from numerous PCs, but each time he has been unable to access his messages. He is able to sign in to his account, but when he attempts to access his messages, his Yahoo inbox generates the 'Error Code 1' message.
Tong uses the Yahoo Mail account as a universal inbox to which he forwards several other e-mail accounts. A professional consultant, he also uses the Yahoo Mail account for his business and gives the address out to his clients. "I was dead in the water," he says. "I had no way of knowing what personal or business e-mail I was missing."
Tong is still paying for the account, and Yahoo has not offered him any sort of reimbursement, he says. He claims that he has spent 20 hours dealing with the problem by redirecting e-mail away from his Yahoo Mail account and spending more time than he'd care to talking to Yahoo Mail tech support on the phone.
Tong isn't alone. I poked around on Yahoo's Help Forum and used Yahoo search and found no shortage of people impacted by 'Error Code 1' and scratching their heads wondering why they were having problems accessing their e-mail accounts.
I called Yahoo's tech support line on the behalf of Tong and asked a tech support rep how often she fields calls regarding that error message. She said gets a handful of calls a day. At that rate, the problem is likely impacting only a tiny fraction of Yahoo Mail users, given that Yahoo manages 248 million Web-based e-mail accounts worldwide, according to comScore Networks.
The tech support agent I spoke with said she believed that 'Error Code 1' occurs when multiple people try to access their individual Yahoo Mail accounts hosted on the same server at the same time. She said that typically all people have to do is wait a few minutes and try again. Tong's problems seem much more severe, but she was unable to say what else could be causing them.
Yahoo spokesperson Karen Mahon offered little additional information. She told me that 'Error Code 1' indicates a "temporary access error" and said that the root of the problem could have to do with "different issues depending on [your] specific computer system." I was still confused, but Mahon would not elaborate. She also said she could not comment on why Yahoo had not offered Tong a refund, saying it would violate the company's privacy policy to discuss his particular e-mail account.
Mahon suggested that Tong's problems were an isolated incident and added that Yahoo has not seen an "unusual spike in inquiries to our customer care department."
Mahon's lack of answers leaves me wondering whether 'Error Code 1' and the notoriously secretive Air Force flight test center Area 51 in Nevada might be linked. The day that I contacted Yahoo media representatives about Tong's problems, they were resolved within 5 hours. Coincidence? I don't think so.
Official Auctions?
On the Internet, the rule of thumb is as follows: If a site looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and sounds like a duck, users should never take for granted that it's a duck. Most Web sites are what they seem, but if you're unfamiliar with a site, be cautious.
The site DEAauctions.com is one such example. It inspired a reader to e-mail me and complain that the site was trying to pass itself off as an official government Web site. He asked whether the site was breaking any laws by claiming on its front page to be the "official auction site of the United States of America." I sent an e-mail inquiry and was told by an individual who responded on behalf the company that the site is the "official site for both police auctions and government auctions throughout the United States."
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration and a number of other federal agencies I spoke with, such as the Internal Revenue Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation, this site is not breaking any laws by making such claims. While it is illegal to impersonate a federal agency online, this Web site is not trying to impersonate an official federal agency Web site, even though it prominently features official government seals for eight federal agencies. Apparently, claiming to be an official site for such federal and state auctions is on a par with a soap company saying claiming that its product is the "best."
DEAauctions.com, which says it's based in Spring, Texas, turns out to be an information-only resource for deal hunters seeking tips and details on upcoming auctions of government-seized real estate, cars, boats, electronics, apparel, and jewelry. It offers a collection of electronic books, links to auctions, and community tools for people interested these auctions. DEAauctions.com charges $50 for a one-year membership.
I did notice one troubling thing about the site: I spotted a Better Business Bureau Reliability Program seal on the site, meant to indicate the Web site is a BBB member and a trustworthy company. When I checked, however, I found that the company is not a BBB member, according to Deana Turner, spokesperson for the BBB of metropolitan Houston.
"This Web site is definitely using the BBB seal in an unauthorized manner. And we will be contacting them to remove our seal," Turner says.
I e-mailed DEAauctions.com asking the company to explain why it displayed a BBB logo when it is not a member. A customer service agent replied, confirming that the company is not a BBB member. He said the site was "not displaying the actual BBB logo for membership but [is] providing [an] advertisement for the BBB."
According to the BBB's Turner, however, "that's not an acceptable excuse." The only people who are allowed to use the logo are members of the BBB. "We do consider that trademark infringement," she says.
Teresa Huettner, who is the program manager for general order merchandise with Customs Border Protection, didn't have a lot of encouraging things to say about sites like DEAauctions.com that charge money for information on government auctions.
Information sites like these are a dime a dozen and essentially sell information about government auctions that is otherwise available for free at sites like the Internal Revenue Service's auction site and the U.S. Marshals' auction site.
DEAauctions.com is not affiliated with the U.S. DEA in any way, according to DEA spokesperson Garrison Courtney. Information on any confiscated items the DEA auctions off can be found at the U.S. Marshals' Web site.
So much for the site being official.
If you come across a site that looks too good to be true, report your suspicions to a watchdog group, like LooksTooGoodToBeTrue.com.