Account Deleted and Other Ghost Stories
By NoWayRo
@NoWayRo (1061)
Romania
September 13, 2011 8:15am CST
[i]Please note: this is a rant. I need to release some frustration before I explode. If you don't feel like reading the whole story, you can skip to the questions at the end, this is the one time I think it's not fair to make people read the whole stupid situation.
[/i]
So, this morning I wanted to delete my account with Freelancer.com. I signed in, looked for a Delete button... hm, no button.
OK, maybe I needed coffee first.
Nope, didn't help, coffee didn't make the Delete button appear.
OK, I'm stupid - I went to read their help - nope, not a single mention of how to delete your account. Google did help me out a bit, but the information wasn't very new, so I thought I'd better ask.
I contacted the support (by the way, Freelancer has an absolutely brilliant support team, the best I've seen on similar sites) and what do you know, there's no way to delete your account.
I assume I've said some nasty things at this point, but I was already fed up. I had no debts to the site, no money left in my account, no open projects, no messages unanswered... just wanted to delete the stupid account.
As it turns out, there is a way: you have to submit a support ticket, AND state your reasons. OK, how's that for a reason: "I've found out I caught bubonic plague. I will die soon, so I want to terminate all my accounts in the little time I have left. Please delete my account ASAP, because if I die first, I'll come back to haunt you. Also, having me as a member on this site is very dangerous, because this is wireless bubonic plague, and anybody might catch it from me."
Now I am waiting for their response. Patience may be a virtue, but it's not mine.
So, have you had any problems deleting accounts before? Did you get an explanation why? Were you ever certain that an account was deleted, only to find out it was alive and kicking and sending spam?
And, of course: do you wash your hands after using the keyboard, so that you don't get any wireless diseases?
5 people like this
4 responses
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
•
13 Sep 11
At a guess, they don't delete accounts because of tax/legal reasons: they need to maintain all financial data for seven years (in the UK - probably similar elsewhere) in case there's a legal issue. Such are the rules of business.
It's very annoying, though.
I recently cleaned my keyboard (while I was listening to a 100-minute long presentation about writing marketing emails for a client's new strategy) and it was frightening to see how much icky stuff was under the keys. I almost expected to have to ask squatters to move out. 
2 people like this
@purplealabaster (22094)
• United States
13 Sep 11
At least you both are cleaning your own keyboards, which admittedly can be disgusting enough, even if you are a fairly clean person. I had to clean the keyboards of other people from time to time, because apparently they could not figure out how to do it themselves as it is such a difficult process
, and then they wondered why their keys kept "sticking".
I felt as if I should wash my entire body in Lysol when I was done cleaning some of those keyboards.
, and then they wondered why their keys kept "sticking". I felt as if I should wash my entire body in Lysol when I was done cleaning some of those keyboards.2 people like this
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
•
13 Sep 11
@NoWayRo: I try to always be egalitarian with details about sites and give my own opinion separately. Freelancer was where I started: I like the place but it looks cheap and nasty and tends to attract a lot of dross jobs. Not the easiest to use, either, but that's a personal thing. I see what you mean about profiles: I still get occasional job offers on Elance even though I haven't worked through them for about 18 months. Very odd.
@Purple: Once you've worked in a bar, you never worry about cleaning anything ever again. Turns my stomach just remembering the smells.
1 person likes this
@NoWayRo (1061)
• Romania
13 Sep 11
Purple, I had a co-worker who ate grapefruit over the keyboard all the time. Not only the keys were sticky, the entire keyboard was glued solid to the table. When she left the company, we discussed the possibility of throwing away the table along with the keyboard, because nobody wanted to touch it.
Sorry you had to do such a task, sounds horrible.
@purplealabaster (22094)
• United States
13 Sep 11
I am very surprised that coffee did not make the delete button appear, because I thought that coffee fixed everything.
I don't think that I have ever had a problem deleting an account, and if I did I do not remember right now.
I do not need to worry about wireless diseases, either, since nothing on my computer is wireless. I do try to remember to wear the appropriate protective gear when I have to use the keyboard and mouse of other people, though.
I don't think that I have ever had a problem deleting an account, and if I did I do not remember right now. I do not need to worry about wireless diseases, either, since nothing on my computer is wireless. I do try to remember to wear the appropriate protective gear when I have to use the keyboard and mouse of other people, though.1 person likes this
It even fixed my messy keyboard a while back, by the way. By "fixed it", I mean I finally was forced to clean it, after a massive coffee spill.
@chrystaltears (3392)
• United States
13 Sep 11
I can't remember trying to delete an account and not being able to go through with my plans, but I have gotten that way when I have received girlie emails with xxx remarks and pictures. There was no way to get ride of those emails except to spam. I got those things for months and couldn't do anything about it.
You made me laugh about washing your hands after using the keyboard to prevent diseases. Loved it!
Sorry you are having this issue. I hope everything is worked out now!
1 person likes this
@NoWayRo (1061)
• Romania
13 Sep 11
Once those spammers find out your e-mail address, there's no way to get rid of them. I keep getting spam on my primary e-mail address, which is otherwise pretty clean. Just one person spamming me, but constantly, for years: one e-mail every week. Well, that's not too bad, I can live with that, but his perseverance amuses me.
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
15 Sep 11
There have been a few unimportant sites that for the life of me I can't get them deleted. I tried for hours on end searching a site's full context to find that nowhere in site there was anything to this affect. So I have even tried emailing admin asking and nothing, zip not even waiting until after he had a few days of coffee in his system, has he never replied.
So all I could think of was to change all my data to false information including the email address and to date have not heard for the one. There are a couple though that I have not changed and oddly even after 7 months I can still log into them. I just removed my banking information on those.
Ok by now as I have to go dip my heads in bleach, I am starting to feel a wireless monger coming through. 
@NoWayRo (1061)
• Romania
15 Sep 11
Hi there hardworkinggurl,
It's so unfair that some sites do not allow you to delete your account. I'm going through a paranoid phase, and I've been wondering whether some of them do not keep a copy of the details we initially enter - ie, before we change them to fake ones (I do that also when I can't delete an account, but I don't like it one bit).
You have to love sites where you can log in after 7 months of inactivity, goes to show how interested their admin is in maintaining an active user base
