Watch Out: JustCloud.com’s Marketing Practice Is Over The Top

I had an experience with JustCloud at www.justcloud.com that caused me concern recently. First, JustCloud is an online storage service that allows users to store their files online so they can access them anywhere at any time. They have great features, like unlimited storage, 100% automated backup and encrypted and secure service. In addition, you can sync multiple computers. They state on their home page that they give you Free Cloud Storage.

My blog hosting service recently began sharing JustCloud as an affiliate so yesterday I thought I would give them a try. I clicked on the link in my hosting service site and did he usual sign-up info…no credit card required which, since they said they had free storage, seemed appropriate. Along with the service was a request to download their software and I did.

The interface was great and I really did like the service. I was interested, in fact. I decided to give it a try and it began to upload some documents I thought I would use to give it trial run. Very, very quickly, I was prompted to upgrade…that I was out of space. And, then it began….

Initially, there was the pop-up to upgrade because I was out of space. I was really surprised since I had hardly uploaded anything and they were documents. It turns out that they provide a very small free amount of space for their free versions. It's also hard to find out this information online at their site. I decided to consider it later so I declined the upgrade and move on. I closed down the open windows and focused on tasks related to my blog.

Within minutes, there was a slider that initiated, noting that I didn't upload everything and needed to upgrade so I could. I clicked the x on the banner reminder. My email then began to go a little crazy as I received FIVE emails within less than an hour from JustCloud requesting that I backup. At this point, I was thinking this was a bit much when the slide reminder again popped up encouraging me to upgrade.

So, I thought, let's let JustCloud know how I feel. I responded to their "How can we support you upgrade" emails by explaining that I was being bombarded with JustCloud and I didn't appreciate it and figured most people would not. I also noted how I liked the product so I hoped they would rethink this as they had something worthwhile to consider. As always, I encouraged them to start an educator's program, as well.

Email sent To which I received a….(wait for it) listing of their prices and an offer to upgrade at a 35% reduction. Sigh…

So, until JustCloud can stop this ridiculous bombardment of emails and pop-ups, explain their terms completely on their website, and offer an educational discount, I'd suggest proceeding with caution before clicking on their site or link.

JustCloud, if you are reading this, I hope you'll respond because I think your product has real potential.

Updated:  As of today, I continue to receive more emails from JustCloud.  I've emailed them a link to this blog entry and suggested they stop. They continue.  In the last email, they apologized for emailing again but explained that they are just so worried about my backup not being completed.  Seriously, JustCloud?  This is ridiculous!