My account became full and I couldn't access or download my files

Question

I honestly don't know what to do anymore.

I've trusted Dropbox with my business files for years, and yesterday everything came to a standstill.

My Dropbox storage became full, which I understand. But instead of simply stopping uploads, I suddenly couldn't download or access my existing files either.

Here's what I've already tried:

* Two different Mac computers
* Multiple browsers
* Home internet and mobile hotspot
* Restarting several times
* Logging out and back in
* Upgrading to a paid Premium plan

Nothing worked.

Even downloading a 20 MB folder with just 4 files either takes an hour or fails completely.

I've spent over 12 hours talking to support, been transferred between multiple agents, and now my case has been escalated to advanced support with a reply time of "within one business day."

The problem is I run an online business. My production files are stored in Dropbox, and because I can't access them, I can't fulfill customer orders. Dropbox has effectively brought my business to a halt.

Has anyone experienced this before?

* Did advanced support eventually fix it?
* Was there any workaround to regain access to your files?
* Is this actually caused by the account being over the storage limit, or is something else happening?

At this point I'm extremely frustrated because my files are there—I can see them—but I can't use them.

Hannah · Answer

I completely understand where you're coming from, @LAYERS, this is a very frustrating situation.

I wish there was something I could say or do that would help more, however, your case is in the hands of our specialists now.

We haven't had any other similar reports either, so this is a unique situation at the moment.

In the meantime, have you perhaps re-upgraded your account? And does the issue persist even with your account being under-quota?

Did you first notice the issue right after the account was out of space or was it at a later time?

And did you perhaps notice that this started happening after some kind of update on your computer's OS?

LAYERS · Answer

Waiting for an email is the most frustrating thing I could be asked to do in this situation.

Every minute counts. I run an online business, and my entire week’s work has come to a complete stop because I cannot access my own files. Every hour that passes means delayed customer orders, lost revenue, and damage to the reputation I’ve spent years building.

You mentioned that a full Dropbox account should not affect download speeds, which tells me this is something more serious than simply reaching my storage limit.

I have one question: who is going to take responsibility for the financial losses caused by this outage? I trusted Dropbox with years of my business data, paid for your service, and now I cannot access the files that keep my business running.

Being told to wait for an email while my business is losing money is incredibly difficult to accept.

Hannah · Answer

I'm sorry to hear that you're having this issue, @LAYERS.

Your account being full shouldn't affect download speeds on the website, however, I do see that your case was sent to our specialists, so it's in the right hands.

I passed your comments here along to our team and raised the priority of your ticket, so that it gets expedited as quickly as possible.

Do let us know what happens when you have an update, and of course, the thread will remain open in case other users have had similar experiences.

Let me know if you have any questions!