Just lately, we reported on LibreOffice, accusing Microsoft of deliberately utilizing complicated file codecs as a tactic to lock in customers to Microsoft Workplace, hindering open supply options like LibreOffice.

Now, Microsoft has banned LibreOffice developer, Mike Kaganski, from utilizing its providers, citing an “exercise that violates [its] Companies Settlement”.

In accordance with Mike, this occurred final Monday when he tried to ship a technical e-mail to the LibreOffice dev mailing record, which is a standard a part of his routine, however Thunderbird returned an error saying the message could not be despatched. His account was blocked upon retry, and he discovered himself utterly logged out of his Microsoft account.

Kaganski guessed that his mail and account have been getting flagged by a bot or one thing, since he was fairly certain that nothing within the mail violated Microsoft’s phrases of service.

So he determined to file an attraction, a course of which later made him name Redmond “miserably incompetent in IT.” The automated system requested for his cellphone quantity, which he offered, solely to be greeted by a “Strive one other technique” error message.

The issue was that there was no different technique provided. He then determined to achieve out to Microsoft assist instantly. After some digging, he discovered a hyperlink to contact the staff, and there it was, a button asking him to “Sign up to Contact assist”.

Now, you would possibly go, “Maintain up, how is he imagined to sign up to contact assist when his downside is that he cannot sign up within the first place?” As Kaganski himself put it:

Sure, you bought it proper. “Here’s a web page the place we focus on issues signing in. You tried our FAQ solutions? You continue to can’t sign up? No downside! Contact our Help staff, and we’ll remedy your downside is a minute! However first, please sign up to proceed.”

He finally obtained to make use of his spouse’s account to file an attraction and at last acquired a message from assist. The directions inside requested him to go to the sign-in web page and, when advised the account is blocked, present a cellphone quantity (one thing he had already tried). Microsoft ignored his detailed report of the failing course of, marked his ticket as resolved with none actual motion, and easily closed it.

He’s but to get better his account. As for the e-mail he was making an attempt to ship, he was later in a position to make use of Gmail, and it went by with no downside. In case you are , you may learn the total e-mail for your self and see if it violates Microsoft’s providers settlement.

Mike’s not the one one who’s had their account locked just lately, with seemingly no technique to get better it. On the seventeenth of final month, Reddit person u/deus03690 shared how Microsoft locked their account, which, amongst different issues, contained 30 years of “irreplaceable photographs and work” on OneDrive.

Their attraction, like Mike’s, has been fruitless up to now. The person mentioned Microsoft reached out 10 days later, asking them to fill out a restoration type and promising to assist them “each step of the way in which,” however they have not heard from the corporate since.