We all know Microsoft and there is probably not a single human being in the civilized world who didn't use or at least was in touch with a Microsoft product.

I am a user of Windows, Skype, Office, Power Point and many more products this gigantic company has to offer. In all those years I never had any problems, never had to use the customer service or had to file complaints.

Last week this all changed. As we all know, companies want to bind you with multiple products to their "clouds", may it be Google, Microsoft or anything else. Which means for the customer that 1 problem turns into multiple problems instantly. I woke up one morning and I couldn't check my Skype with the notification "Account temporarily suspended, please contact support, etc etc"

I am working in and around the esports industry and as insiders will very well know, everything from the early 2000's was based on Skype. All contacts, meetings, tournament organization, groups to connect teams, organisers, sponsors and many more. Skype is, to date, still the number 1 tool in this industry. I am just pointing this out, so anyone not being familiar with esports understands what a fatal blow this can be.

Based on my outrage on social media many people told me "go through the support", which of course I did and here is the list of what I get.

4 phone calls US service

4 phone call EU service

2 phone calls Russia service

12 tickets filed (including a total of 40+ mail exchanges)

2 direct chat supports

Now one would think this would lead to anything, but here is the scheme of answers.

We cannot tell you what the problem is. We cannot tell you what happens with your money / products. We cannot tell what "temporarily" means. We cannot tell you how to retrieve the account. This is the last communication regarding this matter.

Now let me summarize what this means for ANY Microsoft user.

Microsoft can ban you at any point of time. (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/servicesagreement) Microsoft will NOT tell you why you are banned. Microsoft will take all your money in form of balance, subscriptions, bought products and of course all your property (chatlogs, contacts, etc) Microsoft can repeat this any time you uploaded money forcing you into buying again, hence they double their revenue with each of their bans.

Microsoft can increase their revenue at their liking via this scam.

In the last week I have done all sorts of research around this problem and in fact "Skype account for no reason" is one of the highest search phrases in combination with Skype or Microsoft. I went through all threads, community sites and videos. Let me share this one, to also show that banning people on Skype is a business by 3rd parties (that for all we know could also be connected to Microsoft)

Skype security and deliberate banning of users.

This article will give you deeper insight in individuals and groups that ban Skype users for a living, all being supporter and backed up by Microsoft.

I am no legal expert, but also the fact that Microsoft can take your money and products without even saying why is something against any fiber of justice in my body. The "terms of agreement" range from a simple insult over child pornography to being Osama Bin Laden himself. Let's just assume my account was compromised (it was not, all checks ran, no spam messages reported from anyone in my over 1000+ contacts). Shouldn't it be the responsiblity of Microsoft to tell me what happened, so I can fix the loophole, secure my system, make a new account or restore the old one? That is what logic tells me.

So the summary of this story is very simple. Microsoft, Apple, Google and many more companies provide us with good tools for our lives and businesses. However they also take away any power from us. You're in control of nothing, absolutely nothing, if the product(s) are by a company like Microsoft. Furthermore does the cloud mean for us the loss of multiple products. You can have a security leak in your Microsoft Office and you will lose Skype or any other product. You will lose all your money and the only way to fix it is reinvesting the money, alongside a prayer that Microsoft does not do this again to you. However, since these companies are run by profit, it's very unlikely this will ever change.

Microsoft is the perfect example of where the evolution of the Internet is going. Total loss of control and all products in one "cloud". Some of you fear AI, but I suggest start fearing these companies and their methods. No one is safe, short of moving in the forest and saying goodbye to civilization.

You're in control of nothing, absolutely nothing.

PS: If you really don't like someone and know he/she recently bought something big on a Microsoft account, go to one of the sites that professionally focus on getting accounts banned. It's indirectly endorsed by Microsoft via bad security, non-existent support and hidden legal structures to ensure 0 consequences, because the victim will never even know what happened. - That's the lesson learned and criminals encouraged.

One might wonder this was Bill Gates' vision back then in his garage.

PS2: By the time I wrote this article I started thinking about what else Microsoft owns. I am very glad Linkedin accounts are not force-merged yet, because that would have put my losses into the thousands. However, if you see me disappear off Linkedin after this article, you know who did it.























