Trains.com

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Photobucket has relented!

5856 views
42 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Bradford, Ontario
  • 15,797 posts
Photobucket has relented!
Posted by hon30critter on Thursday, May 17, 2018 7:53 PM

Hi gang:

I just got an email from Photobucket announcing that they are under new management and, if I understand their offer, they will restore your old photos for $1.99/month or $19.99/yr. (free if you are still a member).

http://mkt1.photobucket.com/ga/click/2-11011703-38-4924-11138-38387-061ffeeab3-446cc0ec5e

I haven't read the fine print, but the offer does say "....limited time....". We will have to see if the $1.99 thing is forever or just for a few months.

Dave

Edit:

I decided to sign up. I just went back to an old thread which had Photobucket hosted photos on it, and the photos were restored!

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

  • Member since
    June 2007
  • 8,892 posts
Posted by riogrande5761 on Thursday, May 17, 2018 8:13 PM

I didn't see any email but randomly decided to log in and I was actually able to get at and download photos.  A few weeks ago I could not.  I may try to get them while the getting is good.

Rio Grande.  The Action Road  - Focus 1977-1983

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Thursday, May 17, 2018 8:29 PM

About 3 ? years ago, I signed up for the ad free version, $15 a year, and I've never had a problem.

Well, you still can get an occasional glich, know worse than this site gets, as they work out some bugs ( according to MRR customer service, had to call them this pm).

And, Fire Fox has an add-on, ( or extension, what ever it's called) that brings the pictures back to the older post.

When everybody started having trouble, I was "knocking on wood", waiting for my turn, that never happened, along with the email everybody got about the $399. subscription.

Mike.

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
  • 9,094 posts
Posted by BigDaddy on Thursday, May 17, 2018 8:43 PM

The people voted with their feet and Photobucket took notice. 

There was a newbie post in the last week with a PB photo and I commented that I was able to see his photo without the usual 4-5 popup ads.  I admit, I thought it was a fluke.

 

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    January 2010
  • 2,616 posts
Posted by peahrens on Thursday, May 17, 2018 8:51 PM

Fool me once, shame on you.........

Paul

Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • 2,980 posts
Posted by NWP SWP on Thursday, May 17, 2018 8:51 PM

HALLELUJAH!!! LET THERE BE DANCING IN THE STREETS!!! LET THE WORLD LEADERS DECLARE THIS A INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CELEBRATION!!!

I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING ALL THOSE OLD PICTURES IN THREADS!!!

Steve

If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!

  • Member since
    September 2004
  • From: Dearborn Station
  • 24,281 posts
Posted by richhotrain on Thursday, May 17, 2018 9:08 PM

How ridiculous!

We used to use Photobucket for free. Why pay them anything now?

I switched over to imgbb when this all started with Photobucket and I am quite happy. I have absolutely no intention of returning to those extortionists.

Rich

Alton Junction

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Bradford, Ontario
  • 15,797 posts
Posted by hon30critter on Thursday, May 17, 2018 9:09 PM

peahrens
Fool me once, shame on you.........

For $20 I'm willing to take the chance. If they pull another fast one I can always opt out again.

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

  • Member since
    October 2001
  • From: OH
  • 17,574 posts
Posted by BRAKIE on Thursday, May 17, 2018 10:24 PM

hon30critter
 
peahrens
Fool me once, shame on you.........

 

For $20 I'm willing to take the chance. If they pull another fast one I can always opt out again.

Dave

 

I fully agree..I have to many photos in photo bucket just to walk away and leave them in limbo.

Larry

Conductor.

Summerset Ry.


"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt  Safety First!"

  • Member since
    October 2006
  • From: Western, MA
  • 8,571 posts
Posted by richg1998 on Thursday, May 17, 2018 11:23 PM

NO WAY

Rich

If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.

  • Member since
    April 2018
  • From: 53° 33′ N, 10° 0′ E
  • 2,508 posts
Posted by Tinplate Toddler on Thursday, May 17, 2018 11:45 PM

When Photobucket tried to blackmail me into paying an annual ransom of $300, I downloaded my pictures and walked away, never to turn back. I don´t do business with people who do not honor contracts and have no business ethics whatsoever, regardless of how much or how little they now want to charge for their services.

Happy times!

Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)

"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: 4610 Metre's North of the Fortyninth on the left coast of Canada
  • 9,352 posts
Posted by BATMAN on Thursday, May 17, 2018 11:52 PM

Yup! My account is back up and running, but I have moved on and will not be going back.

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

  • Member since
    April 2013
  • 917 posts
Posted by Southgate on Friday, May 18, 2018 2:19 AM

I logged in and pretty much got spammed.

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: Southeast Texas
  • 5,449 posts
Posted by mobilman44 on Friday, May 18, 2018 5:31 AM

PB really screwed up in the manner they went about putting in a fee schedule.  They could have done it in a much more amiable method and I suspect most folks would work with it. 

But, they did what they did, realize that they ran off their "customer" base, and are now trying to get it back.  That said, I would be reluctant to do so, for if they did what they did once, they could do it again.

ENJOY  !

 

Mobilman44

 

Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central 

  • Member since
    September 2004
  • From: Dearborn Station
  • 24,281 posts
Posted by richhotrain on Friday, May 18, 2018 5:39 AM

By the way, one's Photobucket account is not automatically restored nor are the photos restored on public web sites. That godawful warning icon still appears in place of your photos unless and until you pay up. The extortion continues.

Rich

Alton Junction

  • Member since
    June 2007
  • 8,892 posts
Posted by riogrande5761 on Friday, May 18, 2018 5:58 AM

NWP SWP
HALLELUJAH!!! LET THERE BE DANCING IN THE STREETS!!! LET THE WORLD LEADERS DECLARE THIS A INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CELEBRATION!!!

Shaking my head - I think the rest of us are still too angry at PB to be so happy.  As my British wife would say, young and daft.

I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING ALL THOSE OLD PICTURES IN THREADS!!!

On one forum where I had a blog of sorts, I already deleted about 90% of the posts with photo's because they were broken.  Too late.

I don't trust PB any longer - this is just an open door for me to retrieve photo's that have been held hostage.

 

Rio Grande.  The Action Road  - Focus 1977-1983

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Maryland
  • 12,897 posts
Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Friday, May 18, 2018 7:39 AM

riogrande5761

 

 
NWP SWP
HALLELUJAH!!! LET THERE BE DANCING IN THE STREETS!!! LET THE WORLD LEADERS DECLARE THIS A INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CELEBRATION!!!

 

 

Shaking my head - I think the rest of us are still too angry at PB to be so happy.  As my British wife would say, young and daft.

 

 
I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING ALL THOSE OLD PICTURES IN THREADS!!!

 

 

On one forum where I had a blog of sorts, I already deleted about 90% of the posts with photo's because they were broken.  Too late.

I don't trust PB any longer - this is just an open door for me to retrieve photo's that have been held hostage.

 

 

Sorry, but I have to ask. Why would you have photos on a site like photobucket and not have them stored on your own computer/hard drive, etc?

I get that people are unhappy with Photobucket, that's fine. I made the choices I made about them based on time vs money.....I have more money than time.

But every one of the 500 photos I have on Photobucket is on my computer and backed up several different ways.

I'm going to work now, and back to sleep regarding this forum, as I have set new lower limits for my time on here.

Sheldon

    

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: AU
  • 713 posts
Posted by xdford on Friday, May 18, 2018 8:35 AM

Thank you whoever for the info... I checked out Trainboard as I am still a fan of Tomkats building fronts so I managed to download them all tonight... or at least the ones that were there!

However I do wonder like many others how long it will last. PB has stuffed its own reputation in this but it is like a lot of lying corporations... once found out or made to backtrack, it will have a hard time regaining trust and thanks to their own actions, not ours, will never get to the peak it may have reached! 

Trevor

 

  • Member since
    October 2006
  • From: Western, MA
  • 8,571 posts
Posted by richg1998 on Friday, May 18, 2018 9:10 AM

To those who might wonder, I have all my photos on an external hard drive. Makes no sense to put them only to another site. I knew PB would eventually fail.

If I want to post a photo of something, I use the MRH forum. They do it easily.

I do not trust the cloud, either.

Rich

If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.

  • Member since
    June 2007
  • 8,892 posts
Posted by riogrande5761 on Friday, May 18, 2018 9:31 AM

Thank you Mr.

Wrong assumption.  Like most did, all ARE saved locally.  Shall I reword?  "held hostage to convenience"

Rio Grande.  The Action Road  - Focus 1977-1983

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • 2,980 posts
Posted by NWP SWP on Friday, May 18, 2018 10:45 AM

I may be young but I'm not daft, I do not use Photo Bucket, I use Imgur, it works well and there aren't any ads.

I'm just glad I can see photos in old threads again.

Steve

If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!

  • Member since
    October 2001
  • From: OH
  • 17,574 posts
Posted by BRAKIE on Friday, May 18, 2018 10:49 AM

riogrande5761
Shall I reword? "held hostage to convenience"

Jim, convenience is a handy thing when one has 35 pages of  irreplaceable photos.

Larry

Conductor.

Summerset Ry.


"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt  Safety First!"

  • Member since
    June 2007
  • 8,892 posts
Posted by riogrande5761 on Friday, May 18, 2018 10:57 AM

NWP SWP
I may be young but I'm not daft,

I was referring to the very effusive response, not where you store your stuff.

Rio Grande.  The Action Road  - Focus 1977-1983

  • Member since
    June 2007
  • 8,892 posts
Posted by riogrande5761 on Friday, May 18, 2018 11:00 AM

BRAKIE
 
riogrande5761
Shall I reword? "held hostage to convenience"

 

Jim, convenience is a handy thing when one has 35 pages of  irreplaceable photos.

 

 
Thank you Larry.  At least you get it!  Dots - Sign

Rio Grande.  The Action Road  - Focus 1977-1983

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Bakersfield, CA 93308
  • 6,526 posts
Posted by RR_Mel on Friday, May 18, 2018 11:55 AM

I just read the PB price page and according to it nothing has changed.
 
The only 3rd party hosting is the $400 per year plan.
 
It specifically says NO 3rd party posting in Plus 50 and Plus 100 plans.
 
 
 
Mel
 
 
My Model Railroad   
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
 
  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Vancouver Island, BC
  • 23,330 posts
Posted by selector on Friday, May 18, 2018 12:12 PM

richg1998

To those who might wonder, I have all my photos on an external hard drive. Makes no sense to put them only to another site. I knew PB would eventually fail.

If I want to post a photo of something, I use the MRH forum. They do it easily.

I do not trust the cloud, either.

Rich

 

Tempus edax rerum.  Time devours everything.  Imgur tomorrow, who knows next week...even Microsoft's days are numbered.  I think adobe and java change themselves in one way or another regularly, but there's a better mousetrap between someone's ears somewhere.

I have moved on. Railimages suits me just fine, and as some others have said, multiple file storage places, some in an old coffee cup near my desk....thumb drives.  I also run a 4 TB external backup daily.

  • Member since
    June 2007
  • 8,892 posts
Posted by riogrande5761 on Friday, May 18, 2018 12:28 PM

selector
Tempus edax rerum.  Time devours everything. 

It kind of goes without saying ... especially where techonology is concerned.

Along those lines, NPR had a series not long ago about how archivists would try to preserve things of historical significance and with the constant change in methods of storage, they were actually saving audio recordings on primitive groove recordings simliar to early records; idea being that any technology used to record sound is constantly evolving and the best way to have something able to be listened too in the distant future was to record in a medium primitive enough to be fairly easy to be recreated, and avoid technology no longer available or difficult to recreate.

Rio Grande.  The Action Road  - Focus 1977-1983

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Maryland
  • 12,897 posts
Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Friday, May 18, 2018 12:54 PM

riogrande5761

Thank you Mr.

Wrong assumption.  Like most did, all ARE saved locally.  Shall I reword?  "held hostage to convenience"

 

 

Well my aplogies for misunderstanding, you sure made it sound like you did not have other access to the images.

I realize now the use of the term hostage was just another shot at Photobucket, not an actual fact regarding your images. Silly me.

Once again sarcasm seldom translates well to the written word.

Anyway, all my threads still have their photos........not all that important to me on here, but very important to all the folks at mytractorforum.com where I have posted 45 pages of technical info in the last nine years.

Bye now,

Sheldon

 

    

  • Member since
    November 2006
  • From: NW Pa Snow-belt.
  • 2,216 posts
Posted by ricktrains4824 on Friday, May 18, 2018 9:58 PM

The bucket lost me when they pulled their idiotic stunts. 

My photos were removed, by me, to other sites, and I made sure they were on my hard-drive and back-up hard-drive.

I then deleted my account with the bucket, and told them exactly why, that I refused to pay any black mailer, ransomware, idiot or theif anything!

Way too late for them to try to backpedal now.

Ricky W.

HO scale Proto-freelancer.

My Railroad rules:

1: It's my railroad, my rules.

2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.

3: Any objections, consult above rules.

  • Member since
    April 2013
  • 917 posts
Posted by Southgate on Saturday, May 19, 2018 12:26 AM

Replying to some of the comments about backing up photos, I thought I had an arrangement to back all mine on the "cloud" automatically. I did have every photo stored in my computer that was on PB and many more.  Hard drive crashed. BADLY! And I discovered I had to back each photo or album to the cloud deliberately, after said crash. 

I still have that hard drive. A recovery company looked into it, said at least 800 bucks with 500 down to possibly retrieve most of the photos. I'm not a gambler. 

If paying PB $20 will guarentee I can recover just what I had there, it's worth it. But I recon I'll sail away after that.

The idea of using an external hard drive could have saved me thousands of pictures, some far more dear than my hobby related ones.Embarrassed Dan

Edited in: I just signed in again, still get buried in pop-ups and when I finally do get a picture open, I can't copy and paste a picture, only copy link. Does that change if you pay up? And do you have to go through the same long procedure for each photo? 

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Users Online

There are no community member online

Search the Community

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Model Railroader Newsletter See all
Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter and get model railroad news in your inbox!