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Comment by BjoernKW | Hacker News Reader

While this certainly is not exactly a decent way of dealing with people and a less than stellar customer experience, Microsoft isn't the judicial system but a private entity. This being a civil law affair there are no formal charges and you're not accused of anything but merely (and potentially ) in breach of contract.

If you sue them they'll have to reveal what they think you did. Other than that you're probably only entitled to access to your data so you can transfer it to another provider, as well as maybe a prorated refund if applicable (and you'd probably have to hire a lawyer for that, too, because they possibly won't answer any further inquiries on your part).

You mentioned a university licence. Many vendors explicitly prohibit usage of such licences for purposes other than educational ones. This might be the cause of your problem, for example if you used your account for hosting a commercial application on Microsoft Azure.

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I did not use my account for any commercial purposes, and I don't have much to say for the rest, read them like "you are a poor customer, who won't be able to afford, and should not afford a lawyer to recover your $100-300 loss, for your own interest". Sad that this is reality, or someone perpetuates this fact in such an acceptant manner.

I don't endorse this behaviour at all I'm merely stating the facts (probably as outlined in the contract you've entered with Microsoft). If you feel you've been wronged you should certainly hire a lawyer. At the very least then you'll know what it is they think you did.

Another option would be talking to a consumer organization (not sure if this is applicable because a university licence might not qualify as a consumer licence).

Other than that: Caveat emptor. I know this sounds trite and doesn't really help in your current situation but when you entered that contract you very likely agreed to the terms Microsoft now uses against you.

> Other than that: Caveat emptor. I know this sounds trite and doesn't really help in your current situation but when you entered that contract you very likely agreed to the terms Microsoft now uses against you.

Yes of course, he should have simply not used e-mail.

Or use an email provider that offers better terms?

Such as?

A few: Autistici, cock.li, CounterMail, ProtonMail, Riseup, ScryptMail, Tutanota, VFEmail.

Don't forget self-hosted

True. But then you may have deliverability issues, right?

Some people say they have that, but I've never experienced it. I even run it out of a residential IP with no issues.

This is probably a good example of YMMV

But for some unusual but binding decisions applying the Fed Arbitration Act against consumers, situations where it's not cost effective to sue as an individual can be cost effective with private attorneys general, i.e., a class action attorney. Lacking that your only recourse may be your state equivalent to my state's division of Agriculture and Consumer Services or the FTC, neither likely to be effective or satisfying.

> If you sue them...

Sue them for what? Surely they reserve the right to deny service to anyone?

They already entered into a contract with him, and then suddenly terminated the contract without notice.

Even if the contract contains language allowing them to do that (worth checking!), if he signed the contract as a consumer (not as a business) this might be against consumer protection laws.

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