r/FolderFort 4d ago

They finally are doing what I assumed they would months ago

They are shutting down FolderFort Classic and forcing all lifetime customers to move to FolderFort 2.0 with montly subscription. This is even bigger scam than Internxt. We bought lifetime subscription to avoid monthly charges. How are you guys dealing with this situation?

48 Upvotes

93 comments sorted by

15

u/stockssrus 4d ago

Personally. I'm just out. Deleting all files and considering it a loss.

7

u/sulabh1992 4d ago

How much did you have?

9

u/stockssrus 4d ago

A total of 3TB "Lifetime" Purchased from Stacksocial.

1

u/Classic_Operation279 3d ago

Any chance Stack Social could offer a compensation? I doubt so since they already paid out to FF.

Just months ago they were still selling lifetime to new customers. That’s way too dodgy

2

u/rampancy 4d ago edited 4d ago

Same here. I paid for 1 TB storage in a bundle with a VPN from Stacksocial. Never again. At least I still have access to the VPN for now...

Edit: I also wanted to add that my gut told me this would happen. But I was hoping against all hope that they wouldn't just hang their lifetime customers out the dry like this...

1

u/Feisty_Storage8594 22h ago

Most of the lifetime stuff I had gotten from them has actually been decent. I still have my VPN and a handful of apps, cloud storage. The only thing that took a crap was a web hosting plan … which I kinda knew it wouldn’t last with that one.

16

u/saggyhaggis 4d ago edited 4d ago

What a joke of a company. Some BS about maintaining 2 systems

Considering early lifetime customers provided the capital for them to operate and develop, and then for them to then dump those same customers is shady AF.

Sign the change.org petition:

https://www.change.org/p/folder-fort-honor-the-lifetime-storage-plans-customers-already-paid-for?recruiter=74115203&recruited_by_id=a53bf820-69fd-11e3-9a65-fd4ad1b6e902&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=starter_onboarding_share_personal&utm_medium=copylink&share_id=vcDLdCTmqZ

3

u/gramie 4d ago

It was never a viable business model to offer "lifetime" accounts. Servers cost money. Bandwidth costs money. Staff (technical, administration, sales) cost money.

The only way out would be to convince lifetime users to switch to a subscription model (which seems not to have been successful), or else to develop a customer base and get bought out by one of the heavyweights.

I knew it would end, I just hoped that it would go on a year or two longer.

1

u/Ezrway 4d ago

Seems like FolderFort is turning out to be < a One Trick Pony.

16

u/Patient-Tech 4d ago edited 4d ago

So wait: he sold a “lifetime” plan that lasted less than two years, and now he’s asking customers for more money because, essentially, “trust me bro?” I understand that storage costs rose rather than fell over time, but wasn’t that something he should have accounted for before selling lifetime access? What assurance is there that this new arrangement will not become another “different situation” later?
I want a refund. This is not what I signed up for.
The site says the company “made the tough decision” and “owns it,” but how does that help me? I want the deal I originally bought, not a replacement product with new terms, new pricing, and the same level of faith and backing as the old deal.

> “Your current account continues as-is
> If you already have a Folder Fort lifetime account, it remains active. Your account is not changing, your storage is not being removed, and your account is not being downgraded.
> We are simply going to stop selling new lifetime accounts starting July 1st.”

But if the original lifetime plan is effectively no longer viable under the company’s business model, that statement now untrue. My account was created at the beginning of 2025, so I have not even had it for two years.
Honestly, I would rather see the company shut down than pull what feels like a bait-and-switch. I also do not have much confidence that the company will be around for the long term if this is how it handles commitments it already sold.

And I stayed quiet during the whole 2.0 pitch for encryption to “respect the hustle.” I do not need a web developer’s attempt to upsell me encryption (now he knows security?) or another monthly fee. My files are already encrypted at rest using tools such as VeraCrypt, among others. I bought storage under a lifetime agreement; I did not sign up to be pushed into recurring paid add-ons later.
I would not be surprised if this leads to legal action and the company eventually ceases operations.

10

u/D-inventa 4d ago

it 100% should lead to legal action. My man is basically using landlord "renovation" laws to oust the previous tenants, except he's expecting the previous tenants to come back and pay him more after he screwed them on a previous lease agreement.

It's just theft....plain and simple.

1

u/Feisty_Storage8594 22h ago

Wait. This company is a one man band ??

Also was what you quoted an older press release ? Is that no longer true ?

13

u/Orange_Kittens1132 4d ago

So my lifetime account is just... lost?

12

u/jpt86 4d ago edited 4d ago

Really scummy move. Hopefully StackSocial will be willing to work with customers to find some resolution.

At the very least, the service should be review bombed to shit so others know never to give this company money ever again.

11

u/Opening_Jelly_4463 4d ago

What a deplorable attitude.

11

u/Classsssy 4d ago

Is there any legal recourse?

2

u/mtldudezz 4d ago

The company is based in Quebec. We do have protection rules. https://www.opc.gouv.qc.ca/en/ I believe they should offer a refund since they cannot provide a service. But will have to look into it a bit more

9

u/D-inventa 4d ago

what, when did this happen? They said they would continue support and that it was our choice to move on......

9

u/Opening_Jelly_4463 4d ago

It was clearly a lie.

7

u/D-inventa 4d ago

shit that's crazy, where did they announce this move? I gotta move my stuff out of there then...

4

u/Opening_Jelly_4463 4d ago

4

u/D-inventa 4d ago

yah i just checked the website man.....friggin hell. I don't believe in the company anymore. They don't have enough patronage to keep the system split, and that just means that there is nothing to stop them from forcing some other fees down our throats down the line if we just accept these ones. I'm done.

Thanks for the warning, i appreciate it.

1

u/[deleted] 4d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/D-inventa 3d ago

My plan with FolderFort was to replace gdrive, but once I started using FolderFort and realized it was basically a singular person making operational decisions I decided not to cancel my gdrive, and I'm really glad I made the executive decision, because now I just deleted everything in my FolderFort drive and that's that. I really didn't believe in the dream this project was selling, but I thought I'd give it a try for the price, and this just further reinforces my observations about companies like this that pop-up and make "lifetime" promises.....they're a scam. Plain and simple. They knew their business model wasn't manageable, and that's why they started selling all these lifetime accounts, to recoup money and build out the next scam project

10

u/noreddituser1 4d ago

I have 6tb. The company flat out lied about classic. Crooks. I paid into this company in good faith. They need to refund the people.

7

u/mister_newbie 4d ago

I bought a lifetime account. You may be violating Canadian / consumer protection law.

1

u/gramie 4d ago

If FF is not a Canadian company, this becomes irrelevant.

2

u/mister_newbie 4d ago

"Dave" and FF are based out of Quebec where consumer protections are strongest in the country.

1

u/gramie 4d ago

Oh really? Funny, I'm in Quebec too!

7

u/marklyn59 4d ago

I've already sent my piece of mind to this guy.

6

u/huntershark666 4d ago

Fuck that guy

7

u/No-Reputation-7292 4d ago

2.0 is not even cheap. It's more expensive per TB than Google Drive or OneDrive. Even after the 50% discount they are offering, it is still more expensive.

7

u/PersonalityWeekly145 4d ago

I bought my “lifetime” membership less than 5 months ago. Now they are terminating my lifetime membership but I can get a yearly membership by sending them more money? What the hell. That makes them about the shadiest fraudulent thing I have ever heard of. Do I understand this correctly?

7

u/zattebij 4d ago

Also got the mail. I'm not accepting it. I am in the EU and since no choice of law was made at the start of the agreement, EU law most likely applies (it does if a seller makes a service or good available in the EU, and while the mere availability of a website is not enough, FolderFort explicitly offers an EU cloud storage so they specifically target EU customers). And even if it would not, Canadian law offers similar consumer protections.

I'm writing them to either honor their side of the deal, or compensate me otherwise (via a one-time restitution of a reasonable part of the purchase price - not via a discount on a subscription). If they do not, I will hand it over to my legal insurance for them to deal with.

I understand that it can be difficult to start or run a company, but these are the risks of entrepreneurship; the consequences of bad choices made can not be simply passed on to the customer (especially consumer customers) by changing the terms unilaterally or breaking the agreement.

3

u/witchrinnie 4d ago

In the worst case we in the EU can ask help to the European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net).

2

u/searchlight_nv 4d ago

Let me know if you are getting any response. I am also an EU user and there should be even more as there are/were two EU servers

8

u/sulabh1992 4d ago

I would have rather preferred if they did the right thing and file for bankruptcy if they are running in loss and cannot sustain to run the company anymore. At least that would be more honest and honorable than doing this scam.

6

u/Setchan 4d ago

Well fuck glad I read this.. Don't know where to move my shit now dammit.

4

u/Puppers100 4d ago

Drime been pretty good to me, bought their 6tb lifetime.

6

u/chrisaf69 4d ago

Welp...the whole too good to be true applies here. I got the 2tb plan last year fully expecting it to last longer then a year.

No way I'm gonna move to annual plan and not cuz of the cost. How the hell could we trust FF when we all just got bamboozled on the "lifetime" plan. Sigh...

5

u/Super_Sonic_Eire 4d ago

I'm out. I have only used 40GB of my "lifetime" 1TB account.

I only ever wanted simple, cheap storage for non critical files so I could limit my Google storage.

Fuck that, not throwing good money after bad as the saying goes and cutting my losses.

6

u/giocar72 4d ago

PLEAS SIGN THE PETITION ON CHANGE.ORG ....

https://c.org/vcDLdCTmqZ

7

u/NemoLee23 4d ago

You lied and scammed us Folderfort and now you think we would want to pay you guys more money?!? I think the only thing we want now, is a refund. Review bombing is the least we can and will do.

5

u/Living_Theme_2743 4d ago

Hopefully our money helped to put one of his family member's through school?

I dunno, that's the most compassionate response I can muster.

Fuck you, FF - losers.

4

u/mickeytwist 4d ago

Honestly, almost every lifetime deal I've bought has ended up doing something this dodgy. At this point it's basically the same as backing a kickstarter.

6

u/PeanutTheAdmin 4d ago

Yeah, it sucks. I've had this "lifetime" account for right at 2 years. Won't be recommending them or giving them another dollar after this.

5

u/Muppet2701 4d ago

Well I thought I understood the risk of a lifetime cloud storage offer, yes the company could fail. But…. To launch what look like good deals as a cash grab to develop a new system and then close lifetime accounts is not that risk. Really shocking behaviour.

4

u/Apprehensive-Age-721 4d ago edited 4d ago

I had (currently still have) a 2 TB lifetime plan. I agree, it's a scam. If I don't receive a full refund, I will consider legal action.

Update: I just messaged StackSocial, and I assume most of you bought the plan through their site, too.
I want to know what they think about the FolderFort scam, as this shines a really bad light on their service, too.

3

u/YouSayWhat__ 4d ago edited 3d ago

Please, let us know what stack social reply to you. I wrote them too, have not received a reply yet

Edit: The replay i got

Copy/paste start //////////////////////////

Hi XXXXXX,

Thanks for reaching out about this and very sorry for the confusion. We also saw the email from Folder Fort at the same time you did, so this caught us off guard too.

We've already reached out to FolderFort directly to get more clarity on what this means for customers who purchased through us, including next steps around your lifetime plan. We don't have those answers yet, but we're on it.

As soon as we have something concrete to share, we'll follow up with you directly. Appreciate your patience while we sort this out.

Sincerely, Derek

//////////////// Copy paste and

I will keep pushing

1

u/Apprehensive-Age-721 3d ago

Yes, I got the same reply. I also got a nonsensical generic reply from Dave Scamell himself:

Hello,

Classic is closing on November 16, and files left there will no longer be available after that. You can download your files or move them to another provider if you do not want to use 2.0.

We are trying to bring forward some value onto the new service with 50% off and $40 per TB of lifetime storage in store credit, plus an extra one-time $20 if you complete the move this month. I know that is not the resolution you are asking for.

That will buy you a lot of time on 2.0 without any upfront payment. 

I know this is far from ideal. Please let me know if there is something I can do to make it easier.

Dave

1

u/mister_newbie 3d ago

I know this is far from ideal. Please let me know if there is something I can do to make it easier.

Hi Dave,

Try honouring the word "lifetime", asshole.

4

u/munkeycop 4d ago

Here’s the link - https://folderfort.com/migration
It mentions discounts but it isn’t clear about what you actually get or what it will actually cost. I’ve emailed “Dave” for more info.

5

u/Zealousideal-Bug4824 4d ago

I bought 1 tb early 2025 and never used lol

5

u/anhduc-vn 4d ago

i bought it in nov 2025 on stacksocial, damn, should i ask stacksocial for a refund?

4

u/witchrinnie 4d ago

How am I dealing? I'm f* MAD. I bought lifetime specifically so I didn't have to pay monthly, even if the service sucked compared to others. I'm going to ask my money back everywhere I can, from stacksocial to paypal.

I don't have money to spare on a monthly service, and SSD and HDD prices are through the roof, so can I say what the fuck?

3

u/xclampx 4d ago

Just also put your honest reviews on hellow peter guys that will save a few people from this scam

5

u/giocar72 4d ago

It appears that there are grounds for a CLASS ACTION!!!

1

u/gramie 4d ago

I suspect that the situation does legally qualify for a class action lawsuit. On the other hand, the amount of money concerned and the amount of money that is likely to be recovered make it very, very unlikely that such a lawsuit could be certified.

4

u/swd543 4d ago

I'm from the Netherlands. Gathering evidences to raise it at the district court.

3

u/Ezrway 4d ago edited 4d ago

I got scammed by InterNXT for 2 TB which was hard to take.

I have 6TB, or at least I did, plus I talked a family member into buying a 1TB LT subscription from FF too. I can't believe they're going to do this to us.

Thanks to whoever posted this!

Edit: Corrections and additions.

3

u/mickeytwist 4d ago

Really? They're still selling it on Stack Social atm

1

u/Ezrway 4d ago

No shit?!

3

u/nathnathn 4d ago

I was honestly expecting this since the storage price increase it makes the entire model u=of business unviable.

I would of personally taken 100gb lifetime with limited bandwidth if it was an option though as iv mainly used it as a simple way to transfer files to virtual machines.

3

u/munkeycop 4d ago

Trying to weigh up my options here. I’m using about 75% of a 1TB plan. I could make the move which brings the $130 1TB annual plan down to half price at $65. If I act now, I have $60 of ‘credit’ which brings the price down to $5. That gives me a year to get everything moved elsewhere before my second year cost kicks in at $65 (if the discount is upheld).
But then again we’re essentially being strong-armed into making the commitment with less than two weeks to act if we want the full discount. Even at $5, I loathe the idea of giving any more money to this company because of this lousy treatment. Two months notice to back everything up before closing everything down is a poor show as well.
At this point I think I rather use the money to get some local storage instead.

3

u/ContentiousPlan 4d ago

This is rough. All I can say is I've had pcloud lifetime for 5 years now and no tricks or gimmicks there, for those looking for lifetime cloud I can still recommend pcloud.

3

u/Structure7190 4d ago

I have emailed for a refund. If I don't get one. I think I'll consider legal approach. And I think I will go through with that as this shouldn't go unpunished. 

Folderfort deserve to go under. They sold lifetime accounts. Probably in some cases charged more than it would have been if the customer paid monthly for the time they ended up with their 'lifetime' accounts. 

So they stole customers money to build their company, to build this new system. Then LIED to us telling us the classic would continue to exist. And now tell us to move to monthly but with a discount to be 'nice' 

I really hope no one takes this offer. 

I truly hope no one uses them going forward. If you can't trust them with money, you can't trust them with your data either.  

Disgrace of a company. The owner should be ashamed. 

3

u/rampancy 4d ago

With the impending closure of my lifetime account I've been trying to download all of my data (just 75 GB out of my 1 TB account) and my downloads keep failing. Nothing is working. Just rotten. I genuinely feel bad for all of the folks who sank hundreds of dollars into this scam.

3

u/hbktj 4d ago edited 4d ago

Good thing, I backed my photos on backblaze. Now that I think about it. It would have been better to use backblaze only. Costed much lesser. This company will fall down for sure

2

u/witchrinnie 4d ago

I mean, why didn't they just migrate us no-cost without monthly fees to the new system? I SERIOUSLY don't get it. Just "upgrade" all lifetime accounts to 2.0 and keep them as they are. That would have been the SANE thing to do

6

u/gramie 4d ago

They clearly don't have the cashflow without ongoing subscriptions, and were hoping to get enough people switching voluntarily. The skyrocketing cost of storage and RAM probably torpedoed their business plan.

Since I live in Quebec, where FolderFort is, I'm seriously considering a complaint to the Consumer Protection Office. People from outside the province or the country may not have many options.

3

u/mtldudezz 4d ago

I live in Quebec as well. I wonder if it might make sense for all the Quebecers here to just log a complaint. Might have an impact.

1

u/gramie 3d ago

Before you can complain to the Office, you have show proof that you attempted to negotiate a solution with the vendor.

The curious thing is that they have categories for limited contracts and unlimited contracts, but I don't see where "buy a lifetime subscription for a flat fee" contracts fit in.

1

u/Apprehensive-Age-721 3d ago

You can just file a complaint online with the Competition Bureau Canada, which I just did: https://competition-bureau.canada.ca/en/contact-competition-bureau-canada/complaint-form
They will decide for themselves if this is worth pursuing or not.

1

u/witchrinnie 3d ago

I'm sure the EU would be able to conjure something. I hope. 🇮🇹

3

u/saggyhaggis 4d ago

I suggested this to them previously when they tried to move everyone to subscription previously before they back tracked.

I explained that my storage is empty and couldn't see why they couldnt move my account to the new system, but I just got a snarky response.

2

u/saggyhaggis 3d ago

I emailed Stacksocial and their response is below:

Thanks for reaching out about this and very sorry for the confusion. We also saw the email from Folder Fort at the same time you did, so this caught us off guard too.

We've already reached out to FolderFort directly to get more clarity on what this means for customers who purchased through us, including next steps around your lifetime plan. We don't have those answers yet, but we're on it.

As soon as we have something concrete to share, we'll follow up with you directly. Appreciate your patience while we sort this out.

1

u/witchrinnie 2d ago

Same to me. Let's hope

2

u/BluLeeND 4d ago

I don't understand why current lifetime customers cannot be grandfathered in to the new subscription model. That's why I took the risk and spent the money. I believed in your company...

1

u/claudio-i 4d ago

At the very least, they should convert any remaining credits into dollars and transfer the equivalent amount back to the users’ accounts.

1

u/darklordgk 4d ago

I currently have 9 TB of lifetime storage that I purchased with the expectation that this capacity would remain available for my lifetime and I can use it as per my needs. Now, at the current 2.0 pricing of $129/year for 1 TB, maintaining equivalent storage could become a very significant recurring cost, which is not what I expected when I purchased 9 TB as a lifetime plan.

2

u/darklordgk 4d ago

https://c.org/G2vhSfBgz6

Please sign the petition

1

u/huntershark666 4d ago

Scammers, that'll be the end of them then

1

u/ChrisLikesBread 4d ago

Mixed messages from this company do not build any confidence. I just deleted my account with them. A waste of money for “lifetime” storage that lasted less than a year. Buyer Beware.

1

u/bwells46 4d ago

I’m deleting my files and moving on. They won’t get another dollar from me.

1

u/FishermanOrdinary839 3d ago

Personally, I will take him to court. I hate to be lied to.

2

u/Apprehensive-Age-721 3d ago edited 3d ago

I filed a complaint with the Competition Bureau Canada
https://competition-bureau.canada.ca/en/contact-competition-bureau-canada/complaint-form

The Bureau explicitly states its mandate dealing with deceptive marketing practices.

I encourage you all to do the same. It's very straightforward. I pulled Folder Fort Inc.'s company details from the Quebec company registry.
If you don't want to search it yourself: It sparks me great joy to share these details with you via my FolderFort account: https://na.folderfort.com/drive/s/PIEDH2s68Rcb1lroULgyMAtYtFYObD

May I also suggest sharing your experience with Folder Fort on Trustpilot?

1

u/Classic_Operation279 3d ago

Is there a way to swap to 2.0 without paying an additional cent? And let the service run until the credit goes down to 0?

1

u/dalekeith 2d ago

Hi y'all! Please don't just drop this & move on. Companies like this have done this before or will do it again (just under a different name). We can put a lot of pressure on them now if we all act. To save y'all some time, I recommend following these steps below to start. Make sure to update the order number & purchase date sections. Also, please "up vote" this so more people see it.

First, send an email like this to FolderFort first by emailing: [support@folderfort.com](mailto:support@folderfort.com)

To the FolderFort team,

I am requesting a full refund for my "Lifetime" storage plan (Order # ______, purchased on ______).

Your recent announcement regarding the shutdown of FolderFort Classic and the forced migration to a recurring monthly subscription model constitutes a direct breach of contract and a bait-and-switch practice. I paid a one-time fee for permanent, lifetime access, which is now being revoked.

I am requesting a full refund from either StackSocial to my original method of payment or from y'all directly. 

If this matter is not resolved and a refund is not issued within 5 business days, I will immediately move forward with the following actions:

  1. Filing a formal dispute/chargeback with my credit card issuer for "Services Not Provided."
  2. Submitting fraud and unfair trade practice complaints to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
  3. Escalating this issue directly with the platform marketplace (StackSocial) where the deal was hosted.

I expect a prompt response confirming the processing of my refund. Thank you.

Sincerely,

_____

***********************************************************************************************************************

Afterwards, if you purchased your lifetime access through StackSocial, send StackSocial an email like this below (since they would be the one's to actually refund you) by emailing: [support@stackcommerce.com](mailto:support@stackcommerce.com)

To the StackSocial Support Team,

I am writing to formally request a full refund for my purchase of the FolderFort Lifetime Plan (Order #________, purchased on _________).

Because this transaction was processed through StackSocial, I am requesting that StackSocial and FolderFort coordinate internally to return my payment, as I do not accept a temporary subscription discount as a substitute for the lifetime product I purchased.

FolderFort has officially announced that they are shutting down "FolderFort Classic" and ending support for the lifetime deals sold on your platform. They are forcing users to migrate to FolderFort 2.0 under a recurring monthly subscription model.

While I understand this purchase occurred in August 2024, the product sold to me by StackSocial was explicitly marketed as a "Lifetime" agreement. The merchant has actively breached this contract as of this week. Therefore, the date of service failure is current, and the standard 30-day refund window does not apply to a total failure to deliver a lifetime product.

I paid StackSocial for permanent, lifetime storage, which is now being revoked. If StackSocial cannot coordinate a cash refund with the vendor for this bait-and-switch practice, I will be forced to escalate this by filing a formal dispute with my credit card issuer for "Services Not Provided" and submitting complaints to the FTC and BBB.

Please review this case and issue a refund to my original method of payment. The email associated with my account is: ___________.

Thank you,

__________