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Chatters48's avatar
Chatters48
Explorer | Level 3
3 months ago
Solved

I can't seem to access my Dropbox files without paying for a plan.

Question or Issue
I received a free 2GB Dropbox account with a laptop that I purchased and I'm trying to access photos from 2014 to probably 2023 when I purchased an iPhone and bought 50GB of storage from Apple for $.99 per month.  So, when I sign in to my account it's showing the minimum plan at 2000 GB at $9.99 per month billed annually.  Really?!!!  This is the minimum.  If that's the case, then Dropbox is losing out on a lot of business.  Someone who only wants to store photos and videos of family and friends has only one option to get access to their photos at Dropbox at a cost of $120.  These are my photos and I am happy to pay a fee to gain access to the 10GB Dropbox is stating they have in my account (8GB over the 2), but this is a customer nightmare.  Sounds like bait and switch to me.  Give a free account of 2GB on Toshiba, HP, etc. computers and then charge customers a ridiculous fee to gain access to their own photos and videos.  AND I can't speak to anyone because I don't have a plan that's above the basic.  WOW! Who wants to do business with a company that is not willing to provide personal customer support to ALL it's customers.  Thank you to anyone that can shed light on how I can find out how to download my own photos from Dropbox without having to pay an enormous fee.  

  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    3 months ago

    Hi Chatters48​ 

    Those pics help, thanks! 

    That last one clearly shows you are accessing the files on Dropbox so can download (the one with Video0033 etc.). So you can go on that page at http://www.dropbox.com/home and download or delete things you dont want. 

8 Replies

  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    3 months ago

    Thanks for your feedback on this, Chatters48.

    I'll make sure to pass it along to our team.

  • Chatters48's avatar
    Chatters48
    Explorer | Level 3
    3 months ago

    Thanks for reaching out.  The advice received here on the forum was able to help me know that I can download videos and photos to either an external drive or a separate drive I pay for which is much less expensive that what Dropbox is offering.  

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    3 months ago

    Hey Chatters48, I hope you're doing well!

    Just popping in to see if you've had a chance to look at Mark's last message. Still need help? We're all ears! If the issue is sorted, let us know what worked out for you.
     

  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    3 months ago

    Get yourself under quota, and then the best thing I can suggest is to use the desktop client: http://www.dropbox.com/downloading, as everything then is automatically on your machine as long as you stay under quota. Then if you are automatically uploading from a mobile device you can just open the Dropbox folder on your computer and drag them to another location :)

  • Chatters48's avatar
    Chatters48
    Explorer | Level 3
    3 months ago

    Thank you, Mark.  Because it said my preview was limited, I didn't think I could do anything.  I found the download file link.  Yay!  Dropbox did save me from losing photos when I had a phone stolen several years ago.  I will work on downloading everything to an external drive. I guess it's wise to do this periodically. Thanks again.

  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    3 months ago

    Hi Chatters48​ 

    Those pics help, thanks! 

    That last one clearly shows you are accessing the files on Dropbox so can download (the one with Video0033 etc.). So you can go on that page at http://www.dropbox.com/home and download or delete things you dont want. 

  • Chatters48's avatar
    Chatters48
    Explorer | Level 3
    3 months ago

    Nancy,

    Thanks for replying.  I will try to upload 3 photos concerning my account.  Also, in checking back through my emails I received an email from Dropbox on February 26, 2016 which I am sending a photo of.  In this email you will see it states a Samsung device (phone) which came with 48G of free storage.  The option to upgrade in that email was to 1000GB.  I didn't think I'd ever need that much space so never upgraded.  This accounts for me having almost 10GB of free storage.  It was from two different devices.  

     

  • Nancy's avatar
    Nancy
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    3 months ago

    Hi Chatters48, and welcome to our forum. 

    First of all, I’d like to thank you for the feedback you’ve shared with us. It’s really appreciated and I’ve made sure that our team can access your comments here, too.

    Now, as for accessing your files, can you send me a screenshot of what you see exactly when going to your Dropbox account online

    Give me a nudge, when you’re ready.

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