a tumblr employees response to the OP: http://meaghano.com/post/393246405/tumbledore-ive-run-pitchf...
Ryan: "There had been a total of five posts ever made to the account." (with screenshots of said posts)
Meagan: "There were not 'several posts', on that account, there were zero."
While I agree that in either case, it was hardly a highly-used and highly-trafficked site, the fact that Tumblr can't get their numbers straight tells me at the very least that someone didn't do their due diligence to know exactly what they were handing over.
Meagan : As per our policy, we emailed this account’s address to inquire about the dormant account. After you failed to respond for 72 hours, we released the domain.
Was it 10 minutes or was it 72 hours?
UPDATE: sh4na is correct that I misinterpreted "that guy" to mean Tumbledore, not Ryan of Pitchfork. The 10 minutes vs. 72 hours discrepancy is significant, but to presume that Ms. O'Connell is lying over-reaches. That is, unless one presumes that she's personally conducted an investigation of the support staff's emails and the account management history in order to satisfy the ego of an entitled netbrat, and is now knowingly misrepresenting the true facts of this very important matter.
Well, according to the email posted to http://tumbledore.tumblr.com/post/393276231/this-is-in-respo... they did NOT give 72 hours notice, so definitely 10 minutes.
http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kxyamehQd51qajoo8.png Have a look at those posts. One from March 14th says outright that it's not being used as a blog: DONT FOLLOW ME I AM NOT A REAL TUMBLE BLOG
That guy has an active blog on Tumblr as Tumbledore. He clearly was using that account as an alternative dashboard, which is legit, but certainly doesn't need a special domain. I could see being put out a little bit about losing the domain, but his histrionic proclamations of oppression are a severe over-reaction. They have the smell of self-entitled internet personality.
I have little doubt that Tumblr exhibited more diligence in investigating this matter than was due Tumbledore for taking back a domain on their service. That domain a) had only been used as a convenience account, not for publishing anything, and b) that only in the distant past. Add to that c) it was occupying a subdomain that matches the trademark of another customer whom had requested it, and d) they gave him a reasonable opportunity to appeal. 72 hours does seem unnecessarily brief, but in this case it's immaterial.
Tumblr employees wouldn't be using the service effectively if they were all stodgy officials. The fact that they're allowed to be themselves, flaws and all, is a feature.
Its refreshing to see a response that doesn't contain loads of obfuscated spin.
Honestly, I find her reply to be pretty rude.
It could also be that no one is lying and the story simply was misremembered or garbled in transmission to respective PR departments.
If you are already being rude, why bother lying to cover your ass?
"We started this process last week upon our first correspondence with the trademark holder."