I have been using the "packrat" feature for more than a year, and Dropbox sent me a similar notification today to tell me they lost several thousand files, 816 could not been restored. They were "lost" around 8 months ago, so "packrat" didn't save me at all.
As it turns out, I have other backups of most of the files, and the rest of them weren't important. So I was lucky. Still, my confidence in the product is unlikely to recover.
I want to note that I had been aware of the "dropbox is not backup" chorus, but that argument usually is just "sync is not backup", which is sort of obvious. The packrat feature pretty much addressed this issue, so dropbox with packrat WAS a backup solution. So the lesson here is never to rely on any ONE backup provider.
As it turns out, I have other backups of most of the files, and the rest of them weren't important. So I was lucky. Still, my confidence in the product is unlikely to recover.
I want to note that I had been aware of the "dropbox is not backup" chorus, but that argument usually is just "sync is not backup", which is sort of obvious. The packrat feature pretty much addressed this issue, so dropbox with packrat WAS a backup solution. So the lesson here is never to rely on any ONE backup provider.