Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and T-Mobile (NYSE:DT), who have managed to lose the personal data of thousands and thousands of customers who have the carrier’s SideKick product because of failures of Microsoft server software, are offering the people who lost their information a $100 gift card. That seems to be little better than adding insult to injury.

The lost information could include contacts, calendar entries, photos, notes, and saved e-mails. Microsoft and T-Mobile are now saying that they might be able to get make some of the data, maybe. In a statement, the companies said, “Regarding those of you who have lost personal content, T-Mobile and Microsoft/Danger continue to do all we can to recover and return any lost information”

The note to subscribers also made the $100 certificate offer and said that the money would be in addition to the free month of data service that has already been given to the customers. The card can be used to buy more T-Mobile products and services, to pay T-Mobile bills.

The $100 is unlikely to put down the furor over the lost data. Some of the T-Mobile customers probably have stored months if not years of information on their SideKicks and the Microsoft servers that hold and store information from the handsets.

Most industry experts believe that T-Mobile only has about 12% of the US cellular market, putting it far behind AT&T (NYSE:T), Sprint (NYSE:S), and Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE:VOD). T-Mobile has had some success selling phones based on the Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android operating system, but the SideKick problem will certainly be a big set-back for its reputation.

Microsoft may be able to afford the debacle, but T-Mobile’s place in the US market, already tenuous, will be undermined by the problem and it may never entirely recover.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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