Why, God, why?

On Monday, some 14,000 subscribers to Charter Communications' online service opened their emails to find inboxes and archive folders empty.

The St. Louis-based cable company believes a software error during routine maintenance caused them to permanently delete 14,000 customer email accounts, reports AP News.

Messages, photos and attachments lost resulting from the error are irretrievable, according to the company. A $50 credit was applied to each customer affected.

"We really are sincerely sorry for having had this happen and do apologize to all those folks who were affected by the error," groveled spokeswoman Anita Lamont yesterday.

St. Louis-based Charter Communications is among the largest cable TV operators in the US. It also offers high-speed internet and phone service.

Charter's high-speed internet subscriber base is comprised of 2.6 million users nationwide.