Hi all,

I joined a webhosting company which require me to sign up 20 months contract with a free server. If I cancel within the 20 months, I need to pay the full server price (i don't want to tell the company name but you might know it).

They said they have different backbones in their home page, like Verio, Level 3 and Telseon IP. I also did some traceroute before I brought the server. Some of their IP go through Level 3 and very strange, some of them back to Cogent. I don't konw why. So I just believe they are using Level3 network. But after I get the dedicated server, I do some traceroute to different hosts. What I found is they are all using Cogent line. Actually, this is not a problem to use Cogent line as long as it's fast enough. But the problem is they are slow.

I really cannot stand for it anymore. Becasue I just think I have misleaded by what they said in their web site and they are not actaully provide the services that they said. I just feel I am being cheated.

I would like to ask for every one suggestion, can I break the contract in this situation without paying the full server price? Any suggestions are welcome.

That sounds like efreeservers.com or a reseller of them...if so, their contract previously did appear to allow for termination upon 30 days notice. I am not certain about the current contract....the 20 months is the period through which you will then own the server.

However, that said, I would suggest discussing the routing issue with them. I generally get Level3 in tracing to their site....I don't know your server, so cannot trace to it. I also get an average of under 50ms to their site. However, it is possible that they are using different carriers for different servers.

As to the facility they are in it is excellent and has at last count over 10 total carriers although they use only three or four. I have many servers in the same facility which I consider the best on the west coast.

If this is not your provider, then ignore my entire post.

Hi Incognito,

Thanks for your reply. I have PM you my ip, could you help me to traceroute?

I understand that. I also don't want to break the contract and find another ISP becasue it's so time consuming. But their speed is too slow in these few days and really make me angury. I will see if they improve in these few days and decide what to do.

I think you can break the contract, but you will not get your "free" server unless you pay the terms of the full contract.

Always arrive to your server by Level3...consistently great ping times. If you are experiencing problems, I would suspect they are not related to your server location but more likely to your isp's internet connection and routing-i.e., the location from which you are trying to reach the site.

Hi Incognito,

Thanks. I also test again from different location. Yes, all incoming is going through Level3 but all outgoing is goind through Cogent. I will see how's the peformance in these few days.

Rackmy:
If he's talking about Efree, then no, the contract states he must ride out the 20 months OR pay for the server. There is no 3rd option of just "giving it back".

Because the contracts I previously printed said you could cancel on 30 days notice....however, they may have tightened up the contract.

<This Agreement shall be for one (1) month from the order date when the customer signs up and registers for a dedicated server. The agreement shall continue on a month-to-month basis until terminated by the customer. After twenty (20) continuous months of bandwidth services from ECI Networks, customer can buy the server for $0.00 from E.Continents. Customer may cancel your bandwidth service agreement with ECI at anytime, but you will be required to provide E.Continents with notice of termination at least thirty (30) days prior to the end of the Term. Customer must provide ECI with your notice of termination by contacting cancel@econtinents.com. Any notice of termination will be effective upon E.Continents receipt thereof. >

So, it can be terminated with a 30 day notice per this particular contract.

Because the contracts I previously printed said you could cancel on 30 days notice....however, they may have tightened up the contract.
Sure, it'll have to be tomorrow, though. It's at my office.
The old, "It's on my other computer" excuse. :)

When I was there (I left in October), I specifically remember the contract stated that. You CAN leave with 30 days notice, but you have to pay up (I knew Jacques well, though, so he let me out of it).
There are posts about this here. Look back around August or September of last year.

This is from:
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8263&perpage=15&highlight=efreeservers%20contract&pagenumber=4

Hi Nate,

Welcome to E.FreeServers and thank you for your interest in our company.
With regard to your question, you can definitely run adult (legal) contents
on your server. Please note that our free server is based on a 20 month
lease-to-own program in which you're simply paying for the bandwidth ($1.50
/ 1GB) during this time. Acquisition cost will be $0.00 after the 20 months
period. You can leave at anytime, but you'll be required to purchase the
server outright from us at the price listed on our site. As for monthly
cost, it is a minimum of $299.00 for 200GB. Additional bandwidth is still
charged at $1.50 / 1GB. In the event that you use more bandwidth than the
alloted amount, we'll send you a second invoice for the extra bandwidth.
Also, this is going to be your server so you can install any type of
software that you want on it.

Thanks again for your time and consideration. Please contact us at anytime
if you have any question about our products and/or services.


Best Regards,


Jacques Pham
E.FreeServers Inc.
415-671-3841

Here is what I found. It looks like you can cancel w/o the need of purchasing the server.

1. This Agreement shall be for one (1) month from the order date when the customer signs up and registers for a dedicated server. The agreement shall continue on a month-to-month basis until terminated by the customer. After twenty (20) continuous months of bandwidth services from ECI Networks, customer can buy the server for $0.00 from E.Continents. Customer may cancel your bandwidth service agreement with ECI at anytime, but you will be required to provide E.Continents with notice of termination at least thirty (30) days prior to the end of the Term. Customer must provide ECI with your notice of termination by contacting cancel@econtinents.com. Any notice of termination will be effective upon E.Continents receipt thereof.

Yup efree use to be level3, now they pump all their shiat out thru cogent. Routes in are level3, routes out are cogent. Very deciving to a new client who doesnt have access to trace from efree before they sign with them.

Yes, they use all incoming traffic to Level 3 and outgong to Cogent.

Why their contract got so many version? Mine is like that:

This Agreement shall be for twenty (20) months from the order date when the customer sings up and registers for the Free Web Server Services. AT the end of the 20 months lease-to-own program, customer can buy your server for $0.00 from EFS Networks. Cstomer may cancel their 20 months lease obligation at anytime, but you will required and agreed to purchae your server(s) from EFS at the price lsted below. Termination of account prior to the twenty (20) months period requires the customer to provide E.FreeServers with notice of termination either at least thiry (30) days prior to the end of the Term................

Is it mean I can't stop the services at anytime?

But they are not providing the services that they say in their web site.

Originally posted by maxbear
Yes, they use all incoming traffic to Level 3 and outgong to Cogent.

Why their contract got so many version? Mine is like that:

This Agreement shall be for twenty (20) months from the order date when the customer sings up and registers for the Free Web Server Services. AT the end of the 20 months lease-to-own program, customer can buy your server for $0.00 from EFS Networks. Cstomer may cancel their 20 months lease obligation at anytime, but you will required and agreed to purchae your server(s) from EFS at the price lsted below. Termination of account prior to the twenty (20) months period requires the customer to provide E.FreeServers with notice of termination either at least thiry (30) days prior to the end of the Term................

Is it mean I can't stop the services at anytime?

But they are not providing the services that they say in their web site.

If they are not providing the services they offered in the contract then that in itself is breach of contract and you could probably cancel it if you threatened legal action, like seriosly, not just emailing them "I'll sue you." Get somebody with a law firm letterhead to send them a threatening fax.

knowing me , i would just break the contract if i felt suckered . Personaly there is no worse feeling knowing you made a bad business decision . Then again , a good company wouldnt ever make you feel this way . Thats probably why they have a 20 month contract .