Just wanted to give you theheads up on experthosting.com because they managed to get me pissed off enough to ruin their lives :) They have been spamming everyone on register.com without out register.com's permissions, in their spams they include ads about themselves, posing as a register.com adv. So I did some checking and they have terrible reviews, just warning you to proceed with caution with this company, there are plenty of good companys on this board.

According to our sources, ExpertHosting.com (http://www.experthosting.com), TrueHosting.org.uk (http://truehosting.org.uk), and Dot Com Avenue (http://dotcomavenue.com/usa/index.shtml) all appear to be owned/run by Peter Francis-Macrae, also known as David Jarvis; former owner of TrueHosting. Need I say more?

truehosting.org.uk is owned by david B en well.

[Edited by Technics on 02-15-2001 at 04:58 PM]

That's "weaselboy", all right (I love that name!). I read on technogirl.net about some stuff going on with dotcomavenue.com in one of the newsgroups. More spamming with dca, too. It's the same guy.

And Deb, I checked on truehosting.org.uk, and it's b en well, for sure. But note that b en well is spamming several forums lately as well (or doing it with a sock puppet, same thing), so he should bear some watching. Heck, I've even seen spam from him in the Hosting Matters support forum (before the spam vanished), can you believe the nerve? Somebody said he was a reseller for HM, and I'm not sure about that, but advertising in your own provider's forum is probably not the way to endear yourself, eh? :)

Sorry, I'm a bit confused, is:
Peter Francis-Macrae, David Jarvis, Dave Ben well all the same (as in Davey, the one everyone loves)???

I don't think ben well is that same guy. The other two, plus all those strange people he invented in correspondence with people, are the same weirdo.

Somebody said he was a reseller for HM
You can be damn sure THAT isn't true! Annette was one of the victims of TrueHosting before she started HostingMatters, she was a prime mover in getting TH kicked off Colossus and the next host he went with (Alabanza?), and he's been forging a HM e-mail address in some of his spam in a pathetic attempt to make her life difficult.

I dunno, Deb. I haven't seen anything on truehosting.ORG.uk (no spam, anyhow), and that page is just a holder right now, so... Ben well has been shamed in this forum already, obviously, since his name was starred out when I first wrote up that post, and is why the name is split like that. If somebody signed up with you (I know, unlike Isabel, that you aren't a host ;)), only pointed that domain someplace, you knew it wasn't the same guy as TH, the guy hasn't done any severe spamming to get him kicked off (like email spam, for instance), could you, in all fairness, dump him without him doing anything particularly heinous? I wonder if Ben well really is a reseller for HM, since I'd like to ask HM how they handle that type of ethical thing. It's probably a hard thing. Certainly not something I'd like to deal with myself, and makes me glad I don't have to.

i am 110% sure benw ell isnt anything todo with david jarvis, Peter Francis Macrae or whatever he goes by.

David is a 19 year old lad with as much internet skills as my gran. He's from wisbech cambridge.

Technics, do you have an actual name, address, or anything else for David / Davey / PFM / Bradley / Weaselboy / (unprintable other names ommitted)?

Email me at joey@periscopeonline.net

ExpertHosting copied:

The server images (below the $49 one

The "Quick Links" thing at the bottom

And maybe the sign up now go sign?

Thank god I found this forum! I almost signed up with experhosting.

Today dotcomavenue returns a "site not available" page, and all the others (experhosting, webhostingsupport.com etc) are off the dns servers. Just for s&g I tried the 800 number listed on their domain registry, and it rings through to a pub in the UK.

More people need to be warned about this guy, as he will no doubt have found a new server to scam from in short order.

Research: If you run a series of "tunneling" domain registry searches, you get this trial of crumbs -

dotcomavenue.com (UK) -> experthosting.com (UK) -> ultra-server.net (Atlanta) -> tierranet.com (San Diego) -> domaindiscover.com (San Diego)

You could, no doubt tunnel deeper, following name servers AND registrant's names, but that was enough for me.

Way back a few years ago I was a victim of TrueHosting. Although I found their services to be half decent, thier business ethics were crazy. Can you believe that a "David Jarvis" called my house once about hiring me to do a design for him? To make along story short, I didn't end up working for him, thank goodness.

Check out this phoney message that somebody - I think it was our friends at Expert Hosting - sent to one of my clients. I wish that someone would put a stop to these jokers!
The email was from addr-support@yahoo.com, a phoney address.

I have heard that Addr are taking them to court over their antics - it sounds like this guy is finally going to get what's coming to him!

>----- Original Message -----
>From: ADDR.COM Web Hosting
>To:
>Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2001 5:00 AM
>Subject: ADDR.com Service Announcement - Company Closure
>
>
> > Dear Addr.com customer,
> >
> > Due to the unfortunate events that have occured during the past week, we
>are unable to continue operations at Addr.com. You have previously been
>advised that a hacker obtained a partial database of client information,
>including credit card details. Addr has been working closely with Visa and
>Mastercard and has given its full co-operation to assist them in minimizing
>consumer fraud as a result of this incident.
> >
> > However, our merchant bank has decided not to continue to allow Addr to
>accept credit card payments from Visa and Mastercard customers in the
>future, and to freeze all recent payments made within the last 30 days by
>clients. Our management team have been working around the clock to try and
>secure a resolution to this situation but unfortunately we have been
>unsuccessful.
> >
> > The freezing of a large amount of working capital and the bank's decision
>not to allow us to accept future payments has resulted in our inability to
>maintain service to our clients beyond this week. This decision has taken
>the financial future of Addr out of our hands.
> >
> > All servers will be turned off by our provider between Saturday 14th April
>and Monday 16th April.
> >
> > We apologize for the severe inconvenience this will no doubt cause you.
>Please do not try and contact our company via telephone as they are no
>longer being operated. If you would like to request a refund for unused
>service fees you have prepaid then please make your request in writing to
>the following address:
> >
> > Addr Refund Requests
> > 3031 Tisch Way
> > Floor 10, Suite 1006
> > San Jose, CA 95128
> >
> > If you need to contact us by email then please use the following address:
>addr_help@yahoo.com Our website and email at the addr.com domain will be
>discontinued shortly and will not function. We cannot reply to email from
>our domain.
> >
> > Addr.com will attempt to make a refund of all unused service fees if
>possible, when funds are made available by our bank. We cannot guarantee
>that a 100% refund will be available, but will make every effort to
>reimberse all clients as far as possible.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Addr.com Management
> > ======================
> >
:) :)

They sent that to the majority of addr.com clients. It was probably sent to all of them.

experthosting also sent mass emails about the hack at addr.com. Someone in another thread posted an article about msnbc posting about this spam. They said addr.com is looking at possible legal actions against experhosting.

How does 'weaselboy' manage to stay out of jail? He's been scaming people for a long time and no government agency has touched him yet.

Originally posted by taoweb
Thank god I found this forum! I almost signed up with experhosting.

Today dotcomavenue returns a "site not available" page, and all the others (experhosting, webhostingsupport.com etc) are off the dns servers. Just for s&g I tried the 800 number listed on their domain registry, and it rings through to a pub in the UK.
http://dotcomavenue.com is still online, loading the homepage of http://WebHostingSupport.com/, which must be another site run by Davey. http://www.experthosting.com/ is still online as well, but you'll find this notice at http://truehosting.org.uk/:

"Formal Notice of Closure

This is a formal notice for all existing customers of B e n w e l l-N E T Internet Solutions. Due to unforseen circumstances B e n w e l l-N E T Internet Solutions have now ceased trading due to serious financial difficulty. If you need to contact B e n w e l l-N E T Internet Solutions regarding domain name moves and/or other issues then you can contact them on b e n w e l l n e t@b e n w e l l-n e t.co.uk to arrange these details.

B e n w e l l-N E T Internet Solutions"


Here's the whois for WebHostingSupport.com:

Registrant:
Web Hosting Support
This information
is not available, NY 13245
US

Domain Name: WEBHOSTINGSUPPORT.COM

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
Web Hosting Support
This information
is not available, NY 13245
US
877-388-8414
management@dotcomavenue.com

Domain created on 30-Oct-2000
Domain expires on 30-Oct-2001
Last updated on 14-Mar-2001

Domain servers in listed order:

NS.DOTCOMAVENUE.COM 209.61.128.24
NS2.DOTCOMAVENUE.COM 209.61.128.25

That letter "from" addr is insane! I am sure I would be VERY unhappy if such a thing was done to me. I am surprised it didn't say somewhere in there: "we would like to refer you to ExpertHosting."! Yes I know that would be very dumb, but Davey_J hasn't exactly shown a track record of good sense! (if he sent it, that is ;) )

The Good Thing About the Internet: Anyone with a connection and a computer can use it.

The Bad Thing About the Internet: Anyone with a connection and a computer can use it.

The Good Thing About the Hosting Industry: Anyone can become a host! They can start out as a reseller for minimal cost and, if they want, work their up. They can set their goals high and provide great service!

The Bad Thing About the Hosting Industry: Anyone can become a host. They can start out as a reseller for minimal costs. They can set their goals low, provide bad service, and screw their clients. And when the heat comes, they can (and do) move to a different reseller program and domain!

Cheers,
Michael

Unfortantely I found this forum too late! :bawling:


I'm having a terrible time trying to end my service with experthosting.


If only I had found this place sooner.:rolleyes:

well it's been over 1 month since I have began "cancelling" my account with experthosting.

To date I have sent more emails than I can count, numerous phone messages (but never spoke to a liver person), faxes to UK, and even a letter via air mail to UK.

I have never heard a single reply.

Today I reached my limit so I phoned my bank and asked them to cancel that card and issue me a new one.

Good riddence.


BTW - Is this link believeable? Is experthosting/dotcomavenue dead in the water?

http://www.othellotech.co.uk/domain-transfers.htm

Perhaps the recent hammering in alt.internet.providers.uk forced him underground again. One can only hope that this will be the last time. However, I certainly agree (and so would many others) with this line from that page:
"We are also advising customers to AVOID anything run by Peter Francis-Macrae a.k.a. David Jarvis who runs a number of dotCons including "dotcomavenue" !"