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Thread: Web Hosting Fraud
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02-19-2002, 01:08 PM #1New Member
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Web Hosting Fraud
Folks: I am a reporter exploring a story on Web hosting fraud. As many of you know there is a case currenly with one northwestern state where a Web hosting firm is charged for offering bad service (didn't offer refunds within 30 days, didn't put sites up on time), with a proposed fine of $2K per instance.
Two questions to both Web hosters/resellers/customers in this context:
1. What is the general feeling -- is this a case of fraud or simply bad service (it's a free country -- dump the bad host. find a better one)?
2. Any stories out there where people were charged with fraud for bad hosting; or where customers/resellers feel they were wronged and either pressed charges or found other ways to get justice?
Off line comments welcome: max@smetannikov.net
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02-19-2002, 03:08 PM #2Web Hosting Master
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Fraud
Impossible to speculate on your example without knowing the particulars. Also, no one would be wise to publicly make an accusation of fraud...unless they employ a very large and good staff of attorneys.
If you want some fodder for your investigation just do a little searching here....there is one host that consistently has the most serious accusations against them....and you might find something to pursue.
Not telling you the host....but I'll give the first hint and others can follow with additional clues.
Hint 1-I live near Dallas, Texas and they are within driving distance.
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02-19-2002, 04:29 PM #3Aspiring Evangelist
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Hint2: Yeah I know which company you're talking about! Because you *****ed my site with them also.. lmao
Last edited by WannaBaHost; 02-19-2002 at 04:44 PM.
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02-19-2002, 04:37 PM #4Junior Guru
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What paper/magazine are you with?
Database design and remote administration services
What a weirdo! You mean you actually *talk* on the phone?
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02-19-2002, 05:55 PM #5Web Hosting Master
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Originally posted by WannaBaHost
Hint2: Yeah I know which company you're talking about! Because you *****ed my site with them also.. lmaohttp://www.voilaweb.com - the Social Internet Toolbox.
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02-19-2002, 07:35 PM #6Junior Guru Wannabe
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Here is a story for you
If you woukd like to talk about bad hosting practices see the following thread.
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showth...threadid=30365
Be sure to do a search for "said company" in the WHT forum.
2. Any stories out there where people were charged with fraud for bad hosting; or where customers/resellers feel they were wronged and either pressed charges or found other ways to get justice?
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02-19-2002, 07:58 PM #7Web Hosting Master
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You may want to look into why some hosting companies don't offer any form of refunds. I won't point towards a certain company that cost me $80 because of this policy (caugh... k i k k o.com ... caugh). I'll just say I was with them for 4 days, payed $40 setup and $40 for my first month on a high bandwidth virtual account. During day 4 my account just disappeared into thin air. It took me 5 solid days of emails and messages to their live help person to get some sort of reaction. Their answer? They just set up a new account and I lost everything on the old account. It may be a nice detail to add that most of the messages to their live help were sent back to me because they hadn't been opened within 48 hours after sending them. They did admit they were wrong, but when I said I was cancelling my account, they were surprised and wanted to know why. They seemed to think a 5 day reaction time for a total collapse of an account was normal. In the end they said: fine, leave then, but we have a no-refund policy. I don't really want to do a chargeback on my credit card, but if they try to charge me for an extra month, they can count on it I will. I even had an email off their support department today (2 weeks after I cancelled my account) stating there will be some downtime due to them moving some servers, so why do I think they will keep charging me...
LOL, what a nice long rant
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02-20-2002, 03:49 PM #8New Member
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Thanks to everybody who posted and replied off-line, I got some pretty solid leads.
One last question to the group: is anyone aware of BBB complaints/litigation against ***** because of what apears to be a dismal customer service record? I am working against a deadline so any leads here would save me a lot of time. Thanks again.
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02-20-2002, 04:00 PM #9Aspiring Evangelist
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Did you do a search on here? I'm actually surprized that is the only sort of complaint filed. The service wasn't as bad as the billing errors that screwed the bank account for my site up.
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02-20-2002, 04:46 PM #10Web Hosting Evangelist
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Just visit bbb.com and type in their LEGAL business name I am sure will find what you are looking for without problems..
Regards,
Brian P.
Digital X Web[TM], LLC
http://digitalxweb.net
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02-21-2002, 12:27 AM #11WHT Addict
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Just do a search. You'll find everything you need.
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02-21-2002, 02:58 PM #12New Member
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Just as an FYI, Ft. Worth BBB chief said ***** has resolved all customer-related issues and thus BBB is off its back...
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02-21-2002, 11:53 PM #13Disabled
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Re: Web Hosting Fraud
Originally posted by A.K.A. max
Two questions to both Web hosters/resellers/customers in this context:
1. What is the general feeling -- is this a case of fraud or simply bad service (it's a free country -- dump the bad host. find a better one)?
2. Any stories out there where people were charged with fraud for bad hosting; or where customers/resellers feel they were wronged and either pressed charges or found other ways to get justice?
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02-22-2002, 09:23 AM #14Web Hosting Guru
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Originally posted by A.K.A. max
Just as an FYI, Ft. Worth BBB chief said ***** has resolved all customer-related issues and thus BBB is off its back...Deb Suran
Musical Instrument Makers Forum - http://www.mimf.com
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02-22-2002, 09:39 AM #15Web Hosting Evangelist
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Originally posted by A.K.A. max
Just as an FYI, Ft. Worth BBB chief said ***** has resolved all customer-related issues and thus BBB is off its back...Regards,
Brian P.
Digital X Web[TM], LLC
http://digitalxweb.net