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Thread: AdvantageHost => a HOAX/SCAM!?!
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05-27-2004, 12:57 PM #1New Member
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AdvantageHost => a HOAX/SCAM!?!
This is frustrating - has anyone else had problems signing up with this free host???
Would be interested in hearing other peoples' experiences with it ... after my bad experiences with it, I've come to the conclusion that it could very well just be a HOAX ... (I may be wrong though - hope I am).
I came across AdvantageHost (http://www.advantagehost.co.uk) a few weeks ago (you guys have probably heard about it by now).
Sounded brilliant ... big, unbelievable promises ... FREE hosting with the following features:
[but it seems quite fishy to me, lol ... I've noticed some rather odd things about it - I have a very strong suspicion thats its a hoax ... you'll see why later on ]
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No Ads!
250MB Disk Space
20GB Bandwidth
Sub Domain / Domain Name Hosting
PHP, Perl and SSI
MySQL Database, PostgreSQL Database
Frontpage Extensions
FTP, Online FileManager
24/7 Ticket Support / Email
Email Accounts (POP3/SMTP)
E-mail Auto Responders / Forwarders
Miva Merchant / Pre-installed Scripts
Graphical Usage Statistics
Custom Error pages
Password Protect Directories and SSL
Cron Jobs
Web-based Control Panel: CPanel™ 9.0
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[ That's what they claim anyway, lol ]
Even though I thought it seemed a bit toooo good to be true (their claims are quite wild as well as quite over-ambitious for a free host, lol) I decided to try and sign up anyway, just in case. Plus 20gb bandwidth would be awesome for free!
First they do a email-verification check (no problem with that bit). But then they make you sign up for some referral program (e.g. luckysurf etc.) and ask you a 'fill-in-the-blanks' question to confirm that you've joined the particular referral program that they ask you to join at the time.
Quite an annoying & long-winded process IMO .... and the problem is at the end of it all you find out that your account doesn't even seem to exist! Yes, after having to go through the stupid, long signup process the system doesn't even allow you to login!! ... Says the username/password doesn't exist! (dunno' about other people, but thats what I've experienced anyway).
And after completing the signing process, NO membership confirmation was even sent! Doesn't even say if you're going to get a confirmation email or not! (My email address received the first email-verification email fine, so I know that my email address IS compatible with it .... NO problems with my email at all!).
The 'forgot password' page also seems BOGUS/FAKE - the 'send' button is JUST an image ... it doesn't link to any page/script! Here, I'll show you what I mean ... go here and try to click the send button: http://www.advantagehost.co.uk/forgot.php
[^^^ The 'Send' button doesn't work .... and if you look at the html source of that page you'll see that it really is JUST an image that doesn't do anything!]
Also noticed that quite a few other people have noticed these problems too:
See the complaints these ppl made:
http://www.free-webhosts.com/reviews/AdvantageHost.php
I tried signing up again (twice) using different email addresses too - I got the SAME problems EVERY time!!!
But here's the thing: I haven't noticed many other similar complaints about it yet (other than on that one site) ... and its seems that a couple of other people have managed(somehow!??) to get it to work as I've noticed that a few people have managed to get an advantagehost subdomain! This strikes me as a little odd .... it makes me wonder if they've just stopped further signups or something (telling us about it beforehand though would be nice - would prevent us from wasting our time having to go through the long-winded, pointless sign-up process!!). Either that or its just one big HOAX/SCAM!!
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05-27-2004, 01:11 PM #2Web Hosting Master
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You get what you pay for. If it is free then that might tell you what you will be getting.... Now sometimes you might find a decent free host but somewhere their must be a way they can cash in. A cheap host might be better for you, do some search's around here or a host quote maybe. Possibly if you have a decent site that could get some advertising a company might sponsor your site as well. Lets of options, hopefully they help.
• Greg Lubbelinkhof
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05-27-2004, 02:14 PM #3Disabled
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No offense, but what kind of scam/hoax has the goal of fleecing a potential mark out of $0?
It just sounds like a bad idea to me.
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05-27-2004, 02:41 PM #4Web Hosting Master
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They have your email address, no doubt the company is given credit by those other companies for getting the client to fill out a survey form. They survive off of surveys, opt-in email campaigns that other companies pay for.
From what they offer, it is not a viable business.
Looks like they started marketing in May of this year....so they haven't hit that brick wall yet.██ Hosting.Express | Affordable Web and Email Hosting
██ Shared | Reseller | 24/7 Support | NSA Free
██ SPECIAL OFFER - domain name, email and cPanel web hosting = $3.73 per month | Contact Us: 1-800-861-1888
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05-27-2004, 03:28 PM #5Web Hosting Master
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Originally posted by outsource
No offense, but what kind of scam/hoax has the goal of fleecing a potential mark out of $0?
It just sounds like a bad idea to me.
There really isn't a whole you can do when you receive their services free of charge
I'd suggest looking around here a bit, there are many inexpensive hosting plans around.CybexHost.com - Shared and Reseller Hosting Solutions on cPanel/WHM Linux Servers
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10-01-2004, 08:28 PM #6Web Hosting Evangelist
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Because this is the same person who did realwebmasters.net, Freehu.com and megawebspace...etc..
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10-01-2004, 08:39 PM #7Web Hosting Master
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Originally posted by Beachcomber
Because this is the same person who did realwebmasters.net, Freehu.com and megawebspace...etc..^_^