I just wanted to give a quick update on Singlehop’s incompetence. I made my first post on this issue two weeks ago, and Singlehop has still not straightened out their nameserver problems. That means I still have a dozen sites completely offline.
I repeat: Singlehop sucks! Any competent tech support department at a hosting company should be able to fix nameserver problems in a day, not weeks or months as this problem has dragged on.
Avoid Singlehop. Stay away from Singlehop.
Sorry we have been offline so much over the last two months. I will try to post more details as soon as possible, but suffice it to say that Singlehop has to be the most inept hosting company out there. I am not a direct customer of Singlehop. I spent the first month berating and abusing the company I paid for the hosting. Then I started investigating the problems myself, and discovered that they were migrating their operation to Singlehop as part of their service package, and Singlehop has completely failed in transferring the hosting.
I will not mention the company I paid for my hosting, because after working very closely with their tech support over the last month, I can truly say that they are also getting ripped off by Singlehop. Singlehop has kept those guys working ridiculous hours trying to sort out all of the problems caused by the incompetent way this was handled.
Admittedly, this was not a simple migration. It involved dozens of servers with hundreds of IP addresses and possibly thousands of sites. But, come on… Isn’t this what Singlehop does every day? Set up servers, assign IPs, migrate domains? How can it possibly take over two months to perform part of your core business?
Like I said, I plan to add more detail when I can get the time to do it, but right now I have several dozen more sites to get off of those Singlehop servers, since they are evidently completely incapable of restoring service.
Online advertising has to follow the same rules and regulations as other forms of advertising; rules and guidelines intended to protect consumers and businesses alike. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the United States Government agency responsible for enforcing these laws.
In its simplest form, the entire concept is this:
Advertising must tell the truth and not mislead consumers.
In addition, claims must be substantiated.
Readers should note that this does not reflect a change in the laws or regulation, but in the Guides to compliance as issued by the FTC. The last time the FTC revised the Guides was 1980. This latest revision goes into effect today, December 1, 2009.
I am very sorry I have not updated in awhile. To be brutally frank, I was almost afraid to write this post, as if it would jinx my good fortune.
You see, after all of my months of complaining and screaming and demanding, I finally got results! David Rubel admitted all of the errors and apologized for all of my troubles. He was very conciliatory, even offering some substantial monetary concessions to make up for all of the aggravation they caused me. Continue reading
As of today, there has been absolutely no additional activity in my account. The credits promised by David Rubel have not appeared in my account and a corrected invoice has not been issued, so i still do not have anything to pay.
And yet, they are trying to bill me! For what, I wonder, since there is no indication anywhere in my account of actual current charges! Continue reading
April 23, 2009 2:41 PM:
From David Rubel, 1and1 Billing Manager:
Dear Brian Gothard, (Cust: XXXXXXXX)
Thank you for contacting us.
This is David, billing department supervisor. We are going to credit your account $152.83 and zero out your balance. We will also require you to update your payment method to a valid credit or debit card using the process below. If you do not do this we will unfortunately have to cancel this account as we require a valid payment method on file. I truly do apologize that this occurred and hope we can regain your trust as a valued customer once again.
If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact us.
–
Sincerely
David Rubel
Billing Department
1&1 Internet Inc.
NO customer service skills whatsoever! STILL making demands! Continue reading
April 21, 2009 8:13 AM:
From David Rubel, 1and1 Billing Manager:
I apologize, please be patient as we work on this issue, pelase be assured we are still working on this and will get back to you as soon as possible.
April 20, 2009 2:51 PM:
There has been no further activity in my account, no update, and no answer to any of my questions for a period of six days.
After yesterday’s promising exchange with David Rubel, 1and1 Billing Manager, I was absolutely livid to receive this:
2:41 AM From 1and1 Billing:
Dear Brian Gothard,
We are writing to inform you of a matter requiring your attention. We regret to inform you that your current PayPal merchant agreement limit is not sufficient to cover your recent invoice at 1&1.
Please take a moment to log into your 1&1 account and update your PayPal account limit as soon as possible, so that we can continue to offer your 1&1 services without interruption.
Please follow these instructions to update your 1&1 account limit:
1. Log into your Control Panel at https://admin.1and1.com, using your Customer ID, or a domain name from one of your packages and your password.
2. On the ‘Account’ page, go to ‘User Settings’ > ‘Payment Method’ and then select ‘PayPal’.
3. Click on ‘Go to PayPal’ and update your ’1&1 PayPal Account Limit’ by marking the ‘PayPal Billing Agreement’ box.
For any other billing-related questions, please send an e-mail to billing@1and1.com. Or you can reach us Monday through Friday (except holidays) 9am to 5pm EST at 1-877-300-8316 when calling from within the US or Canada. International customers can reach us at 1-610-560-1621. Your normal long distance calling rates apply.
We will be glad to help you with any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
Your 1&1 Team
1&1 Internet Inc.http://1and1.com
THEY TRIED AGAIN TO CHARGE ME $341.62!
I forwarded it to billing@1and1.com
12:23 PM:
Mr. Rubel,
This is exactly why I will not allow any automatic access to my PayPal or credit card accounts. Even though you claim the problem is being addressed, your system is still trying to charge me $341.62, when I owe you a grand total of $53.94.
Whatever you are doing, it is not working.
1:43 PM:
Dear Brian Gothard, (Cust: XXXXXX)
Thank you for contacting us.
In regards to the failed pay pal debit response you got today. The system automatically tried to charge the incorrect invoice and declined today. We will not attempt to charge that invoice again.
If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact us.
–
Sincerely
David Rubel
Billing Department
1&1 Internet Inc.
Am I the only one who thinks that a COMPETENT person would have anticipated this and made some effort to stop it BEFORE the system automatically STOLE money from a customer?
He admitted yesterday that the invoice was completely wrong, but did not stop the charges?
And notice: NO attempt at an apology!
Keep reading… It gets better!
After my last instructions to David Rubel, I began seeing credits issued in my account. On Saturday even, which surprised me.
But the credits did not add up to the fraudulent charges, so I tried again.
On Monday, April 13, 2009:
11:56 AM
I have received several credit notes. Thank you for issuing those.
Those credits, however, do not address the original improper billing for the domains about which I have been complaining since January 10.
The rest of the April invoice is also still incorrect. Your system confirmed that every one of those domains would be canceled, and I have all of the confirmation emails.
I submitted the solution below. It is your decision as to whether to use it or not, but as I have repeatedly told you, I owe 1and1 a grand total of $53.94.
I have explained it in terms that an elementary school student can understand it.
I await the rest of my credits, and instructions for paying $53.94.
Brian Gothard
2:30 PM David Rubel:
Dear Brian Gothard, (Cust: XXXXXXXXX)
Thank you for contacting us.
Invoice number XXXXXXXXX went to a collection agency as we were never able to process the charge. We contacted our collection agency and wiped the balanced owed with them and terminated the invoice on our end. Since we never charged you that amount and the invoice has been wiped, that invoice is no longer an issue. Invoice number XXXXXXXXX was also entirely credited by us.
I understand the domains you want to keep with us and pay for were charged on both the invoices I previously stated and both invoices have been already either wiped or credited. Right now the main issue lies with the newest invoice which have been removed from our system already.
i took a look at the invoice and on my end the entire invoice does indeed look to be incorrect.Due to the complicated nature of this case I just want to get your feedback on this assessment to make sure there is no confusion before I go a head and begin solving this and making sure the crediting is done properly
I just want to keep you informed and to let you know we are working on getting this issue resolved and fixed. I am very sorry this happened.
This should have been resolved a long time ago and will work on this until it is resolved fully. Once again i deeply apologize about how complicated this has become.If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact us.
–
Sincerely
David Rubel
Billing Department
1&1 Internet Inc.
3:55 PM My Reply:
THANK YOU!!! This actually sounds like you are paying attention now. I am tired of being told I did something incorrectly when it is 1and1′s fault this happened in the first place. I am a professional Management and IT Consultant. I could teach every one of you something about how to treat a customer, because I have been absolutely abused.
You are correct that the charge would not process. When I could not get a resolution in January, I canceled your access to my PayPal account to avoid incorrect charges.
But that January invoice is still listed in my billing overview, without a credit, so from my end it appears to be active. No matter which Invoice I choose, the “Payment Details” button only gives me information on the same credit item.
If there is some useful version of my account information that actually reflects the status of my account, please tell me how to find it.
I will wait as patiently as possible for your resolution to complete, but I am understandably very short on patience at this point. I have been told on several occasions that this was being fixed, and it has not happened yet.
As long as in the end my account shows an amount due of $53.94, and the Late Fee is gone, I will be content. Assuming, of course, that my domains are properly represented.
Once we reach that stage, how do you propose I pay you? I will not allow any automatic access to any of my accounts. I still do not trust your systems. No matter how hard I try, it is impossible to successfully cancel a domain with 1and1, as evidenced by the April invoice. I prefer to maintain control of my own money instead of having to convince you to give it back when this comes up again next month.
I will continue to cancel or transfer domains well in advance of their expirations, and I will keep complete documentation of every one, since I expect to have this problem every month.
I would suggest you take a serious look at your internal systems to find out why this continues to happen. 1and1 is infamous for it.
It sounds like things are going well, right? I thought so, too, but read tomorrow’s entry because THEY TRY TO CHARGE MY PAYPAL ACCOUNT AGAIN!