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.

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.

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.

The following News Release was issued by the Federal Trade Commission.  It is published here in its entirety.  The original can be found at http://ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

For Release: 10/05/2009

FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials

Changes Affect Testimonial Advertisements, Bloggers, Celebrity Endorsements

The Federal Trade Commission today announced that it has approved final revisions to the guidance it gives to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in line with the FTC Act.

The notice incorporates several changes to the FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, which address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers. The Guides were last updated in 1980.

Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides – which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical” – the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor.

The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service. Likewise, if a company refers in an advertisement to the findings of a research organization that conducted research sponsored by the company, the advertisement must disclose the connection between the advertiser and the research organization. And a paid endorsement – like any other advertisement – is deceptive if it makes false or misleading claims.

Celebrity endorsers also are addressed in the revised Guides. While the 1980 Guides did not explicitly state that endorsers as well as advertisers could be liable under the FTC Act for statements they make in an endorsement, the revised Guides reflect Commission case law and clearly state that both advertisers and endorsers may be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement – or for failure to disclose material connections between the advertiser and endorsers. The revised Guides also make it clear that celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media.

The Guides are administrative interpretations of the law intended to help advertisers comply with the Federal Trade Commission Act; they are not binding law themselves. In any law enforcement action challenging the allegedly deceptive use of testimonials or endorsements, the Commission would have the burden of proving that the challenged conduct violates the FTC Act.

The Commission vote approving issuance of the Federal Register notice detailing the changes was 4-0. The notice will be published in the Federal Register shortly, and is available now on the FTC’s Web site as a link to this press release. Copies also are available from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,700 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Betsy Lordan
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-3707

STAFF CONTACT:

Richard Cleland
Bureau of Consumer Protection
202-326-3088

(FTC File No. P034520)
(endorsement testimonial guide.wpd)

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.

He does, however, continue to insist that I register a credit card or PayPal account with them. He holds that that is a requirement to maintain an account with them.

I continue to refuse to do it, on the grounds that even now I have NEVER received a correct invoice from them.

I think my main concern is that I cannot get any sort of account information from the website that actually reflects the transactions and reconciliation. Even now, if I go to my account and simply add up all of the invoices and credits showing there, nothing matches reality.

I will continue to keep a close eye on my account, and I will be ever vigilant to cancel every domain exactly according to their procedures. I will continue to save every email and make sure I can identify which Cancellation ID goes with which domain, since nothing in their system can correlate those for you.

I plan to post some step by step instructions for canceling domains at 1and1 in the near future. Not their standard crap, but how to successfully cancel a domain and maintain the necessary proof that you did it so when they experience “system difficulties” you can prove them wrong.

I am still not happy with 1and1, because of the absolute nightmare I had to go through to force them to fix their own mistakes, but I have proven that if you are willing to make enough noise, they will capitulate!

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!

April 30, 2009 3:03 AM:

Dear Brian Gothard,

We recently contacted you regarding a declined payment or an expired credit/debit card and have not yet heard back from you. Our records indicate that there is an unpaid balance in your 1&1 customer account: KXXXXXXXX

A recent payment may not have gone through due to a simple error, such as an expired credit card or incorrect settings in your PayPal account.

Please update or correct your billing information in your 1&1 Control Panel within the next 7 days to avoid any downtime of your package.

In order to do this, please go to https://admin.1and1.com

1. Log in to the Control Panel with your customer ID or a domain name from one of your packages and your password.

2. On the ‘Account’ page, click on ‘User Settings’ > ‘Payment Method’ and select the payment method that you are currently using.

If you are using a credit card, select ‘Credit Card’ and proceed as follows:

Check that your payment details are correct. If they are correct as is or if you re-enter the same credit card details, please send a reply to this e-mail confirming that you have checked the current information and no update on your part is required. We will then charge the outstanding balance to your credit/debit card.

If your payment details are incorrect or outdated, please update your information and click on ‘Save’. There is no need to contact 1&1 as a new debit will be attempted automatically.

If you are using a PayPal account, please select PayPal and then click ‘Go to PayPal’.

Log into your PayPal account and verify your data under ‘My Account Profile’.

Please make sure to update your information in the next 7 days to avoid downtime. If we do not receive full payment in 7 days, we will freeze your 1&1 package(s) in accordance with our terms and conditions. If your package(s) are frozen it may take up to 1 business day to reactivate them once the matter is resolved.

Please be aware that if this matter is not resolved, you may be sent to a debt collection agency. If the account is sent to a debt collection agency an $18.95 charge will be added to the unpaid balance.

For further details, please find attached a payment reminder note in PDF. It can be opened and printed with the help of the Acrobat Reader. Click here to download Acrobat Reader:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

If you have any questions, you can e-mail us at 1&1 Internet Inc. 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 assist you in clarifying any questions you may have.

Sincerely,

Your 1&1 Team
1&1 Internet Inc.
www.1and1.com

And I forwarded it to my list of a dozen or so email addresses at 1and1 with the following reply:

And this is my reminder that once again you have not followed through on your promises.

There is still not a VALID, CORRECT invoice in my account available for payment.

There is no indication in my account that any additional credits have been issued.

There is still a Late Fee showing in my account.

There has, in fact, been absolutely no change in the two weeks since I was promised a resolution, proving that you never intended to do anything more than convince me to give you a credit card so you could STEAL money from me.

1and1 is once again proving my point that you cannot be trusted with any automatic access to my payment accounts.

This message states that you “have not yet heard back from” me. Well, you have heard from me repeatedly and loudly. You just choose to ignore me.

You are still proving either your incompetence or your larceny.

And since you still cannot get your act together and supply me with a valid invoice, I expect any day for my account to lock up again, once again denying me access to that which I legally own.

ANY limits placed on my access to my completely paid domains will be fully documented to support my case against 1and1 for breach of duty, breach of trust and breach of contract.

I suggest you familiarize yourself with:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-breach-of-trust.htm

http://www.yourdictionary.com/law/breach-of-contract

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Breach+of+contract

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breach_of_duty_in_English_law

That is the short list. I am sure there are plenty of angles. You have done such an atrocious job of handling this problem that the hard part will be deciding which direction to come in from.

I am sick of useless promises and lies.

Is there a single competent person in your Billing Department?

Brian Gothard

Stay tuned for further developments!

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!

9:12 PM My Reply:

That is unacceptable.

Once again, you choose to antagonize me.

I have tried to be reasonable about your incessant failures to act in an ethical and professional manner, but you always choose to issue some form of threat, as though I were the one who caused all of these problems in the first place.

Just in case you haven’t noticed, I do not trust you.

As I have repeatedly stated, you have proven your inability to properly invoice, and the time it takes to correct errors is ridiculous. You cannot be trusted with access to my accounts on any automatic basis.

You say you require a valid payment method. I require a valid billing method, which you have yet to supply.

I have NEVER received a correct invoice from 1and1 on this contract. Not one.

Even now, today, there is not a single correct invoice in my contract. You have never once shown me that you are capable of issuing one. Now you expect me to trust you to bill me properly. Not a chance!

I am more than willing to pay any proper and correct invoice, but I do not trust you to automatically charge the correct amount.

I have absolutely no reason to believe that I will not be billed for domains I cancel following your stated procedures.

You have billed me for almost EVERY domain I cancelled, and then taken almost a month to figure it out and issue the credit.

I do not intend to let you fraudulently charge my credit card every month, then fight to get my money back.

If you want to regain my trust, issue an invoice for $53.94. When I verify that it is valid, I will pay it. You will never have to worry about me owing 1and1 another penny, I assure you.

I can also assure you that any attempt to cancel my account will be addressed by my attorney, and will result in escalated complaints to the Federal Trade Commission. I have plenty of documentation to prove your breach of trust.

If you cannot handle this, have your boss contact me, as I have requested time and again.

Most Sincerely,
Brian Gothard

Am I being unreasonable here? Should I just trust in their promises to fix the issue and correctly charge my account from now on?

RIIIIGHT!!!! KEEP READING!

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.

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.

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!

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!