Today I put in the request to transfer my domain from Dot5 Hosting to Ehostpros. I have been with Dot5 Hosting for a long time and even as a long time customer, I don't feel they've treated me right. Before now the issues had been minor, outages much past the acceptable length and support issues that take days to resolve.
When web hosting prices dropped and I found myself paying twice as much for a plan that has less features than the current one, I asked for a plan change. I was told "those prices are for new customers only". Again, I know how much trouble it can be to transfer an entire domain I let it pass.
Today was the straw that broke the camel's back. I get an e-mail saying that I have a balance with them, and that if I don't pay it in 24 hours they're going to shut down my account. Now, I was pretty sure I didn't have a balance -- I'd been paying a monthly fee every month for years.
I went online and found the charges from Dot5 Hosting, every month on the 26th, including February 2004, January 2004, Decemeber 2003... and so on. The 26th hasn't yet happened this month. Now if they've been autochargine my account every month, how can I be behind on my payments?
So I went to EhostPros, which my friends had found out about and we use for another site we do. (More on that site at a later date). I signed up for an account there that gives me MORE options for LESS of a price and started the transfer of my domain.
I then sent a letter to Dot5, telling them that they are wrong, and to cancel my account and stop charging my credit card. That I was taking my business somewhere else. A few hours later I received a reply stating that they'd do anything to keep my business. Joke's on them.
So that being said, there may be some downtime on both my blog and my e-mail. If you need to get ahold of me in the next week, please at the very least, cc: mickeyATsoxphan.com, so I'll be able to get your e-mail. My regular e-mail will be working at some point in the near future. I just want to make sure I don't miss anything important.
Just don't tell the people that keep sending me e-mails to add two inches...
My E-mail to Dot5 Hosting:
From: Mickey Mossey
Date: Saturday, March 20, 2004 1207 PM
To: Dot5Hosting.com
Subject: Re: Final Invoice Reminder
If you check your records I have been paying on the 26th of every month.
$9.99. I paid last month, I paid 6 months ago. The 26th hasnt happened
this month. I cant see how I owe you any money.
Because of this, I have applied for domain transferrance and will be
bringing my business somewhere else. Please cancel my account and stop
billing my credit card.
Mickey Mossey
Dot5 Hosting's Reply:
From: sales@dot5hosting.com
Date: Saturday, March 20, 2004 5:38 PM
To: Mickey Mossey
Subject: [0009 #HKT-38855-726]: Re Final Invoice Reminder
Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you for your recent email.
We regret to note that you wish to cancel your account with us. Please let us know about any/every issue that you are facing and we will get it resolved.We assure you of the best possible hosting service in the future.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any further questions you may have regarding this matter. You can reopen this ticket or open a new ticket for the same.
Regards,
Dot5hosting Support Team
I am (attempting) to be a former dot5 client myself.
It's curious that they are giving me more attention now that I canceled than they did the entire month of May while my website was down. It's like they won't let you cancel. I heard they continue to bill for months afterwards and I will probably have to change my creditcard number to get away from them. They are lying sacks of shit. They wouldn't admit my site was down! Kept telling me it was "up and running perfectly." Sick sacks of shit. Anyway, what I'm really writing to you about is the images they have on their website. "Their" building looks like a fortune 500 company headquarters, the interior shots look like control central at NASA. They are so laughably a fraud if they weren't making life miserable for people it would be almost funny. I do think the photo with the storage tanks of "firefighting equipment" is real though. Unfortunately these tanks are full of nitrous oxide. YOU MUST see these images. Unbelievable! The only thing better would be if someone hacked their site and inserted Homer Simpson in the control room shot. Another fraud- dot5 posted some of the reviews on webhostingtalk forums. Sparrow is one of their employees. You can tell which ones, the only ones I've read online that have anything positive to say about dot5. You are lucky to have caught the billing scam right away. I've heard they are experts at double billing. Because of the charges usually being under ten dollars, the credit companies usually pay even when they let the cardholders off the hook. It's just a scam with a webhosting "front." What did you do post dot5? Where do i go from here?