Unwanted webspace - what now?
April 18, 2011 3:58 AM Subscribe
I just accidentally bought a year's premium-ish web hosting. I can't get a refund. How should I sell it or give it away?
Paypal, auto-renewing payment, am moron, etc. I emailed support, who said "it's your own fault", so I'm out of luck on that score. It's the 'supernatural' plan at freehostia.
Is there a marketplace for this sort of thing? If I'm unlikely to get more than $30 back I'd rather just give it away to anyone who had plans for the space.
Paypal, auto-renewing payment, am moron, etc. I emailed support, who said "it's your own fault", so I'm out of luck on that score. It's the 'supernatural' plan at freehostia.
Is there a marketplace for this sort of thing? If I'm unlikely to get more than $30 back I'd rather just give it away to anyone who had plans for the space.
The table at the link you gave says you have a 30-day money back guarantee. I'd call again and ask to speak to someone who knows what they're talking about.
posted by springbound at 4:54 AM on April 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by springbound at 4:54 AM on April 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Springbound - that's very helpful, I hadn't noticed that! I'll try that right now.
posted by piato at 4:56 AM on April 18, 2011
posted by piato at 4:56 AM on April 18, 2011
Best tip I ever heard from a call center employee: Call again and if you again meet resistance and you're in the US, after a bit of back-and-forth mention that you will lodge a complaint with your state's Attorney General. In many call centers, the policy is to comply with irritable customers' demands when they say this because one sale is not worth potentially dealing with an AG's office. Can't hurt.
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:00 AM on April 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:00 AM on April 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
Run, don't walk away from them.
This. I was thinking "give it to me!" because I'm looking for new web hosting for my business, but my second, and pretty persuasive, thought was "I don't want folks like this holding onto my data." They gave you the customer service equivalent of the bird in order to keep a single $120 sale. That is so, SO not cool.
posted by gauche at 5:05 AM on April 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
This. I was thinking "give it to me!" because I'm looking for new web hosting for my business, but my second, and pretty persuasive, thought was "I don't want folks like this holding onto my data." They gave you the customer service equivalent of the bird in order to keep a single $120 sale. That is so, SO not cool.
posted by gauche at 5:05 AM on April 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Yuck - they insist that as it was a renewal, not a new purchase (I had no idea that it would renew until the money was taken from the account) the 30 day guarantee doesn't appear. Unfortunately, that does seem to be what their T&C says as well :/
The attorney general suggestion is good, but they seem to be a UK based company (I'm also in the UK, for what it's worth).
posted by piato at 6:00 AM on April 18, 2011
The attorney general suggestion is good, but they seem to be a UK based company (I'm also in the UK, for what it's worth).
posted by piato at 6:00 AM on April 18, 2011
It's worth looking into UK distance selling regulations. For purchases, you're entitled to a refund within 14 days.
I don't know what happens with their renewal angle.
posted by Not Supplied at 6:15 AM on April 18, 2011
I don't know what happens with their renewal angle.
posted by Not Supplied at 6:15 AM on April 18, 2011
Response by poster: Not Supplied, I'm trying that angle now - thanks!
posted by piato at 6:34 AM on April 18, 2011
posted by piato at 6:34 AM on April 18, 2011
AskMe has enough google juice that if they're seen not to do the right thing by you, it will surely cost them more in lost sales than the piddling $120 you want them to refund. You might try politely pointing that out.
posted by flabdablet at 7:19 AM on April 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by flabdablet at 7:19 AM on April 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'd point out that the 30 day money back guarantee doesn't have any sort of stipulation on the website that it only applies to NEW accounts and not renewals.
posted by toomuchpete at 7:19 AM on April 18, 2011
posted by toomuchpete at 7:19 AM on April 18, 2011
Just a note for if you do give/sell it away: be very careful that any further charges aren't your responsibility. You don't want overage fees to bite you if they go crazy with the account.
posted by kmz at 9:32 AM on April 18, 2011
posted by kmz at 9:32 AM on April 18, 2011
What kind of company makes screwing over the customer their actual policy? It's premeditated assholery. Good luck getting it worked out, piato, and you have my gratitude for getting burned so others won't have to.
If you get stuck with the plan, might I suggest using it to host freehostiasucks.com?
posted by jsturgill at 11:39 AM on April 18, 2011
If you get stuck with the plan, might I suggest using it to host freehostiasucks.com?
posted by jsturgill at 11:39 AM on April 18, 2011
Was the charge taken from your credit card, or your bank account? I don't know how that works in the UK, but in the US, bitching with with the credit card company or bank usually produces results (Discover has come through for me on this the one time I had to use this "nuclear" option).
That fails, try the Consumerist and see if that lights a fire.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 11:39 AM on April 18, 2011
That fails, try the Consumerist and see if that lights a fire.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 11:39 AM on April 18, 2011
Response by poster: They're now saying that they sent me an email giving two days notice. No such email appeared in my (gmail) account.
Jsturgill - I laughed! It might come to that.
Old and Busted - it was deducted via paypal. Would contacting paypal be profitable, or should I contact Natwest instead?
posted by piato at 12:09 PM on April 18, 2011
Jsturgill - I laughed! It might come to that.
Old and Busted - it was deducted via paypal. Would contacting paypal be profitable, or should I contact Natwest instead?
posted by piato at 12:09 PM on April 18, 2011
Would contacting paypal be profitable, or should I contact Natwest instead
My experience with PP has been less than optimal in this regards. I'd try Natwest instead.
Question: did you get email saying your account was going to be automatically renewed before hand, or did they just "assume" you knew and did it anyways?
posted by Old'n'Busted at 12:24 PM on April 18, 2011
My experience with PP has been less than optimal in this regards. I'd try Natwest instead.
Question: did you get email saying your account was going to be automatically renewed before hand, or did they just "assume" you knew and did it anyways?
posted by Old'n'Busted at 12:24 PM on April 18, 2011
Response by poster: I didn't receive any notification prior to the automatic renewal. Customer service is claiming that one was sent (although they "can not tell [me] the exact time") - as far as I can tell this is false, or at least it didn't reach my gmail.
posted by piato at 12:39 PM on April 18, 2011
posted by piato at 12:39 PM on April 18, 2011
Response by poster: (Aha - it seems that it went into spam. This is the first thing that has struck me as honestly shady - I had tens of other emails from 'Freehostia' which went straight to my inbox, but this one - sent from 'Free Hostia' and a different mailing address - was understandably spammed. Mysteriously, the emails telling me that my *domain* was about to expire, and inviting me to renew it, were sent from 'Freehostia' and used their regular address, and thus naturally got through. It's almost as if they wanted me to get one and not the other!)
"Usually, e-mail providers such as Gmail and Yahoo, occasionally block messages that contain links, so I assume that this might be the case as well. This is part of their policy and we have contacted them regarding this on numerous occasions. Apparently, they will not change their policy, therefore there's nothing that we can do to prevent that from happening."
I WONDER WHAT YOU COULD DO ABOUT THIS
posted by piato at 1:00 PM on April 18, 2011
"Usually, e-mail providers such as Gmail and Yahoo, occasionally block messages that contain links, so I assume that this might be the case as well. This is part of their policy and we have contacted them regarding this on numerous occasions. Apparently, they will not change their policy, therefore there's nothing that we can do to prevent that from happening."
I WONDER WHAT YOU COULD DO ABOUT THIS
posted by piato at 1:00 PM on April 18, 2011
I WONDER WHAT YOU COULD DO ABOUT THIS
Whitelisting them should resolve the issue with gmail. As for the immediate problem: it's looking less and less like you have any recourse, so the only thing I can offer here is make damn sure they no longer have your credit card #/pp account on file, turn off any automatic renewal settings, and chalk it up as a life lesson that you paid $120 for.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 6:01 AM on April 19, 2011
Whitelisting them should resolve the issue with gmail. As for the immediate problem: it's looking less and less like you have any recourse, so the only thing I can offer here is make damn sure they no longer have your credit card #/pp account on file, turn off any automatic renewal settings, and chalk it up as a life lesson that you paid $120 for.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 6:01 AM on April 19, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by telstar at 4:52 AM on April 18, 2011 [2 favorites]