I was looking for a hosting company for my new domain. I found Fiberlocity.com They state on their website that "All Champion Host accounts come with these great features: "
30 Day Money Back Guarantee
15 Minute Setup
Fast and Friendly Support
The list is longer, but I am only concerned with the above 2 items. Before I registered with them I contacted them to see how this fast and friendly service worked. I asked them to clarify some items of the TOS. Well, they did respond fast... Until I registered with their services. The 15 minute setup... I registered on Friday May 31.2002 Today is Saturday June 1. After registering, I waited, and waited for this 15 min setup.
Ok, so even one hour would be acceptable. If they had contacted me in the interim. (You know, like thanks and we will be setting up your site soon...) I paid through PayPal which means that they received the money immediately. I did receive an autoresponder that asked me for the hosting fee of $18.95. Funny, but I had just paid them and have the paypal e-mail receipt. I found out that if I had paid by CC I would have to wait 24 hours. This is after being told in an e-mail by their support staff prior to my registering that setup is 15 minutes. I did not use a CC to pay since I have a Paypal account. The money is directly transferred.
I have told them to cancel the service and refund my money. They do offer the 30 Day money back guarantee (As stated on their website). No one has responded to a online helpdesk request or 2-3 emails that I have sent them. They have basically ignored my emails. I did a bit of research after the fact. It seems that Fiberlocity just registered with ICANN in January. Prior to this they were Championhost.com.
I did my research on Championhost and found a few complaints regarding similar experiences and some worse than mine. Championhost no longer is online. Igor Amburg is the registered owner of these sites, as well as AmericasDesign.com I just wonder what happened to Championhost. Businesses don't just disappear if they are healthy. But sick ones do they take the money and run, and then like majic reappear as a new business. Championhost supposedly had thousands of accounts. Where are they now?
This might not mean much to those who are not in business and are hosting consumers only, but I am a software developer and web designer and I cannot be offline or gone. This could make me look like I was a shady character when in fact, I work very hard to keep my customers happy. It's about customer service. I see too many hosting companies disappear overnight.
I wish that besides the normal search for domain names such as whois, that there was a registry for owner names as well. I e-mailed Fiberlocity and told them that if I didn't receive a refund within 24 hours, I will contact the IL state attorneys office with my concerns and file a complaint with the FTC as well. This was a few hours ago and so far nada...
If they advertise a 30 day money back guarantee... Then according to FTC rules they must give me my money back. But I don't need the money as much as I need a reputable and reliable hosting service.
Jamie
New Port Richey, Florida
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