I was trying various usenet services ("news servers") which I have used over the years and am fairly familiar with entering authentication information into newsreader software programs, etc. I tried a few different servers in this particular time period. I wanted to see newsgroups available, viability of connection to the server, pricing, etc.
I perused most of the websites and also some very good review sites and got as much preliminary information as I could. Some provided lists of newsgroups before signing up, and most were more than I wanted to pay monthly. I tried 3 or 4 that looked promising.
I signed up for them, tested them, and afterwards decided they weren't the one I wanted (or alternatively have kept them to review further); mostly no problems. Many had a free trial period and I cancelled my account the same day or next day after signing up and received a prompt refund or no charge at all. I'm still using two and will probably decide on one of them soon. There was one exception:
Newsgroupdirect.com: After signing up, they failed to send me an email with news server url and account information. Having had faced this maybe once or twice in the past, I looked around their website and support for a server url. I thought maybe I could just use the user-login I had requested upon sign-up. After 15 minutes, I became frustrated and noticed their website was much disorganized and the "sticky" scripts made it almost impossible to navigate readily.
I had a series of email exchanges with them in which they still didn't provide the url or log-in information, were very sarcastic, seemed defensive about their website, and ultimately refused to give me a refund (I was charged after cancelling my account immediately within 12 to 24 hours). They mentioned in their last email that they do not give refunds unless the user cannot connect to the server. I suppose them not providing the server address and log-in information doesn’t count. And they added that thousands of users are happy with their website too. I got the distinct feeling I was talking to someone who had a hand in creating the website itself.
I'm pursuing a charge-back for services never received through my bank and VISA card.
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