This all started in June when I signed up for Globat's hosting for one free year through a promotion at templatemonster.com - I thought hey - it's free for a year, why not? I am a web developer and I have my own hosting server, but I thought I'd use the free hosting to set up an affiliate site and make some money on the side - what the heck, right? WRONG. I figured if I didn't like it, I'd cancel, and if I did like it, I'd keep it. I signed up for another account through the same promotion in March for another affiliate site since the 1st one was working out.
Fast forward to October 7 - I had decided to keep my Globat hosting and my credit card was already on file so I was surprised when one of my clients told me that they went to my site and there was a suspension notice on it. I immediately went to my account and was locked out. I checked back through all of my e-mails and didn't have a single one from Globat about account suspension or anything - the only e-mails I had gotten were the "automatic upgrade" ones that I always opted out of.
So - I called and called the customer service line only to be on hold as "2nd in the queue" for over 35 minutes. I submitted a support ticket but by the next day I hadn't gotten a reply. So I called again and finally got a human being, but couldn't understand what he was saying, so it took forever to explain the situation. He finally says that my credit card had be declined (the one I had on file had expired June) when they went to renew my hosting in June.
I never received any kind of notice that billing had failed or anything - I got no notice that my account was in danger of suspension - nothing. So I told the guy, fine - cancel my account all I want is the domain name - I will pay for the domain name but not the hosting. He said it would just be $49 for the domain renewal and that my hosting would be cancelled. So I gave him a new credit card over the phone and he said it would be charged for the domain renewal.
The next day I logged into my credit card account and they had charged me $110 - not $45 - so I called yet again to find out what the heck. I also submitted a support ticket (again) and this is what they said:
"Please be advised that your account was already been set to overdue because of non-payment of your renewal invoice 3978633 amounting to $110.35. This needs to be paid first before you may have your account reactivated. Please have your credit card updated so that you maybe able to pay for the said charge. Contact our customer service to help you out on this. You can reach them at 1.323.874.9000 Monday - Friday 7:00 AM 5:30 PM PST."
So - I called yet again and when I finally got through to someone told them to just cancel everything - that I don't want the domain, the hosting, nothing. I told them I wanted a refund and then I proceeded to the Better Business Bureau and filed a complaint there while I was on the phone with them. On the phone the guys said it would be taken care of and they would reverse the charges, but I submitted my BBB complaint anyway - just to make sure.
I'm glad I did because they tried to rerun another charge for the domain and 3 months of hosting per this support ticket reply:
"Please be advised that since we did not receive a cancellation ticket before the renewal date of your account, we have to charge your account for the renewal fee plus the domain registration. The renewal fee was $31.80 for the renewal of your account from June-October of this year plus $14.95 for the Domain registration."
Now - I never requested my account to be cancelled until AFTER they failed to notify me of failed billing or suspension and it was only then that I said I didn't want any further business with Globat. Finally through the BBB my account was finally cancelled (I think) and I've watched my credit card like a hawk to make sure no further charges have come through and that all charges were reversed (they were reversed and no new charges as of today).
So - I still have this other account with them, too - so not long after I got all of this settled, I called the Globat cancellation line and requested my other account be cancelled.in that phone call they said it was cancelled and that I would received an e-mail confirmation.
I didn't get one - instead I got another "automatic upgrade" e-mail so I promptly opted out and called the cancellation line again. This time I did get a cancellation number e-mail. But... Kept getting e-mails about that hosting account.
So - I called a third time just to make sure it was cancelled and she assures me that it was and to just ignore the e-mails (I still made sure to do the opt-out ones, though).
So today - January 20 I get an e-mail reminding me that they will be automatically renewing my hosting account 30 days prior to March 31 when my hosting is due for renwal. I freak (again) and immediately go to my account screen which is STILL active. I go to the billing page to remove my credit card, but guess what? It won't let me - so I go to live help and they tell me I have to submit a ticket to billing. I call the cancellation line and I get a small recording about being able to cancel upgrades and add ons through the website, and then there's a bunch of clicks and then dead air. I've called the cancellation line 6 times and cannot get anything other than dead air.
So I call the customer service number and go to billing. It rings and rings and rings - no one at all picks up.
So now - I've submitted a ticket to billing support and am waiting.
This is absolutely ridiculous - I have filed complaints with the BBB, the FTC and now with complaint - this company needs to be SHUT DOWN - they violate their own terms of service, their customer service is a joke and they are committing fraud. Right now at the BBB there are numerous complaints - and I'm sure many are like mine:
No. Of Cmpl Type of Response
107 Making a full refund, as the consumer requested
4 Making a partial refund
214 Agreeing to perform according to their contract
3 Refusing to make an adjustment
6 Refuse to adjust, relying on terms of agreement
0 Unanswered
0 Unassigned
http://www.la. BBB.org/BusinessReport. Aspx? CompanyID=13175531
http://www.trustlink.org/BusinessProfile. Aspx? ID=DyzW0IzMfdg4lQ mOsTDgw=
I wish I had read these before ever considering this company to shine my shoes.
Now - I'm fearing charges to my credit card and being stuck with this company for the rest of my friggin life!
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