Thursday, November 13, 2008

oneandone proves they are as deaf as a post

You know, as a customer, you take time, you send a carefully thought out (even if it is abusive) email and you expect a reply right? Remember that you have specifically identified, as a customer, that you do not want to receive canned messages. So what happens next? One and One send a canned message showing that in the Jurassic era not all corporations evolved into higher organisms with complex functions. Some simply by-passed that stage and became worms.

I am just so angry! I specifically in my email to them said:

1. I have canceled my contracts and just so I do not tax the three brain cells they collectively have I went into the trouble of giving them ALL the numbers of each.

2. You've charged me.

3. Refund the money

This is what came back:


Thank you for your email.

First of all please accept our apology for any inconvenience caused.

Please follow the instructions given below to cancel the contracts you
don't require.

PAYMENT FOR INVOICES -----------------------------------------------
If an invoice has been raised for domain names before you terminate it
will need to be settled even if you no longer require the domains. No
refund will be raised for domain names as they have automatically been
renewed under your name as they were still active at the time the
invoice is raised. Any unused hosting charges will be refunded but a
charge will stand from the date the invoice is raised until the date of
termination.



HOW TO CANCEL YOUR ENTIRE CONTRACT (including all domains and additional
features)




In order to process a cancellation we require you to follow our online
procedure.

Please go to http://contract.oneandone.co.uk and log in with your
customer id and password, when you are within here select the package
that you would like to close

1) Select the option CANCEL ENTIRE CONTRACT > Then select the OK button

2) Under the heading DETAILS OF THE SELECTED CONTRACT select the date
the contract will be terminated.

3) Under the heading DOMAIN NAME select the date the additional features
and domains will be removed.

4) Click OK to proceed with the cancellation request.

5) You will be given a summary of the your request on the PENULTIMATE
STEP page.

6) Click ok to continue.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE CANCELLATION HAS NOT BEEN COMPLETED AT THIS POINT.



ACTIVATING YOUR CANCELLATION REQUEST - (link sent to the email address
in your control panel so please make sure the email address is valid).
At the end of the process you will receive an e-mail to the address
supplied on your control panel containing a specific website link. If
you do not receive an e-mail with this special cancellation confirmation
link, please contact our expert Support Team at support@1and1.co.uk.

To activate your cancellation request and complete the process you must
follow the link e-mailed to you.

PLEASE NOTE - The link can also be activated through your MESSAGE BOARD
in your control panel. You need to log into the specific contract to see
the message.



IMPORTANT INFORMATION
-------------------------------------------------------

Your cancellation will not be completed until you have activated your
request by accessing the website link and confirming the cancellation
request.
If you do not activate your cancellation request link WITHIN 7 days of
the link being sent, your request to cancel your package will be
discarded and your contract WILL REMAIN ACTIVE.!



If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact us.



Kind regards
Nushrath Mansoor
Billing Department
1&1 Internet Ltd.


Handy Billing tips - Here are a few additional tips that may help you
with your 1and1 experience.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS - Always check our F.A.Q ( faq.1and1.co.uk)
section of our website before contacting us. This could save you time.

CONFIRMATION OF TERMINATION - If canceling an item or contract please
ensure you receive confirmation your feature was cancelled, the
confirmation will be sent within 10 days of your request. If you do not
receive any form of confirmation please contact our support team. Your
feature may still be live and being charged.

CANCELLING DOMAINS- If you cancel/transfer all domains out of your
contract always ensure you cancel the contract also. The contract can
still be used even without a domain and so charges will still be
applied.

AUTO RENEW - Remember, to take the hassle out of running your account
1and1 automatically renew the domains/features unless you have informed
us in advance via the online tool.

We hope these additional tips have helped.

Obviously Nushrath Mansoor is doing his job. He pulled a canned message and sent it to me. The fault is not really his. It lies with the corporation that hired him and failed to train him.

Well I have an additional tip of my own: If I can help it you will never get another customer again!!!

One and one continues to prove it's a crap hosting provider who steals your money

For those who need a recap on 1&1 practices which directly contravene ICANN regulations it goes something like this: 1. The insist they have your valid account details on record 2. They charge you automatically in advance for packages, domain name renewal etc 3. The moment you do not want a particular domain renewed it's not sufficient to let payment lapse with them because they will take down domains you have already paid for in advance and are using 4. They will send threatening collection letters and threaten litigation Now I know all this so I cancelled a contract I had with them, moved everything to another contract still with them (but NOT FOR LONG!) and asked them to not take payment (they did) so I asked them for a refund. Bearing in mind they take your site down within ten days of non-payment, they appear to either not understand, not acknowledge or refuse to refund (or maybe all three). My latest message sent today was: "Hi. I really do not understand why I need to resort to abusive, threatening language in order to get a response that resembles rudimentary customer service. On the 20.09.08 you sent me invoice No 751XXXXXX for Contract No 15XXXXX. I emailed you through the secure form you provide online on the 13.10.08 with the following message: “Hi. I have three packages with you. Their contract numbers are: 15XXXXX, 87XXXXX, 27XXXXX.. Contract number 15XXXXX currently contains the domain xxxxxxxxxx.com. It shouldn't as this domain was transferred out of 1&1 registry almost a year ago. Please cancel this contract and issue a refund. Contract number 8776445 contains a subdomain that's never been used. Please cancel this contract also and issue a refund. The only contract that should remain is: Contract number: 27XXXXX. Please confirm that Contracts No: 15XXXXX, 87XXXXX have been canceled as requested and a refund has been issued. I look forward to hearing from you. With thanks, David” I heard from you about as much as I’d have heard if I had spoken to a brick which exemplifies the level of customer service you currently provide. You disregarded my request went ahead and took payment for packages I no longer needed and was not using. On the 27.10.08 I cancelled them myself. I then emailed you using your online form asking you to action a refund. To date I have not seen a refund. So this will also go to the file that has already been sent to the Office of Fair Trading. I do wonder what exactly it’s going to take to get a response. Do I need to get my solicitor involved? Do I have to sue you for damages, loss of time, personal stress? There comes a time when the time/cost differential no longer matters. So let’s hope this gets a response sans the usual canned garbage you habitually attach in the mistaken assumption that it shows professionalism. David" Going on their past performance I am not really holding my breath and the attention this Blog is getting is probably saving many others from suffering the same way with these guys. Running a website and working online is stressful enough without needing to get into a tangle with your hosting providers every time something like this happens. If you come across this please do two things: first never go anywhere near them. Second forward this to all your friends and relatives. 1&1 does not deserve to be in business.