Think twice before going with aletia

[bigH]

Last december, I signed up for my aletia account. Aletia kindly took my money, and said that they were processing my order. Then nothing. Dead silence. I never heard from them again.

On monday, I sent an email asking WTF was up. I got a response that said "we have forwarded your request to the sales team and they would get back to you soon."

Apparently, soon is a relative term. I have yet to hear from the wonderful sales team. My account still is not active.

If you are looking for a company to host your website, you may want look elsewhere. Aletia is very proficient at taking your money. That is the only thing they appear to be good at.

h^2

[WVGhosts]

Have you been billed monthly for your account since you signed up?

[Julian Muñoz]

I don't understand... You signed up 5 months ago and you don't have your account yet?

[lookout]

Not intending to attack the victim here, but this just sounds extremely fishy. Who on earth would wait placidly for 5 months for a response for something that should only take a few days at most? I sure as heck wouldn't, and judging from these forums, neither would most paying customers.

I'm guessing that this must have been a one time yearly payment. If so, maybe Aletia DID set up the account, but the email informing you of this deed went astray for one reason or another. Or it was sent, but it was accidentally deleted on your end or your ISP's via some form of filtering. Email has never been the most reliable form of communication. It probably would be good if Aletia sent a snail mail follow-up about account activations, but unfortunately, that does not appear one of their standard policies.

In any event, not hearing from Aletia within a few days would have been a good reason for an immediate follow-up on your part.

Regarding your recent email and Aletia's sluggish response, you might want to search these forums for some alternate contact addresses. I recall seeing several people having trouble reaching Aletia's sales department recently. There's been a thread or two here that seems to have addressed that.

Best of luck to you in getting this resolved soon.

[bigH]

Originally posted by WVGhosts
Have you been billed monthly for your account since you signed up?

I paid for a full year when I signed up. I did so for tax reasons (so I could deduct a full year of service in the 2001 tax season).

bigH

[bigH]

Originally posted by lookout
Not intending to attack the victim here, but this just sounds extremely fishy. Who on earth would wait placidly for 5 months for a response for something that should only take a few days at most?

I agree that most sane people would not wait placidly. I make no claim of such sanity

In 2001, I started my own company. I tried to open my account near the end of 2001 so I could take the deduction in that year. However, I became swamped with work in 2002, and haven't had time to deal with the hassle of complaining to aletia for not setting up my account.

Now I have time to deal with the hassle. And what a hassle it has been.

My biggest mistake was waiting so long to complain. I know that I should have complained sooner.

bigH

[lookout]

I see and understand now.

I DO recommend trying some of the other contacts that have been posted recently in some of the other threads. You know what they say about the squeaky wheel. Unfortunately, that seems the primary model for customer service at many businesses today.

If you really haven't used their services until now, it seems to me that you have a reasonable case for asking Aletia to extend your contract, minus the cost of any domain registration fees. That is, if you feel the situation is still salvagable.

May the force be with you!

[bigH]

I finally got a response from Aletia on 5/13. They said:

"For some reason, we did not receive the email that contains your request. Can you send me your Paysystems Order ID (which can be found in
your Paysystems receipt)? Once we are able to verify the purchase, we can setup your account in no time."

I responded the same day telling them to forget it. I just want my money back and a new ISP. Since then, guess what I have heard...

Nothing. Dead freakin silence. Potential customers, unless you like being treated like dirt, I suggest that you take your money elsewhere.

bigH

[clio]

Realize that it's YOUR fault for not chasing them. Yes, business has a responsibilty to provide for customers. However, if the customers choose to ignore their (business') inability or lack of service, then the customer needs to accept partial responsibility. I ignore things, but for weeks. Not 5 months. That's just insane.

[Ron Kuris]

We can't process a refund without a receipt number. Generally speaking, you can get the number from your credit card company when you signed up.

Without a ticket number, I can't look further into your ticket.

If you never signed into your account, chances are we'll issue you a full refund, even if you did wait five months before telling us there was a problem.

Still having trouble? Send me a private message with your ticket number and I'll push it through.

Ron

[tekygonnabe]

This is a c&p of my request to cancel my account, combined with a volley or conversation with Ron:
(It goes from latest to earliest)

After following Ron's direction in other post as well as the above comment... it seems that Aletia is full of double standards.



Created on 05/26/2002 13:05 by customer:
Laura, if you happen to care to read through all of the junk below... please take me serious and just cancel my account. If this is not done by monday morning (which is 3 and a half days worth of time to accomplish this simple task) I will have to do a chargeback.

The pertinent information of my account can be found at the bottom of this long page of ridiculous back and forth with Ron.

Sincerely,
-Steve

{PM#1}
Hey Ron,

I can't seem to get another ticket resolved. Would you check into it for me?

T-46662 is the ticket number

TIA,
-Steve

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ron Kuris wrote on 05-25-2002 07:25 PM:
Steve,

Unfortunately, I can't do billing requests. But, I can tell you how to be sure your card won't get charged again.

Just go to www.paysystems.com and select the "Cardholder Services" link. Fill in the requested information and the amount you were last charged. From there, there's an option to cancel your service. If you go that route, you can be assured your card will not get charged again.

Ron

{PM#2}

Allow me to explain why I even bothered you in the first place. I have updated the ticket, as you instructed in one thread. Even sent an email directly to Laura... all to no avail!
Per this thread and your own words: "Still having trouble? Send me a private message with your ticket number and I'll push it through." If you can do that for this gent, could you not do the same for me? Maybe because I have been/can be quite vocal in the forums and not always favorable towards aletia has something to do with why you had a different suggestion for me! I also spent a lot of time defending you guys, but that stopped after the week-end long downtime of my server.

Now that someone at Aletia is aware of my request to cancel my account... it would not be a wise decision to allow this to continue any longer than necessary (especially for it to carry over into another month). Don't you agree?

It would be even more ignorant on aletia's part to allow this to potentially carry on long enough for the card to be billed again, or billed after completing my request and support me as a customer. I have been quite calm about this matter up to this point, and don't want to be pressed into a situation to cause my reaction's to be anything less than that. There is NO REASON, why this should be any problem to handle in a very short amount of time. Two days is unacceptable!

-Steve

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ron Kuris wrote on 05-25-2002 08:52 PM:
Steve,

What is the problem with going to the paysystems link and cancelling your account?

Nobody gets preferential treatment here. If you aren't getting what you need, I'm here to help anyone, irrespective of how poorly one behaves.

Ron

{PM#3}
The problem is - it is not my job to do so, Ron!
What is the problem, that Aletia won't do their job?

It is Aletia's responsibilty to manage and support it's customers! If you can't do that I'll consider it "breech of contract!" Should I have violated Aletia's AUP, you would of had no problem terminating my account and keeping all of the charges to the CC.

As for poor behavior, that goes both ways apparently! Instead of debating the issue with me, why not follow through with your claim to push the ticket through?

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ron Kuris wrote on 05-25-2002 09:41 PM:
I definitely don't understand your logic. You are willing to write messages like this but won't spend a few minutes to make sure your card won't get charged.

Nevertheless, I will see what I can do for you.

Just to clarify, I did not state that you had any poor behavior. What I meant to say, but I didn't do a very good job, is that each person will be treated equally regardless of their behavior. I'm sorry it wasn't clear.

Ron

{PM#4}

That makes 2 of us, that don't get each others logic, Ron! You can take the time to debate the issue of who is responsible to cancel my account, verses doing the right thing and seeing to it, that it's done professionally and couteous. Actually it's passed that point, but it will be interesting to see if your company can manage to save face over this somehow. Professionalizm is obviously something you all can preach, but have trouble following through with!

Let me explain again, where I stand on this. IT IS YOUR JOB TO CANCEL MY ACCOUNT, per my request, which is now a DEMAND! My agreement is not with paysytems, and I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO CONTACT THEM FOR ANY REASON... It's really pathetic that others have had to get out of a contract in that manner! If that isn't clear enough, you should read the next paragraph very, very carefully, Ron.

If my account is not canceled by monday morning, I WILL be contacting the CC Co. to dispute the charges by your company.

As for your "poor behavior" comment... GAWD you sound like Bill Clinton, sitting in front of the Grand Jury saying, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." So that you understand perfectly what I am implying here, your pittyful explanation means nadda to me! I admitted that I have faults, but your cleaver way of expressing yourself is transparent... as well as unprofessional! If your gonna speak your mind, don't tip-toe around it. You should know, I won't!

If you are not the owner of this company, then my frustration isn't totally directed at you... but as a representative (somewhat vocal one) you happen to be the one to catch it. I attempted for this to be a peaceful resoultion to our association, but as you see, the lack of action on aletia's part didn't allow that to happen. With that said (and HOPEFULLY understood) let me put it this way... CANCEL my damn account, NOW!!!

If any of this is unclear to you, just say so, and I'll break it down into samll pieces for you... OK.

-Steve

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ron Kuris wrote on 05-26-2002 10:31 AM:
Steve,

While I make every effort to remain professional, I draw the line at ad-hominem attacks.

As this is not the normal established method for demanding that your account be cancelled, please make your demand known through the ticket system.

Ron


{PM#5}

As I stated earlier, I made a very valid attempt to have this handled professionally. Aletia dropped the ball as usual. I followed proper channels that were outlined by you, all to no avail!

Don't sweat it, Ron... I'll just c&p my last reply to the ticket system, and follow through with the chargeback if I don't have a reply from someone at Aletia telling me that my account has been canceled, and showing that the credit card has been credited the proper amount... by monday morning.

The adhominem and lackadaisacal attitude of the staff at Aletia, is what brought this about, therefore we both will have to explore what options are available to us, apparently.

Have a good day, I sure will.

Created on 05/24/2002 20:36 by customer:
I am still waiting for this matter to be resolved!

Created on 05/24/2002 00:22 by tech:
Hi Steve,
I have forwarded your request to the concerned department. They will assisst you further. Please contact us if you have any more problems. Thank you.
Have a nice day!
Regards,
Nimi

Created on 05/23/2002 23:36 by customer:
To Whom ever can take care of this:

I opened this account in the middle of January, and with the trouble several people are having in getting any resolution to billing questions of any sort... thought I better start a ticket early, as to NOT GO INTO ANOTHER MONTH OF SERVICE effectively reducing the refund to my credit card another $9.95!

Transaction Date: 1/19/2002
Transaction Referrence Number: ##########

Thanks,
-Steve

[lookout]

What is the problem? It appears to this impartial third party that Ron has offered you perfectly sound information on how to proceed, and you attack? That's no way to get what you want done, no matter how frustrated you may be.

And posting it all in the forums? Totally inappropriate IMHO. But I am impressed with Ron's professional demeanor throughout your exchanges. You, on the other hand, seem to reject any help offered. Not only that, but then you go on to bash the tech trying to help you. On a beautiful Sunday even! PM#3 is where you just lose it. Not surprisingly, Ron sends you back to the ticket system. There are some good lessons to be learned here, if you look hard enough.

I hope you realize that I am not trying to attack you personally Steve. I am merely suggesting that there are better ways to ask for and receive help. I know you must be pretty frustrated with Aletia at this point. I've had my own love-hate relationship with them myself, particularly in recent months. Do what you think you need to do, and I hope you're able to get everything resolved quickly.

[G.Bloke]

Understand that what follows is not a personal attack on you tekygonnabe, rather my opinion on what I've just read above. I presume the purpose of the above was to draw some comment from other customers....

It has to be said that you come out looking a lot worse off than Aletia, Ron or any other individual involved. I've had run-ins with companies before where things have got very nasty through correspondance or over the phone. However even when I'm mad I listen to what they have to say, especially if they are detailing the solution to my problem. If it takes even an hour of my time to comply with their proceedures, however daft, at least I know that after that point the situation should be resolved.

It seems to me that you were told to go through paysystems to cancel payments (that should have been made clearer from the start however - take note Aletia) and you threatened to contact your CC company. Either one of those actions would have been completed with relatively little fuss, probably in less time than it took to write your various replies.

The lesson to all is simple; Don't get drawn into disputes like this, simply do what is required to move on and put it behind you. Getting mad with an individual will just leave you feeling unsatisfied at the end of the day. Chances are the person at the other end of the phone or email etc is not going to react favourably to attacks, but almost certainly you will fail to change the eventual outcome anyway.

[tekygonnabe]

Lookout.... I appreciate your cander and your honest opinion.

After just over 2 days waiting patiently for the support ticket to be dealt with by Laura... and not hearing a word from her about it (even sent her an email)!
Kindly updated the ticket after my email... hopefully to instigate a response from her (suggestion made by Ron, in the forum).

I also sent an email to mark@aletia.com... never heard a word from him either!

So I did a bit more homework in the forums and found that Ron had recently offered his help to push the ticket through to a customer that had been a bit vocal on here as well, concerning his account that wasnt setup 5 months ago. Now I followed his advice to a tee, and gave him a fair shake on helping me get this resolved. What does he tell me to do, go to paysystems and cancel the account myself, basically! Thats what is absurd, period.

Whats my point you ask? It's simplistic to the inth degree. IMHO
1. First off it began when I was told (in referance to a request for php upgrade) that it wasn't going to be done... but the had plans to upgrade it. This was 2 months ago... maybe longer! Still no upgrade even after others on my server had requested it, and were given the same basic reply.
2. The week-end long downtime of my server, which NO ANNOUNCEMENTS were made until the 2nd day (and well into that one) they blamed it on network failure... turns out that may have been true but as soon as that was resolved, mysteriously they had discovered a hardware failure on the machine. I was told in one of the last replies to my ticket regarding the downtime... they were continuing to investigate the problem and would let us know what happened exactly. Did that ever transpire.... of course not! (I dont even buy the story of the network failure atall)
3. About a week ago, I gave Ron the hint I was considering leaving... and even laid the decision based moreso on the fact that my site isn't completed... and may take me a while to do so (becuase I am still quite the rookie and have decided to hand code my own site, verses using a portal script). I even stated the fact that I jumped the gun in purchasing a host considering the previous statement... and that it was ignorant of me to do so. I also told him that part of my decision to leave now was the recent troubles across the board at aletia. However, made it clear I thought, that once I had the site built and ready to launch... I would check out Aletia again, to see if things had progressed and improved.

*Had I known of the software (phptriad and the like) that would give me a leg up allowing me to test and build my skills here at home, I would not have paid for hosting at the time I did.
4. Not to mention all the hype thats been rampid in the forums with discord and unhappy campers. Seeing how they have handled all those troubles and apparently have no disaster recovery plan to impliment. IMO, makes even less sense for me to allow them to keep another penny they've been paid by me.

Now I realize they have more customers that go on with life and are satisfied with the service they recieve. I say good for them, and roll on McDuff! That don't mean I (nor anyone else) has to.

Why would I not go to paysystems as suggested by Ron (and reiterated by you), it's the principle of it all that I won't do it. As I have told Ron in a stern way, it simply isn't my job! My contract isn't with paysystems, now is it? Nope! If Aletia (Ron, Laura, Mike) won't do their job... I am not going to do it for them, and it is ludicrious of them to even suggest it. Is it my fault, they dont perform their jobs in a professional, efficient manner? Nope!

Did I get a bit out of line, sure! Do I feel justified, sure!
Did Ron show a double-standard, absolutely! Will I go to paysytems and cancel my own account, when I should have no reason to do so, nope! Will I be contacting CC Co. Monday afternoon... If Aletia doesn't step up to the plate, yes indeedy! Point is... I should of never had to PM Ron (as he offered to help another customer in the same manner I requested of him) concerning the cancelation of my account, NOPE!

Do I expect that alot of other Aletia groupies will read this and think poorly of me, yes indeedy! Do I expect that others will read this and think poorly of Aletia, maybe so! Do I care which viewpoint anyone else has, not really!

My reasoning for posting this in the forum atall, is something I've learned and even been suggested by lookout (I think that was you that said that a short while back)... squeaky wheel gets the grease. Not for solicitation of comments of other users... although I knew their would be happy customers that would frown upon my doing so, and make their feelings known to/about me. Everybody that reads this will make their own assumptions about whats transpired.

[lookout]

My reasoning for posting this in the forum atall, is something I've learned and even been suggested by lookout (I think that was you that said that a short while back)... squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Yes, I did say something like that in an earlier post. But for positive results, it depends a lot on just how you squeak, and just who you squeak to.

At the risk of being associated with those awful Aletia groupies, and I forget when I sold my soul , I must say that G. Bloke offered some excellent advice in his last post*. But you make some perfectly valid points yourself. Anyway, as you say,

everyone who reads this will make their own assumptions about whats transpired.

Well, more power to them! Might spice up this thread a little more. Seriously, good luck with your new host.

*Note to G. Bloke: didn't mean to suggest you're an Aletia groupie yourself, just that I liked your post.