Why you shouldn't host with iPowerWeb
Mar 10, 00:18
This is why I no longer host with big companies:
From: xxxxxxx
Subject: domain cancellation
Date: March 7, 2005 3:19:16 PM CST
To: billing@ipower.comHello-
I currently have a hosting account for the domain xxxxxxx. Earlier this week it automatically renewed, but the site was for a client that no longer wishes to have a site. I hadn’t wanted it to renew, and was planning on letting the hosting account expire. I thought I had turned off any “autorenew” features, but evidently I did not.
Can you please cancel this account, and refund the new year’s charge? My CC# ends with xxxxxxx.
Thanks for your assistance in this matter.
Jim Benton
Seven minutes later:
From: billing@ipowerweb.com
Subject: domain cancellation [Incident: xxxxxxx]
Date: March 7, 2005 3:26:39 PM CST
To: xxxxxxxYour question has been received. You should expect a response from us within 24 hours.
Two days later:
From: billing@ipowerweb.com
Subject: domain cancellation [Incident: xxxxxxx]
Date: March 9, 2005 5:11:59 PM CST
To: xxxxxxxRecently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response.
We will assume your issue has been resolved if we do not hear from you within 48 hours.
Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.
Subject————
domain cancellationDiscussion Thread————
Response (Ryan Murphy) – 03/09/2005 03:11 PM
We value you as a customer of iPowerweb. Your business if very important to us. If the price of the renewal is the issue, we would like to inform you that you can adjust the price to continue the account with us to $29.85 for 6 months of service. If you have an issue with the support we have provided to you, I encourage you to return this e-mail so that I can resolve your issues. If you are just uninterested in continuing your web endeavor and would still like to cancel the account, please provide us with your username and password or the last four of the credit card that was used to bill the account and we will take care of it for you. Please be sure to also include the reason you would like to cancel so that we can better our service practices.Sincerely,
Ryan Murphy
Quality Assurance
iPowerWeb, Inc.
This is my favorite part:
We will assume your issue has been resolved if we do not hear from you within 48 hours.
Awesome.
My reply:
From: xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: domain cancellation [Incident: xxxxxxx]
Date: March 9, 2005 5:45:18 PM CST
To: billing@ipowerweb.comRyan or whoever might be reading this:
I WANT TO CANCEL MY ACCOUNT. This was very clearly stated in my original email which has been included below. The account is for xxxxxxx. The last 4 digits of my credit card number are xxxxxxx.
PLEASE REFUND THE RECENT CHARGE FOR A YEAR OF SERVICE. I had not wanted my account to renew, and I had make efforts to turn off any “auto renew ” features. I must have not done this successfully, though, since the account renewed regardless.
I AM CANCELING because I no longer wish to have the account. I have no need for it currently. Also, I now have an additional reason for canceling, which is your support. Let’s see what went on:
1) I call billing customer support and wait on hold for 30 minutes without an answer. I give up.
2) I use the live support chat feature to explain my situation. I’m told to call. I explain that I already have. I’m told to send an email.
3) I send an email. Within a few minutes I receive an automated reply to my message, and a promise that I will have a response within 24 hours.
4) Over 48 hours later I receive a form response that asks me to resubmit all of the information that was included in my original email.I would not hesitate to say that this chain of events is entirely unacceptable.
Thank you for your swift attention to this matter.
Jim Benton
In conclusion
I recommend hosting with either TextDrive or phpwebhosting. Both are reputable hosting providers that will respond to service requests with real human problem solving skills.
Update
Ryan did get back to me finally, and everything has been resolved.