You know which [tag]scams[/tag] are the worst? The ones that convince you that it’s your own fault.
I’m hoping this will turn out to be a “misunderstanding” and not a “scam,” but really, I should’ve known earlier that this was kinda fishy, but I guess I’m just too trusting. So, if this blows over, I’ll keep this page anonymous, but if this turns into a kerfuffle, I’m definitely posting the name of the offending business.
I deal with a webhost for a website that I help manage, and my brain-like-a-seive didn’t pick up on the plans for the hosting account and website until less than a week before the expiry date. (Disclaimer: the host in question is not the host for this website.)
I opened a ticket with the support people at the hosting place asking first if I could have the domain name without their [tag]webhosting[/tag], and then asking how to cancel the hosting package. I did not actually receive the link where I had to submit my information for cancelling the hosting package until after the package auto-renewed, charged itself to my PayPal, and PayPal billed my credit card.
I probably could have stopped it once it got to PayPal, but I didn’t, so now I’ve basically paid for a service that I don’t want and will probably have a hard time getting even if I wanted it anyway because I cancelled it! What’s worse is that I opened at least 3 support tickets, in each one very clearly stating that I wanted my package cancelled–and when they finally did cancel it, they naturally wiped out my support history as well, so now I’ve only got one leg to stand on (my initial support request and the fact that I did not receive the URL for cancelling from the word go), and a bill for $27.00 USD that I am currently disputing through [tag]PayPal[/tag].
I will live a decent life without the money, and I am currently very willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but there’s a hint of orchestration to this that strikes me as just plain dishonest–waiting until I had already paid and the transaction had cleared automatically before letting me off the hook.
And, naturally, the worse scams are the ones that make you feel like it’s your own fault–that I shouldn’t have assumed they were after anything like my opinion that they were decent, or any goodwill I felt about what they were providing. I’ll give them until my PayPal dispute resolution date (September 10) before I cement my opinion of them, openly, in blog-stone.
