I wanted to say "stole" but I'm still hopeful.
I'm generally not the kind of person who likes to stir up trouble unnecessarily, so I feel apprehensive about posting my situation in a public forum, but as you'll see, I've run out of options, and if nothing else, I feel I should at least share my experiences with others in an attempt to inform potential future users and help them avoid a very unpleasant situation... It's a little long winded, but I'd like to attempt to be very clear and honest about my position.
so from the beginning: a little over a month ago, I decided to venture into the world of VPS. I've been a reseller for some time, just a few things here and there for friends and local organizations to help get them online. One of those customers was hosting a busy site, so I thought VPS would be good step up without going nuts with dedicated hosting...
Long story short, after an exhaustive search, I decided to give virpus a try. I wanted to take advantage of advance billing, because I figured that a solid investment was in order and I was ready to commit, once I found the right host, that is. Virpus had a good deal, and I made the decision to proceed based on their 14 day money back guarantee. I figured if I loved it, I would be good, and if not then at least I wouldn't lose much more than my time...
Unfortunately this is turning out not to be the case. Everything was going great at first, until I decided to actually install a website! I started with the busy site because I knew it would be trouble. Virpus doesn't come with sql server support, but I happened to have a license for the Standard version, and wanted to install it.
But since I only had 384 megs of ram, I wasn't sure it would be enough. Anticipating this problem, I asked them if I would have any trouble running both my sites AND the sql server, they assured me that yes, they would run fine. confident in their assurance, I went ahead with the installation. Immediately after starting the site, I was plagued with Out of Memory exceptions!
naturally I was worried, I wasn't even running all of my sites yet (I think I had two setup at this point) and I was already overloading! I couldn't understand why if I was assured I wouldn't have trouble that exactly the opposite was happening.
At this point, I considered two options, moving on to another host, or upgrading my memory... up until now, I was relatively satisfied with virpus; they had been quick to respond to my setup questions, and other than this brick wall I slammed into (one that I had anticipated and tried to prepare for, and was ultimately let down about), so I did wonder if it was worth it to just bite the bullet and upgrade, even though I had already hit past my budget with what I had already signed up for.
Eventually, I decided that it wasn't fair for me to have to upgrade to a higher plan when I was assured that I wouldn't need to. I wasn't angry, and I didn't want to cause any trouble by trying to bitch about something that I didn't have any control over (even though I didn't feel it was my fault) because I figured if nothing else I would at least be getting my money back...
unfortunately it's at this point where the problem really begins. I told them that I wanted to cancel my service. I wanted to be polite so I thanked them for the opportunity, but said I just wasn't ready to upgrade at such a cost. they told me they would cancel and that I'd be getting confirmation of that. they later asked if I wanted to wait until the end of my billing period, which, having prepaid six months in advance (my horrible mistake I will now eternally regret) is in January. I explained that no, I want cancellation now, and a refund as was promised by the guarantee.
I'll get to more details about what happend at this point in a moment, but the bottom line here is that they explained that my reasons for cancellation are not covered by their guarantee. Naturally I was stunned; what kind of violations in a 100% satisfaction guarantee could I have possibly committed? They claim that since in previous tickets I claimed I was happy with my service, I excluded myself from eligibility. I was floored! I argued my position, explaining the situation with the memory, and that I Was indeed NOT satisfied with the my service. Of course, by this time, the 14 days had expired!
you see, at the time when they told me about the cancellation period, I still had 2 days left on my trial. I got back to them immediately, stating that no, I wanted whatever cancellation timeframe was necessary to get my refund. They did not get back to me for three days, which was 1 day AFTER the trial period! business hours or not, that is just outright unfair...
in addition, in that same reply about the cancellation period, they actually offered to move me to monthly billing instead. at that point (not knowing what lied ahead), I declined, because at this point I just was ready to cancel and move on; I certainly didn't expect any further trouble...
but trouble is what I have had ever since then. when telling me about not qualifying for their money back guarantee, they offered a 50% refund, which I believe in unfair and unacceptable, especially since they initially offered to switch me to monthly billing.
so I figured hell, if NOTHING else, I'll take a loss on the first month of service (even though I feel even THAT is unfair, since I was well within the time frame of the guarantee) and get a refund on the remaining time. I replied to them explaining this...
since then I have apparently been talking to myself. I've left 11 that ELEVEN replies trying to work out a FAIR compromise. I didn't threaten, I didn't yell, I just wanted them to listen and acknowledge that I should get returned what is rightfully mine! I tried to resolve it before the end of my first month of service, since they said I could do monthly billing, cancel before the end and get the rest of my money back... my new month started today 8/6, and I still do not have a reply from them...
so what am I to do? They don't want to even acknowledge my honest and open attempts to discuss this rationally and compromise a fair resolution! Now, let me reiterate my main points so you can decide for yourself if I deserve to be screwed like this:
- I anticipated the VERY ISSUE that led me to cancel my service, and was ASSURED it wouldn't be a problem.
- I initially was satisfied with the service, but that was because I hadn't DONE ANYTHING yet.
- Just because i was INITIALLY satisfied during the trial doesn't mean I was satisfied the entire time. I did not make a big stink of it because I knew that I was misinformed by them, and even though I considered upgrading, decided it wasn't fair for me to have to pay for their misinformation. Wouldn't you agree that being so explicitly misinformed is cause for me to feel dissatisfied?
- I attempted to cancel TWO FULL DAYS before the end of the trial, and they waited until AFTER the trial period to tell me that I couldn't get a refund.
- I've made attempt after attempt to try and COMMUNICATE, in a resonable manner, to reach a FAIR solution, even willing to give up a whole month of service that I shouldn't have to pay for WHICH THEY THEMSELVES OFFERED as a solution, and NEVER RECEIVED A REPLY.
and here's the kicker: as far as I know THEY STILL HAVEN'T EVEN CANCELLED MY SERVICE. I never received a cancellation notice. I haven't attempted to login to my account to verify this, because I worry that they're going to use that as another bogus excuse to say that I'm "using" their services.
So technically, I'm still a PAYING CUSTOMER; shouldn't I get better treatment? wouldn't you call writing to your host ELEVEN TIMES and being completely ignored reason to be dissatisfied?
I made every attempt to resolve this honestly, privately, and most importanly FAIRLY. I didn't want to be another one of those people who bitches about their host in a public forum; I wanted to get out WEEKS ago, putting their mistake behind us, and EVEN CONSIDERING COMING BACK IN THE FUTURE, when I could afford to invest in more ram and resouces can you believe that?! even though I felt misled, and wasn't happy with my service, I figured I could put it behind me and maybe come back sometime in the future and give them another shot to redeem themselves. Instead virpus completely ignored and ultimately screwed me.
and I can't even complain to my credit card company for a refund, because their terms say that if I do a charge back they'll charge me an additional $50! and ironically (not to mention infuriatingly) enough, this is immediately followed by the following: It is best to deal with Virpus Networks directly to come up with a resolution, instead of going to your credit card company first.
THATS WHAT I've been TRYING TO DO for the past THREE WEEKS!!
sigh... well I'm glad I got that off my chest... if you made it this far, thanks for listening. If you have any suggestions on what I might try to do to recover my money, I sure would appreciate it... maybe I'll just do the chargeback and suffer the $50 hit I don't know...
i have some suggestions of my own, not the least of which is naturally that you steer clear of virpus and their shady business practices. but more imporantly, NEVER PREPAY right at the beginning just to save a few bucks! take a month or two at full price and make sure these people really are who they claim to be. Your wallet (and your sanity, believe me) will thank you in the end.
