My DotEasy Problems

DotEasy has been my web hosting company for 7 years. Due to a lack of features I wanted to move web host providers from Doteasy. Various ploys and excuses were used, in the end resulting in DotEasy freezing my account for 2 months and thus blocking my web site move. Other issues with Doteasy include their technical staff trying to retain you as a customer instead of doing what I asked them, wasting time and prolonging the time required to move. Finally there is the negative option billing, where if you do not cancel your hosting account and do not pay, they will continue hoisting and bill you anyway. This is an unethical business practice masqueraded as better security. Due to these three issues I strongly recommend to not use Doteasy as a web host provider. DotEasy adheres to rigid policies that do not allow for good customer service, and can hold you hostage so you cannot move to another host provider.

It is interesting how things change, as for the first 5 years I had no issues, though I did not have any issues. I suppose if I don’t ask for anything and be a good customer I don’t find out how bad the company really treats their customers.

Issue #1: Locking my Hosting Account for 2 Months

My problems started when I tried to leave DotEasy as my web host provider. Unknown to me my admin email was screwing up. I could send email from my admin email account without issue but could not receive email. DotEasy staff could receive all my emails without issue. I could also log into my DotEasy web account without issue, as this is how I logged my problem tickets. I asked Doteasy technical staff how I could resolve this email issue and they would not give me any possible solution. I figured that if I could use my admin email account, send an email to them and have it received, as well as log onto my DotEasy web account and converse with them, then this would be sufficient to prove my identity. In the end, and without any options, I used their automated web facility to change my admin email, and unbeknown to me they immediately locked my account for 60 days, preventing me from moving.

This ploy has angered me very much as I was held hostage to this unethical company. Apparently because of some idiot boss’ edict and there was no way to change my 2 month lockout. In their view there was no way for me to properly prove I was the owner of my site. Apparently having to log on the DotEasy admin site, change my admin email address and wait 2 months provided me with increased security. Total bullshit. I say this is an inflexible policy that does not increase my web security, forces customers to stay with DotEasy and simply angers long time customers. To simply follow an edict without considering common sense and special circumstances is idiocy and displays the worst customer service attitude.

Don Tai Jan 24 07:30 AM (10 months) My email on Excite.com is not receiving mail, for whatever reason, and I believe your authorization code email was not received. Can you send the code to an alternative email address? What should I do?

To: Don Tai Jan 24 10:12 AM (10 months) Hello Don, We have sent the AuthCode to your admin email don_tai@xxx.com on Jan_23,2009 when I replied to your email. If you did not receive it, please check the spam folder or resend it through your member zone by using the Send AuthCode function. I have already resend it, please check your email account and let us know if the problem still persists. https://member.doteasy.com Unfortunately the AuthCode can only be sent to the admin email we have on file. Please refrain from making any changes within the member zone. Making even simple changes such as updating your contact information or name server settings will cause our automated system to relock the domain. Have a nice weekend. Regards, Wei Doteasy Customer Service “Join the hosting revolution!” Consolidated, centralized help 24/7. Doteasy Support Centre. Get hosting help now. http://www.doteasy.com/Support

Don Tai Jan 25 05:12 PM (10 months) Ok Wei, I’ve not received a doteasy.com email and when I send myself an email from another account I get an error. I’ll need to change my admin email, which I’ll do now, and then ask you to unlock my account. Thanks, Don

Don Tai Jan 25 05:15 PM (10 months) Hi All, I’ve changed my admin e-mail address. Please unlock my account. Thank you Don Doteasy

To: Don Tai Jan 26 10:35 AM (10 months) Hello Don, Unfortunately your domain has been locked for 60 days as you have made a contact information change on 01/25/2009. We have advised you not to make any contact information change within the member zone as it will caused your domain to be locked for 60 days in the previous emails. The reason why we lock your domain is to prevent fraudulent transfers after contact information has been changed. Please do note that you do not have to transfer your domain name registration away if you wish to switch your hosting service provider. Your domain name registration will not be expired until 12/09/2009. In the event that you wish to change just your web hosting services to a different company, and keep domain name registration service with Doteasy for the time being, you can do this by changing your name server settings in your Member Zone by clicking on “Change Web Host”. The new web hosting company you wish to use will provide you with the name server settings. If you would still like to re-attempt the request, please wait 60 days (03/27/2009) before you submit your request once again. Thank you. Regards, Tony Doteasy Customer Service “Join the hosting revolution!” Consolidated, centralized help 24/7. Doteasy Support Centre. Get hosting help now. http://www.doteasy.com/Support

Don Tai Jan 26 11:13 AM (10 months) My contact email address is not receiving emails and therefore I have no other alternative. If I could have done this any other way, as I stated in previous replies to you, I would have done it. I will provide whatever proof you need that I am the owner of dontai.com. I would like my case escalated to a manager, because I cannot wait 60 days. I am asking for an exception to your 60 day rule. My phone number is xxx-xxx-xxxx.

To: Don Tai Jan 26 04:19 PM (10 months) Hello Don, We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused as the rules for the policy can not be changed. Our staff Mike has called you back earlier in regard to the issue. Please help us close this case ticket with the link provided below. Thank you. Regards, Tony Doteasy Customer Service “Join the hosting revolution!” Consolidated, centralized help 24/7. Doteasy Support Centre. Get hosting help now. http://www.doteasy.com/Support

Issue #2: Tech Staff Not Following your Requests

The second customer service issue is that instead of doing what you ask of their technical staff, they try to persuade you to not leave DotEasy. Initially that was Ok, but what happens is that they take a day to reply to each email and stretch out their correspondence. This greatly prolongs the time required to move from them. It came to the point where I had to be rude to the technical staff to show them I didn’t want any more of their “discussions”, and do simply do as I had clearly asked them. When you have to ask the technical staff 3 times to do something, this is excessive and, again, very poor customer service. It was difficult for me to write a rude email to someone I have not met, but DotEasy angered me enough that I felt there was no other ways. I don’t blame the technical staff, as I’m sure they were just following orders from the head of the company. Still, this is an unethical business practice and should not be tolerated.

Issue #3: Negative Option Billing

The third issue is DotEasy’s negative option billing. If you don’t close your account in writing, they will continue their hosting service and bill you for it. This also angers me because unless mandated by law, negative option billing is an unethical business practice. I expect any company I deal with to treat me like an adult: If I do not pay you, the your service should be stopped. Here’s an excerpt from their email to me:

If you DO NOT click on the above links, the default action is to renew your service(s) to avoid any disruption to your website and email, EXCEPT the Doteasy Email Protection System feature which will be assumed as NOT renewing, and this feature will be removed from your hosting account and your email accounts will no longer be protected from spam and email virus.

Once I clicked on the link to cancel here’s the screen I get:

Please submit your request form to notify us of the cancellation of the following feature(s).
Confirm Service Cancellation
To: Doteasy Account Department
From: Don Tai (Don Tai)
Request: I would like Doteasy to discontinue the following web hosting feature(s) for dontai.com:
– Spam & Email Virus Protection Trial

My intent is to cancel my web hosting all together, but this screen says I am only canceling “Spam & Email Virus Protection Trial”, which I did not ask for and do not use. I’d hate to rely on DotEasy for my email needs. DotEasy really has issues writing clear communications to their customers.

Once I submitted the form to cancel hosting services, lo and behold, I also receive no return email to confirm this fact. For a company that is in the business of technology and clearly uses a lot of automated systems, no automated confirmation email is a clear slap in the face. How can I prove I did cancel my account? This again shows an utter lack of customer service.

I am a firm believer that if you receive bad customer service you should communicate this to the company. They then have customer feedback and can take corrective measures. This I believe is fair to the customer and the company. In almost all cases the company is ethical and wishes to retain the customer and goodwill, so they work to resolve any issues. Unfortunately there are terrible companies out there, and DotEasy is one of them. Not only did they not provide me with proper information, they did not work with me to resolve my issues. Even when escalated to a manager, the edict from the owner could not be changed. The manager understood my issues but was unable to change the process or the outcome. In other words, you do it the DotEasy way or they will hold your hosting account hostage.

If you do have an unresolvable issue with DotEasy please file a complaint to Internic. I’m unsure what will happen, but if many customers complain it will not hurt.

As a small business owner and individual my only recourse is to suck it up and take my business elsewhere. I can only hope that others will read my tale of woe and not do business with DotEasy. A cursory internet search for DotEasy problems tells me that I am not the only dissatisfied customer. Their reputation as an unethical host provider is out there.

Addendum: The experience of many former DotEasy customers is that even when you cancel your DotEasy account they will continue to charge your credit card. I have called Mastercard and they have told me to send an email confirming stoppage of all services. If DotEasy does charge your account you can use this email to reverse the charges. DotEasy does not publish their email address on their web site nor in the member section, opting for web forms instead. Using their web forms does not give you any proof of sent correspondence, and they will certainly not give you a copy. Their whois information uses:

Doteasy Technology Inc.
Suite 210 – 3602 Gilmore Way
Burnaby, BC V5G 4W9 Canada
Administrator, System admin@doteasy.com

Almost 2 months since I sent them written confirmation to cancel all services I am still getting emails from DotEasy pestering me to renew my account. If I don’t reply they say they will assume I will continue and charge me accordingly with the credit card info they have on file (negative option billing). This company should be avoided at all costs. Send an email to them and keep a copy, instead of following their link (which gives you no proof you responded).