Warning About 1 and 1 Internet Inc.
This is a warning about 1 and 1 Internet Inc.post I decided to write to caution consumers about signing up for any kind of service from 1 and 1 Internet Inc., as they are, in my personal opinion, a very unethical online company and fall into the same class as totally tacky internet marketing scams.
There is one thing that I thoroughly detest and that is, any company or person who practices deceit and unethical business practices, and my experience with 1 and 1 Internet Inc. has been the worst experience with an online company that I have ever encountered.
The reason I place 1 and 1 internet Inc. into the online company scam category is due to my unfortunate and frustrating dealings with them. I feel it is only fair to write this post to provide a warning about 1 and 1 Internet Inc. to my readers and consumers, so they don’t go through a similar horrible experience with them, that I have, as well as many, many others that I since discovered. They are becoming well known for cheating and tricking customers into unwanted and inexplicable locked in contracts with phony free trials and other bait and switch tricks, and then making it impossible for people to cancel, so they can extort money by sending those owing accounts to a collection agency. This is an example of one of those FREE TRIALS to be wary of; MyWebsite
First of all, let me begin by saying that I pride myself in being intelligent and astute in my business dealings..both offline and online, but even the most shrewd person can be taken in by a company or individual who run their business unethically. Personally, my experience with 1 and 1 Internet Inc. has left me with one of the most negative experiences with an online company in my 18 plus years online. My regret is that I did not do a thorough research online of 1 and 1 Internet Inc., before signing up for any service. Had I done my due diligence, I would have found the long list of sites with negative 1 and 1 Internet bad reviews and irrate ex customers that also claim switch and bait, corrupt and unethical business tactics. That, along with my awful experience, is the reason for this warning About 1 and 1 Internet Inc.
My Unfortunate Business Dealings With 1 and 1 Internet Inc.
I signed up with 1 and 1 Internet Inc. several years ago to register a domain only. I had no plans to use them to host a website. The idea was, I was going to launch a commercial site and use HostGator as my hosting company for this domain, but needed time to properly plan it out. My life is so busy and I wanted to make sure that I could devote the sufficient time it was going to take to manage this type of website. So the domain was going to sit idle until I had a plan to execute.
Then there were a series of incidents that took place that began to raise red flags about 1 and 1 Internet Inc. and their questionable business practices
The first tip off incident was, I received a call one evening from 1 and 1 Internet by a fast, smooth talking salesman about their new email service they were offering to their valued customers. I clearly told him I did not need another email service because I have plenty of free email accounts already. He said that he understood, but just wanted an evaluation of this new email service and would I look at it and provide some feedback? I said I would look at it. After that, an email arrived in my inbox thanking me for participating in the evaluation, which I had not yet done.
I had an uncomfortable feeling about that call and later that week I signed into my account for the first time in many months and was astonished to see this new email service added to my account with a fee attached to it, and other services! I was outraged and contacted customer service to tell them to remove these services from my account and that I had never signed up for a “paying email service” or any other service, other than registering a domain name.” I was told that I needed to log onto the site and cancel it myself, even though I clearly told them I had never signed up. After arguing this point for 20 minutes, I was told to contact their complaints department.
I sent an email to their complaints department and outlined the situation and told them that under no circumstances had I signed up for an email service or any other services except the domain registration. This just fell on deaf ears. I was told to go in and cancel the service online, but still owed them money.
So that is exactly what I did; I logged in and cancelled. A week later I again logged in to see the email service and other services miraculously reactivated! Again, I launched a series of emails and made phone calls. I was so disgusted and angry that at that point I decided to cancel everything with them. Sounds easier said than done.
Only Houdini Can Cancel 1 and 1 Internet Inc. Services
To make a very long and frustrating story short, over a period of six months, I tried everything to cancel my entire account with 1 and 1 Internet Inc. I doubt even Houdini could pull off cancelling anything with 1 and 1.
I cancelled online, I contacted customer service and customer complaints and I called them by telephone. My deactivated/cancelled services continued to magically reappear as activated online. I continued to complain only to be told my account was auto renewed. I felt like I was dealing with aliens from another planet who did not understand our language. I again told them that I did not authorize services in my account and my domain registration contract period was up.
I also informed them that they made it impossible to cancel with no response except to contact their complaints dept. Dozens more emails, calls, and attempts to cancel online. The last three times that I attempted to cancel online, their server timed out and again the services remained active. Payments continued to be taken from my credit card even though I had cancelled by telephone, email and online more times than I can count.
At this point I was beyond livid and started sending emails to them every couple of days telling advising them that if they did not cancel my services and stop asking for payment, I would take legal action. Their canned responses stated that “I did not cancel on time and my payments were in arrears.”
I began thinking I was trapped inside some space hole with no escape.
Warning About 1 and 1 Internet Inc. Read Scam and Negative Reviews
Frustrated beyond belief, I began searching online for information on 1 and 1 Internet scams and what recourse I had for taking legal action against 1 and 1 Internet Inc.
Two positive things happened that week which had an impact on trying to do the impossible, cancel Internet 1 and 1 Internet Inc. services.
The first thing was, I found a tremendous amount of negative posts about 1 and 1 Internet Inc. and scam reviews. The second thing brought a sense of relief and that was, my bank sent me a new “chip” credit card with a new number, which when activated, would cancel out my previous credit card. Hallelujah!
When 1 and 1 Internet Inc. attempted to continue collecting money from my old credit card, they were met with an inactive card. That situation of course prompted a warning email from them with a threat to send my account to a collection agency. I decided enough was enough with this unprincipled and deceitful company. I sent an email to both their customer service and complaints advising them that if they did not cancel my account, I would take the following actions; I would write a post about their devious business practices, I would file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, Better Business Bureau, and Attorney General’s office.
They replied with a similar threat about sending my account to collections then asked me if I wished to cancel.??!!?? What the hell? For six months and in countless emails and online attempts, I have tried to cancel and they sent me an email with that question. No words here that can suffice.
I chose not to post my last reply here to 1 and 1 internet Inc. scammers as it is very harsh and severe, but I am sure you can imagine what was written. Essentially I also told them if they didn’t cease and desist with the email threats, I would sue them for harassment. No more emails…so far.
Negative Comments From Angry Ex Customers of 1 and 1 Internet Inc.
I took the time to collect some of the comments I gathered from sites that contained comments from the many upset customers of 1 and 1 Internet Inc. They range from Year 2007 to 2012 and there are countless more.
“Worst domain registrar in the world..” “Charged for domains I don’t have and I don’t use..” “Use bait and switch tactics..” “They have the worst customer service..” “NEVER EVER USE THIS COMPANY!!!!!!!!” “Incompetent, less than reputable company..” “Horrible customer service..” “These people make it ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO CANCEL THEIR SERVICE. HORRIBLE, FRAUD..” “Rip-off artists!” “1&1 deserves the Golden Turd award..” “Please don’t make the same mistake as I did, and stay away from 1&1..” “1and1 by far is the WORST I’ve ever had the misfortune of dealing with..” “In the 11 years I have been doing IT this is the worst service I have ever had from an internet services company..” “If you have a domain name or multiple domain names, they are set to “AUTO RENEW”. 1AND1 does not really tell you this up front, it is in the fine print..”Here are only a few sites with complaints and experiences posted from ex customers about 1 and 1 Internet Inc. and their deceptive contract tactics to ensnare victims which will expose you to their unethical business practices, and inability to be able to cancel anything with them. After you read the comments on these sites, you will really understand why the warning about 1 and 1 Internet Inc.
1 and 1 Internet Auto Renewal Fraud
1 and 1 Internet Cancellation Problems
1 and 1 Internet Customer Comments
Horror Stories About 1 and 1 Internet
Why People Hate 1 and 1 Internet
In closing out this horror story about my experience with 1 and 1 Internet Inc., let me just say this, buyer be extremely aware of signing up for anything with 1 and 1. You may have some severe regrets and find yourself in a hopeless situation where they have your credit card number on file and then you will sadly discover that it is next to impossible to cancel any services that you may, or may not, have signed up for.
Here is one of their replies when I complained that I had been trying to cancel a service that I never signed up for, that is quite startling; “The service will perpetually renew unless proactively cancelled.” I am not quite sure what proactively means in this instance, but it must mean that if you try to cancel any unwanted or bogus 1 and 1 Internet Inc. services by email, online or on the telephone over a long period of time and you cannot because it is next to impossible, then, tough luck!
I sincerely hope that by posting this warning about 1 and 1 Internet Inc., I may have helped someone from falling into their deceitful traps.
© 2012, Linda. All rights reserved.
