Hostica - www.Hostica.com - Jatek Corporation Bait and Switch Followed by Awful Customer Service Torrance California

Hostica has awful customer support and plain bad business ethics by using classic bait and switch methods to cheat consumers.

Hostica promised private domain registration for the package I purchased. Then, they did not deliver it. The list of ineptitude that preceded this last incident is here: First, I called them. Left a message for sales and received no response to my call. This should have been my first clue about them. However, as a supporter of small businesses, I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. I then contacted their live support. I tried verifying my purchase included private domain registration. They incessantly asked for my account information.

I replied, I did not have an account just a general question. (I think there were some language barrier problems but the company claims their base of operations is in Torrance, CA. Dare I say, evidence of yet another bait and switch?) My question answered via live chat affirmatively, package included private domain registration, I purchased. They immediately processed funds from my PayPal account. However, I received no access to my domain/hosting. A couple of days later, I created a support ticket* and only after this did I receive any acknowledgment of my new account.

Fast-forward a few weeks; I logged in to upload my new site. I decided to verify my domain and registration again before proceeding. To my dismay, I discovered that my domain registration was not private as promised. I contacted Hostica. (I tried their phone, no one answered. It is a recording and never takes you to a live operator.) Finally, I had to resort to their live chat. After asking me for my domain name, "Chris"

supposedly had reviewed my account but their system is so unsophisticated that he apparently could not review anything related to it. This included the original support ticket* I sent. All under the same account, but I still had to furnish a ticket number for him to view the related information. {*Original ticket clearly stated, "I paid $18 via PayPal for private domain registration and hosting. I have not received any account or login details. Please update me on the status of my order."

To which I received a reply that acknowledged my message, the new account and that they had received my support ticket. They stated they completed my new account creation and that I would receive my login details via a welcome letter. (Now, at no time did the billing department, who sent this response and verified my order to send that message, ever contradict my order details or claim I did not have privacy included with my order for this domain.)} “Chris” then told me I needed to pay more.

He also told me that; the response, (to the support ticket*) although it did not contradict the details of my order in the ticket, it also did not acknowledge them. Therefore, it was of no use in verifying my original purchase. Moreover, Hostica, apparently, does not keep records of their consumer purchases or the contents of those services included in those purchases. (Really? I bet the IRS would love to review those records, or lack thereof.) So now, I would have to pay their newest pricing for private registration.

If they do not know and have no record of what I purchased in my package, how could they say what was or was not included? Besides, if their previous review of my purchase via their billing department saw no error in my description of my billing and purchase, how is their positive response and subsequent account registration, not acknowledging it?

The receipt I have does not line itemize the original purchase. It only verifies the amount and company details for Hostica. Yet, another red flag for this business and its unscrupulous practices. Caveat emptor with Hostica, their dodgy services and their customer support providers. Don’t be taken advantage of by this company. They are not functioning on good faith and integrity.