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Report: #455064

Complaint Review: Hostway - Romeoville Illinois

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  • Reported By: North Canton Ohio
  • Author Confirmed What's this?
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  • Hostway hostway.com Romeoville, Illinois U.S.A.

Hostway Hostway trying to Extort $500 to release my domain!!! Romeoville Illinois

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I had a similar experience as another ripoffreport where Hostway was trying to extort money from the customer in order to release their domain. I had renewed my domain through godaddy for 10 years in advance. I transfered the domain to hostway, and ran a successful video game website for about 5 years. My company lost its supplier, and we closed the business, but retained the website just in case we at a later date want to reopen the business or even decide to sell the domain we own.

We decide to start the business again, and when I try to login to my domain account it will not let me. I request my password via Hostway.com and it sends me the same password I entered. Thinking I may have entered it incorrectly I copy and paste the password from the email...again no luck. I email hostway, no one responds. I email them again about 5 days later, again no one responds. I email them 5 more times in the next several months, again no replies. I then google for a phone # for hostway, where I finally get one.

I call hostway and speak to technical support, who say my account has been closed since 03/27/08. and that is why I cannot access it. He states "An email should have been sent to your email address saying if you did not pay your outstanding balance of $65.90 the account was going to be closed. You did not pay it so it closed." I responded that I understood that the website and its subsequent features would be closed, but my domain name I renewed for 10 years through another website, godaddy.com, and that is what I needed access to so I could transfer it to another host. They state I have pay my outstanding balance of $65.90 to allow it to be transfered. I stated I own the domain, and the domain is not part of a secured debt so legally they have no right to hold or take my domain. He stated to call billing in the AM. I ask to speak to a supervisor who agrees to email billing to release the domain, but again asks me to call in the AM.

I call billing in the AM, and am told that my domain is not recoverable as the account was closed due to an outstanding balance of $65.90. If I pay they may be able to recover it, if I do not pay they cannot. After explaining that I renewed the domain elsewhere for 10 years, then transfered it to hostway, and I therefore own the domain totally apart form Hostway, and since the debt Hostway states I owe is not a secured debt they have no legal right to hold my domain nor take possession of it. She refuses to help until I ask for a supervisor. She then states she was able to recover the domain, and I can access my account and transfer the domain if I so choose. I ask about the other 30 domains that expired during the time I could not gain access to them for the same reasons previously stated, she said she saw no other domains. I explained I have renewal notices from Hostway in my email. In fact I just got one yesterday. She says that it is impossible as she sees no other domains.

About 5 days later I am getting ready to transfer the domain, but before I start I go to my email. I find a bill from hostway for nearly $500. It shows them trying to charge my Mastercard on 05/20/09, but the bill does not show being created and sent until 05/23/09!?!?! Further it shows them charging me for my old website, and the subdomain charges etc since mid May of 2008 or about 2 months after the account was closed due to an outstanding balance of $65.90. I have tried calling them but they are out for Memorial day. I have also emailed them and am awaiting a response. What a horrible, shameful company.

Dustin
North Canton, Ohio
U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 05/25/2009 09:02 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/hostway/romeoville-illinois-60446/hostway-hostway-trying-to-extort-500-to-release-my-domain-romeoville-illinois-455064. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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