Sharednet Web Hosting ripoff! Telemarketer promised not to charge me, then billed me. Customer Service insulted me when I tried to get reimbursed. Lodi California

A month ago I was contacted at the my business by a telemarketer representing Sharednet Web Hosting. After politely listening to this person's offer to create and host a website for my company, I told her that I do my own web hosting and developing and that additional hosting would be unnecessary.

The telemarketer stressed that there would be no obligation and I should at least consider what Sharednet might do for my company in terms of reaching search engines. I requested written information by mail to get rid of her as quickly as posible. The Sharednet representative, who was very friendly and personable, assured me that no charges would be incurred if I just give her a few stats regarding my business so that a mock website could be set up for my consideration.

I gave her the info as we both listened to a recorded voice. She stayed on the line and pressed the # and * keys as I gave the company name, address, etc., while also laughing and making jokes with me. When a final statement was presented regarding billing after 15 days she said something to the affect of, "that doesn't apply to you. We just have to go through all of these steps."

I never received the Sharednet packet, so I forgot about the whole deal, so I logged onto the supposed mock site or used their service. A charge of aprox. $70 for Sharednet just appeared on my phone bill from Integretel, Inc.

I immediately contacted Integretel, Inc. and they transferred me to Sharednet because they don't handle the billing. The person I spoke with at Sharednet insulted me and refused to transfer me to a supervisor. Finally, I had my husband called them and they hanged up on him.

We contacted Bell South and so far the only thing we have is a an open case for investigation of disputed charges. It seems there is no hope for me to get the charges reversed, and with a high probability of having to pay for a service I did not request from a company that obviously does not care about reputation or potential customer base.

Isabel
Cumming, Georgia
U.S.A.