1and1 Hosting, scam you when you try to cancel

**Bunni** · 07-15-11, 03:13 AM

So i try and cancel. God, forget trying to find the cancel service button on their website. Its designed like casinos in los vegas. After 40-60 minutes i give up and google "cancle 1and1 hosting", low and behold I am not the only one unable to find the just how the hell to cancel my service?! I find a step-by-step tutorial and follow it.

I follow all the instructions, click the link in the confirmation email. 1and1's site says my service is pending cancellation, ok according to the little descriptions at the top of the site I am done. So i go on my merry way.

Well 3 weeks latter, i get an all to familiar bill on my debit card and an invoice email from 1and1 for another 3 months of service....

Wait what?!

So I call up 1and1's 'billing department' (what i am later quite convinced is really a bunch of apes), they claim ignorance on my cancellation request, I forward them all the confirmation email's and the final "your service has been canceled' email and they shrug their shoulders...

Alright... maybe, just MAYBE, 1/10000000000000000000000000000000000 chance, that I actually was the one to screw something up in the first request. So i make a second cancellation request, go through all the steps, but this time, i wise up and change my billing information so they cannot do the same thing again. I even emailed billing to cancel my account.

Few months later, I get billed AGAIN. This time its outstanding (because i removed my billing information) BUT WAIT! My account on 1and1 has been deleted! So even if i wanted to pay the bill, I could not! On top of it, they are sending some quite threatening emails regarding what will happen, should i not pay!

Well i know i damn well did everything i was supposed to to cancel this. At this point, thats two charges for service that i canceled weeks ahead of the minimum time span stated for canceling my contract. And they keep on ignoring my cancelation requests and billing me for service, so i change my billing information to prevent them from billing me again, they give me an outstanding bill and threathen to involve a "debt collection agency" should i not pay.

Some scam. Feels like im in a Casino in Los Vegas.

So i call my attorney, we both conference call 1and1's billing department. Through some short, frank, and equally threatening conversations, the last two service bills are reversed. Well partially reversed, they skimmed down the first bill to $11.20 which they say i can pay over paypal and things end with that.

So a short while later i follow up, to pay the $11.20 (that i shouldnt have to pay anyways, but its a percent i could have lived with).

But no, things do not stop there because i cannot log in, to pay them through paypal. So, i email the billing department (i had to reformat, as they are using some shitty non html reponse system which borks the format of the emails):

Originally Posted by me

OK, the problem still remains that I cannot log in, and cannot recover my password as depected in my
previous email. Your system, seems to no longer accept my login credentials or recognize my customer id.

Originally Posted by billing

-----Original Message-----
From: billing@1and1.com [mailto:billing@1and1.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 5:31 AM
To: ******@*.com
Subject: RE: ********** - 1&1 Internet Inc. Billing RE: Account No.
K******** Payment reminder

Dear **** ****, (Cust: ********)

Thank you for contacting us.

Unfortunately your account is already been canceled and we only accept payment via major credit or debit cards, or PayPal.We can accept a wire transfer or direct payment at any CitiBank Branch.If you wish to do that, please let me know and I will give you the information needed to make the arrangements.

If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact us.

--
Sincerely
****
Billing Department
1&1 Internet Inc.

You can also contact us via phone at (***) ***-****from 9am till
5pm EST Monday to Friday

Originally Posted by me

Yes please, paypal will work.

Originally Posted by billing

-----Original Message-----
From: billing@1and1.com [mailto:billing@1and1.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2011 1:22 AM
To: ******@*.com
Subject: RE: ********** - 1&1 Internet Inc. Billing RE: Account No.
K******** Payment reminder

Dear **** ****, (Cust: ********)

Thank you for contacting us.

The information needed to make the wire transfer is as follows:

XXXXX
XXXXX
XXXX
XXXX

Once you complete this, please fax us a copy of the transfer receipt with your customer ID written on it to (XXX) XXX-XXX so that we can identify the transfer when we receive it.

If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact us.

--
Sincerely
****
Billing Department
1&1 Internet Inc.

You can also contact us via phone at (***) ***-*** from 9am till 5pm EST Monday to Friday

Originally Posted by me

For paypal? Can I make a wire transfer through paypal? Sorry If I was unclear, I wish to use paypal to send the amount, what is your paypal information?

Originally Posted by billing

-----Original Message-----
From: billing@1and1.com [mailto:billing@1and1.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2011 8:35 PM
To: ******@*.com
Subject: RE: ********** - 1&1 Internet Inc. Billing RE: Account No.
K******** Payment reminder

Dear **** ****, (Cust: ********)

Thank you for contacting us.

If you wish to change your method of payment from credit/debit card to PayPal, please follow the steps outlined in the FAQ article below:

How can I check/update my account's payment method?
http://faq.1and1.com/search/go.php?t=e773823

If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,
************
Billing Department
1&1 Internet Inc.

You can also contact us via phone at (***) ***-***- from 9am till 5pm EST Monday to Friday

At this point im damn near screaming, but i know how support is, ive been there, gotta be nice.

Originally Posted by me

Ok, please READ the email.

Let me summarize

My accounts been deleted

I have a bill to pay

You suggested that I could use paypal to pay that bill without needing my account (which you deleted).

I asked for the paypal information, you gave me wire transfer.

I am asking for that paypal address in which I can send the sum of the bill.

Please give me this paypal information (as it's hard to change the payment method for my account, when you deleted my account).

Originally Posted by billing

Dear **** ****, (Cust: ********)

Thank you for contacting us.

We sincerely do apologize for the mixup of information. Please be informed, that the only way for you to pay through paypal, is if you update the payment details online. However, since the account was already cancelled the last option that you have is to pay through wire transfer.

The information needed to make the wire transfer is as follows:

1&1 Internet Inc.
XXXX
XXXX
XXXX
XXXX

Once you complete this, please fax us a copy of the transfer receipt with your customer ID written on it to (***) ***-****so that we can identify the transfer when we receive it.

We sincerely do apologize for the inconvenience caused.

If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact us.

--
Sincerely
******
Billing Department
1&1 Internet Inc.

You can also contact us via phone at (***) ***-***from 9am till 5pm EST Monday to Friday

Alright fine, wire transfer, so i contact my bank who then notifies me that there will be a $25 fee for the transfer of the $11.20 to 1and1..... The only method that has been made available to me is wire transfer, which has a $25...

I love how my account's been deleted, but yet the system still knows my information and how to contact me for the $11.20 fee.

Am i ape shit crazy? Or is this really as appalling as I am finding it to be?

edit, woops missed two emails in there.

**Alundil** · 07-15-11, 07:37 AM

No you're not crazy. Yes that is just as fucked up as you think it is.

WOW.

They must be a member of the BBB.

**triggerhappy2005** · 07-15-11, 07:41 AM

Too bad there isn't real consumer protection like here in Europe. Understand that most laws concerning businesses in the U.S. are written by business owners themselves.

**IcecoldFire04** · 07-15-11, 09:24 AM

unfortunately yes

**WileECyte** · 07-15-11, 09:29 AM

1and1 is a bunch of crooks. I had a fairly simple site I ran there (Running a PHP/mySQL based photo album) and when the performance went in the shitter with them, they told me that the only way for my site to perform better was to 'upgrade' to a better plan. So I told them I'd think on it. Went to my website, archived/downloaded, called them and told them to take a flying leap and cancelled. They tried to bill me later in the year when my annual contract was up (after I had cancelled) but thankfully the credit card it was tied to had issued me a new card, so it failed.

Switched to Bluehost and haven't looked back.

**Dusk** · 07-15-11, 09:37 AM

Fucking unbelievable. That is crazy, man...

**Veovis** · 07-15-11, 12:19 PM

Wow... how stupid can you get. In some businesses where the customer only has 2-3 options (cable or DSL for example), a company can be a crook and still flourish. But in a market like this... where the customer has literally thousands of options... do they not give a shit that they are destroying their own reputation?

**moving-target** · 07-15-11, 12:30 PM

i say send them a check to the physical office and make it out to the company when its cashed you have proof the company got the money you owed them

**Alundil** · 07-15-11, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by moving-target

.....

Probably not a good idea - might want to think about editing that part out. Just saying.

**editorkvan** · 07-26-11, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by WileECyte

1and1 is a bunch of crooks. I had a fairly simple site I ran there (Running a PHP/mySQL based photo album) and when the performance went in the shitter with them, they told me that the only way for my site to perform better was to 'upgrade' to a better plan. So I told them I'd think on it. Went to my website, archived/downloaded, called them and told them to take a flying leap and cancelled. They tried to bill me later in the year when my annual contract was up (after I had cancelled) but thankfully the credit card it was tied to had issued me a new card, so it failed.

Switched to Bluehost and haven't looked back.

OMG, they're awful! I've had two different bad experiences with them. What I want to know is: Has anyone here had 1and1.com try to put negative info on their credit bureaus/reports? It seems hard to do that without a SSN/taxpayer ID #, and I don't think they ask for that info when you sign up. (It's been so long I can't remember.)

My situation: had a domain (personal use, no website, used only for email) and email pkg. with 1 & 1 for 4 years. Switched several domains to BlueHost.com, including the one at 1and1. I canceled 2-3 weeks before domain expiration, clicked on the link in the email they sent, and received a confirmation of cancellation email. In the meantime, due to a group of credit card numbers being exposed to security breaches, my bank issued me a new credit card. 1 and 1 doesn't have the new #, so they can't (fraudulently) bill me. But they are threatening to send it to collections.

When I called this morning and told them I had a cancellation confirmation email from them, they said, "We show you transferred the domain but there's no cancellation. You didn't cancel 'the email package'." Except I did. I told them I had proof; all they said was their system didn't show that proof. I am outraged at this blatant deception. My only fear is negative credit info. Sure, I can dispute it, but honestly, I'd rather go to the dentist or poke my eye out with a stick than deal with all that crap.