Complaint Review: SocialPresenceNetwork LLC

This is a rant/warning for everyone about iWeb. I have been in IM for 5-6 years and have tried 10+ hosting companies and probably had more than 50 servers throughout this time, so I know and this is by far the worst host I've ever used and the most idiotic support and tech team I've ever had to deal with.

So November of last year I was referred to iWeb and setup a server, as my business and traffic had increased, we slowly went up the latter and got a bigger server. Once I got to a $500 Cloud server, there were nothing but issues. So, each time, they had told us the server we were setting up could handle the traffic we were doing and it couldn't. So after having enough of the $500 cloud dedicated server, I was just like tell me what I can do that we will have no issues with crashing of the server, so they suggest a $750 cloud dedicated server which was supposed to be overkill.

So we set it up, we wasted 2 days figuring out why our name servers and domains were not propagating. After countless tickets, live chat sessions and myself and my guys going through testing and trying to figure out what was wrong, they tell us they forgot to actually set our IPs to our account and since the IPs weren't set that we were assigned, nothing could propagate. So, then after they do this, everything propagates, we set things up, good to go. Over the next month, we had literally probably 1-2 full server crashes that we couldn't restart ourselves and had to be fully rebooted by them locally. Every single time, they claimed to have found the issue and fixed it, just to have more issues happen the next day.  I literally gave them about 50+ chances, just because when doing something large scale, transferring to something else causes downtime and a huge pain. 

At one point they claimed it was our network card, so they reinstalled a new one, which they said would take 10-30 minutes, took them 6 hours. After that, nothing was working on our server and we couldn't figure out why, so we decide to contact them and they respond that it was because they forgot to set our IPs again. Unreal, I know. So after another probably week or two of constant downtime and them never fixing whatever the issue was, I had enough and I started to look elsewhere. Found a good company, started to set everything up, all was well. Then I get contacted by iWeb that someone said our site was malicious and that they suspended all the domains. At this point, it was a joke, I literally laughed it out, since I was almost ready to transfer within the next 24 hours. I told them that they were idiots and to look at the sites, there was nothing illegal, nothing malicious and we obfuscated our code which obviously caused a false positive.

So, I transfer over to GloboTech (found on Google). They spoke to me for literally 2-3 hours finding out what I was doing, what I was pushing traffic wise and tons of other stuff, they logged into my iWeb server and looked into the setup. Basically, come to find out, they had not really optimized anything on their side, we did everything we could and they started to just discarded millions of traffic because they couldn't handle it. 

I couldn't tell you how many times I asked them to fix it or tell me the server couldn't handle it, so I could upgrade. They said the server could and something was wrong. After literally probably 100 tickets over 2-3 months with issues constantly happening, we got no where. They wasted countless hours of ours, so much traffic and so much money, I don't even want to think about it.

I had paid for my server upfront, because they invoice 2 weeks before the server payment is actually due and the new billing cycle starts. So, I pay my $768 dollars 2 weeks before it was really due and in those next 2 weeks I had finally had enough. So, after transferring to GloboTech (who are awesome BTW), they canceled the server as per my request on the 17th and the server billing cycle starts the 18th and it was already paid in full. So, they end up crediting my account and refuse my several requests to get a refund to my paypal or to withdraw the funds. So, I pay upfront, don't use the server and according to their support, their terms say I can not get a refund in cash once I cancel, only a credit, which is ridiculous since of their incompetence, which resulted in me having to go elsewhere.

Long story short, I had issues for 2-3 months straight, gave them so many chance, when I did cancel, after I had already paid upfront for the coming month, they wouldn't give me my $768 and now it sits in my account with them; a company I refuse to ever use again. Any suggestions guys?

Here's all the proof:
Money in my account, they won't let me get refunded from the payment in full in advance, won't let me withdraw:
http://gyazo.com/80ce83cfb61e6fb02895bcc535d2acfa

This is tickets from the last 10 days, but keep in mind I canceled a week ago. So it's really only 04/11 to 04/16 and look at all this in just 5 days:
[CODE]RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxx/CPU-LOAD is OKReply


#6851416PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxx/CPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6851426RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxxx/CPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6851455PROBLEM alert: ne-r067xxxxxx/CPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6851472RECOVERY alert: ne-r067xxxxxxx/CPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6851480[Nagios] FLAPPINGSTART alert: ne-r067-xxxxx/CPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6851523FLAPPINGSTOP alert: ne-r067-xxxxxx/CPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6851524PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxx/CPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6851527PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxxx/CPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6851533RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxxx/CPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6851571PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxx/CPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6851575RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxx/CPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6851768PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxx/CPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6851777PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6851958RECOVERY alert: ne-r067xxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6851961PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6851967PROBLEM alert: ne-r067xxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6852262RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6852264PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6852280RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6852281RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxx is UPReply
#6852282PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6852287PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6852296RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6852301PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6852304PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6852311RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6852792RECOVERY alert: ne-r06xxxxxis UPReply
#6852832PROBLEM alert: ne-r067xxxxxPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6852843PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6853267RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6853274PROBLEM alert: ne-r067xxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6853279PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6853295RECOVERY alert: ne-r067xxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6853399PROBLEM alert: ne-r067xxxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6853403RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6853406PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxx/CPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6853407RECOVERY alert: ne-r067xxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6853414PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6853420PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6855044RECOVERY alert: ne-r067xxxxxis UPReply
#6855050RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6855120PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6855186PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6855309PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6855326RECOVERY alert: ne-r067xxxxFTP is OKReply
#6855322PROBLEM alert: ne-r067xxxxFTP is CRITICALReply
#6855327RECOVERY alert: ne-r067xxxxIMAP is OKReply
#6855319PROBLEM alert: ne-r067xxxxxIMAP is CRITICALReply
#6855334RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxxSSH is OKReply
#6855325PROBLEM alert: ne-r067xxxxxSSH is CRITICALReply
#6855335RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxxMYSQL is OKReply
#6855315PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxMYSQL is CRITICALReply
#6855337RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6855294[Nagios] PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxxMYSQL is CRITICALReply
#685533[agios] PROBLEM alert: ne-r067xxxxx/CPU-LOAD is CRITICALReply
#6855281[Nagios] PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is CRITICALReply
#6855460PROBLEM alert: ne-r067xxxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6855498PROBLEM alert: ne-r067xxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6855524PROBLEM alert: ne-r067xxxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6855516PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxCPU-LOAD is CRITICALReply
#6855567RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6855400[Nagios] FLAPPINGSTART alert: ne-r067-xxxxxis UPReply
#6855585PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6855604PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6853518[Nagios] PROBLEM alert: ne-r067xxx is DOWNReply
#6855707PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6855705PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is CRITICALReply
#6855849RECOVERY alert: ne-r067xxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6855875PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6855911RECOVERY alert: ne-r06xxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6855928PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6855963[Nagios] FLAPPINGSTART alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6856122FLAPPINGSTOP alert: ne-r0xxxxxxx/CPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6856165FLAPPINGSTOP alert: ne-rxxxxl is UPReply
#6856184[Nagios] FLAPPINGSTART alert: ne-r067xxxx is UPReply
#6856225FLAPPINGSTOP alert: ne-r067-xxxx is UPReply
#6856454PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6856458RECOVERY alert: ne-r067xxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6856583PROBLEM alert: ne-r0xxxxl/CPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6856589PROBLEM alert: ne-r067xxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6856605RECOVERY alert: ne-r067xxxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6856626PROBLEM alert: ne-r0xxxxl/CPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6856620[Nagios] FLAPPINGSTART alert: ne-r067-xxxxis UPReply
#6856632PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6856633RECOVERY alert: ne-r06xxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6856646PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxCPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6856651RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxx/CPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6856691FLAPPINGSTOP alert: ne-rxxxxx is UPReply
#6856715PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxx/CPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6856786RECOVERY alert: ne-r067xxxx is UPReply
#6856788RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxCPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6856836PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxx/CPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6856879PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-xxxxx/CPU-LOAD is WARNINGReply
#6857011RECOVERY alert: ne-r067-xxxxxxx/CPU-LOAD is OKReply
#6856723[Nagios] PROBLEM alert: ne-r067-x is DOWNReply
#6860761[][183742] [NE-R067-xxxxx] Désactivation - Rapid ResponseReply
#6858938[DEDI][183742] Re: [iWeb] Credit Applied To Your Account NCxxxxxReply

[/CODE]

My last conversation with their support about me wanting a refund in cash, not a credit to be used with their horrible support and service:
[CODE]David De LangheThank you for contacting iWeb, we're pleased to hear from you. How can we help you today?
Client
Hi, I requested a cancellation of my server and a refund a week ago and my request was responded to, said it was pending a refund and then was never addressed
I emailed back, no response to the ticket
It shouldn't take a week to get my server refunded that I paid upfront for, I need a refund
David De Langhe
hello
It will be my pleasure to assist you with your credit inquiry. May I ask you for your client account number, and your e-mail please.
Client
I have no idea what my account number is
David De Langhe
That is fine xxxxxx.
One moment, while I verify the information.
Thank you xxxxxxx, I am showing your account has a credit balance of $768.00
Client
That's the point
Its supposed to be refunded to paypal
David De Langhe
The credit applied on your account is there for further uses, not to be refunded.
Client
I don't think you understand what I'm saying here
I was invoiced for my server
I paid upfront (roughly 2 week early)
I then had enough of the incompetence over here
So I decided to cancel and go elsewhere
The money I paid upfront for the server was not used
The server was not used
The credit was issued
But I don't need money sitting in my iWeb account with a company I will never use again
I need the money refunded that I paid
I made that very clear to them
I've yet to get a refund
My last response
> Dear xxxxxxxxxx,
> 
> This ticket was transferred to the billing department which is the last
> stage of your closing request for server NE-R067-xxxxxx 
> 
> My name is Patricia and I`m in charged of this procedure. I confirm
> the cancellation of your server NE-R067-xxxxxx on 2014-04-18 end of
> your billing cycle, as per your request. As a result, all corresponding
> fees associated with invoice xxxxxxxx have been credited in full. 
> 
> Please make sure all important data is removed before april 18th.
> 
> A request has been sent to our accounting department in regards to the
> refund xxxxxx.
> 
> Mr xxxxx, we appreciate greatly the time that you spent as our client
> and hope to see you return soon; please do not hesitate to contact us
> should you have further questions or concerns.We are at your service
> 24/7 by chat, phone or email ( tickets).
> 
> Best regards, 
> ==================================================
> Patricia D.,
> Billing Specialist 
> Customer Advocacy
David De Langhe
xxxxx, let me transfer you to our customer relation department. They will asset you further.
Client
k
You have been transferred to: Misty G..
Misty G.
Hello xxxxxx, my name is Misty and I am the senior agent in Customer Relationship Management
Please allow me a moment to read your chat
I have your ticket 6857748 regarding this issue
As per the terms of service, while we are able to credit a payment, we are not able to refund it
Your account currently carries a credit of $768.00
Hello, are you there?
Hello xxxxx?
I am sending you the pertinent clause in the terms of service:
Any prepayment is a commitment regarding the payment period that can not be refunded outside the terms of the satisfaction warranty which applies for 30 days following the opening of the account. However, when closing a product, the account may be credited with the value of advanced payments for that product. The credit may be used for further purchases at iWeb.
Should you have a better time to chat later, feel welcome to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have.


Our Customer Relationship Management department is open from 7 to 7
weekdays.For any technical or billing questions, you may reach us 24
hours a day, 7 days a week.
You have been transferred to: Yahaira N..
You have been transferred to: Jorge D..
Client
Um?
Are you kidding me?
I paid upfront for a service I didn't use
How in the world are you going to deny me a refund request to PayPal?
I paid upfront for the service
You have been transferred to: Patricia D..
Client
What a joke, I paid upfront for the server, before I even used it
I didn't use the server once, which I paid the full payment for early
At the 2 week invoice time, before it is required to be paid
Now I didn't use it and you guys are going to deny my refund request?
Your service and the way you guys handled my server was absolutely horrendous. Check the account you'll see that there were several occasions where you guys messed stuff up that was 100% your fault and that I finally had enough
I refuse to use you guys again for anything, you already screwed my business up enough
You have been transferred to: Misty G..
Client
If you guys are going to refuse my refund, I'm getting my lawyer involved
I can prove you guys were single handedly responsible for a enormous decrease in sales, due to your incompetence
Misty G.
xxxxx
Have you read the terms of service?
I highly recommend that you do so
Client
There were several occasions where you guys messed stuff up which caused server outage
I've read it
I didn't even use the d**n server for the month I paid for it
Misty G.
Then you would know that we are not responsible for any punitive damage
Client
And I refuse to ever work with you guys again
Misty G.
This is your prerogative, of course, we are simply honouring the contract
The contract is very specific on this point
Client
You are holding my money, when I'm leaving you guys, because you guys can't offer the service as you should
Therefore I canceled
Misty G.
I am sorry, but a refund in this instance is not possible
As stated, we are unable to do this
Client
I paid upfront
I didn't use the server for the month I paid for it
I paid 2 weeks before the bill was due
Misty G.
You have been credited for that month
Client
Within the next 2 weeks I canceled
Misty G.
And made a prepayment of your own free will
Client
Before the 18th when the new bill started
Exactly
Now I need to withdraw the funds
Misty G.
Again, I am sorry, but this is the contract and you have been informed of the decision
Client
It's against the low for you guys to hold funds without allowing a refund
I bet you didn't know that
So, what's your legal departments contact info
Misty G.
We agreed on a contract
Client
You're right
And you guys couldn't offer me the service I PAID FOR
Due to your incompetence
Misty G.
Your ticket has been escalated to me and as stated we are unable to refund you in this instance
Client
Therefore I canceled
You can not hold my money without allowing me to withdraw it
That is against the law
So what is your legal departments info
So I can have my lawyer send papers
Misty G.
You are welcome to send papers to our address
Client
I don't even care if it cots more in lawyer fees
I'm f**king sick of your guys s**t
You f**k up my business, I cancel for the server and get $750 credited which I refuse to ever use again
Given the fact you guys can't offer the service I pay for
And you guys are going to hold my money?
Misty G.
20 Place du Commerce Nun's Island Quebec H3E 1Z6
xxxx
As stated, we have a mutually agreed upon contract
Client
Thats against the law to hold funds and not allow the client to request a refund
I don't think you're reading what I'm saying
Misty G.
You were shown this before taking the service and agreed to it
Client
I don't care about your contract
Misty G.
So I have furnished the address to you
Client
In your contract you are also required to deliver the service I paid for, which was not given as advertised
Therefore I canceled
Misty G.
I have given you all of the information possible for this case
Client
It has nothing to do with your contract
Misty G.
I understand that you do not agree with it
Client
It is against the law to hold someones funds without allowing a refund
So, you'll be hearing from my lawyer soon
What a joke of a company you guys are
Misty G.
Again, I cannot provide further information than this
Client
You guys mess everything up on my server and can't fix stuff
Then you hold my money
Unreal
Misty G.
Is there anything else that you wish to have assistance with?
Client
I'm suing you guys. I'll be sure to keep this convo and your name too
You guys will get the papers within the next 2 weeks
Bye
Misty G.
That is your prerogative, I am simply following our mutual contract
I wish you a good day
Client
Or are you?
because the service was not offered as advertised
Therefore you guys breached your own contract
And it is a United States and Canadian Financial crime to hold a clients funds without allowing them to withdraw these funds.[/CODE]

Incompetence:
[CODE]I'm really sorry to hear that. For what I see uppon my investigations it seems that your network card give us a lot of
errors.

The best way it's to schedule a maintenance in order to replace it.

After that I believe that the issue will be definitely resolved.

Let me know if you want to proceed or not.

We can schedule the maintenance ASAP.

Best regards,[/CODE]

[CODE]Unfortunately the previous ticket was closed due to a ticket system
error. We created this new ticket for your server to continue our work
here. From what we can see, the server is still online and accessible.

Can you please tell us what you see as offline at the moment? (service)
Thank you for your comprehension.

Best regards,[/CODE]

[CODE]We truly understand your concerns about your server's reliability. So
far, the hardware changes we did seems to have worked since the server
has been online for over an hour now. We will still keep an eye on it
for the rest of the afternoon just to be sure.

We understand that you are not satisfied with the quality of our
services and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. We suggest
that you contact our CRM department either by phone or livechat during
business hours to discuss a compensation or credit for those downtimes.

Please let us know if we can assist you with anything else.

Best regards,[/CODE]

[CODE]
We tried with another cable and another network card but the issue occurs again.

By looking at your packages (yum update), I found that you have many system packages that would need to be upgraded.

The kernel and kernel-firmware packages are espacially what could cause this issue.
[/CODE]

[CODE]While I was monitoring the server, the issue came back again.

It can be solved quickly by restarting the network service.
This is a workaround for now but I am investigating further to find the exact cause.

To make sure that the issue was not related to the cable, we changed it.

I will still continue to monitor the server.

If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to reply to this ticket.
[/CODE]

[CODE]We restarted the network service and the server came back online.
We verified all logs and network configuration on the server and we did not find any indication of this issue.
The server itself did not reboot or go down, only the network service had an issue.

I would like to monitor this server to make sure that the issue doesn't come back.
If you have any other issues, please reply to this ticket and I will look into it right away.

If the issue persists, we could try to install a newer motherboard model with a new RAID card but a reinstallation could be
required. We would like to save you this trouble, if possible.

Please let us know if there's anything else we can do for you. It will be our pleasure to serve you in any way.

Sincerely,[/CODE]

[CODE]We swapped the motherboard and RAM for the same model (but a new one).

This should be the exact same thing for you.

If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to reply to this ticket. We will gladly respond as soon as we can.

Don't forget that our technical service is opened 24/7/365.

Thank you for choosing iWeb.[/CODE]

[CODE]We did a full hardware swap of your server and it is now back online.

If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to reply to this ticket. We will gladly respond as soon as we can.

Take note that this maintenance will not be charged since it is an hardware issue.

Don't forget that our technical service is opened 24/7/365.

Thank you for choosing iWeb.[/CODE]

[CODE]Greetings,

If you'd like, we can try to replace the network card to make sure that the issue isn't hardware-related.

Please let us know when is the best time for us to perform this maitenance. A downtime of 15 to 30 minutes is expected.
[/CODE]


**THIS WAS ONLY OVER 5 days time. From April 9th to the 14th, the top being the most recent, the bottom being the 9th.**There's so much more, its constantly just like this all week every week. I know, I was an idiot for waiting this long to go elsewhere, but I had to post this to make sure no one else wastes their time with these idiots.

Them not setting our IPs after installing a different network card which was supposed to fix the issue:
[CODE]I have taken over the urgent cases tonight, and have repaired the incorrect
configuration of the IPs on your server.  

Your domains seem to be functioning now.

I will keep an eye on the server overnight.

Please verify that everything is correct on your side.

Regards,[/CODE]

I can give more proof of them forgetting to set IPs 2 times they gave us and countless other things. Remember this is just the last week of emails and issues/errors. It's been like this for 2-3 months.

Sorry for the long rant, I just wanted to show lots of proof and I wanted to warn you all to NEVER use iWeb.