Complaint Review: AOKwebhost - AOKweb.com - AOKweb.net - Pensacola Florida

Purchased hosting from this company? Don't expect a refund if their service "Ain't AOK!"

Our company paid for hosting with AOKweb.com for 1 year on 5/15/06, with the guarantee that if not satisfied, a refund would be processed in full. As stated in big bold letters on their web site, "If our service ain't AOK, you don't pay!" Not only were we charged for the year, we were also charged tax for the State of Florida, although we reside in Tennessee. We believe they are most likely not reporting this tax, but are further investigating this matter.

Payment was made through the on-line processor, PayPal through which you have an option within 60 days to refund all or a portion of payment without fees.

When we were unable to resolve issues with the publishing of our site after filing several unanswered tech requests, and rarely someone available to answer the phone or be able to provide help, we requested a refund which was on 6/3/06, well within the 30 day trial period.

We were told by Ricardo McCarty, AOK owner, that he could not refund through PayPal due to fees and we would receive a check within 3-4 weeks. We are well aware no fees are charged for refunds within 60 days and tried to dispute this as all payments are provided the ability to be processed back in the manner in which received, but he would not listen and even wrote a response through PayPal that our refund would be received in 3-4 weeks. We could not accelerate our claim with PayPal to a full resolution as they will not help to resolve disputes involving a "service," only goods. We believe AOK new well of this.

We have yet to receive our refund and it is now 5 months. A complaint was filed with the BBB on 7/5/06, and the case was closed with no reponse on 8/7/06. A response did come in from AOK several weeks later as 'being processed,' but we did not accept as we were told many time before that this refund was being processed - and of course, we've not received it. The internet security company who referred us to AOK has canceled AOK's account and their security seals remain as 'expired' data on their site. As many times as we tried to e-mail AOK, we receive notices that our e-mail had been received as spam.

On 7/14/06, we filed with the ICU and the FTC. We also filed with The St. Petersburg Times, Action Committee, a service provided for help in resolving such issues, and they received no response from AOK as well.

We are pleased to know of the BAD Business Bureau as we have been quite surprised by what we've found to be true about the Better Business Bureau. We have come to realize they are not a reliable source of information or much help with resolution.

We will be taking further action and although this is a minimal amount, we believe a company should be responsible for their actions and live up to their promises. It is a matter of business principles, and we certainly take pride in ours.

Lee

Knoxville, Tennessee
U.S.A.