Complaint Review: NorthWestWebSolutions.co.uk - Rochdale Internet

I had a reseller account with TopHostingUK.com for around 2 years with few problems. They were then taken over by NorthWestWebSolutions.co.uk and that's when the problems started.

The service was terrible, with my sites frequently being offline for days at a time, with no explanation and no apologies. I got fed up of this and decided to sign up with another host, one I had used before and had been happy with.

The new owner of my then current host, David Buik, found out about this and immediately suspended my accounts and would not let me access them until I paid him £40, telling me that I had stabbed him in the back by wanting to move, and I was being charged for breach of contract! Below is one of the emails I received from him:

hi angela right what i m willing to do is unsuspend and release your accounts so you can move then to where ever you wish . on the payment of the lastest invoice . for the vps server you ordered and now canceling ... this can then be set off against the 400 pounds we ve paid out to setup your vps server ..... onces invoice paid i will unsuspend all your accounts for you so you can move them ...... the 40.00 is to cover our wasted time moveing your accounts over and toward the whole server cost

Their website clearly stated there were no contracts and no hidden fees, and I have screenshots to prove this! I had no choice but to pay the £40. Once I had transferred my sites, I opened a dispute with Paypal to claim it back. That's when things took a really nasty turn.

They openly posted my personal details on their public announcements page...I will attach the image of this, as it's now been taken down after several complaints from their customers and SafeBuy.

I opened a thread on a well known hosting review forum (I'm not sure I can post the link here, so please remove it you need to), where it quickly became apparent that I was not the only one that had been blackmailed by David Buik.

He tried to tell me that one of my sites had crashed the server and that was why he suspended my account, and I had apparently agreed to pay the £40 to have it unsuspended! This is not the case and I have emails and a screenshot of my 'support' requests to him to prove it.

One of the replies I received from him stated that someone else had crashed the server and had been suspended, and they offered me one of their websites by way of what I assumed was an apology. Some of the websites they had for sale looked suspiciously like pirated versions of premium software I had seen elsewhere, and a quick Google search seemed to confirm this. I stayed well away!

After that, David Buik then tried to charge me for each site I had transferrred, plus VAT, even though he is not VAT registered. The total came to £650, and he said if I did not pay, he would take me to court and send the bailiffs to my home to collect payment. I told him that he did not have a case, and this is the reply I received:

hi thats what my landlord said .. he was ordered to pay us 10,000 pound i m working out your bill for breach of contract , moveing all your 26 accounts  will send you bill recorded delivery ...... if not paid i will get bailiffs  to collect it from you ....

I receive an email invoice for the said amount, but ignored it, knowing I was in the right. He then sent abusive and untrue emails, one of which stated:

angela you are a disgrase to the human race aiding and abeting  a child porn website person you make me sick

I have no idea where he got that from as my sites are all personal and family ones, and mostly gaming fan sites! I presumed it's because I supported another complainant whom David Buik accused of running such a site.

I had to block his emails and report his abuse to Paypal who are still investigating.

In the aforementioned forum thread, he actually threatens someone with physical harm, threatening to shut them up permanently! One post states that he stole someone's website and was selling it for £200, and he admits this openly, stating that he is acting as his own bailiff and his actions are perfectly legal!

There is a lot more to it than this, and I can send proofs if needed, but this person needs to be put out of business as quickly as possible! A Google search for their domain name will bring up other complaints about them.

I hope I have given enough information here, but can give more if needed.