APlus.net Bad Baby!

Moved by Editor on 3-4-2008, from:
http://www.rippedoffonline.com/articles/Web_Hosting/page_1/APlus_net_Bad_Baby.html
 
 

Hello my friends.
 

It is time for another educational point.  I have been a customer of Aplus.net since early 2001 and thought I had a great host.  Well as it turns out, in 2001 Aplus was mostly American and all services were from San Diego CA.  Now, in 2006 Aplus is still a San Diego company, but if you need support - you get it from Bolivia!  Yes, that's right - Bolivia.  Seems the owners of Aplus.net (AKA: Names4ever.com and abac.com) immigrated to California from Bulgaria in 1992.  Well, to make a long story longer, Aplus.net and its other companies SUCK at support.
 

Just for the record, the names of the principal owners of Aplus.net, Names4Ever.com and ABAC.com are Ivan Vachovsky CEO and Ms. Lilian Vachovsky CFO
 

I recently attempted to sign up with Names4Ever.com as a reseller for domain names.  Since I am a website designer and hosting reseller this just made sense (not reselling aplus.net services though) and it cost $150 to set up the account.  Well, after the account was set up I tried contacting support for help implementing the API (Application Program Interface).  After two days I received no response, so I called the support desk.  I was then told (by someone, in very poor English) that support for domain sales was closed until the next day.  This was my first clue as to how this drama would end.
 

I started doing a little digging and found that Aplus.net, Names4Ever.com and abac.com have really gone down-hill since 2001.  They have been dropped by the BBB for failing to handle problems brought to their attention in a satisfactory manner.  They are listed in multiple places on the Internet by people who have had worse experiences than mine.  Do a Google search for “aplus.net sucks” and you will see what I mean.  I thought “Well, Shit! I will never get my money back."  However, I am tenacious and know my way around - read on.
 

I went ‘round and ‘round with Aplus.net for several days.  I talked to support (in Bulgaria) several times and even asked where support was located and was told San Diego.  I never got any help with the API and I was just becoming more and more agitated.  I was done and I decided I wanted my money back.  I sent two emails asking for a refund and the emails were never replied to.   I called and was told to email billing@aplus.net and provide some account information along with a cancellation request.  I never received word back on that either.  Now, I have always had my email set to ask for a read-receipt automatically but I had a feeling that they were just being ignored and someone was reading my email - I decided to kick things up a notch.
 

I subscribed to an email tracing and read-confirmation service that allows me to send an email through their servers where it is time-stamped, certified, logged and sent back out to the recipient.  I can see when it is delivered to the server, what time it is opened, how long it is displayed on the computer screen, how many times it is opened and by how many different people – WOW!  This service saved my life!
 

I sent one email with this new service, detailing my desire to cancel and get a full refund.  I allowed the tracing company's logo to be displayed at the bottom of the email and advised that this email was admissible in court.  BAM! I got ‘em!!!  Once the email was opened I received a read confirmation that coincided with a sent-certificate, from a certified third party.  Aplus.net could also verify the name of the tracing authority and legitimacy of that authority.  Aplus.net now had no choice but to play ball.
 

The email was first viewed in – you guessed it, Bulgaria.  It was viewed a second time a few hours later and then forwarded to San Diego where it was viewed two more times by two different people.  I got a reply and a notice of cancellation about 16-hours later and was told my refund was being processed.  I got my funds reimbursed to my VISA a few days later.

Anyway, stay away from Aplus.net, Names4Ever.com, and ABAC.com
 

List of DBAs:  Lowfathost.com; Names4Ever.com; Internet Abacus; Aplus.Net Internet Services; A+Net Internet Services

See important updates below!

For those of you wondering how this was a rip off. It took about 12 hrs of working time to settle this. Consider this: I make $45-$65 per hr while working. The time spent trying to recover my money and avoid future charges adds up to over $540! So I still lost money here - or should I say I got Ripped Off Online!

As of last month Aplus has been purchased by a new owner in Kansas. All operations are supposed to be moved there. I wonder though, if they will bring their support dept. stateside finally?

check out APLUSDOTNETSUCKS.COM