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ChicagoVPS - VPS unusable & unreliable, customer support even worse, but lost pp dispute - what now?
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ChicagoVPS - VPS unusable & unreliable, customer support even worse, but lost pp dispute - what now?

etcetc Member
edited January 2015 in Providers

I took advantage of one of ChicagoVPS' "deals" recently and prepaid for 2 years worth of service. I didn't use the VPS for the first couple of weeks, mostly due to customer support's seeming inability to install a raw, unconfigured copy of Ubuntu on the servers. This directly conflicted with my ability to bring up the server as a Laravel Forge node.

The only thing I did was set up the server for a capistrano/composer deploy. Absolutely nothing crazy whatsoever, and consistently, in the first 3 days that we were using it, it crashed for hours as a time. It even stopped responding to their VM control panel.

I sent numerous tickets to ChicagoVPS in, and not one of the tickets was ever responded to with substantive information, despite my increasing agitation and numerous requests for more information as to why the server would inexplicably go down. Every single time, the best I got was "your server is back up."

Not once did they look further into why it went down, identify the issue, etc. I understand this is a value provider, and trust me, they run their shop like that, but at the very least, it would have been nice to have customer support who would at least pretend like they cared. I asked no less than 5 times for more of an explanation and how they were going to resolve it, and an acknowledgment of my request wasn't even provided. They just flat out ignored it every single time.

Chris @ ChicagoVPS finally came online and did little more than scold me for being a frustrated customer. Never mind the history in the ticket of increasing agitation as my requests were utterly ignored. Never mind the fact that my server with him crashed for hours at a time. Not even an apology. He told me to dispute the transaction, and I did. I think he did this knowing what the outcome would be. I have no doubt he knows the dispute process of Paypal well.

Unfortunately, it looks like I lost the dispute with Paypal because it wasn't a "physical good." This is inexplicable to me since I prepaid for 2 years worth of service, and couldn't even get through one month of something acceptable. It's like all notions of warranties of merchantability were out the door.

So what are my options here? Bitterly give bad reviews and warn others not to make the same mistakes I did?

If you're getting a LEB, especially from a provider like ChicagoVPS - I highly suggest you use your credit card, so you can use your bank's customer protection. Paypal's dispute process no longer seems customer oriented, and I'll be shutting down my Paypal account in protestation, but I was hoping you LET users might have some suggestions on next steps.

It was only $100 - not a lot of money, but right now, at least, this is about principle. Any suggestions?

«13456

Comments

  • rds100rds100 Member
    edited January 2015

    Lesson learned? If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

    Thanked by 3BuyAds Quinten etc
  • move on.....

    google 'internet fraud' and submit your complaint at the respective website if you feel there is a case.

  • MunMun Member

    If you would have looked at one of the many reviews on this site, you would have known that CVPS is one of the worst providers on the market. However you didn't and you signed a contract for a two year service that was never going to last more then a few minutes. @CVPS_Chris is on this forum as well, and I highly suggest you look through his comments that he has made as you will see how he truly treats customers.

    In any case, find a better provider and move on. If you still have the server with them, prop it up to do something, such as downloading torrents or something and let it be used to the best of its ability as that is really your only way of sticking it to them.

  • Yeah :( VPS = rather pay with credit card. File a police report?

  • aglodekaglodek Member
    edited January 2015

    Don't know how old you are, but take it from someone who's (probably) been around the block a few more times than you: life's too short for this, er, stuff! Consider it a learning experience and money very well spent and make sure to keep it in mind when ordering services elsewhere. Heck, man, you do your homework and you're likely to recoup part of your loss getting a much better deal :)

    This is one way to look at this. Another way is the "principle" approach and another kind of learning experience: write them a polite letter, asking for a refund. Given that you have already lost your PayPal dispute, they will most likely refuse. Then, if it's worth your time and money: sue them! It will be ridiculously expensive in relation to your "loss" and any ancillary damages you may claim, the outcome uncertain, but another kind of learning experience to be sure ;)

  • aglodek said: Then, if it's worth your time and money: sue them! It will be ridiculously expensive in relation to your "loss" and any ancillary damages you may claim, the outcome uncertain, but another kind of learning experience to be sure ;)

    Or just file a police report and they should take action if enough disappointed customers did so? Not sure if this works in every country...

  • @4n0nx: file a Police report claiming what sort of criminal wrongdoing exactly?

  • LeeLee Veteran

    said: It was only $100

    What did you get for $100?

  • MunMun Member

    @W1V_Lee said:
    What did you get for $100?

    Shit... :)

  • NeoonNeoon Community Contributor, Veteran
    edited January 2015

    Seems like its working well, lets get the costumer to pay upfront 2-3 Years and provide shit service. When he does a dispute on paypal > Win!.

    Why is ChicagoVPS not banned on LET like GVH?

  • etcetc Member

    OK guys - I know the reflexive response is to say "lesson learned," but it's not really constructive. I'm aware of the value proposition in using a value provider, but my standards really weren't that high in the first place.

    I didn't go into the deal thinking I was going to get first rate service. I was willing to get degraded service. I just didn't know just how bad it would be. I can't have a server that's down for 6+ hours in a 2-3 day span.

    Beyond that, I would likely have accepted the downtime if the customer support was responsive in the slightest. It was when they ignored my direct questions that I got agitated.

    It was supposed to be a 5gb VPS for 2 years at $99. I needed the server for an Ansible Tower hub, which I didn't need to be rock solid. However, hours upon hours of downtime, a non-responsive support and inability to use my server at all is well beyond what would be acceptable for a "value" provider.

    And yes, I pretty much got shit.

    I appreciate everyone's comments - even those lambasting me. Like I said, I went in with "eyes wide open" and expected a lower level of service, but what I received was, imho, well beyond that. So fine, shame on me.

  • etcetc Member

    @Infinity580 said:
    Seems like its working well, lets get the costumer to pay upfront 2-3 Years and provide shit service. When he does a dispute on paypal > Win!.

    Why is ChicagoVPS not banned on LET like GVH?

    I'm really wondering the same thing. Looking back, ChicagoVPS is by far one of the worst rated providers.

    I'm also a bit taken aback by what seems like the ultimate scam. Offer unbeatable deals - get them to pay by Paypal - and since you know the dispute process, you can offer any level of shit and you've won. Short of a lawsuit, the consumer is SOL.

  • risharderisharde Patron Provider, Veteran

    @Cvps @cvps_chris @chris_cvps hope one of those is Chris's account. I want to hewr the full side of thks because it sounds unfair to lose 2 years worth of vps hosting even ifthe op was upset and perhaps aggravated.

  • but lost pp dispute - what now?

    Thanked by 3etc MuZo TriDoxiuM
  • aglodek said: file a Police report claiming what sort of criminal wrongdoing exactly?

    for taking his $$ and giving nothing in exchange and refusing to refund him?

  • HapHost>CVPS

  • etcetc Member

    @risharde said:
    Cvps cvps_chris chris_cvps hope one of those is Chris's account. I want to hewr the full side of thks because it sounds unfair to lose 2 years worth of vps hosting even ifthe op was upset and perhaps aggravated.

    Well, let me be clear - ChicagoVPS was more than happy to continue to host my failing server. It was me that started the Paypal dispute process when it became obvious that ChicagoVPS was incapable of providing any decent level of service, both technically and customer support.

    There are three things that make ChicagoVPS unusable, thereby leaving me no discretion in whether to continue the service.

    1) The core service was down and could not be communicated with (even at the VPS console level - I believe they use SolusVM) for hours, at least 3 times, over the course of two days.

    2) Repeated requests for more information were either ignored or, at best, responded to in overly vague ways ("It was down due to network outage"). Requests for any assurance it would not continue to happen (it had happened at least 3 times already) were ignored. This is the big one for me. I can put up with a lot, but refusing to invest even the slightest effort into the situation given their service's failure is inexcusable and unacceptable.

    3) From the beginning, the customer support staff seemed unable to assist in the most fundamental of ways (like ensuring a fresh image of Ubuntu was installed). This is an unmanaged service, I know, but staff with base level of capability to ensure frictionless provisioning would be appreciated.

    I still have the ticket chain and can post if you think it's material. I just didn't want to spam the post.

  • MunMun Member

    @CVPS_Chris wont be banned from the forum because.... dun dun dun, @jbiloh. Long story short the two are "friends" and biloh will do anything to allow his scamming broforce to fuck over the people of this forum. The only reason he finally allowed @GVH to be banned was because people like me made it clearly obvious that they were nothing but a scam host and that by allowing it they were doing a disservice to the community, so to prevent a mutiny @jbiloh told @mpkossen to ban him.

    Thanked by 3etc DomainBop Leechum
  • CVPS Advertise on LET $500+ every month. They will never get banned.

    Thanked by 2etc bersy
  • I heard that they have "special" (extremely oversold) nodes for their special offers. Open a ticket with downtime proof and tell them you want to be moved to another node.

  • etc said: Well, let me be clear - ChicagoVPS was more than happy to continue to host my failing server. It was me that started the Paypal dispute process

    no wonder you lost the dispute, pp isn't able to verify if there's a problem with the service. you paid for a vps and got one, period. contract fulfilled accordingly.

    Thanked by 1aglodek
  • Wut? Not true. PayPal will verify it - I've seen this from both sides of the industry countless times.

  • risharderisharde Patron Provider, Veteran
    edited January 2015

    There has to be some measure of good faith that can be extended in situations like these. Client wants a working server. Company owner wants profit. To me, both parties may have been wrong in certain aspects but clearly company has gained the most since they profited from the whole dispute scenario. This is why its downright unfair when I read a TOS that says staff will tolerate absolutely no abuse because clients just want a service andonly become emotional when they dont get what they want. At the same time, I am NOT encouraging abusive behaviour. I am saying that generally speaking... the behaviour should be a flag to the company that something is not right. This is assuming that client is a sane individual.

  • century1stopcentury1stop Member
    edited January 2015

    @William said:
    Wut? Not true. PayPal will verify it - I've seen this from both sides of the industry countless times.

    pp won't be able to, unless you can prove it via correspondence and hard evidence. in other words, you must know what to state in your tickets to show pp the provider did not fulfill accordingly and supply related evidence. pp doesn't check through anybody's server.

    pp dispute is like 2 legal counselors battling over their case and pp the judge.

  • etcetc Member

    @century1stop said:
    no wonder you lost the dispute, pp isn't able to verify if there's a problem with the service. you paid for a vps and got one, period. contract fulfilled accordingly.

    Actually, beyond Paypal's policies, that's not true. There are implicit warranties of merchantability, etc that are associated with engaging in the trade of commerce.

  • What I would tell anyone is that, before you commit to any provider for more than a month, do your homework. Otherwise, face the very real possibility of being out of that money. I am sorry that you lost your money but, there are a couple of questions to ask yourself:

    1. How much is my time worth?
    2. Will I lose out on more money/opportunities than this is worth by continuing to waste more effort/mental energy on this issue?
    Thanked by 3etc aglodek ehab
  • century1stopcentury1stop Member
    edited January 2015

    @etc said:
    Actually, beyond Paypal's policies, that's not true. There are implicit warranties of merchantability, etc that are associated with engaging in the trade of commerce.

    very true but must be proven.
    however, win or lose, pp doesn't cover digital goods, so either way there'll be no refund

  • etcetc Member

    @risharde said:
    There has to be some measure of good faith that can be extended in situations like these. Client wants a working server. Company owner wants profit. To me, both parties may have been wrong in certain aspects but clearly company has gained the most since they profited from the whole dispute scenario. This is why its downright unfair when I read a TOS that says staff will tolerate absolutely no abuse because clients just want a service andonly become emotional when they dont get what they want. At the same time, I am NOT encouraging abusive behaviour. I am saying that generally speaking... the behaviour should be a flag to the company that something is not right. This is assuming that client is a sane individual.

    I'd like to think of myself as sane. I, frankly, just want my money back. The level of service that was provided, and more importantly, the diligence the staff displayed in rectifying the issue, is well beyond what would be tolerable, even for a value provider.

    I have no faith that ChicagoVPS can fix an issue they can't seem to identify or even acknowledge.

    The staff at ChicagoVPS directly ignored numerous requests for more information, despite the VPS being, again, completely unreachable to their own control panel, for hours at a time.

  • etcetc Member

    @century1stop said:
    very true but must be proven.
    however, win or lose, pp doesn't cover digital goods, so either way there'll be no refund

    You're very right, which is the reason they cited in denying the dispute. But what that means is, if you used Paypal, and the merchant distinctly doesn't deliver on a service, even one that's paid out year's in advance, you're SOL.

    This is as much a referendum against Paypal, as it is against ChicagoVPS, although I think the latter should have been more than willing to provide a refund (even prorated) given the intolerable level of service and lack of customer support.

  • century1stopcentury1stop Member
    edited January 2015

    etc said: This is as much a referendum against Paypal, as it is against ChicagoVPS, although I think the latter should have been more than willing to provide a refund (even prorated) given the intolerable level of service and lack of customer support.

    pp clearly states digital goods are not covered, it's in their TOS.

    in future, remember to evaluate the provider thoroughly before committing long term. ;)

This discussion has been closed.