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AzzaVPS suspended my service, and then retroactively changed their TOS
Basically here's the story. In the AzzaVPS TOS and AUP, it made no mention of torrenting software. And so I got their VPS and loaded up a torrenting software. The tracker was private, and nothing was available to the public.
AzzaVPS suspended my service a couple of days ago citing that torrenting was not permitted. I went on their site and searched through their AUP and TOS and found no mention of torrents at all. No mention of "tor" either (I say that because I did a ctrl-f and started typing torrents, and it stopped at "tor" to say there was nothing on the page).
I submitted a ticket telling them I would stop the torrenting software, however during the time of my sign up, it didn't say anywhere that torrenting was not allowed. They re-instated it, but then referred me to their TOS to prove that torrenting was not allowed. Only this time, their TOS was different from the one I checked 10 hours earlier.
This means they went and changed their TOS from the time I signed up. I'm not complaining that I want to run a torrent on their server, I won't do that. I am just pointing out such a blatant breach of a contract. When a TOS changes, all customers need to be notified. They are trying to pass it off as if they never changed their TOS.
Here is a link to their TOS right now:
http://azzavps.com/knowledgebase/2/Terms-of-Service.html
And here is the link that google cached on Oct. 6th, 2013:
Google may update the cache, so just in case, I saved the page so no one can say I'm making it all up.
TL; DR
AzzaVPS suspended my account based on a non-existent rule, and then changed their TOS to add the rule and acted like the rule was on their TOS the whole time. Beware of a business that does such underhanded things like that.
Comments
what a shame.
Although their TOS is pretty awful, you missed the part where it says "These terms and conditions can change without notice at any time." You might have also missed "Ask before you attempt something questionable, it will save us all a lot of trouble."
TL:DR Most providers have a provision that they can basically deny you service for any reason.
Their TOS mentions an AUP but I can't actually find an AUP...
@RobJud They probally over-sold the disk space to you and when you allocated it all or most of it, they spiral into panic that they did what is now resulting as a suspension on you.
@Dorkfiles, yea I understand torrenting is a risky activity. Like I said, I'm not complaining and trying to get my way, I'm just warning people about this company. It's very unprofessional (actually I think it might even technically be illegal).
For the record though, I'm only using 25% of the disk space (I just checked). So it's definitely not the disk space. I'm not concerned with the reason behind the change, I'm concerned with the unprofessional practices.
@Robjud, where is your VPS located? Jacksonville, Atlanta, or Buffalo?
@Saiku, Jacksonville
It's probably because of the change of ownership of AzzaVps, I mean really, there is no real "TOS" back then about torrent. I don't know what to say on this matter since really... idk.
Well I guess you're right about the part about "conditions can change". I definitely missed those parts. Either way, I would still not recommend this provider. In their offering thread, I posted when I signed up. I posted that it took days for them to set me up, but it was fine after it was set up. They still suspended me BEFORE changing their TOS, so all in all, even if what they did was allowed, doesn't mean I'd recommend them. It still unprofessional, and it tells me that they're one of those young companies that don't really have it together yet, or that they're not serious enough to.
TL;DR
You're absolutely right, I missed those parts in the TOS. But I still would advise against Azza.
You're probably right. They spammed my email address earlier this month too. All in all, i'm just unhappy with them.
@RobJud Did they at least refund you?
@Dorkfiles, No, but I also didn't ask for one. I was paying per month, and the next invoice is due on the 20th (Even though they didn't set up the server until the 24th of Sept).
I figured it'd be an exercise in futility to try to get a refund for 12 days. The amount is too small to really be worth it.
open a ticket. referring to this thread, ask to un-suspend and remove torrent. if they won't do it, ask for a refund.
@Saiku, they have already unsuspended. I removed the torrent already. As I mentioned in my original post, I'm just making this post as a warning to anyone that is thinking of doing business with Azza, not trying to get my way or anything like that.
Btw, I just checked the original thread where I got the offer, and they said they only reply based on abuse reports. This is obviously false, as my vps was only using ~25% of everything (RAM, CPU, Disk Space). and it used 0% of the bandwidth allocated.
IMO in the interests of good customer service, they/anyone should refund in these occasions. Well spotted RE: the ToS change. I admit I don't read ToS but I do a search for particular keywords on them.
Glad to hear they unsuspended, but in fairness if you preferred a refund (the server no longer serves the purpose you bought it for), it'd be good if you had that option.
i usually assume torrent is not acceptable, unless asked and given permission
I think they mean abuse as in DMCA notices or related documents - via email etc.
Seeing as I opened the VPS less than a month ago, and started torrenting around 1.5 weeks ago and only had around 4-5 torrents on a private tracker, I would say that chances are low that they got any DCMA or any other notices in the mail, or email, etc.
I doubt that there are many providers who provide explicit permission for use of torrents. There are some who have clauses which prohibit use, but turn a blind eye unless there are issues. And then there are some who dont mention torrents in the list of prohibited activities.
What part of that made you think torrenting was ok? was it the Illegal content or perhaps the Any other type of high packet load or maybe even Ask before you attempt something questionable
Nothing says you cannot give your VPS login details to a paedophile either, and it does not need to because it is obvious without the absolute requirement for being specific.
Sorry but this specific thing really boils my blood, why not just torrent from home?, why do you expect a VPS host to protect you for using their services to break the laws?
Now ok if you honestly 110% genuinely only intend to use it for legal torrents then fine, set it to pre allocate data and use kind settings, and most hosts will tolerate that without any issues but when the abuse reports come in because you make ZERO effort to block known spy IP's and just go along with the attitude of being invincible because you have a VPS between you and the rest of the world and then have the balls to complain about it when they stop you please do not expect a great deal of sympathy, $7 + a bucket of ignorance will not buy you the right to do what ever you want.
What they have probably done when getting your reply is let out a long sigh and think "Yep... we really do need to spell it out word for word"
Now lets have a group hug and a cup of tea and move on.
Torrenting has two problems:
-Potential illegal material
-Unpredictable and high resource usage
That can fall under two portions of the TOS already.
I don't think anyone expects to use it for protection. Torrenting on a VPS/server not in your home means
Lower amount of time to snatch torrent
Doesn't Choke up terrible home connection/router
Better uptime for torrents
and most importantly
While I do agree with these sentiments from the providers, could I ask a question just out of curiosity? How many of you have received legal notices/court orders/other issues because someone on your network ran a torrent client on it?
I get about 2 or 3 a month because people seem to think nothing is illegal in the Netherlands.
This makes sense however why is there never any consideration for the host in all of this, it still boils down to the "I have paid my money which entitles me to do what I want" attitude.
And those were because customers used a torrent client to download movies/porn?
Last I knew the BSA, NBC and HBO were still sending out DMCAs but only to a handful of public trackers, namely piratebay, h33t, and kat
Well upload credit and/or minimum seed time requirements are only 'thing' on private trackers, and the reason upload credit or minimum seed time is required is because traffic is at a low enough rate that there needs to be incentives for long-term seeding
@AnthonySmith, I think you need to take a deep breath and do some woosah. No one here is saying that they are entitled to anything here.
I actually have heard from many many VPS owners exactly what @joelgm was saying. That it's a blind eye sort of thing as long as the trackers are private (which in my case is true).
Please re-read the entire post and comments. I think you're a bit confused. Time and time again I've been saying on this post that it's a private tracker, that it's only been a week, and I'm not asking for a refund or complaining that I want to get my way. This thread is meant to be a bad review of Azza based on my experience. It's meant to turn people off to this host because of the unprofessional tactics, and overall bad performance (i've stated a couple of reasons here, and a couple on other threads) not because I couldn't get my torrenting done.
Maybe you've been hazed a lot by whiny kids in the past or something. However, when it comes to legal documents and such, yea, they do generally need to spell it out word for word. And why not, really? What purpose does it serve for them not to spell it out?
As to answer your question, the reason I wanted a VPS is because I move around a lot and so I have internet only through a mobile internet service provider. Hence my speeds are slow, and I can't have my computer on 24/7 and that's bad for private trackers.
Agree to disagree?
Group hug, cup of tea, everything is better
Earl Gray? :-)