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Digital Ocean $100 free credit policy is just bullshit
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Digital Ocean $100 free credit policy is just bullshit

So I signed up for Digital Ocean and got $100 free credit. Created one droplet and it worked fine and then I tried to create another one and they said something like "you can only create one droplet at this time, to increase this limit please contact support.

So I contacted support last month on 14 Sep and got this bullshit response.

Thank you for reaching out about increasing your account's Droplet limit. Our apologies, since at this time we are unable to approve a limit increase, but that's not to say it won't be approved in the future.

We would be happy to review your account again once you have established ongoing operations and have additional billing history with ongoing services for at least one billing cycle.

Yesterday I contacted them again after a month and got same bullshit response even though I have completed one billing cycle (received invoice for that free droplet which was deducted from free credit so I guess that counts as one billing cycle?)

So basically this $100 free credit has not much practical use if you are going to use droplets as you are limited to just one droplet during those 60 days when that free credit is valid.

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Comments

  • its obvious there's no such thing as really free. everything has a cost.

    Thanked by 2webcraft dystopia
  • @alilet said: one droplet during those 60 days when that free credit is valid.

    You might need to connect a PayPal/Credit card and then deposit a small amount like $10. IIRC, that fixed my issue.

  • try vultr they dont have such issue and they really good tbh

    Thanked by 1alilet
  • ArkasArkas Moderator
    edited October 2021

    It looks like they are not honoring thei claims which include the following.
    "Create up to 10 different Basic Droplets with various CMS packages (WordPress, Ghost etc.) and run multiple websites.

    Run up to 20 static sites.

    Continue to run 3 static sites for free even after the trial ends."

    I wouldn't have expected this to be free, it's obviously a marketing ploy.

    Thanked by 1alilet
  • Having worked at similar companies, their threat model is some bad actor spinning up a bunch of instances, and then engaging in spamming/brute force/DDOS etc. so they usually have a limit of a few instances (1 in the case of DO as it seems) only per user in the free trial

    Pay them a bit or create a larger instance if you want to work around the limit.

  • @TheDevil said:
    try vultr they dont have such issue and they really good tbh

    Yeah I have used both Vultr and Linode and they don't have such bullshit limit.

  • @sdglhm said:

    @alilet said: one droplet during those 60 days when that free credit is valid.

    You might need to connect a PayPal/Credit card and then deposit a small amount like $10. IIRC, that fixed my issue.

    My CC is already connected.

  • @alilet said:

    @TheDevil said:
    try vultr they dont have such issue and they really good tbh

    Yeah I have used both Vultr and Linode and they don't have such bullshit limit.

    i didnt really like linode when i used it but vultr for my opinion was the best, if only do didnt had that limit

  • @stevewatson301 said:
    Having worked at similar companies, their threat model is some bad actor spinning up a bunch of instances, and then engaging in spamming/brute force/DDOS etc. so they usually have a limit of a few instances (1 in the case of DO as it seems) only per user in the free trial

    Pay them a bit or create a larger instance if you want to work around the limit.

    But then what's the point of offering free credit? Linode and Vultr don't do such thing. So they only user to create one $50 VPS and use it for two months?

  • I'm not saying that you are not right but if it's free you can't really complain.

  • joepie91joepie91 Member, Patron Provider
    edited October 2021

    @alilet said: But then what's the point of offering free credit?

    Marketing. DigitalOcean is (or at least was) a startup, ie. a baby monopolist - they have deep pockets and a lot of money to spend on 'customer acquisition' by eg. giving out free credit, to basically wreck the competition and take over the market.

    But even their pockets aren't infinite, so there sure will be various limitations and caveats that makes it technically $100 (because that's what gets people's attention!) but that'll actually cost them much less in practice.

  • @henix said:
    I'm not saying that you are not right but if it's free you can't really complain.

    Looks like the problem is DO doesn't abide by its own ToS - if user can't actually launch several droplets while on free tier, that should be explicitly stated. Otherwise, if provider doesn't follow/doesn't care to update their own ToS, it lowers its credibility.

    (AFAIK, DO most probably doesn't give a [censored] about their credibility now that they have large customer base)

    Thanked by 2alilet devp
  • M2DEVM2DEV Member
    edited October 2021

    So... you are using FREE CREDIT on a fresh account yet you expect to be treated as a long actually paying costumer, i see.
    Welcome to the real world.

  • Could be due to the country you are in or you might have used multiple trials. I had signed up and added CC, currently have 3 droplets running.
    As far as I remember, they do not have high compute/ high memory instances enabled for trials.

  • deankdeank Member, Troll

    Those restrictions are there to prevent abuse.

    I am 100% sure a shitton of people have attempted to abuse it, including you. Hence, the strict restrictions.

    Anyway, like some guy said, welcome to the world. Everything has a cost.

    Thanked by 3devp webcraft SinV
  • After I replied to ticket and called out DO on their bullshit response, they increased the limit to 10 droplets (which I asked)

    Here's what they said now:

    Thanks for writing back to us. We apologize for any inconvenience caused here, after further verification, we have gone ahead and increased the droplet limit to 10 as per your request.

    Feel free to reach us out anytime if you have any other questions.

  • XsltelXsltel Member, Host Rep

    if you reply them and link them to this post they will increase your droplet limit to 100 .

  • LeeLee Veteran

    The simpler answer here is that it's the OP. Digital Ocean simply doesn't want to give him specifically any more than one. I have referred others in the past and they have had no issue getting access to more than 1 droplet with free credit.

    Thanked by 1bulbasaur
  • WebProjectWebProject Host Rep, Veteran

    it's their credit and promo so their terms and conditions.

  • It is to prevent the abuse of their free credit. One can create a new account every month and run 20 droplets of 5USD and make use of the free credit.

    This is how I make use of free credit.

    1) Check for free credit
    2) Like the service provided or the performance
    3) Deposit some amount and then make use of the 100USD free credit

    If I don't like it, I will move to a new provider.

  • joepie91joepie91 Member, Patron Provider

    For everybody saying "well, it's to prevent abuse" - sure, and it may well be a legitimate measure to prevent abuse, that isn't the problem.

    The problem is that it's essentially false advertising. They're advertising with a "$100" promo credit but have made the rules so tight that it's very unlikely you'll actually be able to use that $100, and are apparently not clearly stating that in their marketing materials.

    It doesn't matter whether it's free. Allowing false advertising in any form hurts everybody in the industry, both providers and customers. There's a reason it's illegal in most countries.

  • @joepie91 said: it's essentially false advertising

    I was able to sign up and use their $80 instances right away when I signed up a year ago, so as far I'm concerned I don't see false advertising.

  • deankdeank Member, Troll

    Then sue. If you feel you are in the absolute right, sue and show the world that you are in fact lawfully correct.

    Thanked by 1webcraft
  • @deank said:
    Then sue. If you feel you are in the absolute right, sue and show the world that you are in fact lawfully correct.

    yes but that can be expensive and generally not worth it

    Thanked by 1Claverhouse
  • deankdeank Member, Troll

    True, and for someone who is trying to abuse "free credit" to start with, it's probably not an option.

    The host is abusing that. So, make an example out of them. Sue.

    Thanked by 1arsend
  • dev_vpsdev_vps Member
    edited October 2021

    @deank said:
    Then sue. If you feel you are in the absolute right, sue and show the world that you are in fact lawfully correct.

    From TOS page link:

    You understand and agree that, by entering into this TOS, you and DigitalOcean are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action
    

    (bold emphasis is mine, added for clarity)

    disclaimer -
    my personal opinion only. Not a legal advice.

    Thanked by 1Claverhouse
  • deankdeank Member, Troll

    As if ToS means anything.

    Just because a ToS says you cannot have PMS, it doesn't mean someone won't.

  • LeeLee Veteran
    edited October 2021

    @joepie91 said: The problem is that it's essentially false advertising. They're advertising with a "$100" promo credit but have made the rules so tight that it's very unlikely you'll actually be able to use that $100, and are apparently not clearly stating that in their marketing materials.

    Hardly, I am sure given it links the free credit to their terms that it will have something buried in there. besides, the clue is in the information available. Others have been able to use the credit without issue and create multiple droplets. The OP can still use the credit whilst limited to 1 droplet so he still gets the credit and can use it.

    As always, it's LET, so yeah, let's not consider the OP is glossing over the full story!

    Also, the OP seems to think they were suggesting from the response below that after a month of having the free credit they would give him a higher droplet limit.

    My interpretation is that they are saying once he actually pays for something they will look at increasing the limit. Which further adds to there being something else to this that is causing DO to restrict during the free trial

    @alilet said: We would be happy to review your account again once you have established ongoing operations and have additional billing history with ongoing services for at least one billing cycle.

    Thanked by 1bulbasaur
  • AXYZEAXYZE Member
    edited October 2021

    Limits are everywhere and they exist for a reason.
    I'm with Hetzner for many years(!) and I can create up to 10 instances and I cant choose VDS more than 8 cores. If I would want to have higher limits then I need to contact them and tell them what I'm gonna use them for. With very high requested limits maybe even make commitment.

    What is the reason for this?
    Hetzner 3 vCore = €0.014 / h
    Imagine if I could make 100 instances like this. It would cost me 1.4 euro for an hour and they would need to give me 300 vCores. Imagine if I would want to get 1000 instances. 3000vCores for 14 euro.

    So what Hetzner needs to do? They need to have capacity for these 3000vCores. They would need at least 800 physical cores in order to give me it. 800 physical cores = more than 10 dedicated servers. What would happen if I would cancel all VPSes? They would have 10+ IDLE dedicated servers. Ok, they would refill them with customers, but... here I come again, I order 3000 vCores once again. XD

    I would completely destroy their business with just 14 euro spent couple of times. 100 euro and they would deadpool. Digital Ocean is ofc more expensive, but you could do the same thing, thats why they have limits! Especially on free tier, you could easily get 100 free acounts and make just 10 instances. That's 1000 instances! And if you would get like 16vCore option then they would need to give you 16000vCores instantly.

  • deankdeank Member, Troll

    In the end, OP wants to abuse free credit.
    Host is abusing OP's cheapness.

    So, both are attempting to abuse each other. A perfectly fine and healthy relationship to me. Just like a marriage so to speak.

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