EV1Servers versus the customer

I was (and still am) in the market for a dedicated FreeBSD 5 server. I heard good things about EV1Servers, so I got in touch with them. They were extraordinarily helpful, and very soon I was logged into my brand new dedicated server.

Things went down hill from here on in. What follows is an account of my experiences with EV1 Servers, and why I will not recommend them. I must warn you... it's a long one.

March 18th

It all started with a request for a photo ID. This was not mentioned in their terms of service or their acceptable usage policy, but I didn't really mind supplying them with one.

ID Required - theviruslab.com

From sales@ev1servers.net

Hello David,

Elements of your account require that we be supplied with a copy of a legal photo ID for your accounts credit card holder. This ID can be a drivers license, passport or other legal photo ID provided by a local or federal government. We would prefer this be delivered via email to sales@ev1servers.net, but you can also send a high-quality fax to 713-942-9332.

Providing EV1 Servers with this ID will help complete your confirmation process.

Thank you,

EV1 Webhosting Sales

RE: ID Required - theviruslab.com

From me

I unfortunately do not possess a current valid form of photo identification (my [6 year old] passport has expired, and as I don't drive I do not have a drivers licence).

Will an expired passport suit? I should warn you that I'm 16 in the photo (I am 22 now).

If this will not suffice, I shall do my best to obtain a new photo ID as soon as possible, but a passport application here takes a couple of weeks to process. A Garda (police) age card might also be suitable, but I don't know if this is photo ID or how long the application takes to process.

Regards,
David

RE: ID Required - theviruslab.com

From sales@ev1servers.net

Hello,

Thanks for choosing Ev1Servers. Go ahead and send the passport ID that you have. I'm not sure we'll be able to accept it, but I'll look at it and let you know if you need to obtain another ID.

Thanks,
Aamir
Ev1Servers

At this point, everything seems fine. Just send the ID through, and everything will be sorted. Over the next few days I'm snowed under with work, so the passport scanning is put on hold for a while.

March 22nd

I receive another email from EV1 (emphasis mine):

Unable to Confirm. - theviruslab.com

From sales@ev1servers.net

Hello David,

We were unable to confirm your order for a Dedicated Server. It is our policy to suspend service to a customer if we cannot confirm the purchase within 48 hours. At this point, you have five (5) days to contact the EV1 Server Sales department in order to complete the order confirmation and unsuspend your account. Please call us at 1-800-504-7873 option 1, between the hours of 7 AM and 10 PM Central time M - F (10 AM - 6 PM on the weekends).

If the card holder name is different than the name on the account, we will need to have a scanned or high quality fax copy of the card holders ID to complete the confirmation process. Our fax number is 713-942-9332, although we recommend sending it via e-mail as the faxes are usually of low quality.

Thank you,

EV1 Webhosting Sales

Obviously, I wasn't happy with my account being suspended without warning... who would be? The email seems automated, so I assumed that their automated responses weren't co-ordinated with their human ones.

March 23rd

My first angry email follows (emphasis added):

RE: Unable to Confirm. - theviruslab.com

From me

Hello,

First of all, I am not happy with this. I was asked for a copy of a photo ID by your staff (something which, bear in mind, is *not* mentioned in the TOS or AUP, or anywhere during the sign-up process), but was not informed when this was needed by. I have been extremely busy in work recently and haven't had a chance to get round to it. If I had been told that there was a time limit on this I would have made the time.

Second of all, the name on the account is the same name as the name on the credit card - my name. You say you need the photo ID if these names are different, but you're asking me for photo ID even though the name is the same. What is the actual situation here?

As I've already mentioned, even though the need for a photo ID was not mentioned at all during the sign-up process, I was happy enough to provide you with what I could. To have the account suspended for not providing something I wasn't told you needed until after I had signed up for the server, by a deadline I was not informed of, is just plain unacceptable.

I'm really disappointed in this, particularly as my experience with EV1Servers has so far been pretty damn good (setting up a custom partition table and installing FreeBSD 5.3 for free). I'd like this resolved as soon as possible.

Regards,
David Barrett

Very soon after, I receive the following:

RE: Unable to Confirm. - theviruslab.com

From sales@ev1servers.net

Hello,

First off I would like to personally apologize for you not being informed of the deadline to send in the ID. The reason we requested ID is to protect all parties involved in this transaction. Unfortunately, to be able to resolved this situation, we will still need you to send us a copy of the CC holders government issued ID. Once again I would like to personally apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you and thank you for your patientice with us in resolving this issue. If you have anymore questions or concerns, feel free to drop us a line.

Thanks,
Kelly
Ev1ServerSales

I'm reasonably happy at this point. Though obviously annoyed at the lack of a warning, but they seem genuinely sorry for what appears to be a mix-up on their end between the automated and the manual.

So, I pack off my old passport to my friend John Ryan to scan in (I don't have a scanner -- don't ask).

Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to enter the twilight zone.

March 25th

Account Cancellation - theviruslab.com

From sales@ev1servers.net

Hello David,

Your server will be cancelled and your account with EV1 Servers will be closed. Due to the circumstances, your credit card has been refunded, but you may have also been banned from our ordering systems.

If you wish to order a EV1 Servers service in the future, please contact sales@ev1servers.net regarding your previous account.

Thank you,

EV1 WebHosting Sales

Wow. Just... wow. Three days after I receive a letter giving me a five day deadline, I'm told that the account has been cancelled. I'm also politely told that I may have been banned from their ordering systems.

This seems like an automated. I assume that I'm the victim of some mess-up with their automated systems, but send them the following email:

RE: Account Cancellation - theviruslab.com

From me

Hello?

I was told 3 days ago that I had 5 days to provide photo ID, a requirement which *was not mentioned in the either the Terms of Service or the Acceptable Usage Policy, or anywhere during the sign-up process*.

It took me a few days to get access to a scanner. I get my old ID scanned in a couple of hours ago, and before I can send it in I get told that my server will be cancelled and my account with EV1 Servers will be closed, and furthermore that I may have been banned from your ordering systems.

Guys, what is going on here? My team has already done some setup work on the machine already. Is this work going to be wasted because of all this?

If I had been informed before purchasing the server that I required a photo ID, I would have:

1. Renewed my passport to avoid any complications caused from an out-of-date ID.
2. Gained access to a scanner before ordering, so I could provide a copy of my ID promptly.

By failing to provide me with this information up front, you denied me the chance to make adequate preparation. You also wasted hours of my teams time by cancelling the server, in essence scrapping all the work we did on the machine.

All of this could have been prevented by a simple note during the sign-up process, probably near the credit card part of the form, saying that government-issued photo ID was required. I'm still not sure *why* it's needed, after all:

1. I was not informed about this requirement until after I had purchased the server.

2. When I was first told it was needed (March 19), I was not given a reason. I was told:

   > Elements of your account require that we be supplied with a copy
   > of a legal photo ID for your accounts credit card holder.

   The phrase “elements of your account” is incredibly vague, and effectively useless. At this point, I am told that it is required but not why. By now, my admin has already sunk a couple of hours into updating the machine to FreeBSD5.4 Pre-release. I was not given a deadline to provide my ID.

3. On March 23rd, I receive another email, presumably automated. It tells me:

   > We were unable to confirm your order for a Dedicated Server. It
   > is our policy to suspend service to a customer if we cannot
   > confirm the purchase within 48 hours. At this point, you have
   > five (5) days to contact the EV1 Server Sales department in
   > order to complete the order confirmation and unsuspend your
   > account.

   I have now been given a deadline, and the message implies that my service has been suspended (without saying so explicitly). In this message, I am also given a reason why the ID is required:

   > If the card holder name is different than the name on the
   > account, we will need to have a scanned or high quality fax copy
   > of the card holders ID to complete the confirmation process.

   This is odd, as the card holder name is **not** different from the name on the account. Both names are identical... they are both *my name*.

4. I reply to this email, explaining how unhappy I am with having my service apparently suspended without given any sort of warning. I soon receive an apology (from Kelly), which says:

   > The reason we requested ID is to protect all parties involved in
   > this transaction. Unfortunately, to be able to resolved this
   > situation, we will still need you to send us a copy of the CC
   > holders government issued ID.

   This conflicts with the reason given in the previous email, but I think “fine, I'll just send in my ID and everything will hopefully be alright”.

5. On March 25th, I receive the email I am replying to now. Note that this cancellation of service notice is sent 2-3 days after I was given a 5 day deadline to provide my ID. Annoyingly enough, I had sent my ID off to be scanned in and got it back today. It was sitting in my inbox, ready to be sent off when I got the chance.

You've caused me to waste hours of my time because of the failure to provide a simple note. You've provided multiple and contradictory reasons as to why ID is required in the first place. You've given my deadlines to meet that you have not honoured. I am not at all happy with the service I have been provided with, and will not be using or recommending EV1Servers.

Invest in your user experience for Pete's sake. Contact someone like AdaptivePath. If you can afford to pay the SCO licence, then you should be able to afford this.

Regards,
David Barrett

You can understand why I'm so pissed off. I've listed how they've failed me as a customer, in detail. I'm expecting an apology. Instead, I get something entirely different:

RE: Account Cancellation - theviruslab.com

From sales@ev1servers.net

ID requests are at the sole discretion of EV1Servers.net. We are not able to release information on why we requested ID. If we are not able to confirm after 48 hours of the server going active, the server is unplugged. From that date you have 5 days in which to contact us. The server was signed up on the 16th. We were not able to confirm by the 18th. The server was shutdown on the 25th, 7 days after we were not able to confirm, instead of the normal 5.

This is a bit messed up. My reply says it all:

RE: Account Cancellation - theviruslab.com

From me

I don't believe this crap.

You say you are not able to release information on why you requested the ID. This is untrue. You have already given me two contradictory reasons why my ID was required. Now you tell me that, in fact, you can't tell me. This is ridiculous.

Bear in mind that the only reason I asked why you needed it in the first place was because the first reason you gave me was complete nonsense.

Your schedule makes it appear like your living up to your responsibilities, but the fact of the matter is I was only informed on the 23rd of March about this -- this was the *first deadline I received*.

This email clearly stated that “at this point”, I had five days to complete order confirmation. You can't reasonably claim that “at this point” means “two days before this point”. You also can't provide me with some internal schedule of yours as if, without notification, I should be aware of it. Your email gave me five days to provide the ID, and instead I was given three.

So, after sending you a detailed description of how your customer service let me down, instead of an apology I receive an anonymous description of your own policies. Well done.

Thank you for wasting hours of my teams time.

Regards,
David Barrett

Crazy folks. They did finally refund my card a few days later, but that short anonymous email was the last I received from them.

For the sake of EV1Server's customers, I hope my experience is atypical.