BAD EXPERIENCE WITH APLUS/CEDANT
by kltracy - 11/1/09 7:44 PM
In Reply to: Aplus.net Review by jonmc12
I had my website with Cedant, decided to go with another webhost provider. I set up an account with another webhost provider after reading excellent reviews. When I couldn't access the account with the info they provided and customer service could not assist, I searched the internet again, only to find out the reviews I read were not independent reviews. I found CNET, read a review of APlus so I called APlus.
I explained to APlus my website was being hosted by Cedant. The APlus rep informed me APlus recently bought Cedant, all Cedant accounts/websites were being transferred/transitioned over to APlus. Since the APlus price was 20.00 less than the Cedant price I asked how long it would take for the transition. The APlus rep said he didn't know since they were two different divisions/accounting structures. I asked if I opened an APlus account could I transfer my domain name and rebuild my website. He said yes. I was informed there were TWO webbuilders in the package. I purchased a webhosting package week of AUGUST 24, 2009 AND THE NIGHTMARE BEGAN.
I attempted the Wizard webbuilder and had problems. I spoke to tech support who informed me the Wizard webbuilder was not in operation and had not been in operation when I purchased the package. I asked if he could give me an approximate time when it would be up and running. He said they didn't know. I asked if it would be days, weeks, months. He said they didn't know but it would be a long time and I could use Trelix. I was not able to access my website address so I called APlus again. I talked to the Aplus rep who told me my web domain name had not been transferred, I had to call Cedant. When I called Cedant's number, the rep answered the phone as APlus. I explained I was trying to reach the Cedant division. The rep informed me I had dialed the wrong number, this was APlus. I informed the rep APlus had purchased Cedant,they were one in the same but with different divisions. He said he had been working there for awhile,never heard that and who ever told me that was incorrect. I hung up and called until I found someone who knew Cedant/APlus were the same company, just different divisions.
To make a long story short as possible. I was paying both Cedant's division and the APlus division. I was told Cedant didn't renew my domain name when I paid them. The Cedant division did renew my domain names. Cedant told me the domain name would be transferred to the Aplus division, the website wouldn't be transferred. I explained AGAIN I didn't want the website transferred since I was taking vacation time at work to redo the website. I was told my account with Cedant would be closed once the domain name was transferred and I would be refunded the monies paid to Cedant. Cedant closed my account and refunded my monies. I tried to build my website only to find out the Cedant division did NOT transfer my domain name. I was told the Cedant division would re-open my account to tranfer the name and it would then be closed, it would only take a day.
I began receiving billing statements from the Cedant division while the APlus division continued to deduct monies from the bank account I provided to them. I wrote the billing at Cedant, informed them the account was only to be opened for a day because Cedant forgot to transfer the domain name to the APlus division. I informed them I wanted this fixed and wanted to know why they were billing me, etc. I NEVER received a response from Cedant, so I assumed this was taken care of.
During this whole time I was unable to receive e-mails from my website address. When I opened the Aplus account I had acquired new phone numbers. I didn't disconnect the old phone numbers until I thought I could post them on my new website. I still had problems, explaining I HAD to get the new website built, I DID NOT want to transfer the old website, just the domain name. AGAIN I was told it would be done. I wasn't able to build the website during the vacation time I took to do so. So after many problems, I tried to build my website AGAIN, on 11/1/09.
While I was able to build a one page template informing people the new website was underconstruction, I was not able to publish it. I called APLU AGAIN on 11/1/09. I was on hold for over 20 minutes so I called APLUS on another phone while still on hold. I finally received a rep. The rep stated there were problems with the website account still being in Cedant's name. I explained that was impossible because I was not paying the Cedant division, I was paying the APlus division. I informed this rep of everything that had taken place, then asked if the domain name had been transferred to the APlus division. He said Cedant did NOT have the domain name, Aplus had the domain name. After much discussion, he said there were a few problems with Cedant, he would transfer me to Cedant division and I would need to pay Cedant and they would then refund me the money so they could get this issue resolved. I informed he I was not going to pay Cedant any money because I would be double paying the same company just different divisions. He said the money would be refunded. By this time I was upset.
I informed the APlus rep I've had an account with APlus since about August 24th, it had been over 2 months and I still didn't have this resolved. I informed him both divisions had been paid and yet I still didn't have the service I contracted for. I also explained now that the domain name was with APLUS, I couldn't even go to another webhost provider since there is a wait period in which you can transfer the domain name again. I informed him I had spent countless hours on the phone with both divisions which cost me money yet no one was resolving the problem. I also explained my website is used by several large transplant hospitals as a resource, a government agency, etc. I informed him that I had suffered so much damage to my reputation which took years to build in the transplant community. I informed him I had met with various legilative offices, etc but now due to the problem I could NOT update my website I had lost credibility. When people call the old phone number, they are told it's disconnected and since I could not update the information, it appears my advocacy program is in trouble or has disappeared. He said he wanted a phone number for someone to call me during working hours. I explained I work two nursing jobs, one in dialysis, the other in forensics so I can't be contacted during the day. He kept pressing the issue someone from customer relations needed to speak with me so I could maybe get a free month. I explained I couldn't leave patients on a dialysis machine for hours just to take a phone call and I knew it would be at least an hour because I had just spend over an hour with him. I finally had to be blunt and tell him it's not like I can take time off. People are on dialysis machines and have to be supervised by me, the forensic exams are on rape victims and I don't schedule when someone is going to be raped AND I wasn't going to take another vacation day just to deal with them. He then asked me to have a friend call to resolve the issue. I explained my friends work and I wasn't going to have them take a vacation day to deal with my problems with APLUS. He finally agreed customer relations would e-mail me. I then said I wanted to get this resolved and it would take tech support. He told me again I would have to go to Cedant division. I explained I was done with them, I didn't have an account and again he said I would probably need to pay them. I then told him I wasn't going to pay them since I was already paying the Aplus division of the company and I was done talking. I said "This is going nowhere, it's obvious Aplus has no intentions of providing me webhosting or the webuilders they promised when I contracted services with them, I WILL NOT pay monies to the other division when they are not my webhost provider. I have spent hours trying to resolve this issue, no one is following through and I have suffered so much damage to my advocacy program and my reputation I might not be able to repair the damage. Since I will not pay another division of your company and APLUS will not provide me with the webhosting I am paying for, I will just need to contact an attorney to recoup my losses. This is absurd when you think about it, because APlus will probably spend thousands of dollars in court costs just because they wouldn't provide me services I paid for. I am done, I won't pay for two webhosts and I will just handle it from here." He then said he would get the Cedant people online it would be resolved. He then transferred me to someone on the Cedant side.
I had to explain everything all over again. The Cedant side rep informed me the problem was because the domain name was never transferred to the Aplus side. When I asked why, he said he was reading notes that said I wanted my domain name to remain with Cedant until they could transfer the whole website which meant I was to pay Cedant for webhosting. I informed him I had told many people I was going to rebuild the website, had printed out all the info so I could rebuild it. He said that was not what was in the note. NOW THIS DIDN'T MAKE SENSE. Why would I pay Aplus to host my website AND pay Cedant division to webhost the same website? He said there must have been a communication problem. I explained I didn't know how much more clearer I could have been when I said I DID NOT want the website transferred/transitioned, just the domain name transferred to Aplus division.
I explained to this rep this was ridiculous that I had to spend countless hours trying to get the domain name transferred to a different division of the same company. I could understand if it was a few days but it had been MONTHS. I have now suffered damage from APlus and said "Imagine if you had spent tens of thousands of dollars to build something, traveled to DC to meet with legislative offices, got bills before Congress ONLY TO HAVE A COMPANY DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU HAVE BUILT." "I have people who have donated organs, suffering and need my help but because of APlus, they can not contact me. I just had an interview and the story was published today, citing my advocacy program but no one can contact me or access the website. I took vacation time to build my website but I couldn't. I don't have 20-30 thousand dollars to spend again in order to rebuild the reputation that Aplus has destroyed." His reply was "I'm not interested in your personal problems, I just want to get this fixed." NOW I was angry, informed him that people like me volunteer their time and money to help people like him, this does affect him since someday he will have health problems like everyone else and people like me will be there.
SO THE CONCLUSION: I have spent several months rying to access and publish my website. I have paid for those months for webhosting services. I HAVE YET TO BE ABLE TO PUBLISH MY WEBSITE. My integrity has suffered. While my advocacy program is volunteer, I have spent money to build the advocacy group, which will take more money to rebuild to where I was before going with APLUS. I can only be thankful that my income/livelyhood didn't depend upon my website or I would have probably lost my company by now. Two months without a website for income would have been devastating. I do not charge ONE PENNY for my assistance to living organ donors. Living Organ Donors are people who have donated an organ while they are living to another person. BUT of course that it's APlus's problem because according the APLUS rep, these are my personal issues. So if CNET thinks APLUS is a good webhost provider, then I would hate to see the ones that are poor.
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