Is this poor customer service?

I placed an order with QuickPacket. It was a small order and I assume that is part of the reason I received the customer service I did. Anyways, placed the order. Got three emails (acct. has been created, bill for services & order confirmation). Bill for services had a due date of today, the same date the order was placed. So, I try to login. Get login errors. Go to emails sent by QuickPacket and copy and paste username and pass they verified. Still get errors and can't login to pay the bill etc. I open a ticket to see why I can't login. Four minutes later (yes, very fast) I get the response:

"Due to the characteristics of your order, we are not willing to accept your order. Unfortunately, when there are certain flags, it is too much of a risk for us to proceed."

Now, my domains, email are squeaky clean, non-flagged, risk-free and very low traffic sites. If you want I can msg you some of my domains for accountability. The one that I submitted and was approved by QuickPacket for was devinebaseball com. As far as websites go, it is a unicorn or some other mythically pure creature.

Now I get a reply that says (in robot voice) my order poses a risk. What!? So then I freak out because I assume my domain has been flagged or maybe my email, I don't know, no details other than one line are given. Furthermore, the one line reply also results in a closed status of the ticket which I opened. So, when I send my reply asking what exactly has been flagged or is risky about my order, I get no answer (sharply contrasting the four minute initial reply). So I open a new ticket after an hour passes to ask about "risks" and "flags" and the bill email they sent. At this point I am upset because, well, this just doesn't make sense and they are wasting my time. However I do remain polite although I list a couple of web host review sites along the top of the ticket. Just the sites URL nothing more.

20 minutes pass and I get this reply:

"We are sorry that you are upset about the situation. Our automated system rejected your order. Due to high incidents of fraud, we do not allow orders from VPN/Proxy servers or services that hide your true IP address. I think you will find this rule to common among hosting providers. <not sure what that last line means?

Threatening to post this on public forums in an effort to extort us into allowing your order to proceed further confirms that we do not wish to do business with you.

Your order has been canceled and your account has been closed. Best of luck in finding a hosting provider."

So, since I ordered from my work VPN my order was flagged and my order canceled. And all of this took me contacting support over an hour or so to find out. Otherwise, I have no idea when they would have informed me about the cancellation. And they would have never told me what the "flags" and "risks" were since they closed the first ticket. And apparently posting a link to web host review sites in support tickets ( VPSboard.com) is now extortion? lol. Anyone that doesn't know what extortion is please do a quick google search. Basically a criminal offense. So to QuickPacket, simply posting a link to a web hosting site is extortion. If this is the case BBB and Consumer Reports are gonna have to do some serious time along with everyone else on VPSboard that has written a review.

Also, I think anyone with a minor amount of interweb points knows I can just disable my VPN, and order a package with a new email address. So they managed to get their foot caught while attempting to slam the door. Nonetheless, still very rude service.

So I replied asking how hard it would be to inform customers in this situation that their order had been canceled? Or how hard it would be to inform them of the details of the cancellation. I also advised them, in the case of VPN flags, to contact the customer and also look at the domain in question. Basically, don't rely on an automated system for human customer service.

I also pointed out that their package rates change once you hit the order now. Space and bandwidth amounts get halved after you place the order while the price and package name remains the same?

That is probably a typo but it is still on their site. And I pointed out how some of their sites have malware and material that conflicts with their TOS (quick "whois quickpacket llc" search confirms this) while my site is perfectly legit.

Honestly I am kind of seeing why they are hasty to reject customers as they have frequently seen downtimes from DDoS and as stated above, some of their current hosted sites are flagged. Even still, they should email people to tell them the order is canceled and exactly for what reason. In my case it was a work VPN IP address which is honestly no problem for the web host whatsoever (kind of confuses me). But more importantly, I freak out thinking my domain has been flagged or my email. Worse, they didn't reply when asked what the flags or risk were. Not until I opened a new ticket. Not cool, not cool at all. And I get no apology even though it is pretty clear QuickPacket caused undue stress and wasted my time. However, I'm glad I saw how bad their customer service was now rather than at a critical moment.

You should have apologized and stated that you were mistaken for making the order via VPN and asked them if they would mind if you attempted again from your local IP. Any web host who doesn't mind a VPN signup doesn't care about their customers.

Btw I ordered a new server from them today. Server was set up 4 hours after order.

The fraud check based on IP checks are blah.  Inaccurate, problematic, and umm necessary...

Sign up again without the VPN and see if any better.

buffalooed said:

The fraud check based on IP checks are blah.  Inaccurate, problematic, and umm necessary...

Sign up again without the VPN and see if any better.

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I used to not mind VPN signups. Reality vs idea is what happened. Conceptually, there's nothing wrong with a VPN. In actuality, almost no one who lacks malicious intent orders with one.

According to QuickPacket this person works for a competitor.  opcorn:

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showpost.php?p=8832436&postcount=5

KuJoe said:

According to QuickPacket this person works for a competitor.  opcorn:

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showpost.php?p=8832436&postcount=5

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Shouldn't be a problem at all.

Most providers here have services with other providers. If the OP works for a competitor, all he learned from this ordeal is how to not handle these type of requests.

QuickPacket would have been wise to suggest him to re-place his order, using his home/office connection. VPNs are great, but even I log out of my VPN before placing an order as to not deal with the hassle of the back and forth with the company before I even get my service.

MannDude said:

Shouldn't be a problem at all.

Most providers here have services with other providers. If the OP works for a competitor, all he learned from this ordeal is how to not handle these type of requests.

QuickPacket would have been wise to suggest him to re-place his order, using his home/office connection. VPNs are great, but even I log out of my VPN before placing an order as to not deal with the hassle of the back and forth with the company before I even get my service.

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I was thinking the same thing but in the screenshots the OP posted on WHT it shows QuickPacket making mention of blackmail and threats so I'm curious to see what these threats were since the OP somehow forgot to mention this in his post. If he truly did threaten to post negative reviews if they didn't let him buy service through his VPN then the OP is 100% wrong even if he doesn't work for a competitor.

This line says it all:

Threatening to post this on a public forums in an effort to extort us into allowing your order to proceed further confirms that we do not wish to do business with you.

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KuJoe said:

I was thinking the same thing but in the screenshots the OP posted on WHT it shows QuickPacket making mention of blackmail and threats so I'm curious to see what these threats were since the OP somehow forgot to mention this in his post. If he truly did threaten to post negative reviews if they didn't let him buy service through his VPN then the OP is 100% wrong even if he doesn't work for a competitor.

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Ah, haven't looked at the WHT thread really. Going to do that now.

MannDude said:

Ah, haven't looked at the WHT thread really. Going to do that now.

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It doesn't have much more info that here but the OP is only providing parts of the story. Had he posted all of the conversation instead of out of context replies he might have a leg to stand on. I just hope QuickPacket utilizes FraudRecord.

No, I am not a competitor. This is a false allegation made up by QuickPackets to cover themselves.

As for disabling the VPN and attempting to reorder, I guess if I had known that the VPN was the problem then I would have gone that route. I suspected, as you can seen in the screens I posted on WHT that the "risks" and "flag" that QuickPacket canceled my order because of were my domain or email. I did not suspect it was my VPN. Even still, I contacted QuickPackets asking what the "risks" and "flags" were. If they had said it was a VPN address I would simply disable and attempt again, with their knowledge of course because honestly, I think disabling the VPN and then trying to reorder with the same domain would look kinda suspicious too. So had Quickpackets simply said it's your VPN that is the problem, attempt with another IP address, sure that would have been ideal. They would have my business and would be happy with their customer service. Instead I just got an email saying "Due to the characteristics of your order, we are not willing to accept your order. Unfortunately, when there are certain flags, it is too much of a risk for us to proceed." Now had this email said, your VPN has been flagged and is a risk please use another IP address then yeah, things would be fine. I have no problem with that. But I was just ordering a shared hosting package and got the hand. No explanations, just a big NO, please move along.

KuJoe, as I have pointed out earlier, your posts are biased and strangely close in time to Quickpackets. And as we see here you are more than happy to carry the banner for Quickpackets which leads me to believe either you are quickpackets or you are buddies. Anyways I will treat your statements and quickpackets as the same as I am under the assumption you are the same person. I don't post much on forums so I will see how I can debunk all of your allegations separately rather than in one long post.

But the main thing that needs to be debunked is no, I don't work for a competitor. I think a competitor coming up with a situation this petty would be kind of strange when I could just post and say something like the downtimes were horrible or customer service just cursed me out on the phone or something like that. But to say my order was not accepted because of a VPN and their inability to contact me with order cancellation info? Does that seem like something a competitor would post about. Also, viewers, please do read the thread at WHT as there is more details there. And you can see KuJoe/QPS in action. When were there join dates?

Based on your statement, I will agree that you were not given sufficient opportunity or information to correct your position.

As for your assessment of KuJoe, way off base.

KuJoe, where exactly do you see blackmail?? Holy cow! And the what QuickPackets said was that I was trying to "extort" them. Now if you want to know what that word means, which clearly QuickPackets did not, please do some Googlin'. What I did was, I posted three links at the top of my ticket to web host review sites. Honestly, VPSboards was not one of those sites but when I found that QuickPackets posted here I posted here as well with my situation. So I placed three links at the top of my ticket after waiting one hour for a reply about "risks" and "flags" there were for them to cancel my account, AND not tell me they had canceled the account.

Do you think posting three links to web hosting sites is blackmail? or extortion. Maybe in retrospect I should have just said, hey this is B.S. and I'll post this experience elsewhere. But what you are saying is blackmail and extortion is largely a part of what this site and WHT are composed of. Honest reviews. And yeah, I was letting QuickPacket know they were being held accountable.

Furthermore, I invited QuickPackets/KuJoe to repost those tickets so everyone could see. I do not have access to the message sent to QuickPackets and they have deleted that ticket. So it is actually QuickPacket that is hiding info. And, they have no proof that I'm a competitor either, it is simply a a false allegation to cover this up.

I don't know what FraudRecord is but if that could show that my VPN was a competitor, then do it. However, the truth is that QuickPacket has no truth behind their statement and I'm guessing that something like FraudRecord would actually show their claim is untrue.

devineball said:

Do you think posting three links to web hosting sites is blackmail?

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Yes. The message is "Fix this or I post bad things about you."


If you've got another plausible explanation for why an upset would-be customer is randomly pasting links to forums related to the company's profession, I'm all ears.

@Jarland Sorry but I'm new here and the timing of KuJoes post with those of QuickPackets made me suspicious. The fact that he too is saying I'm a competitor with no proof is also highly suspicious. So at this point I'm just pointing out the obvious. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, yes, its a duck.

The real problem was actually the mild stroke I received when QuickPackets said my order was "high risk". I don't order hosts very often. I have changed hosts twice. So when I see my order is high risk, and all I have given them is my domain name and email, I am very concerned what has been flagged. If my domain is flagged that is very bad. If my email is flagged that's pretty bad too. Honestly, getting rejected because I was using a VPN is good news. I'm fine with that. But A.) Quickpackets gave me no alternative B.) They never informed me of the cancellation. C.) They never told me why my order was at risk. - and that is the biggest problem.

And now, QuickPackets is furthering their poor customer/public treatment with false allegations. Tsk. Tsk.

On a side note. I posted here because I saw that QPS posts here. However, I am looking for a shared host or ridiculously cheap cPanel managed VPS on the east coast. Yeah I know, the cheap part makes you guys cringe. Really I was just trying to settle for a premium shared hosts. As for QuickPacket, the customer service displayed to me over a shared host is applicable to their VPS and dedicated customers as well. Same company. I doubt when there is trouble it is handled much differently. Exception being high dollar clients.

LOL. um where do you see "Fix this or I post bad things about you??" Please cite it. I don't even talk like that as most people reading this post would be capable of seeing so ummm yeah, please post where you are reading this material. I am checking WHT now to see if they have altered their tickets and reposted them which would be both very sad for a company to have to do but deviously awesome at the same time.

@jarland Cite "Fix this or I post bad things about you." -where did that statement come from? or is it just another falsehood?

I find it odd that they were very vague in that first email, and then they later said that you were behind a VPN and that's why they denied the payment. 

I ordered a dedicated server from QuickPacket a few months ago. The order went through, and then about an hour later I got this as an email:

Dear William Quade (ZL Studios),
 

It appears that you placed your order from an IP address belonging to a proxy, VPN, or VPS service provider.

 

In order to reduce the incidence of fraudulent orders, we will only accept orders from your true IP address.  Please disable your proxy/VPN service and resubmit your order.  If you submitted payment for your original order, the payment will automatically be applied to your new order.

 

Thank you for your business.  We look forward to working with you.

 

Sincerely,

 

QuickPacket, LLC
https://www.quickpacket.com/

Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/quickpacket
Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/quickpacket

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I was confused for a minute, and then realized that I ordered the server from work (they have a static IP with rDNS and everything, so I assumed that confused the system.) When I ordered from my home IP address things went smoothly and I haven't had any issues since. 

I wouldn't consider myself being a "high dollar client" since I only pay them around $60/month for my dedicated server, but they have still treated me well. 

To the OP:

There are a zillion VPS hosts, easier to have just moved on.

This isn't the first time I've heard them being a bit cold in reaction to their fraud protection. I remember a while back someone had filed an incorrect fraud record report on someone and that client then had trouble ordering from QuickPacket. The report would have made anyone turn him away, but it was reported on the wrong person. Once cleared up, I believe everything went through.

I believe that QPS (let's just call him that) works damn hard and works at all hours. I think he gets fed up with all the people trying to get a cheap server for malicious intent, and he just breezes past things that don't look like they're worth his time. I like the guy. I'll sing praises of his network, hardware, and support. However, I do see something plausible in what you say, as I read it in your words. Always two sides to a story, so I can't say "you were wrong" or "QPS was wrong" with certainty.

Regardless, you did learn a valuable lesson about the VPN, and at least you walk away with that.

Oh, I see it now.

"Now get to work on fixing stuff rather than taking the easy route. And as you know, or will see, even small customers can have a big influence on how your company is viewed."

No what I meant by that statement was, fix the broken automated system. My order canceled with no notification. Yeah that. Or the rates that are incorrect on their site? Or hosting malware sites? Or their bad customer service period. Yeah, that is stuff that needs to be fixed rather than neglected as they have done here.

So instead of being rude and turning your back and failing to apologize, fix it,

The part about the small companies. Yeah I do feel as though I was treated in the manner that I was because I wasn't going to be spending a lot of money with quickpackets.  And yeah, I'm allowed to tell QuickPackets that I will voice my opinion about their transgressions.

I think you are missing the fact that this statement was a closing statement. I had already been told I could not order with QuickPackets when I made that statement.

And, that statement was not "Fix it or else" No that statement was fix it and stop making excuses. PAUSE (very important pause) And, don't neglect low paying clients and give them poor customer service.

At this point in our correspondence we both new I would be posting the experience to web hosting review sites. QuickPackets has simply chosen to hide information that would probably make this a lot clearer.

However I am impressed that QuickPackets has exerted this much energy to remedy a problem that could have simply been avoided by good communication.

I have never even spoken with anybody at QuickPacket before and my only relationship to them is that we both post on WHT and here. As for our registration dates on here, you'll notice that A LOT of the users on here registered during those dates when LowEndTalk was hacked and offline. It really is a coincidence and most of the regulars on here can vouch for that.

I would act the same way regardless of what hosting company it was because I've been on that end of the stick before where clients complain publicly about how horrible of a hosting company we are because we don't accept orders from proxies/VPNs AND have threatened to post negative reviews if we don't do what they say.

According to the screenshots you posted, QuickPacket implied that you threatened to post on a public forum if they didn't give you service. Threatening negative action if they don't do what you say.

blackmail - "the exertion of pressure or threats, esp unfairly, in an attempt to influence someone's actions"

Unfortunately we do not have all of the information so I am going based on what YOU posted. If QuickPacket could post the whole conversation it would probably clear up a lot of things.