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Please Help! ThePlanet hosting have deleted all my sites

Discussion in 'Legal Issues' started by Blitz, Oct 4, 2008.

  1. #1
    I've been a paying customer to theplanet for several years. The credit card I use for the internet seems to have maxed out recently, so theplanet were unable to charge my card. 5 days after payment was due, they've reclaimed the hardware and wiped all of my websites, which I've had for 5 years+ and have cost me $20,000+ in design/coding fees, not to mention how much I've lost from loss of revenue.

    As many of you can understand, this is an extremely big thing for me, I'm not quite sure how to feel, I missed the payment date by 5 days, but how can they then go ahead and delete everything when I've been a paying customer for years?

    The livechat was extremely rude and cut the conversation off. I don't know where else to turn.
     
    Blitz, Oct 4, 2008 IP
  2. celt

    celt Peon

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    #2
    I know my hosting provider will make several attempts to charge their fees, and notify me by email if any fail. All in all, they allow for more than a week before they would even discontinue service, and even then I can't believe they would just wipe everything.

    So if I were you I would check their terms and conditions, and see what they say about overdue payments. And sue them anyway for destroying what was legally yours: the content of your websites. This is like your insurance company coming by to destroy your car after you missed an insurance payment with them.
     
    celt, Oct 4, 2008 IP
  3. www.buxincome.com

    www.buxincome.com Guest

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    #3
    It is your responsibility to make sure your CC and everything else regarding payment is made. True, I would hope that after dealing with you for so long they would be a little more flexible, but as far as I see it the responsibility is yours to be aware of their policy etc.
     
    www.buxincome.com, Oct 4, 2008 IP
  4. Luke Beale

    Luke Beale Peon

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    #4
    I'm guessing you have it all backed up though right?
     
    Luke Beale, Oct 4, 2008 IP
  5. celt

    celt Peon

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    #5
    Should have, of course, but that is really beside the point.
     
    celt, Oct 4, 2008 IP
  6. MelogKnaj

    MelogKnaj Guest

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    #6
    Check the TOS you agreed to when you signed up. Odds are they don't guarantee they keep backups for the sites, which means it's your responsibility to do so. They have every right to terminate your hosting if you aren't paying though.
     
    MelogKnaj, Oct 4, 2008 IP
  7. Zhu

    Zhu Well-Known Member

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    #7
    They still should have contacted you. I could see that happening to me... credit cards do expire and well, we are not all on top of things.

    Don't they send you an invoice when they bill you? That's how I realized that my hosting company had an expired cc number a few months ago!
     
    Zhu, Oct 4, 2008 IP
  8. Blitz

    Blitz Well-Known Member

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    #8
    I don't know what to do anymore. I've lost everything. Sites I've spent years updating all because of 5 days non payment. These sites were paying my bills through college.

    I didn't have everything backed up, all my backups were on the dedicated server, I really thought theplanet (being such a big and expensive hosting company) were secure and trustworthy.
     
    Blitz, Oct 5, 2008 IP
  9. ceemage

    ceemage Well-Known Member

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    #9
    With no backups, I guess you're going to have to see if their Customer Support are going to respond if contacted. Do you have a phone number for them? You'll need to use all your charm, and not get angry, which is difficult when there's so much at stake. Along the lines of, you appreciate that they are acting within their ToS, but that you have been a loyal customer for a long time, it was just an innocent oversight, etc. etc. Keep calm, and if you're not getting anywhere, ask to speak to a supervisor.

    And, if they do relent and restore the data, take an immediate off-site backup, whether you decide to stay with them or not.
     
    ceemage, Oct 5, 2008 IP
  10. kartik786

    kartik786 Well-Known Member

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    #10
    thats plain sad. If they've deleted it i'm not sure if there is anything that cud be done.

    check the TOS and hire a lawyer if you think there is a case

    and if you need a better host then let me know, i have contacts with a small hosting company thats extremely customer friendly.
     
    kartik786, Oct 5, 2008 IP
  11. Blitz

    Blitz Well-Known Member

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    #11
    Yep, I've done all this, spoken with them over the internet, emails and phoned up their offices in the the US. Noone has been able to help me as it's a black and white issue, my sites no longer exist as they've wiped them all and resold my server. I've spent over $3000 on my server over the years and never missed a payment so I'm feeling pretty shitty about the whole thing. All of this because my card maxed out and payment was 5 days late.

    I've lost everything I've been working tirelessly towards over the last 5 years, it sounds sad but these sites were a big part of my life. I'm now without an income and I have plenty of college things to pay for so it's really messed up my entire life.
     
    Blitz, Oct 5, 2008 IP
  12. kartik786

    kartik786 Well-Known Member

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    #12
    get to the owner directly.

    he should be probably there on one of those networking sites like linkedin.com
     
    kartik786, Oct 5, 2008 IP
  13. MelogKnaj

    MelogKnaj Guest

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    #13
    This is why you should always regularly make offsite backup copies of your site. You can try whining to theplanet some more but my guess is that when they said they deleted your website files they meant it. Legal action is also probably out of the question given the TOS you agreed to when you joined. There might be some clause in there about them making backups though so it's worth checking. Don't get your hopes up though.
     
    MelogKnaj, Oct 5, 2008 IP
  14. eddy2099

    eddy2099 Peon

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    #14
    It is your responsibility to ensure that you have sufficient funds in your credit card since you would have at least 30 days from the last billing date to ensure that. Also if you are unable to pay, you should have contacted The Planet weeks before the current billing cycle and work something out with them rather than to going come guns a blazing after your server is terminated. Perhaps work to scale down to a lower plan until you get your finances all cleared up. Even if you can pay this time around, would you honestly be able to pay for the next month ? Usually it is best to at least have at least 6 months funds ready to pay for any server.

    Besides, if you know something is so valuable to you, you should have made local backups or at least some out of site backups. Backing up on the same server or even the same facility would not protect you from anything.

    In the end, you should accept the fact that your account is down and it is by no means the fault of The Planet but only of your own.
     
    eddy2099, Oct 5, 2008 IP
  15. werewe12

    werewe12 Well-Known Member

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    #15
    I have been with The Planet for some months now. If you miss a payment, they will email you immediatly to inform you. They will retry to hit your card each day and will email you daily if it's declined. They also provide a date to rectify the issue by or else they will make your account delinquent and you will not have access to your websites. After they do this you will have an opportunity to pay an extra 50$ to your monthly fee to reactivate your account. At this point I am not sure if all your websites will be deleted or not. Furthermore, if you call their billing department (not customer service) before your payment is due, they give you 2 extensions each year for such situations.

    ~ Mike

     
    werewe12, Oct 5, 2008 IP
  16. mubin

    mubin Notable Member

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    #16
    really sucks that you lost all your data, but if you have been running a site for more than 3 months you should start taking backups. I consider a site serious if I keep it for 3 months, the fact that you had these sites for 3 months and didnt take backups is staggering.

    Im not sure what type of sites you had, but if they were standard html and not php or cms driven I would get on GooGle asap, and start making copies of the cache asap.
     
    mubin, Oct 5, 2008 IP
  17. kartik786

    kartik786 Well-Known Member

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    #17
    http://www.linkedin.com/in/dhays32 .. thats profile of a senior at the planet.

    Google search or find a way to talk to the top management.

    There is hope that the data would be still there. Keep trying.
     
    kartik786, Oct 5, 2008 IP
  18. babushka99

    babushka99 Member

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    #18
    Having worked with the planet for years, I find it very out-of-the-ordinary behaviour that they would delete everything. They are very good at working with you if you are having delays in payments, etc.
     
    babushka99, Oct 10, 2008 IP
  19. celt

    celt Peon

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    #19
    As they should...
     
    celt, Oct 10, 2008 IP
  20. josephsam97

    josephsam97 Peon

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    #20
    I'm really sorry to hear that I dont know How bad you are feeling its like back to square one !!!!!!

    I really pray if Planet official have your data somewhere secured !!
     
    josephsam97, Oct 13, 2008 IP