BURSTNET: Collections Activity Notice

So, I need to know where I am here.

I was with a hosting company for months and months who were resellers of Burstnet (they hired servers from them and relent them). So, the place I was with went under, and the admin e-mailed me telling me to go to a special page on Burstnet and register my details there, and they will take care of me (as they now were speaking directly with his clients).

So I did that, thinking it would all be set up and everything will be ok (mind you this was a week after I payed for the months hosting). A week past, no response from them, another week and no response. I e-mailed them and they did not reply to the e-mail with my details and telling me whether it went through or not. So I found another host and signed up with them.

Now, I check my yahoo e-mail (which I never check anymore), and there is an e-mail there telling me I need to pay them the overdue amount or they will sue me.

Here is the e-mail.


Dear ***,

Account #: 9321

You have failed to remedy the overdue balance on your account after several notices.
Payment needs to be made immediately on this account via instant clearing funds,
or your account will be turned over to our collections agency, and your debt will be reported to the credit bureaus.


To view invoicing/statements and make a payment on your account please visit:

https://service.burst.net

Email Address: ***
Password: ***



Please take this matter seriously, as this may be the only notice that you receive prior to legal action.

BurstNET pursues collections to the fullest extent of the law, including filing suit & obtaining judgements.


Regards,

BurstNETâ„¢

Billing Dept.



BurstNETâ„¢ - an INC500â„¢ Company

BurstNETâ„¢ - The Speed the Internet Travelsâ„¢

To place an order, or for more info, contact;
BurstNET Technologies, Inc.â„¢ - BurstNETâ„¢
Toll Free 24/7/365 Support: 1-877-BURSTNET
Phone (570) 343-2200 - Fax (570) 343-9533
PO Box #591 Scranton, PA 18501-0591 USA
http://www.burst.net & http://www.nocster.net


Copyright 1996-2009 ©
BurstNET Technologies, Inc.â„¢
All Rights Reserved.




So what do I do? I never used the server all these months, and I never was sent a confirmation e-mail with my details. I wrote back saying I am not going to pay for a service I did not use.

So, what do you all think will happen?

 

Keep in contact with them. I doubt they will sue unless its for a lot of money

 

I am guessing its around $700 USD, so in Australian dollars its a bit more.

I don't know what to do with them, why issue me this when I never used their service in the first place?

 

Do you have dated copies of any emails that you sent to them when you originally tried to contact them? I would get in touch with their legal dept and tell them, in no uncertain terms, that you made every effort to contact them, and were unable to, so you moved on. They really have no basis to sue you for anything, and honestly, for that amount, I don't see them pursuing you anyways.

 

We pursue all collections to the fullest of the law as well. What I'm guessing is you didn't cancel the account the way their ToS says you have to do. In which case, whether you emailed them or not, you don't have a leg to stand on. I'd recommend calling them, if they don't provide their phone number on their site, find out how to get a hold of management. I would recommend going through the management and not the regular portions of the help desk, especially if their ToS says very clearly how to cancel an account. I know most hosting companys require you to fill out a cancellation form.

If you have an email to them telling them that you wanted to cancel the account, you may be ok, IF you go through management. Most hosting companys will put you into contact with them if you ask. Especially when money is involved.

 

Ok, thanks for the replies. This is what happened in detail.

I signed up with them after my host went under, and recieved NO confirmation that I was a customer of theirs. So I e-mailed them asking if it went through alright with no response. (That was the first week of the month). I e-mailed them again asking. By the third week I had no reply (so to the best of my knowledge I was not a customer of theirs since they never confirmed it). I had only one week left of hosting so I found a new host.

I checked it all up yesterday, the confirmation e-mail was send TWO MONTHS after I filled out the application form. By this time I was long gone, and because I never check that e-mail anymore (I only use it if I sign up to crappy sites), I never saw the confirmation. Then, they billed me for months (which I was unaware of). Then I check my e-mail yesterday and there are threats in there.

I e-mailed them today explaining what had happened, and TWO MONTHS is completely unacceptable, so we will see what happens. There is no way I am going to pay for a service I did not even know I had, let alone didn't use.

What do you all think?

 

I would suggest not to be rude, and explain the situation in the nicest way possible. Remember, they have the upper hand and not you.

 

Ignore it. BurstNET are a terrible host, I signed up with DMEHosting who are also crap.

After I told them no in their email, I got a letter about 1 or 2 weeks later in the mail. I emailed my "claims representative" or something like that saying I wasn't paying, I had cancelled my server and that it doesn't even make sense sending a collection letter for a payment in advance, its not like a used the server and never paid.

Anyway the person said she would contact DME and get back to me, never heard anything since. But it was only for about $100 my one, so I don't know. I would just ignore it and see, the chances of them taking you to court especially since your not in the USA is almost nil.

 

I wouldn't ignore it, at least right away. Contact them first. but, if you are not even in the same country I wouldn't fret too much about it. Let the claims people know about it if they contact you. I wouldn't pay it. In my personal opinion (remember, not legal advise and I am not an attorney) you have a pretty good defense with that one should they attempt to take you to court about it and you actually want to show up.

 

Thanks for the replies. I have not "canceled" the hosting because I never knew it existed. I told them I am not going to pay the money and its their fault this happened in the first place, I also never used their services.

We will see what happens, there is NO way I am going to pay this money. It seems (in my OPINION) these people are thieves. Now they are saying that they gave me a free months hosting and that's why it took them so long to get back to me lol.

Cheers!

 

lol just ignore them. If it doesn't appear on your credit report who cares

 

As I said, ignore it they can't do anything to make you pay.