Billing Issues Update
Posted (January 20th, 2008 at 6:21 pm PST) by DallasWe believe all of the billing errors to have been corrected as of the morning of Friday, January 18, 2008. If your credit card was wrongly charged, the charges have been refunded. We saw some reports that an expected refund did not appear, but upon investigation the refund had indeed been processed on our side and had just not yet made its way to the bank. We have not seen any cases where a refund has not been issued. It can take several days for refunds to appear back on your credit card or in your bank account and that is unfortunately entirely out of our hands.
And remember…
If this/these erroneous charge(s) by us resulted in you having any sort of overdraft/bounced check/nsf fee from your financial institution, please contact our support team from the web panel. We’d just like to request that you include a copy of your statement with the necessary info showing the fees. It can be either a paper statement or a print out of your online statement, or even a screenshot of your online statement and it can be scanned and attached to your support message via our support form or faxed to us at 714-990-2600. If you fax it, please be sure to write your domain name or DreamHost account number on the fax. When we get this, we will put money on your credit card equal to the amount your bank charged you, as well as give you a DreamHost account credit for the same amount on top of that.
We will do our best to correct any problems stemming from this error.
In case you have not seen it, we have posted information about this situation in three separate blog posts on our official blog…
http://blog.dreamhost.com/2008/01/15/um-whoops/
http://blog.dreamhost.com/2008/01/16/the-aftermath/
http://blog.dreamhost.com/2008/01/17/the-final-update/
145 Responses to “Billing Issues Update”
Still no refund here. $359.10 out on 1/17 nothing back in yet, plenty of pending transactions including a Macys return from today but nothing from Dreamhost.
Thanks for the update, but I’m still letting the dispute process continue until I he resolution from DH or from the bank.
Thanks for the update!
http://spacytracie.com/dreamhost-and-lunarpages/391/
Still no refund here, either. Account #96480. $218.90 out on 1/15, supposedly put back same day, still no indication of a refund. Guys, when I return a product to a store, I get a refund that appears by the time I get home. Five days is ridiculous. As you are the only people who refund money with this kind of lag time, I can only assume it’s NOT my bank.
Wishing everyone the best in getting things resolved quickly. Just a reminder that:
“(Please remember, posting in the comments here IS NOT an official way to contact DreamHost.)”
in regards to the response up above.. when you return something to a store, the credit does not show on your card until two to three days later. Most major retailers submit their credits at one time when the daily sales are released (usually the next morning..) then it takes a day or so to process at the bank.. I’m not taking sides.. I’m just stating fact..
I hear you both (”just saying” and “Joe”). However, I have had no response from Dreamhost after repeated (five or six) attempts to contact them, so I’m doing the blanket-attack thing. And I know, Joe, that credits don’t clear immediately. However, even by your own numbers, I should have seen a pending refund two days ago. I just want my money back. And often they appear immediately, even if they don’t clear for a couple days. Neither has happened here.
If Dreamhost won’t respond to me along the conventional avenues, I’m going to post here, too. I don’t want to drag anyone through my own billing situation, but we’re running kind of tight these days and if Dreamhost won’t talk to me privately about the money they’ve taken from us, I’m going to pursue it publicly. Ignore me if you like, but please don’t try to tell me I shouldn’t be posting here, too. I’d love to have this solved by now, but if Dreamhost is going to ignore me, I’m going to pursue this wherever I can.
If someone tried to take $218 from me on the street, I would punch them. To expect me to wait patiently to see if Dreamhost knows how to refund me is silly.
One thing is for sure, there’s no more automatic billing in my world.
TK: Good luck.
It just hit me that if any of you with slow refunds have a credit union, I know mine takes a little longer than banks to process things (and doesn’t do anything automated like that on weekends).
For some of you that still haven’t received your refund, you may not see it until Tuesday. I contacted my bank, and they told me that they are going to be posting business from the weekend on Tuesday due to the holiday. I also asked them to check to see if they had the refund pending. They did not see it in my account (I dumbly used a check card), but they managed to log into the Visa system and saw that there was a merchant refund pending. The associate explained to me that Visa just hadn’t sent it to them yet, and it would probably be sent before Tuesday, meaning it’ll post on Tuesday. It’s no guarantee, but the logical explanation is at least somewhat reassuring.
Take care,
Ben
I have not been affected by this goofup as a result of which I have deactivated my auto renewal thru credit card but nothing I have read in the discussions so far gives me any reason to believe DH has acted less than honourably in this matter.
I can only hope that my dealings with the rest of the world could be settled as amicably.
I’ve endured a few outages and hiccups in the past, but this is completely ridiculous and inexcusable.
The mistake and the fix are completely acceptable; the time it is taking to fix is completely inexcusable. I was charged > $350 on the 17th and have STILL not seen a refund. That’s more than $350 CASH from my debit account that I still haven’t seen back.
I’ll endure this once; if my money is not back in my account by the end of the week, I’m cancelling my account and taking my business elsewhere.
I got credited for my referrals that were deducted and got the cash refund on my account within the past couple of hours.
I’m amazed that a screw-up this big happened, but I’m also impressed at the transparency DH showed. The problems with the fix-it script aren’t surprising. Engineers are never as good at foreseeing mistakes as people are at making them.
I’m still not sure how I want to respond to this, as far as using or recommending their services in the future. I’ve had significantly worse problems with some much larger hosts, which makes me wonder if there’s any of them that are “immune.”
Paul
I m not affected because uses Paypal but i m very happy with the transparency of DH to inform and solve the problem.
For me, still the best hosting company !!!
Have a nice day!!
The problem with most of you complaining here is that you will NOT move to another host. We all got here after worse headaches out there.
So stop whining and wait it out. I’m sure our refunds will arrive.
All the best, Dreamhost. My business with you stays.
Just spoke to a rep from my bank and the refund has never been issued…
just to clarify.. money came out of account on Jan. 18th and no sign of any type of refund pending.
It’s still “in process”, but your refund is finally showing up now!!
Thanks for resolving this case quickly and all the updates throughout!
I wonder if other companies, like Verizon, would have handled it as well and as transparent as you all did. They probably wouldn’t have mentioned anything about it in the first place, there wouldn’t have been any blog, message-board or other channel to leave feedback & comments. It probably would have been up to the customer to dispute the wrong charge…and perhaps you may have gotten the money back after a few weeks and providing sufficient proof that the charge was wrong. I once had weeks and even months worth of trouble with companies like Verizon and Comcast after just making a move to our new address.
Mistakes happen, it was shocking to see over $700 disappear from my account and hard to remain patient last week, but I have to say it was handled exceptionally well. I hope DH will not suffer too many damages after this and stay around until I’m dead.. lol
Thanks.
With very best wishes,
Gerrit
Finally my DH returned my money 
I’m glad you’re fixing the problem. I use PayPal so I wasn’t automatically billed.
It’s sad to see so many people are leaving DH over this. It’s a mistake any host could make. Wake up, no host is perfect.
The charge for $399 “went live” on Friday - that money has actually been taken from me now.
It’s now Monday morning. My bank has no record of a refund being issued.
I’m glad some folks have seen their money return to them. I’m still out $399.
Got my refund last week some time, got my NSF refund this morning. For people complaining, I know it sucks - I can empathize… just remember, banks aren’t the most efficient systems either. When I called my bank, there was never a sign of a refund, and within a few minutes, it just appeared on my account. Banks can’t always see transactions coming in until they’re actually ‘in’.
I like the tone of this message, as if they had said *all along* that banks can take up to a week to process a refund, and you just have to be patient…
…oh wait no they said “Tomorrow for sure!” Can’t imagine why people are pissed.
Is there any credit being issued for those of us who weren’t overdrawn? I’ve had to deal with a loss of my money as well, but I happened to have more in that account.
Still no sign of a refund, but my bank has said I can cancel the dispute at any time if DH comes through with the refund before the investigation ends.
Either way, once my money comes back to me, we’re going elsewhere.
Still no refund….. out 482.03$ for many days now.
Refund is on my CC… transaction dates for both the charge and the credit are 1/18 and the posting dates are 1/18 and 1/20. Thanks guys… you’ve retained this customer!
Geoff
Alright I can honestly say that I’ve been refunded the $119. Dates say I was refunded on the 18th, didn’t post until today.
Thanks for keeping it honest DreamHost.
Oh and yes I’ve gotten my refund, but this was still handled so horribly that I’ve already moved my most important domains and will complete the exodus soon. Honesty is great, but this was still an immense screw up that impacts my ability to trust DH with my money and especially my CC number.
Still no refund of my $438, its almost been a week of not having any money..nightmare, I need to go to the doctor for step throat, and I cant till I get my money back.. I hate you dreamhost.
Yeah my bank (debit) goes to sleep over the weekends and holidays. Of course they aren’t asleep to take money out of an account! =P
Interestingly the credit was posted before the debit in my case, for my credit card. There was a credit posted on January 17, followed by a matching debit on January 19.
If all the the overcharing issues have been resolved, is there a reason why nobody is addressing the trouble tickets today? My website has been offline all morning due to the MySQL server being offline. Is someone planning to check service problems today?
Anyone? Please? Pretty please check service problems today???
titan is incredibly slow today. Please fix.
Overdraft fees faxed to them a 4th time. In 3 days, that’s four times. Still no reply on whether or not they have received my faxes, no credit to my DH account, and nothing done on my bank account either yet.
Here in New Zealand I’m wondering who’s gonna pay the EXCHANGE RATE difference from the date my credit card was charged to the date I got my refund (this morning — Tuesday 22 NZDT).
And yes, the values differ on my statement.
I’m starting to look forward to getting my money back the way I would be looking forward to my tax return.
I got charged for $120 (on January 17th), two days after they said, via an email dated January 15th, that they would refund the initial $120 they billed me.
They also told me not to worry, not to contact my credit card company, blah, blah. I’d be foolish if I hadn’t done that. How irresponsible that would have been. Of course they don’t want you doing that, as it only adds more problems for them (if there isn’t a full refund Tuesday morning, a fraud investigation will be automatically initiated by the card company).
Just so you all know, I had disabled auto-pay/auto-bill, it was turned off, and I was still charged. This is totally unacceptable, and not their CC to do with as they choose.
I feel so sad for all the people that had problems (luckily I had none.) I hope all of you can recover from this problem very soon.
I also feel sad for the DH staff, the situation inside must’ve been very difficult for everybody. They’ll get a hard time trying to recover from this.
I wish those leaving good luck with your new hosting company (unfortunately, no company is error free.)
And I hope this sort of unfortunate events never happen again and we can leave all of this behind very soon.
My bank shows no record of any attempt by dreamhost to reverse or cancel the charge, and put it thru today. I have reported it as unauthorized. Please stop posting claims of fixes, until you actually can confirm that you have done something.
What would really help is if someone from DH came down to West LA and bought me some damn groceries, I ran out of food yesterday and have no money until this is all cleared up.
I confirm orders so many days and faxed the same time but now, my account have been pending, i can not wait but i must wait :((, please if you receive this comment, please check for me,
my account (#386345) please check ASAP
we’ll see… I have very little faith left in dreamhost at this point.
@still being charged: It really worries me that you got charged despite having automatic payment turned off. I’d leave dreamhost if I were you… if that feature is turned off, they have absolutely no business storing your credit card information.
I can handle a little bit of downtime here and there, even a somewhat adolescent approach to customer service. But when my financial information is being dealt with in such an irresponsible manner… that’s where I draw the line.
If their records show that they submitted the refund… but it can take a few days for your debit/credit card handler to actually pass it on to your bank who can take a few days to actually pass it on to you… [and many of the financial institutions don't process such things on weekends or holidays]… how exactly are they supposed to confirm it?
Also, they do show the issue as “High Priority” and unresolved. Its not like they’ve washed there hands of it and are calling you all liars.
Just a question for those of you saying you have no money for groceries… Why did you have autopay set up? I mean, if you are living hand to mouth, why would you set anything up to autopay? I’m in that situation, where money is extremely tight, and I just don’t ever allow anyone to take my money without my input into the process. So I’m curious why you would set up autopay. Were you in a better situation when you did that? Are you just really trusting? I mean, it makes utterly no sense to me to have anything on autopay if you barely have enough money to make it through a month. Am I just paranoid?
Also, those of you complaining about receiving word of a refund but no refund, you DID read the last note, right? The one where they noticed a bug that meant that only 1/4 of the folks who were told they were billed were actually billed, and then only 1/4 of those told they got a refund actually got one? Which means that some of those notes went out a couple of days ahead of the refund, which is another reason for the delay. Perhaps they didn’t explain it clearly enough for you.
I can’t say this whole thing reflects well on Dreamhost, but at least they are telling us what happened. I had a similar billing issue with Comcast and they never admitted to a problem, and I had to call them five times to get my refund. At least with Dreamhost if something gets screwed up, I can usually find out what happened by checking this status blog, even if it is often after the fact.
“Why did you have autopay set up?”
Luckily I didn’t get billed, but I have read a number of posts from people that they were billed even though they DIDN’T have autopay setup.
The one thing I have noticed from this mess is the amount of assumption that clouds people judgement. Please stop assuming people, just because you have one situation doesn’t mean that everyone else’s experience is the same. There is also a lot of shady tactics being employed by other hosting companies in relation to this to. LunarPages, I am looking at you.
those of you using check cards should know better.
no sympathy from me.
@Jax “those of you using check cards should know better.”
Like it’s our fault we decided against a credit card, and it’s our fault that DH took all our money.. wtf? what kind of asshole are you? Fuck you asshole. Sick of self-righteous motherfuckers like you. Man I soooo hope some fuck steals your car and burns down your house 1 day after you insurance accidentally lapses.
@Laura : apparently there were people charged that do not have autopay set up but do have their card details in DH database, so can you please stop laying blame on the victims, like so many other assholes here are doing. Gad wtf is wrong with you people? If someone mugged you and beat the living crap out of you, I guess that would be your fault for being born? Idiots.
those of you using check cards should know better. no sympathy from me.
We’re not here for your sympathy, asshole.
Hey guys glad you got it all sorted!!! i have to say the email saying i owed 130$ was probably one of the most heart stopping of the year so far but i was calmed by the fast response to the email query i fired off after getting the mail. Which i am thankful for! keep up the good work.
Still no refund of the charge that hit my bank on 1/17.
still no refund for about $600
Let’s review:
DreamHost first claimed to have issued refunds last Tuesday, and in the mass email they said we’d see them “almost immediately, within a day or two max.”
On Wednesday, in another mass email, they changed their tune and said that the refunds “in some cases may take 5-7 business days to show up.”
On Thursday the blog post said there was a glitch that caused about 3/16ths of their customers to not get their refunds, but now everything is cool and you should see them “for REALs this time.”
On Friday I (and others) had the bogus charges confirmed, and my bank said that there was not a refund pending. In the comments on the official blog, Josh said “I’m afraid if you haven’t gotten it yet, it’s probably not going to happen until Tuesday unfortunately?”
Now it’s Tuesday, and I still haven’t gotten a refund.
Yeah, it’s probably my bank’s fault. That makes sense.
Fiero isn’t working at all, not responding to ping, sites don’t load and I can’t access panel.dreamhost.com … if someone has it working, please submit a ticket…
nevermind, it’s my isp…
So here’s the deal. I am negative in my bank account for this and have heard nothing at all. With overdraft fees piling up daily, and my bank redy to tear into this as fraud, I believe somebody better contact me.
This is a non-profit account and I can’t pay the requirements for my students to go their workshop. So I am angry, my bank is excited, and its been almost a week. I have two overdraft fees and if they (as well as the initial amount) are not returned, my bank and the Better Business Bureau are excited and ready to go. This company has cost me over $300.00 (after today, $378.00 and as my kids can’t go to their workshop. This is unnacceptable. And you “Foolish Dreamhost Billing Team” know that.
Also, there is enough info online about Dreamhost being cheats that I could involve others. I am sorry for the rudeness, but there is no phone number, no contact, and this is the price of doing business. Apology aside, I will not hesitate, and I will get the money you owe my students. Please contact me asap. Enough is enough these are real people you are hurting.
I’m done d*cking around with this. I’ve emailed dreamhost a couple times to no avail, and I know for a fact that refunds don’t take “5-7″ days to at least show up as “pending” with Chase. I’m turning this over to fraud or spending the $35 and ~10 minutes to file in small claims court.
Tick tock tick tock tick tock…time’s running out for DH.
I still have to option to cancel the dispute without further soiling DH’s reputation if my refund is completed before 1/26, but it’s not really looking like a sound prospect right now.
Have a nice day!
So I called my bank at lunch and they have put the money back into my account while they go after them. If you need your money now, I suggest pushing it to your bank’s fraud dept. Sorry dreamhost, but I’m going out of town to plan my wedding and I plan to spend that money while I’m there.
I just got my refund today, plus recompensation for my overseas-creditcard-usage fee, and because of the changed dollar-euro rate I even made 1 euro plus 
I emailed them about the fee, they replied, I sent the screenshot, they payed the fee. Somehow the “I got no reply” statements don’t seem very credible to me.
No, seriously guys, banking takes time. The billing by dreamhost didn’t show up until saturday for me. So be patient, you’ll get your money. And did you know that banks make money off the interest they get while the money is being progressed? Not dreamhost
This is ridiculous. They STOLE $119 of my money on 1/15/08, it’s now 1/22/08 with no sign of MY money anywhere. Thanks Dreamhost for being incompetent.
I was charged $2376 on 1/15. I was refunded fully on the very same day. I checked my credit card statement, the charge didn’t even appear on it. I feel sorry for those of you who lost real dollars by using your debit cards. I have always felt the internet in general is not safe enough to give access to my “real” money. I hope everyone learns a lesson from DH’s mistake, and takes out a credit card to use exclusively online. As for DH, this is going to cost you big time. Sux to be you. A lose/lose situation.
@Sean: Yes, my auto-bill/pay was turned off. I have left, and I moved my domains to another registrar a few days back, and moved my websites to another host at the same time.
I’m still waiting for a refund…it has not gone through as of noon, today, when I personally appeared to expedite a fraud dispute, because no refund initiation could be seen by the CC company. Today is the 22nd. It’s been a week, and nothing. That’s long enough for me.
@Sean: Yes, my auto-bill/pay was turned off, and I was charged without my authorization. I have left DH, and I moved my domains to another registrar a few days back, and moved my websites to another host at the same time. My refund is yet to be seen.
I’m still waiting for a refund…it has not gone through as of noon, today, when I personally appeared to expedite a fraud dispute, because no refund initiation could be seen by the CC company. Today is the 22nd. It’s been a week, and nothing. That’s long enough for me.
Here’s what I was told by the bank. Because I used a VISA check card [hey, my business spending is not the same as my personal spending] the refund from DH goes to VISA first. VISA then has 15 days to ‘inform’ the bank, in writing, that they have been refunded. Now, the bank informs me that they give the whole process a ‘good 30 days’ to clear up; because they also use about 15 days after getting that written confirmation of returned-credit to your account. So, because eBanking requires paper trails, my bank account is hobbled for 30 days.
I had no choice but to ‘dispute the charge’ so my bank had to issue an affidavit; this is the only way to get VISA to actually phone them on if there is a ‘pending refund’ from the Dreamhost–and if there isn’t, then VISA has must personally pursue it as a fraudulent charge.
I took what money I had left in that bank [once they determined what was actually there after the Dreamhost snafu and the subsequent OD charges stemming from it] and decided to move my account elsewhere…and guess what– never using a check-card for an autopay service, ever again.
Guess what smart people don’t do? They don’t stare at their online statements over a 3 day holiday weekend and wonder why nothing has changed.
Bonus Points: Guess what else smart people don’t do? Give up? They don’t flip burgers and live their lives $50 away from bankruptcy.
Has no one noticed that out of possibly 100,000 customers, there are only a tiny handful of vocal ones claiming their lives are ruined by something so minor? That’s because the rest became adults, got grown-up jobs and/or don’t waste money on web hosting in the first place, if they can barely afford to eat.
Ouch. That little bit of common sense will surely incite a riot here.
It’s also cute how people with negative bank balances are talking about wasting another $35 they don’t even have, just to waste their own time and LOSE a small claims case. hahahahaha
That’s as funny as the ones that are saying they spent even more money they don’t have, to switch hosts before anything was cleared up, as if that changed anything at all in their favor. I guess tantrums are just cooler than thinking before acting?
If someone mugged you and beat the living crap out of you, I guess that would be your fault for being born?
Do all hosts have customers that can’t tell the difference between making a mistake and correcting it (even doubling the NSF fees) and intentionally committing a violent felony, or is this just unique to Dreamhost customers?
Idiots.
There’s no shortage of those here. There just seems to be some confusion in correctly identifying them. 
Well, I think a lot of people -have- left. Checked my server load now and it was .75! Wow, never seen it lower than 1.75-2.00 and usually averages 4.5. But .75?! Nice! And I’m getting 750KB/s downloads from across the country! Please people, by all means leave leave leave!!
HAHA x 1000. Your tears are delicious. Angry about NSF/overdraft fees? That’s what you get for being poor! Just have a bunch of money like the rest of us and you wouldn’t have to worry about it! I laugh at you filthy untouchables!
Contacted my bank. STILL no refend. Whats the hold up? This is absurd. I’m a student buying books. I need that money for more important stuff.
Dreamhost won’t be automatically billing me anymore. They’ve lost that trust.
Well, I think a lot of people -have- left.
Naa… when people throw an “I’m outta here” tantrum, that’s a sure sign that they’re staying. They’re like the “I’ll sue you” crowd that has never even talked to a lawyer before.
$250 missing from my checking account. Called the bank. They got no refunds in sight from DH. I kinda needed that money for rent this month. Sucks for me don’t it?
$250 missing from my checking account. Called the bank. They got no refunds in sight from DH. I kinda needed that money for rent this month. Sucks for me don’t it?
Not much is going to change in the banking world over a weekend, let alone a 3-day holiday weekend.
This should be a sign that you need to make some changes. Without this billing error, you were $250 away from financial ruin. This isn’t going to be the only unexpected expense in life, so even when this is straightened out, you’ll always be screwed until you make a change.
I did not have autopay activated and I was still charged. My account overdrafted, incurring additional fees, and I have not had money for food since. The charge was pending, then actually went through, and there’s been no sign of a refund whatsoever.
What is the point in preaching to people how they should handle their finances?.. the end all be all is that Dreamhost f*cked up so I think that warrants any amount of bitching that people feel like throwing their way until the situation is resolved in entirety.
I’m trying to remain patient during all of these proceedings but when I get no responses from them via support ticket, my patience is quickly waning. And no, I have not been refunded as of yet either.
The $200 or so I was charged isn’t going to put me in the poorhouse either, but if other people are no so fortunate why would you harangue them for not having money?
All in all I’ve definitely learned a lesson never to use my bank card for such matters.
Um, to all you people laughing at the “losers”… the world you live in and which supports your lifestyle depends on unequal distribution of resources. “Get real jobs?” The world you live in depends on the people answering phones, flipping burgers, manning cash registers, and pouring coffee. Those jobs are as real as they get.
People are basicalyl saying “Um, how about instead of being poor, you try being rich?” Great advice! How about instead of being stupid, you try being smart? If everybody made upwards of $50/hour, for example, the only thing that would change is we’d be talking about how Paypal charged everybody thousands of dollars and people can’t afford $300 overdraft fees.
I can bet you that more DH clients are living paycheck to paycheck then are not. If these people weren’t “wasting their money”, it’s doubtful DH would be as viable a business.
And if anybody here is actually so rich that they can afford to just up and lose $200-$400 and not notice it, then I have a perfect solution: self-important economic illiterates, pick somebody living in the real world and Paypal them a couple hundred dollars. The people who need the money will have it, and the people who apparently don’t won’t miss anything. Everybody wins!
^^ right on tha’s what i meant to say
@ this is funny: Naa, you are wrong. I don’t know what planet you reside on, but I am no longer using DH, I moved my domains to another registrar, and a different host. I’m not staying, and left DH three days ago, because of this fiasco. I’m still waiting for my refund, because the money is mine, not theirs, to use, without authorized permission, when auto-pay was turned off. Charging me when auto-pay/bill is turned off is deliberate, not an accident. I’m not the only one who has left.
“Naa… when people throw an “I’m outta here” tantrum, that’s a sure sign that they’re staying.”
If you think this was bad… I was with a host several years ago…. mass billed every account they had for 6 months ahead, and dropped off the face of the earth, no one got any money back… now I’m hurting for money too… but atleast the money is on the way, and not gone off the face of the Earth!
What is the point in preaching to people how they should handle their finances?
I’d say it has more of a point than non-stop crying & whining in blog comments.
And if anybody here is actually so rich that they can afford to just up and lose $200-$400 and not notice it, then I have a perfect solution
That’s not even close to being rich. There are people that work at K-Mart than can afford that, but it’s because they save for it.
Someone with a low paying job that isn’t stupid with their money can still do okay. I guess no one ever heard of someone starting out with nothing and working to become a millionaire? I guess it’s easier to just sit around crying about overdrafts than actually go out and accomplish something. Keep up the good work!
Okay, I’ll let the overdrafters get back to lecturing the “rich” about how they don’t understand economics. haaaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaa!
hey you know that money you borrowed from me last week? yea, well i kinda need that back. yea you know, yea i understand you needed it and all but i kinda sorta need it now so uh, that would be great if you could pay me back soon kthxbye
I’m in the process of leaving. Reps I have spoken to online at two other hosting companies said they have had hundreds of additional new accounts opened in the last few days alone from the DH fallout. Good job. The arrogant people who insist on blaming the victims and rubbing their faces in it, I am sooo going to laugh my ass off when DH go belly-up and you lose all your content and your paid-in-advance hosting fees. Oh,and good luck in the interim - somehow I don’t see DH being able to afford to replace hardware as it fails - they’re already using refurbished crap as it is. Good luck losers.
Reps I have spoken to online at two other hosting companies said they have had hundreds of additional new accounts opened in the last few days alone from the DH fallout.
I call BS on that. At least one host has already been called out for lying about the current situation.
The arrogant people who insist on blaming the victims and rubbing their faces in it, I am sooo going to laugh my ass off when DH go belly-up and you lose all your content and your paid-in-advance hosting fees.
Good thing you said that, because we couldn’t already tell that you’re stupid. There’s a pretty good chance that Dreamhost is bigger than who you’re going with and always will be. But I do realize that a little research and common sense is no match for just blurting out random stupidity.
Oh,and good luck in the interim - somehow I don’t see DH being able to afford to replace hardware as it fails - they’re already using refurbished crap as it is. Good luck losers.
They’re millionaires that spend a ton of money on hardware constantly. Congratulations. Most people couldn’t have typed that much and not say at least one thing that was accurate. I guess you’ll be riding the short bus over to your new host.
@JimmyT: I left, closed my DH account out, entirely. Moved domains and hosting. got my email acknowledgement my account was closed successfully and that there will be no further charges. It is an easy process to close accounts out.
Thanks for the update!
This is funny says: “Guess what else smart people don’t do? Give up? They don’t flip burgers and live their lives $50 away from bankruptcy.”
I say:
Guess what REALLY smart people do… they don’t measure people by how smart they are, but rather by how good their heart is.
Fuck you,
Voice Of One
omgrofllmaolol
You’re saying there’s people who 1) work at K-mart and 2) know how to “manage their money”… but don’t care if they lose $400 with no return in sight?
If such a person exists, I guarantee you they’re not working their way up to being a millionaire.
Businesses fire people over $200 and $400 errors. The only people who think that’s not an absent worth noticing are lazy ass dilettantes who obviously didn’t work for what they have, or they’d know the value of it.
I’d bet a lot of the people complaining about the slow/no refunds use Dreamhost to run a small business that’s either their main income or a sideline. A couple people have specifically mentioned school programs or non-profit organizations. If somebody in one of those situations suddenly loses access to $200-$400 that they’re not expecting, it can lead to a crunch… not because they’re “$50 away from bankruptcy”, but because their money is already committed and being a small organization they can’t afford to spread the loss around.
I guarantee you there are more businesses like this on a freaking $10 webhost than there are ones that can go “$278? What $278?”
I run a small business on my DH page and this affected me primarily because of how I manage my money: I put all the money for my bills aside in a checking account i use for that purpse at the start of the month so I don’t have to worry about them. Ordinarily it works like a dream… money comes out automatically and I effectively take care of everything with a single transaction. A sudden unexpected charge of several hundred dollars resulted in an overdraft fee. I was able to move money to the account to get it back into the positive and my bank was actually kind enough to waive the overdraft when the situation was explained (or else I’d be going after DH for that with the process they’ve provided), so for me it’s largely a matter of inconvenience, but I understand how other people could be in a pinch.
Understand, Economic Genius that you are, that if the only people who started a business or even an artistic outlet page were people who could afford to lose $400 without blinking an eye… well, actually, this is all such patently obvious stuff that I don’t know why I’m bothering to explain it. The fact is that the people you’re sneering at CAN afford to run a business or even a webpage… that doesn’t mean they can afford to lose close to $500 overnight without warning.
“Hey, stupid heads! Don’t sign up for a $10 web host if you can’t lose several hundred dollars and not care!”
What idiots.
Seriously, mugging people like you shouldn’t be a crime. Since, you know, you have so much money you don’t care if you lose some.
Just have to say that I did get my refund today… I don’t know why this forum has turned into a free for all bashing of others but it’s ridiculous.
I hope everyone else has gotten their refunds as well.
Miss Positivity, I was going to fire off an angry note here, as of last night, no refund had showed. After reading your post, I thought I’d check the account, and whew! the refund is in. Apparently, the changes are made at midnight. Glad this debacle is over.
We’ve been with Dreamhost since 2000 and have always received good service, except for this.
I got a refund today as well. Now that I’m back in the black, it’s time to try to get the NSF fees refunded…
W00t!
Yep - refund showed up last night for me too. Faith guys, faith… The bank, by the way, told me EXACTLY what DH has been saying (many days, long weekend, bla bla bla).
No refund today still for me. Still out 482.02 on my debit card…
Refund today, thankfully. Sending overdraft info to DH today via fax, since none of the electronic copies we’ve e-mailed have been received with the e-mails.
The refund did come through. I am now completely washed of DH.
My account is completely closed, and my domains were moved to a new registrar four days ago, along with a new host.
Not a customer but going to make some suggestions.
DH made a mistake. A huge one. They owned up to it, they said they were working on it, they said people would get the money back and then some if they had incurred other charges because of it PLUS they’re paying customers who want to leave! They posted about it in DETAIL in numerous places and e-mailed customers. It doesn’t makes it any less of a mistake but it sure as hell is better than lying about it, not refunding any money or disappearing off the face of the planet.
The timing was poor. It was right before a weekend and an extended weekend at that. I bet a lot of people would have received refunds a lot faster had this happened say, on the 14th rather than the 17th. A lot of people received a very quick refund because DH fixed the issue as quickly as possible and just because it didn’t show up in accounts immediately doesn’t mean they lied. It simply means that the money has to go through a longer route when being refunded than when a charge is made (read the post about Visa taking over two weeks to notify banks of refunds on check cards). The money needs to make quite a few stops before reaching your bank and, unfortunately, that will take even longer when holidays are involved but anyone who has ever used a bank has dealt with that frustration before.
For those who were without money and found themselves hard pressed, I cannot say it’s your fault. I can say that using a credit or debit card anywhere comes with varying amount of risks and this is one of them. If you are accidentally overcharged, you may incur fees or go over your limit. No one plans to be overcharged but the risk is always there and if you can minimize it as much as possible (don’t autopay, don’t keep your accounts close to 0 or credit cards nearly maxed, don’t pay for a website if you cannot afford it, don’t keep all your money in one account), everyone will be much happier.
Protect your electronic assets the same way you would your physical cash if you went on vacation. You don’t expect to be mugged or lose your wallet but you’ll prepare for it anyway. This is certainly unfortunate but not without lessons to be learned. If you feel that DH is unprofessional, why did you use them? Take care to monitor your online payments; don’t give out your account numbers freely. Give yourself a financial buffer rather than living check to check. And, dear DH can implement something to prevent this from happening again whether is be adding a line of coding or having all figures double checked by another pair of human eyes. I imagine they’ll also take a different approach than the one used by Josh in the blog when informing customers of this issue.
With that said, I’m curious if any customers still have not received a refund?
It’s just one problem after another…
NEXT YEAR I WONT BE HOSTED WITH YOU, AND MY FRIENDS NEITHER
Cole you sure can type. Next time try reading harder.
It did happen on the 14th/15th depending on your time zone. The first status post about it was posted at 1:26 am PST on Tuesday January 15th. Today is January 23rd.
Went through today.
See!
I told them not to eat that bloody apple!
I am staying with DH.
First… I am NOT rich by a long shot. Pay check to pay check is about what I live on. Second. This hurt. Luckily (or maybe not) my card was refused since I was overdrawn at the bank anyways (yes I was charged a fee). Even if the charge had gone through, I wouldn’t change. The big reason is honesty. Go ahead, flame me all you want with your mugging analogy. But, unlike other hosting companies I’ve been with… (Let’s face it, nearly every other company — hosting or otherwise — on the face of this planet!) DH owned up to the snafu immediately! I didn’t have to find out about the problems on someone else’s board… it is posted right here with a nice RSS feed sent to me. They didn’t ignore the problem. AND, most importantly, they have VOLUNTARILY accepted responsibility for the fallout. I have been shafted more than once by other businesses, and not one has been willing to admit fault and fix the problem like DH has. The muggers, by the way, are the credit card companies sitting on your money!
And no… I don’t work for DH. But, I am loyal to those people who treat me honestly.
@cole:
Still no refund. It is 3PM on Wednesday. Bank has no record of refund, and DH no longer responding to emails. Still out $420.
I disputed the charge with my bank, and since DH won’t reply to my emails about this any more and it’s been over a week, I’ve filed a complaint with the BBB as well.
Still raises suspicious about the business’s solidity, especially given that this and the other official DreamHost sites have been intermittently inaccessible for me all day.
Apparently some users have just been charged again, after getting their refund. What a mess. I am also in the process of moving hosts, just wish the registrar change would go through more quickly so I can finally end this nightmare experience.
Angry Dog: I was unaware of that. I had my billing details in the system but wasn’t charged, so I assumed (wrongly and foolishly), that it was only happening to people who had autopay set up. You answered my question, but also misrepresented me. I wasn’t blaming the victim, only wondering why anyone living hand-to-mouth would ever have autopay set up. Now I know: They didn’t.
Thanks a lot for your extreme over-reaction. It tells me what kind of people I’m dealing with.
Charge came out of my account, refunded next day. No problems here… sure it’s a bitch that it happened in the first place, but mistakes happen.
Filing a chargeback to bypass or speed up a refund process is fraud. You’d have to lie to your credit card company to get it processed. So it sounds like we have a bunch of lying, thieving frauds accusing Dreamhost of being what they are.
While Dreamhost is offering double compensation for overdraft fees, it’s disturbing that it’s not enough for the paycheck-to-paycheck crowd that they feel the urge to commit fraud. Are people really getting joy out of costing them chargeback fees, on top of going above and beyond what’s required from them?
What’s even more sad is that those that are deceptive enough to do the chargeback will also be too deceptive to correct the refund that clears, and will then be stealing money.
I’m sure there are those that will argue with that, but it doesn’t mean much coming from people that can’t even figure out why statement changes don’t show up on weekends or MLK day.
Another tip for the clueless: The banks are ALWAYS the slow part of the process, as I’m sure they care more about interest than your (or Dreamhost’s) problems. But keep thinking that bank procedure, weekends, holidays, etc… have nothing to do with what you think is an evil Dreamhost conspiracy to make the poor even poorer.
@ omgrofllmaolol : Excuse me? Charging the funds in the first place was an error, if we are to believe DH. Sending notices that refunds had been processed, when they actually had NOT been processed (due to yet another error by DH), and as a result the customer actioning a chargeback is NOT fraud.
Gawd you armchair lawyers are a joke, but in your case it’s even worse because, in you ignorance, you start calling everyone else clueless. Unbelievable.
The fact this happened in the first place is grounds for concern if not negligent fraud, but then promising to refund those funds and not actioning that refund in the time specified (and this had nothing to do with banks processing time, this was yet another ‘error’ by DH), the victim has EVERY right to take action to reclaim those funds by alternative means, and even take additional legal action against DH. IF you had bothered to read DH’s own version of events at http://blog.dreamhost.com/2008/01/17/the-final-update/ before opening your big ignorant mouth and showing just how ‘clueless’ you are, then you would’ve known that only 1/16th of the customers billed were refunded initially when promised, and apparently others were billed a second time!
Now please take your ignorant, stupid, self-serving, holier-than-thou attitude and go jump off the nearest high-rise building, you moronic waste of life.
dreamhost is even slower than normal today. esprit is dog slow.
please fix.
I jumped the gun last week, when I was upset with DH taking another year’s hosting.
They emailed saying they’ll even pay the bank charges it cost me for the money to leave/return. I am impressed!
My previous host was a dog, with massive downtime and no let up taking their monthly fees. Dreamhost has restored my faith in webhosts!
Thank you.
I’ve heard many people gleefully predict the demise of Dreamhost - I know what happened wasn’t cool, but geez there are some really really mean spirited people out there — it was a mistake geez. a mistake I hope Dreamhost has insurance to cover their butts with, because despite the ones calling for heads, I do hope this doesn’t cause you to go belly up, that will effect people too, folks will lose their jobs and worse, all because of a honest to goodness mistake(a fat finger), it wasn’t malicious… it was a mistake–
By the way, my refund came through today — I got my 10.00 back, which is a good thing too, because I would have had to miss my mortgage payment, my credit rating would be screwed and basically my entire life would have been thrown into a tailspin and basically I was 10 bucks from living in a box in the first place and all I needed was DH to help make it a reality–DAMN YOU DREAMHOST, DAMN YOU TO HELL…ok, not really, but I did get my 10 bucks back, thanks!
Now that’s not to make light of the people that got pinched last week, but there are some serious actors around here — there’s one thing I know for sure, no matter what’s going wrong with your life, there’s always someone that’s worse off than you… and I have no doubt there were some people that really had a hard time because of this and I’ll bet most of those people didn’t leave their little nasty calling cards over and over again on this site, they made the best of the situation, waiting for their refund and if inclined quietly closing their accounts and moving on without a word– because one thing is for certain, the world is going to keep on turning , so for all you whiners and complainers, to take a line from a great show…
“You know what your problem is? You wake up every morning wondering what the world’s gonna do for you, wondering who’s gonna
bend over backwards, kiss your ass and make you happy when you should just thank God for another day and leave it the fuck at that.”
Excuse me? Charging the funds in the first place was an error, if we are to believe DH.
If you don’t “believe” a company as established as them, then you are a complete fool for giving them your credit card info at all. You’re just trying to justify your own fraudulent actions.
Sending notices that refunds had been processed, when they actually had NOT been processed (due to yet another error by DH),
Errors aren’t fraud, or cause for chargebacks. This is common sense. They’re there for when there is no other way to get your money back, which does not apply here. The only frauds here are the ones filing chargebacks.
It’s also funny how the pretending-to-be-smart crowd doesn’t understand that the banks are always the hold-up in any transaction. Most of the whining was done over a 3-day holiday weekend, which shows just how clueless the nasty/bitter posters are. If any of you were 1/2 as honest as Dreamhost is, you’d admit that you’re just bitter because of sad financial situations you were in (100% your fault) before this even happened.
There is absolutely no way that a normally mentally stable person completely falls apart and becomes an emotional wreck over something so minor.
This reminds me of the saying: “Life is hard. It’s even harder if you’re stupid.”
and as a result the customer actioning a chargeback is NOT fraud.
As usual, you are 100% incorrect. NO ONE that filed a chargeback was 100% honest & forthcoming with their credit card companies. And since they lied to them, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised when they lie here as well.
Gawd you armchair lawyers are a joke, but in your case it’s even worse because, in you ignorance, you start calling everyone else clueless. Unbelievable.
Yeah, I guess you’re a real lawyer. I didn’t know lawyers were so poorly paid that they ended up in situations like you’re in. Maybe you should ask for a raise.
I think I already mentioned that cracks like this mean nothing coming from the clueless. Anyone that was whining over the 3 day weekend IS clueless. Do you guys think your banks shut their doors and skipped town every time you go to make a deposit on a Sunday and they’re not there?
The fact this happened in the first place is grounds for concern if not negligent fraud,
When you start off being that wrong, nothing you say from that point is going to be accurate. You seem to think that if you say something while crying and throwing a tantrum, that it must be so.
Now please take your ignorant, stupid, self-serving, holier-than-thou attitude and go jump off the nearest high-rise building, you moronic waste of life.
Awww, look, I made the little baby get frustrated and throw another tantrum. Did Mr. Cranky make a doo doo in his diaper?
Someone as close to suicide as yourself (and for good reason) probably shouldn’t expect others to take you seriously when you suggest they do the same.
You aren’t that bitter over a billing mistake or me pointing out the fact that you’re clueless. You’re bitter over what little you’ve made of your own life, and this is just what you’re going to blame it on this week. Next week, you’ll be crying about something else that wouldn’t seem like a big deal to someone that’s a little more mentally stable and financially responsible.
But keep complaining & crying–because you definitely don’t have anything better to do. Though I’m sure you’ll lie some more and claim otherwise, all while unleashing another baby tantrum and playing the poor little victim.
The funny thing about this (to grown-ups) is that as big as their mistake was, their customers are the ones that are looking stupid and/or crooked to people that read through the comments. You guys can’t even play victim without thinking like criminals.
As a Dreamhost customer, I’m relieved to know that the only frauds that can’t be trusted at Dreamhost are just other customers, rather than the company itself.
Actually it’s the people that tell me I should stop whining because it’s my fault (for various reasons) that made me the most furious about the whole affair. If they think they’re doing DH some sort of favor by making excuses for them, they are dead wrong - they have only served as a catalyst at further angering users who have enough of a clue to know this error was unacceptable, albeit an accident. Seriously, what did they expect with their condescending comments?
OMG listen to yourself for gad sake - “people that behave like that aren’t likely to end up being successful ” ..people like that? You clueless elitist snob, you comment has shown you for what you are. What a despicable piece of trash - and there are so many of you!
Denise Milani: I, personally, never stated that I couldn’t afford anything. I stated that what occurred was totally unacceptable to begin with, and more so, due to the fact that I had dsiabled and turned off auto-pay/bill long before this situation began, and that I moved my domains to another registrar and host because of the entire fiasco and debacle. I did that five days ago.
I also stated last night that I did get my credit yesterday.
Well, I received my refund, but I’ve not heard back on my email since yesterday afternoon on the overdraft charge I received due to this.
I’m not going anywhere, and I’m glad they admitted to the mistake.
The comments I’ve seen from the ‘DH supporters club’ here are enough to convince me leave, if the situation with the billing hadn’t been enough already. I’ve rarely seen such a massed group of self-involved individuals, and I certainly don’t wish to be associated with you.
So, Geraldo, you feel that you are “associated” with other folks who use the same hosting company as you? What are you, some kind of massively retarded retard? I mean sure, leave DH is that’s what you really want to you, that’s your call, but to state this as your reason is just… well, it’s fucking retarded.
For the record, after posting so much complaining about this I feel it is fair to say:
I have finally received a refund.
Finally.
I can’t contact support about ANYTHING!
Who said I’m living in poverty? Who said I’m a failure? I am doing very well thank you, and I am successful. You make these accusations based on what exactly, please tell me. Actually I can tell you what - complete ignorance and a hugely exaggerated ego stoked by a severe inferiority complex. Again, listen to yourself and tell me who the nasty vindictive bitter person having a tantrum is - it is pretty clear it is you. Again, all you’ve done is show you are an ugly, nasty little person with a vicious vindictive personality. I pity you your pathetic egocentric life with your self-proclaimed moral superiority. You disgust me.
Oh and very apt if actually were denise milani - actually it would explain your reactions here entirely - a self-involved ‘model’ with large breasts posing near-naked in an attempt to gain some sense of approval and self-worth. No doubt you were abused as a child by a dominant male father-figure. How sad.
wow… reading through some of these comments i actually wish i owned dreamhost. i think i’d cancel and refund accounts of people like denise milani and anyone else who carries themselves with such a piss-poor, holier-than-thou attitude. i’d also like to smack some sense into everyone who thinks this is the right forum for addressing their financial problems. NOBODY CARES! grow up, all of you. accept the fact that we’re all poorer than bill gates. there. we’re all failures.
stupid whore. you have no idea if I am wealthy or not, and the same with adam there - for all you know, we may both be billionaires, which just further proves what a stupid whore you are. yes you heard me - stupid.ugly.whore.
denise milani - you also have a big fat ass, buck teeth, a lazy eye, a hunch back, syphilis, gonorrhea, severe acne, weigh 350lb, have tree stumps for legs and have 10 retarded children, all fathered by your own brother. How do I know this? I asked the same magic eight ball that you asked to establish I and Adam are failures with no money.
Stupid whore indeed.
Stop your whining and be a man, woman or whatever you are and just wait it out and get another job if you are hard up for money!
being a Canadian, my credit card charged me one interest rate, and a different for the refund. So I’m out a big lowsey $6. Out of pure principal alone, I expect DH to refund this…. mistakes happen, but I’m sure the hell not going to be out because of it.
$6.15… not a big deal at all, but sheer principal. Who’s getting fired, I ask? My suggestion, is not the person who typed in the wrong number, but the people above him who never put in any safeguards to prevent this.
Grow up Geraldo. You can\’t act exactly how she describes you while claiming she is off base. How old are you? You seem like a frustrated little kid to me.
Still waiting for a reply to my original email I sent, and the two subsequent emails I sent on regards to an overlimit charge.
Any one else still not receive a refund?
Ok… now I’m starting to get frustrated, its been 4.5 days since I emailed about the overlimit charge. I’ve received NO replies yet, except one telling me that billing can’t accept attachments, and I resent it as a link.
I got my refund for the overbilling, now I’m trying to get the $40 back my CC took because of “Over Limit”
I still haven’t received my refund $280.00
Got my reply and they refunded the Over Limit fee.
FINALLY I AM FREE. EVERYTHING HAS NOW TRANSFERRED SUCCESSFULLY TO A NEW HOST, AND I JUST HAD THE GREATEST OF PLEASURE DELETING DREAMHOST FROM MY BOOKMARKS.
TO ALL YOU FOOLS STILL WITH DREAMHOST - I PITY YOU. ENJOY YOUR NEVER-ENDING DOWNTIME, LOST EMAILS AND AT THE VERY LEAST, LATENCY. I HAVE NO PITY HOWEVER FOR THE DH ZEALOTS WHO CONTINUE TO SING THE PRAISES OF AN INCREDIBLY SHODDY WEBHOST. SURE THEY MIGHT BE A BUNCH OF FUN ENTREPRENEURS, BUT IT’S AT YOUR EXPENSE, AND THEY’RE LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK.
WOOF!
I pity those of you who don’t understand the proper usage of a caps lock key…
Good for you, Angry Dog! I too left, when the fiasco started.
Good for you, Angry Dog! I also left, due to the horrendous fiasco, and have been gone since January 20th.
thank you very much nice work
thank you very much
thank you
Nice work thank you.
Thank you.
thank you
nice job.
Thank you for working to resolve this. I appreciate the work that and urgency that has gone into the recovery.