Nightmare on Webhostingmasters street

[texasgamer]

I purchased server hosting from Webhostingmasters on July 30th 2006.
The owner of Webhosting masters was Billy Mcfarland (YaYa) and he is a member of this forum.
I purchased server space from webhostingmasters because of the great price and also these promises:
99.9% Uptime
30 Day Money Back Guarantee
24/7 Support
1 Hour or Less Response on ALL tickets

Within a few weeks the server started having all kinds of problems. The server seemed like it was down more then up. There was hardly any support. In fact their email and trouble ticket system stopped working. The only place I and others could commuicate with YaYa was in this thread:
http://www.namepros.com/web-hosting-offers/191740-50-off-all-shared-reseller-plans.html
You can read the whole wretched story there, if you have the time...lol
On August 17, 2006 I asked YaYa for a refund. He told me numerous times he would give me a refund.
But the refund never materialized.
At some point in August, YaYa sold Webhostingmasters to another individual named Nathan ([email protected]). At least thats the story we are being told. Try Googling Nathans email address, to see what kind of character that guy is. He is known for not paying clients back on refunds and other shady dealings.
Anyway YaYa says he now works for Nathan and that I have to go thru Nathan for a refund. He keeps saying he has sent the refund request to Nathan.
This is October and I still have not gotten my refund.
I would like advice on what I can do about this problem.

 

[allreseller.com]

well, iam nathan, and id say a texas insult was delivered, do not ever post my personal email and say ive been proven guilty of shady dealings, or my attorneys will be dealing you a sweet lawsuit on your texas sized ass in a heartbeat. Did you email me? Did you ask if i had anything to do with this company? I took over sept 8th , and have been having a nightmare of a time, id command some insight to your matter and you announcing that iam the one holding your money, and that ive been proven commited of any bad business dealings, thank you

 

[labrocca]

My advice is you get a better more reputable host. Fly by night hosts are very scary and no matter what they promise usually don't deliver. How much are you out? Also there doesn't appear to be a whole lot you can do. File a BBB report (useless) and contact your credit card/payment company. Make sure to show any proof you have about their guarantee along with your problems. Good luck.

 

[texasgamer]

well, iam nathan, and id say a texas insult was delivered, do not ever post my personal email and say ive been proven guilty of shady dealings, or my attorneys will be dealing you a sweet lawsuit on your texas sized ass in a heartbeat. Did you email me? Did you ask if i had anything to do with this company? I took over sept 8th , and have been having a nightmare of a time, id command some insight to your matter and you announcing that iam the one holding your money, and that ive been proven commited of any bad business dealings, thank you

Your past dealings are well known public information already - Just google your email address for some enlightenment.
So go for it and sue me and make sure you spell my name right.
And while your at it - send me the money you owe me.
And then get off you arse and get that crappy excuse for a server straightened out and take care of your customers!

 

[labrocca]

btw TexasGamer...you paid YaYa....he is the one needed to refund you which you obviously have not realized...you will NEVER get it.

I just read the 20 pages over in the web hosting thread about this ordeal. I have never seen a more incompetent group of webmasters and a host. You guys should have left after a week. Instead you listened to this kid and some even renewed!

I am appalled at the sheer lack of intelligence by some of you in dealing with this situation. You signed up for some cheap hosting run by a kid...then when things go wrong you are all puzzled by it. If you want to pretend to be a webmaster then ACT LIKE IT...be a master not a pawn. Get new RELIABLE hosting and move on. The unprofessionalism from yaya is inexcusable and you should have walked out of there very quickly. Those that didn't are just as unprofessional as him. You don't allow your sites to go down repeatedly because "you like him"...or "he is a nice guy"...you assure YOUR customers uptime by moving to a QUALIFIED HOST!

I would never move the bulk of my sites to a host I only used for a few weeks. I would need a minimal of 3 months trial period or at least a whole lot of referrals at places like WebHostingTalk.com to assure reliability.

I hope many of those ripped off learn from their mistakes.

btw...it's very doubtful you will ever see a dime of the money again. I think you should move on.

 

[.X.]

btw TexasGamer...you paid YaYa....he is the one needed to refund you which you obviously have not realized...you will NEVER get it.

I just read the 20 pages over in the web hosting thread about this ordeal. I have never seen a more incompetent group of webmasters and a host. You guys should have left after a week. Instead you listened to this kid and some even renewed!

I am appalled at the sheer lack of intelligence by some of you in dealing with this situation. You signed up for some cheap hosting run by a kid...then when things go wrong you are all puzzled by it. If you want to pretend to be a webmaster then ACT LIKE IT...be a master not a pawn. Get new RELIABLE hosting and move on. The unprofessionalism from yaya is inexcusable and you should have walked out of there very quickly. Those that didn't are just as unprofessional as him. You don't allow your sites to go down repeatedly because "you like him"...or "he is a nice guy"...you assure YOUR customers uptime by moving to a QUALIFIED HOST!

I would never move the bulk of my sites to a host I only used for a few weeks. I would need a minimal of 3 months trial period or at least a whole lot of referrals at places like WebHostingTalk.com to assure reliability.

I hope many of those ripped off learn from their mistakes.

btw...it's very doubtful you will ever see a dime of the money again. I think you should move on.

i agree....it's a bad situation "texasgamer" ...but take it as a lesson and move on....you paid YaYa...he is the one who owes you a refund....many people buy websites...hosting sites and ect....and have no idea what the dealings with clients were prior to buying the business...some buy sites that are actually in debt to clients...and have no idea they have bought a site that owes people money...more times than not...the buyer of the site is a victim thereself....due to the fact "allreseller.com" nathan was not the owner at the time of the agreement-transaction....he is just trying to carry on and run his hosting business....I seriously doubt you will ever see a dime of your money from YaYa again aswell.

 

[DNQuest.com]

Actually, when one buys a "business", they are buying everything, the good, bad and the ugly. You acquire the assets and the liabilities unless there is a stipulation in the acqusition agreement how liabilities are to be handled (IE- new account less than a month old is the responsibility of the original owner until some sort of set date). Unfortunately, if the buyer knew about this or not, he could be held responsible for any previous shady dealings.

 

[Ronald Regging]

Exactly DNQuest. The new owner has incurred all prior debts and if this information wasn't disclosed to him upon the sale of the business, than he has a right to go after the previous owner. But the new owner can not automatically transfer his responsibility to the previous owner. Meaning he is responsible to first pay all the previous debt, and then he can go after the original owner to recoup those losses.

I don't know about your previous dealings allreseller.com (nathan), but this generally seems like a bad situation you stumbled into. Maybe you should have researched the business more before buying it, maybe, I still feel for you though. The thing at this point is to realize that unless you take care of this mess and reimburse people who are owed money and bring some credibility back to the business, you will undoubtedly see ALOT of negative posts on message forums all over the net which could effect your business considerably. It's just the nature of people who get screwed and it's completely understandable...

Be a professional and take care of your responsibilities.

 

[labrocca]

Sorry but you guys are wrong. Did the person buy a corporation? Doubtful. Most likely he made a deal for something specific...hosting clients, a website, and a domain name. That's like saying if you buy a website here on NP and the owner didn't pay his hosting bill for the past year that suddenly you owe it. You know that's not true. It's very doubtful that YAYA was a corporation or LLC. He is just some kid that took money from people then sold off the clients and domain. Usually in deals for hosting clients the new owner only agrees to honor any paid hosting times in an effort to retain those clients upon renewal. imho telling people that YAYA is off the hook because he sold out is wrong. It would be a scammer loophole.

As a person that sold multiple real world businesses...I can tell you that clients and vendors expect the old owner to honor deals they made with him. I owed one vendor a large amount of money. They couldn't care less that I sold my business. It was I they made the agreement with.

 

[PolurNET]

Could a moderator check if "allreseller.com" has a duplicate account here at Namepros?

http://www.namepros.com/member.php?u=12592

At one point, it seems he also tried using our slogan:
http://www.namepros.com/web-hosting...ler-com-avoid-the-freeze-and.html#post1454731

---

Anyway, I hope you (allreseller.com) do the right thing and deal with the situation in a professional way by refunding (or compensating in some way) the parties involved with YaYa, and rebuilding the site to make it keep its promises. Perhaps you should really tell YaYa about his major mistakes he committed here and dissappeared by handing over the mess to you.

Good luck

 

[allreseller.com]

same company difference posters, i wont let office employees use my personal account, also the copy of your slogan was just to get a rise out of you , no offense intended, also this deal is being hanlded with my attorney now as its looking grim.

 

[DNQuest.com]

Labrocca, then you know that liabilities are addressed during the negotiations (That is just good business practice). And the same rules apply for corp or sole proprietorshhip. If they are not addressed, the company covers them. In a corp, the company is an entity in itself, so regardless who sign the actual agreements, it is the company on the line. A sole proprietorship is a little different sicne there is no protection agaisnt personal assets.

If you don't address liabilities, that leaves the old owner at a disadvantage. The new owner can change things that would affect agreements prior to sale. You need to have contingencies in place.

If the situation where you owed the vendors, if you assign the debt to the new owner, that releases you from liability. Vendors could care less who pays the bill as long as they are paid.

Now, if there wre liabilities which you did not disclose during negotiations or ifoutright lied, then you could/would be responsible for them.

 

[labrocca]

I can guarantee this kid was a personal sole proprietor and most likely never even obtained a license for anything. He is just some kid that got a reseller account at another host then charged people for hosting. Ridiculous that he got the amount of clients he did here. Utter stupidity imho.

DNQ..the owner bought ASSETS from yaya....not liabilities. I am sure he never agreed to refund any current clients and imho doesn't have to.

This is not a company...just remember that. It's like buying a used car and the previous owner still owed a mechanic $500 for a repair..the new car owner is NOT responsible for that bill. The original contracts/agreements and payment were with YAYA.

 

[Mark]

Jesse - Wouldn't a mechanics lien (From your above example) be attached to the auto in that case ? Or against the actual person in the contract ? Not sure on that one really .....

allreseller.com - Were you in fact assuming all liabilities in this case ? - Seems to me if you bought the Clients - You bought the problems in existence with them as well.

I'm not saying -YaYa- isn't responsible in any way - But how many complaints were already on record in that thread on the date it was sold ?

 

[DNQuest.com]

Jesse, according o the new owner, he stated "I took over sept 8th".. to me, that means to took over the business, not just assets. Unless the new owner can show fraud on the part of the seller (knowing about potential chargebacks and issues) and did not disclose them, it could be tough for the new owner.

 

[texasgamer]

*Update*
YaYa has paid me via paypal the money that was owed.
I wish each and every person affected by this nightmare the best of luck.

 

[Ronald Regging]

You don't need a license in order to operate a business... Maybe legally you do, but not having a license will not negate your legal responsibilities. It's not like someone can just throw up a website, sell a service, rip a bunch of people off and then claim he's not responsible because he never obtained a business license. And in the same vein, a business owner who buys a business from someone, can not then claim that because the original owner never had a business license, the new owner is now absolved from all of the financial liability that came with that purchase.

And you might say that he only bought the assets, but clients by nature are both assets and liabilities. When purchasing clients I think it's a fair assumption that some will be completely paid up, some will owe the company money and some will be owed money... And if the new owner didn't work out a specific arrangement with the previous owner, he's assumed the assets as well as the liabilities. And he hasn't really made any statements to the contrary, so I'm assuming that is the case.


** As a side note, in Pennsylvania (where I live) a business license is not even required by law. If you operate under a fictitious name, you're supposed to file for that ($52), but this is mainly so the state can have official records and protect your name from use by another company.

 

[labrocca]

My point about a business license is that yaya was personally responsible. That the deal wasn't to buy a corporation. If he had business paperwork then he might be able to say he sold his business but instead he personally took money from people for a service then he personally didn't provide the service. This would be a small claim court situation and the new owner wouldn't be liable.

DNQ you are using the word "business" too liberally imho. If I sell lemonade out from it's hardly a business. I am doubtful a small claims judge would hold the new owner liable for the problems of yaya.

 

[Lasher]

well, iam nathan, and id say a texas insult was delivered, do not ever post my personal email and say ive been proven guilty of shady dealings, or my attorneys will be dealing you a sweet lawsuit on your texas sized ass in a heartbeat. Did you email me? Did you ask if i had anything to do with this company? I took over sept 8th , and have been having a nightmare of a time, id command some insight to your matter and you announcing that iam the one holding your money, and that ive been proven commited of any bad business dealings, thank you

This is a message from a hosting "company" to one of its customers, in a public forum. I believe nothing more really needs to be said on whether or not anyone should ever consider sending their business this way.

 

[DNQuest.com]

Actually, you only need a business license if it is required by the area of business you are in. For instance, in retail, you need a sales tax license, in shipping, you need a DOC measurement license, for lawyers, you need to pass the state bar, for bars you need liqor license, etc....

So if the area you are in does not need a a particular license, then you do not need anything to show you are a business. The only requirement is to have a checking account in hte business name and that is it. You also have the option to list yourself with the state, but it isn't mandatory, but it would help protect your name.

As far as comparing lemonaide to webhosting.. it doesn't work.

 

[wisconsin]

This is a message from a hosting "company" to one of its customers, in a public forum. I believe nothing more really needs to be said on whether or not anyone should ever consider sending their business this way.

I totally agree! It's a cheap and unprofessional reply from the company owner to a customer.

Allreseller.com, you could have come out of this situation alot better by helping, working with texasgamer on resolving the matter, and showing that you care; but instead you chose a different road that, unfortunately, was perceived as unprofessional. You still can fix it if you wish to.

Just my 0.2cents.

 

[labrocca]

Well since Texasgamer was refunded by YaYa...I would suspect that allreseller did the right thing by leaning heavily on yaya to refund him. Yeah it wasn't the most professional post but this whole situation from the clients to the host has been unprofessional why should he step in and start. Texasgamer acted unprofessionally first and allreseller responded in kind. At least that's how I see it.

btw...texasgamers has still not edited his post to remove nathans email..VERY UNPROFESSIONAL

 

[Ronald Regging]

How was Texasgamer acting unprofessional? He came on a legal forum, told what he knew and asked what he could do about it... As a customer in this situation he has every right to do so. It also helps to make other people aware of the situation so they aren't taken in.

As for the email address, it's public information and was and still is relevant to the original post. Allreseller acted unprofessional and I for one (who am looking for hosting), found this entire situation quite unsettling and I'm glad the email is still there, so I can research to find out Allresellers past dealings and to see which hosting companies he operates.

 

[texasgamer]

I was the customer and a very unhappy customer at that and I did not have a contract with WHM to be professional to them. Especially when they owed me money and refused to pay. I tried the nice, professional route first, but it go me no where. So I turned up the heat. Sometimes being nice and professional does not work when your dealing with unprofessional people.
You have to get in there and knock some heads around, to get their attention.

 

[suthra]

I think its your mistake., if you are in serious business, you should always get quality hosting like hostgator.,