30 Apr 08 Never got renewal notice until 6 month after end of contract

Bought 1st account 24 mo with 6 free months for $238.00 with guarantee of same price as long as I am a customer.

Never got renewal notice until six month after end of contract. Renewed immediately. Was called and told that program was no longer available. Had a better plan at only $3.57 pr mo. $42.84 a year. Was charged $1792.20. In dispute at this time.

Adam (75832) chose his words carefully leading me to think one thing which was not what he states now on the rebut to my bank card co. States that the $1792.20 would only be on my account until the first credit card billing and then it would be reduced to $42.84. Did not happen.

Now says it is on there until Sept. 8 and I must call a specific number on that day with specific information in the e-mail they sent to get my rebate. They never sent an e-mail. I requested it be sent again…no e-mail.

This whole process was very deceptive and misleading throughout.

I am responding to his rebut as we speak so I still don’t know the outcome.

29 Apr 08 Letter to CA AG pointing out lies in GISOL’s response to my complaint

K. Bravo
State of California Department of Justice
Public Inquiry Unit
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244
RE: Global Internet Solutions, Complaint ID Number: 211649

Dear K. Bravo

I have received your letter dated April 22, 2008 along with the response from GISOL, Inc, the company that was the subject of my complaint.

I wish to dispute certain of GISOL’s statements as being untrue or misleading.

1) “When the customer renews their package, it has nothing to do with renewing their domain name.”

That statement would be true for most web hosting companies, however all sites registered by GISOL are registered in GISOL’s name. (GISOL is the ONLY web hosting company I have found that employs this tactic.)

As such, only GISOL can renew a domain name registered in this way. This means that GISOL can hold hostage any site that it has registered. In my case, GISOL accepted payment to host my website while at the same time making it impossible to for me to renew the domain name on my own and then by neglect or deceit allowed my domain name to expire.

Indeed GISOL consistently uses this ploy to demand what amounts to a ransom payment from site owners, else they lose use of that name. In the website business, domain names are like a theater marquis. Without a domain name, a website is a useless collection of files that no one can access except the site owner.

The Internet is replete with instances of GISOL’s duplicity with respect to the ransom of domain names and the illegal tactics that GISOL employs to intimidate susceptible website owners.

2) During the Redemption Period, the Registry (Dotster/ICANN) gives the owner of the domain one more chance to re-activate the domain. Their cost to re-activate the domain is $399.”

As a statement of fact, Dotster’s charge to renew a domain name in redemption is $99.95, not $399.

3) “GISOL just acts as a middleman between a registrar and the customer”

Once again, the owner of all domains registered by GISOL is GISOL. GISOL therefore is not just a middleman but instead is the owner of the domain names used by its customers to make their websites accessible by the public.

If GISOL happens not to inform a customer and forward the payment to renew a domain name, GISOL would have to pay Dotster $99.95 (not $399) to re-activate the domain.

Rather than admit to the error and make restitution, I maintain that GISOL either allows the expiration process to continue to completion while cutting off all attempts by the site owner to contact them or attempts to extract a ransom to cover the expense and in most instances, make a further profit by intimidation or fraud.

4) “GISOL registers domain names for its’ customers as a courteously (sic) and as an act of good faith emails all customers 45 days, 30 days, 15 days and on the day of their specific expiration date.”

I never received any emails from GISOL regarding the expiration of my domain name. In any case, I could do nothing without the GISOL’s concurrence and they did not respond to any of my emails or phone calls.

5) “xxxxx obviously did not want to redeem their domain name, chose to not continue services with GISOL,…”

As I have said, a website without a domain name is useless. Why would I have authorized a website renewal payment to GISOL if I had no intention of allowing public access via a domain name? Had GISOL contacted me I would have readily renewed the domain name as well.

6) “…and while Breaching the Service Contract, xxxxx attempted to defraud GISOL into giving him money.”

This is a red herring. I would like to know in what way I have breached the service contract. I would also like to know how I have attempted to defraud GISOL into giving me money
___________________________________________

I am very disappointed that you have elected to side with a company that has harmed and continues to do injury to the public on an enormous scale and with complete disdain for the rule of law. Perhaps this is merely a reflection on the strength of my complaint and the fact that my losses were relatively minor.

However, what about the hundreds of other consumers that GISOL has defrauded. Is each to be handled in the same way without any consideration of the sheer number of complaints that have been lodged against GISOL.

Consider that the Better Business Bureau has received over 440 complaints against GISOL and has assigned it an F rating. According the BBB:

“We rate this company as having an unsatisfactory business performance record. Complaints allege unauthorized credit card charges, dissatisfaction with services, and difficulty implementing cancellation and refund policies. Some customers complain of getting continual credit card charges for service, long after cancellations are submitted.”

“The company responds to some complaints by denying allegations or disputing the validity of the complaint. Other complaints are addressed by sending advisories stating the customer was unable to contact service representatives due to an incorrect Email address listing.”

Clearly you have not done as I suggested and searched the web using the term “GISOL FRAUD”. Had you performed this search it would have become clear that my complaint against GISOL is not an isolated instance of a “difference of opinion” but is instead an accounting of a well orchestrated criminal enterprise that has operated with impunity for several years.

It is no wonder that the public loses faith in the government when a criminal organization masquerading as a business can so easily manipulate the system and continue to bilk the public.

29 Apr 08 Response from BBB to complaint filed 3/28/08

Complaint Details

Global Internet Solutions
7336 Santa Monica Blvd.,
Suite 815 Los Angeles, CA 90046
Contact: Adam Johnson
Phone: (866) 244-7925

In the absence of any response from the company this complaint despite our two requests to them, we are closing our file on this complaint.

This unanswered complaint will become part of the information we report to the public on this company for the next three years. Should any government agency request our files on this company, your complaint will also be included.

If you have settled this complaint directly with the company, would you please email us to let us know that, as well as any other comments you might have. Your help in doing this is important to ensure that our report to the public on this company is accurate.

Thank you for using the Better Business Bureau.

____________________
Complaint

Complaint Classification: Customer Service

Complaint Description – Posted 3/28/2008

Global Internet Solutions (GISOL) has been hosting my website for a couple of years. Since availability of the site seemed OK, I never asked for tech support so I was not aware of any problems until a few days ago when my site suddenly became unavailable.

I contacted GISOL tech support via their website’s support ticket feature and was told that “Your domain is expired its in a redemption period you need to wait till the redemption period gets over …and also you need to e-mail this issue to admin[at]gisol[dot]com“.

I have now sent several emails to GISOL admin via email and support ticket with no response. I have called all the phone numbers on their website plus others that I found on the web but the numbers are either disconnected or never answered. I found the registrar that GISOL used to register my domain but found that it is registered to GISOL, not in my name as I was led to believe. As a result, GISOL has a lock on my domain name so I cannot simply move my site to another host without GISOL’s assistance.

Most recently I generated another tech support ticket explaining that GISOL is not responding to my email and ticket requests and that the website is important not to me but to my son-in-law who runs a small business doing sports training. Without the website, he is out of business! Tech support responded with “We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to you. Please be sure that admin department will get back to you as you have already mail your issue”.

Complaint Summary

No answer to phone or email requests to explain website domain expiration

Resolution Sought

Respond to my repeated attempts to find out why my domain was allowed to expire and be placed in redemption. I need GISOL’s assistance to get my domain back so I can move my site to another host. GISOL can keep the money that I recently paid them to renew my contract. I just want to regain control of my domain.

28 Apr 08 I received a reply from the Dept of Consumer Affairs: Re Gisol

I received a reply from the Dept. of Consumer Affairs: Case No. CA07-2658:

This department has received a response to your complaint.
The business’ reply, however, indicates that they are unwilling to take the action you have requested. Any written response we may have received from the business is enclosed for your reference.
Your complaint will remain on file with this department and will be reviewed for formal action should additional complaints be received.
To pursue your complaint, you may wish to consider using the Small Claims Court, or seek legal assistance. Information concerning the Small Claims Court Advisor Program is enclosed.
Thank you for bringing your complaint to our attention.
Sincerely, Pastor Herrera, Jr., Director and (signed by) Ariel De Guzman, Investigator.

I read the enclosed document and there are false statements in it, and/or misleading statements. I will write a letter back to them and highlight those and tell my recollection of what actually transpired on the telephone with the initial call, and my sending of a certified return receipt requested letter to GISOL cancelling my two accounts. They say:

From the account documentation, Marsha Savage never submitted any cancellation request nor was there any attempt in doing so including no emails, telephone calls or any other form of contact showing any interest in canceling.

I have tried 4 times with my Wachovia VISA to get the chargeback done — they found in my favor the first time, but after “documentation” from GISOL they put it back on. I tried 3 more times to make them understand the real issue and have now paid the bill. But, that does not mean I will stop trying to get the $898.20 back.

Thanks for your web site and if I can do anything, just let me know.

28 Apr 08 Gisol’s response to CA AGO’s letter

Below is a letter I received from the California Attorney General (AG) with GISOL’s response to my complaint as an enclosure. While there are many falsehoods in GISOL’s letter, they managed to convince the AG that my complaint arises from “a difference of opinion”.

I intend to respond to the AG’s letter pointing out GISOL’s lies but I don’t expect a positive outcome as the AG has determined that this is a civil matter and is “prohibited by law from representing individual citizen’s legal interests in civil matters”.

Since this was the first time I had ever dealt with the AG, I didn’t know what the AG could or could not do. I filed my complaint out of frustration and outrage not on the strength of my case. Since my monetary losses were small and due solely to the expiration of my domain, I could not complain about the more serious misdeeds that GISOL has visited on others.

Despite the poor outcome in my case I never the less encourage others that have stronger cases to continue to file complaints against GISOL with the AG, especially those that have documentary proof of credit card fraud and forgery. The AG must be persuaded that GISOL is a criminal organization not just a poorly run business.

About the only good thing to come out of this is that the my domain’s redemption period is over and I have now successfully registered it under my name so GISOL can no longer hold it hostage!
____________________________

PUBLIC INQUIRY UNIT
P.O. BOX 944255
SACRAMENTO, CA 94244-2550
(916) 322-3360
(800) 952-5225

April 22, 2008

RE: Global Internet Solutions

Dear xxxxx:

This letter is to inform you that the Attorney General’s Office has received a reply from the company you contacted us about which indicates that there is a difference of opinion on the issue you raised in your complaint.

To help you understand our position in consumer business related disputes, I would like to provide you with some important information regarding the restrictions placed upon our office by California law in regards to consumer enforcement practices.

Our office is prohibited by law from representing individual citizen’s legal interests in civil matters. Though you may feel strongly that you have been misled or deceived by a business, we are not able to represent you legally in this situation. As a result, we must end our direct involvement in your case.

We will retain your consumer complaint in our files because at some future date, legal action could be taken against this company by our office. If legal action is taken against the company named in your letter, your complaint could be utilized as important evidentiary material and provide vital documentation for our use on behalf of all California consumer’s interests.

If you need legal assistance to solve your conflict with this company, we suggest that you consult a private attorney. If you wish, you may contact a private attorney through the lawyers referral service of your local county bar association. Your local county bar association’s telephone number can be located by referring to your yellow pages under “attorneys.”

If you feel you cannot afford a private attorney, the Legal Aid Society or other neighborhood legal assistance office in your area may be able to provide you with legal help. These agencies’ telephone numbers may be found in the white pages of your local telephone directory.

We regret that we cannot be of more assistance to you in this matter, but thank you for contacting our office regarding your consumer complaint.

K. Bravo
Public Inquiry Unit

For

EDMUND G. BROWN JR.
Attorney General

__________________

FROM: GISOL, Inc.

TO: State of California Department of Justice
Public Inquiry Unit
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244

RE: xxxxx
Complaint ID Number: nnnnn

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Adam (ID # 75832) with the GISOL, Inc. Chargeback Department. I have been informed that xxxx has submitted a complaint form against GISOL, Inc. for services purchased and rendered. It is our position that this has been undertaken by xxxx in bad faith

xxxxx opened an account with GISOL on 02/08/2006 xxxxx signed up for a personal account at a rate of $5.95 per month and prepaid for 12 months, and as a part of a promotional offer, GISOL offered free domain name registration for one year. The figure($7l,40) that xxxxx mentions in the letter refers to $5.95 x 12 months. The customer gets 1 free domain “Registration” for free for 1 year. Domain renewals are not free – they cost $9.95/year. When the customer renews their package, it has nothing to do with renewing their domain name.

Hosting and domain registration are 2 separate entities. GISOL provides web hosting, meaning the space that a person can use to host their website. If a domain is not renewed, the domain is given a 30-day grace period to renew before the account with the expired domain is deleted from our system. During the Redemption Period, the Registry (Dotster/ICANN) gives the owner of the domain one more chance to re-activate the domain. Their cost to re-activate the domain is $399. GISOL is not a registrar and has no control of the fees, policies and guidelines that Dotster has to redeem a domain name. GISOL just acts as a middleman between a registrar and the customer. GISOL registers domain names for its’ customers as a courteously and as an act of good faith emails all customers 45 days, 30 days, 15 days and on the day of their specific expiration date. It is common knowledge that it is the customers’ sole responsibility to renew their domain name, and the customer receives quite a few warnings before the deadline.

xxxxx obviously did not want to redeem their domain name, chose to not continue services with GISOL, and while Breaching the Service Contract, xxxxx attempted to defraud GISOL into giving him money.

GISOL, Inc. has provided each and every service requested by xxxxx.

All work done and services rendered by GISOL, Inc. on xxxxx behalf are available for inspection upon written request.

Given that GISOL, Inc. has clearly performed the services contracted and paid for by xxxxx, thereby, a unilateral rescission of a binding agreement by way of a complaint is certainly inappropriate.

If you have any questions or require any additional information please let me know and I will provide it to you.

Adam (ID #75832)
Global Internet Solutions
A GISOL Comany
http://www.gisol.com

25 Apr 08 I will not stop until my money has been returned in FULL

Gisol…stay away from this company…company uses trick tactics to get you to stay signed on…coersion…tells you one price $5.95 per month and charges your credit card ($1,043.79) and signs you up without your knowledge for a year contract at $27.99 per month.

How on earth can they still keep getting away with this?? I’m still fighting with Chase/United Card to get my money back from these crooks.

I will not stop until my money has been returned in FULL.

24 Apr 08 Webmail to Los Angeles County Department of Consumer Affairs

Los Angeles County Department of Consumer Affairs

Dear Sir/Ms.

On April 1 I filed a complaint with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, Consumer Protection Division against a company named Global Internet Solutions (GISOL Inc.), a web hosting company claiming to be located in Los Angeles, CA.

On April 23 I received a form letter response dated April 11 from a Mr. Dana M. Aratani, Deputy District Attorney, Consumer Protection Division stating that my complaint had been referred to the Department of Consumer Affairs.

I would like to know when some action will be taken against this company that is DAILY scamming and defrauding the public of thousands of dollars.

I’m a recent victim of this fraud and even though my losses were minor, I have taken it upon myself to expose their duplicity.

To start off I STRONGLY suggest that you do a web search using the search term “GISOL FRAUD”. You will be astonished at the number of complaints that surface alleging deceptive advertising, extortion, intimidation, credit card fraud and forgery.

GISOL has been scamming the public for years and it time to put a stop to their illegal activities. That GISOL operates their scam so brazenly suggests that they believe they are above the law. I would like to change their opinion.

Please, please do web search using the term “GISOL FRAUD” to fully gage to extent of the injuries being done to the public by these criminals. In addition, I recommend that you visit www.report-gisol.com, a grass roots web site dedicated to exposing GISOL in hopes of preventing greater harm.

I so want to believe that these thieves will eventually be brought to justice but it is easy to become discouraged when the only response to my concern is a form letter.

Jesse xxxxx

24 Apr 08 Response from Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office

Dear xxxx

Re: Global Internet Solutions

A couple of days ago I received a form letter from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office to a complaint I filed against GISOL on April 1. I’m not very satisfied.

The letter states:
_____________

Thank you for your recent inquiry to this office. This letter provides information to help you deal with your concern. Please understand that the format of this letter is standardized to enable us to repond promptly to the large volume of mail we receive.

…The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office serves as public prosecutor, bringing criminal charges and civil lawssuits where the interests of the public at large are involved.

…Complaints of false advertising, deceptive business practices and unfair competition will generally be reviewed by the District Attorney’s Office to determine if government action is appropriate. However, because of the large number of such complaints, action can only be taken where the harm from these practices is great and involves a large number of consumers or businesses.

…Additionally,in an attempt to bring your inquiry to the attention of an agency that can more directly respond to your concern, we have referred your complaint to:

Department of Consumer Affairs
B-96, Hall of Administration
500 West Temple St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 974-1452

Steve Cooley
District Attorney

by Dana M. Aratani
Deputy District Attorney
Consumer Protection Division

cc: Department of Consumer Affairs
______________

23 Apr 08 Gisol has struck again

I, as well as my wife, have been scammed by GISOL. My account was suspended due to failure to renew the domain despite being told by GISOL (in a response to support tickets) that my status was OK and the domain expiration date was 2009-02-29. In the same email, it showed my update on 2008-02-28! This confirmation followed several emails related to domain registeration as I was suspect.

Now I’m told that my domain is in Redemption and there’s nothing I or them can do resolve the situation. Numerous emails on my part to GISOL were responded with the following: please contact admin[at]gisol[dot]com. I did so and have yet rec’d a response of sorts.

Now part II of my saga. While out of town last week, my (at home) received a telephone call from GISOL. During a discussion (in which she told GISOL’s “Sean” that she knew nothing about the web or computers)….she was told that she had 12 minutes to salvage my account…again, she said she nothing, his response was “you have only 10 minutes left”….Then my son spoke to the representative…he was told, “don’t you want to help your dad” you only have 8 minutes left to save the site. In the confusion, she agreed. Through intimation and misleading information my wife has been charged $1,789.20 ($49.95 per mo x 36 months).

Following many many telephone calls, I was able to contact a rep from the billing office. I explained the situation, he told me to go to cancel.gisso.com and cancel the account then follow with an email to refund[at]gisol[dot]com. He also said there should be no problem. Well he was wrong. Again, I made many many telephone calls to GISOL to discuss both issues. Finally, I made contact with “Adam”. He was rude and indifferent…did not want to discuss the problem. He promptly told me that I could not cancel the account and the person I spoke with was from out of the country and not part of the company(?). He told me that if I wanted to sue GISOL (no mention of that action on my part) then he would see me in court. After being placed on hold several times and a telephone call of about 40 minutes, I spoke with some one else who is supposed to call be today. As of yet, no call, am I surprised?

BTW, now my wife new accout(?) is suspended…although, no action other than an attempt to cancel was ever initiated.

23 Apr 08 Pro Bono Lawyer wanted for Class Action against Gisol

Wanted:

Pro Bono Publico Lawyer / Attorney / Council for Class Action Law Suit against a company freely operating from Los Angeles, California. The fraudulent company in question is:

Gisol, Inc. (Global Internet Solutions) www.gisol.com

807 N. Gardner Street,
Los Angeles, CA 90046

7336 Santa Monica Blvd.
Suite #30
Los Angeles, CA 90046

This so called web hosting company is (on a daily basis) scamming it’s customers by (amongst other illegal tactics) quoting small amounts for it’s services, but then charging far in excess to their credit cards. They use very misleading adverts on their website and advertisements on other websites. They are now also forging or copying signatures, and pasting them onto whatever document they like.

They have literally scammed money from hundreds, if not thousands of customers around the world. Please read the posts on www.report-gisol.com, and do a search for “Gisol Fraud” on the internet. The LA BBB has had more than 450 complaints in the last 36 months.

I’m sure that all the victims of Gisol who have contributed to this site will provide evidence if needed, and the LA BBB will hand over all the complaints if requested by the relevant people.

They have been reported many, many times to the LA District Attorney, California Attorney General, the FBI (IC3), and the Federal Trade Commission. They have also been reported to the police.

I have been contacted by, and have seen on other sites, many people expressing interest in a Class Action Law Suit.

Please contact me on probono[at]report-gisol[dot]com if you need any more information, or wish to act on our behalf.

This company must be stopped to prevent more people being ripped off.

22 Apr 08 Gisol threatening me with credit burros

Even after cancelling my renewal months prior to this e-mail they never respond to any correspondence.
Luckily they had my old card details, but now are threatening me with credit burros, which can be upsetting and even more so when they never reply to you.
All they seem interested in is getting your money.
Avoid like the plague.
They NEVER reply to any e-mails.
Here’s their standard e-mail which I have received.

Please ensure your billing details are up to date so that your account can be paid in full and renewed/restored if applicable.

As per our service contract if you wish to discontinue your services with us you must cancel your account (3) weeks in advance of your renewal/expiration date. As this was not done your account was renewed under the same terms and conditions.

If you do not wish for the collection agency to report your outstanding debt to the credit burros you must log into your control panel and update your credit card information. At that point if you wish to discontinue your services you may, and our cancellation department will process your credit.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our Sales Department at SALES[at]GISOL[dot]COM.

Best Regards,
Global Internet Solutions
A GISOL, Inc. Company

22 Apr 08 GISOL FRAUD

GISOL is a real hassle to deal with! For three days I’ve emailed admin[at]gisol[dot]com numerous times and made several unsuccessful telephone calls. My situation involves two separate issues: (1) my website was suspended without prior notification that the domain name expired. (2) my wife was called (while I was out of town) and talked into purchasing an site upgrade (w/new domain name) for about $1800.

Despite the fact that I was informed by GISOL tech support that things were Okay. Numerous “tickets” were submitted well in advance of the domain registration. The response to one of the “tickets” (shown belwo)) clearly shows that the domain registration/update was good for the upcoming year (expiring on 2009-02-28).

After several emails GISOL calls Friday and (I feel) forced my wife into a new account. It seems they would seek to speak with someone familiar with the emails….GISOL (again, I think) used a scare tactic to convince my wife to purchase a new account.

Tonight, I actually spoke with a live being from GISOL….needlessly to say, they were rude and indifferent….and offered no help with either situation. So for now, my account is suspended and my wife has a new account that she has no idea what’s going on!!

So my advice is to avoid GISOL…if two years ago I had only done more research!

20 Apr 08 Fraud by Gisol

I have recently became a victim. I had been with Gisol for several years paying about $95 a year.

Then I recently was told that my site was down so I called to find out why they told me I was in redemption and needed to have my account renewed. I was told one thing over the phone then subsequently they charged my account over $1800.00 when I was told it would be about $49.99 a year.

Not only did they get me for that amount but when I looked my account up it says does not expire till 2-2009 why would I have to pay again!?

They lie cheat and steal and currently my site is still down.

19 Apr 08 Global Reach of GISOL scam

The injustice of GISOL has reached down to little ole New Zealand and I can only assume that if it has reached here then it is a global menace.

On the 4th March 2008 I signed up for a GISOL hosting account. $7.95 per month for 12 months. I authorised a credit card transaction of US$99.40 on my Mastercard.

5th March and at 9am I received telephone call from the very friendly GISOL representative confirming the plan and the charge – US$99.40. However (uh-oh!) the charge on my business mastercard was rejected. He asked if I had another card I could put the charge on and in my innocence I said yes i would put it on my personal card. Darn!

The friendly representative also said they had a special plan for US$45 which he suggested I use – at no time did he mention the term of the contract, at no time did he say 3 years or 36 months – I would not have signed up to that term because I was looking for a short term so I could trial the hosting service they offer.

Later that day we received an email in the office with the charge and the term on it. I observed a US$1700 transaction on my visa account. I telephoned Visa and asked what I could do to cancel the transaction.

I tried emailing GISOL to cancel the account – there were no replies to any of my emails.

I telephoned the phone number on the website and was informed the only way to get my money back was to cancel the account at cancel.gisol.com. I did more research on GISOL before I took any action and on the 10th March I cancelled my GISOL account.

What more could I do to warn people about this scam, I wondered. Every month I write an email newsletter which I send out to my readers and I also post articles from the newsletter on my website. So I wrote an article to warn others. While I was trying to get my money back it was important to me that others were warned and hopefully prevented from experiencing what so many of us have experienced. You can read the GISOL scam article on my website.

With no senator to write to the US Embassy seemed the right approch so I have written to the US Ambassador to New Zealand outlining the injustice.

The transaction is now under dispute from my bank and I’ll let you know how we get on.

18 Apr 08 Yaaaay! I won the case against Gisol.

I took GISOL to small claims court and won. Now for the fun part….trying to collect. My previous post was titled “Another Gisol Fraud Story“.