17 May 08 Gisol are forging Documents
Monday, April 7:
* 10:00am Received recommendation for Gisol internet hosting service from my friend, Steven Ryan, an acct holder Gisol for over five years
* 10:30am Signed onto Gisol.com.
* Decided the $5.95/mo rate would work. Signed up with my Am Ex card. (in the registration process, I remember a page that asked me to sign using the mouse. Thought it was odd but I did it)
* Selected 2-year plan, total = $142.80. Registered the domain name of cockeyedoptimists.com
* 12:23pm Received e-mail acknowledging the order, saying that I’d be receiving a phone call later to verify it.
* 8:54pm Received a call from Joshua at Gisol. Here are the points I remember from the conversation:
- Joshua said even though Am Ex was listed on the website, they can’t accept AmX. I gave him my Visa #
- Joshua asked why I chose a Windows host and what type of computer I’d be using to build the website. I explained I am most familiar with Windows and I’d be doing the initial building. Joshua said okay
- Joshua said my acct does not qualify as personal acct but business acct. I argued, saying that no money would be changing hands, we just want the website to promote upcoming show. Joshua said any promotional purposes make the website a business acct
- Joshua said they are having a promotion so I’d be able to qualify for $3.47/mo rate. So he said I should be glad to be on the business plan as it’s cheaper
- Joshua I’d be receiving e-mail confirming the transaction in 5-10 mins
* 9:30 Checked my e-mail. Found that they had charged my Visa $1,798.20, a rate of $49.95/mo for 3 years.
* 9:32pm. Wanting to give Gisol the benefit of the doubt, I sent e-mail stating that there was apparently a billing error and requesting them to reply ASAP.
* 9:33pm. Called Visa to dismiss the charge. Was told it had already started authorization process. Explained my story; rep said it sounded like I’d been scammed and I should call back Friday AM and ask to file a dispute.
* 9:39pm. Called Gisol 866-244-7925. Finally reached rep, told him I’d been overcharged. He said he couldn’t help me. I asked for his superior. He claimed he was the only one in the office. I insisted on being helped and he provided me with the number 323-924-1109 and said to call after 10am the next morning.
* 9:45pm Chatted online at Gisol.com cust srv with Sonny asking for refund. Insisted I’d been overcharged and demanded someone resolve this now. Sonny said he had no way to help me and also gave me the 323 number. He said to submit my complaint to admin[at]gisol[dot]com and refund[at]gisol[dot]com.
* Started doing online research. Found many websites and blogs re: Gisol and fraudulent practices. Filed complaint with BBB.
* Sent e-mails to Gisol initially asking for an explanation
* 10:06pm Started requesting via e-mail a full refund and for them to close my acct.
* 10:07pm. Called Am Ex, told them my story and that I felt my card had been compromised. They closed my acct.
* 10:14pm. Called Visa again and requested my card be canceled. Rep did so. She told me she had another customer who had called within hours with a complaint against Gisol too. She counseled me to close my Gisol acct immediately.
* 10:25pm Closed my Gisol acct using terminate your acct option on the website
* 10:29pm. Received e-mail from Gisol saying my acct had been suspended
* Continued to send e-mails requesting a full refund
Tuesday, April 8
* Continued to send e-mails requesting a full refund
* 3:17pm. Called Gisol 866 number to request a refund. Was told to send e-mail to admin[at]gisol[dot]com. Told rep I’d been doing that and needed to speak to someone who would help me. They gave me the 323 number.
* 3:39pm. Spoke with Joshua (who identified himself as rep who called me previous evening). Here are the points I remember from this conversation:
- Joshua claimed to remember calling me the night before.
- I demanded a full refund and termination of my acct. Told him I felt misled and they were committing fraud. I also told him I’d spoken to Visa and they had told me it sounded like a scam. Joshua got offended and insisted he’d been working for Gisol for 10 years and they had accts all over the world, 40,000 employees, major corps. with whom they do business, etc.
- I asked to speak to Joshua’s superior, and he said he is the team leader and the senior person at the call center. I said there must be someone in the organization above him and he said no one would be available to speak with me.
- I stated over and over the only thing I wanted was my money back and he stated over and over that I wasn’t letting him help me and all he wanted to do was help me.
- Joshua said he laid out the following deal to me the previous night (I have no recollection of it): Gisol would charge me $49.95/mo for 3 years, but would be sending (via certified mail which I’d have to sign for) a rebate for the difference between the price I understood ($3.47/mo) and the actual price ($49.95/mo).
- Joshua claimed the conversation from April 7 had been tape-recorded by a third party and that tape would prove I’d consented to his terms.
- Joshua said I should have read the contract they sent more carefully. I said I never received a contract. I read off to him all the e-mails I received. He looked through his e-mail records and (sounded nervous for the first time) said the contract was sent to my yahoo acct instead of my gmail acct. He read off my yahoo e-mail address correctly. I told him I never received a contract. He asked me to look in my spam folder and trash folder too: nothing.
- Joshua directed me to the contract posted on the website, specifically paragraphs 16b and 19b which explained why/how he had upgraded me to a business acct.
- Joshua directed me to paragraph 11h which states they do not issue refunds at all if you cancel your acct prior to 8 months of use.
- Joshua told me, since Gisol had my signature and a recording of our conversation, if I tried to get a reimbursement from Visa it would backfire. He claimed Gisol had enough proof I was in the wrong that my credit card would never side with me.
- Joshua said I should use the service for 8 mos, and if I was still unhappy at that time I’d be eligible for their satisfaction guarantee reimbursement.
- I told Joshua that, on the advice from Visa, I’d terminated my Gisol acct the previous night. Joshua got upset, asked who I spoke to at Visa, (I didn’t give any names) and said he was going to call them and complain.
- I told Joshua I’d received Gisol’s name as a recommendation from a friend. I initially didn’t give Steve’s name, but eventually did. I told him another of Steve’s friends (who Steve had recommended Gisol’s services to) was also disputing Gisol’s practices.
- I told Joshua I should have known Gisol’s a scam when AmX didn’t accept their charges. He said, We do take AmX. I said, You said when you called last night you can’t take AmX and I needed to give you a different credit card! He explained AmX doesn’t work for initial charges because they don’t accept companies (like Gisol) that don’t have money-back guarantees
- I asked at one point if the current conversation was being recorded as well (and stated I hoped it was) and Joshua said he didn’t know, because the sales calls were the only ones that were always recorded for training purposes.
- Joshua told me the refund currently in the mail to me would be void if I put in motion any dispute with my credit card company. He told me the best thing for me to do to recoup any of my money would be to wait for the rebate that would be coming. He said I’d need to sign for it (it would arrive certified mail or some other method requiring my signature). He said that rebate would be null and void if I started any action against Gisol, and threatened any such action wouldn’t result in any money back for me.
- Feeling trapped, I agreed to reinstate my acct. Joshua instructed me that, in order to do so, I needed to send a fax stating I’d not filed a chargeback with my credit card and I wanted to reactivate my Gisol domain name. He requested I send the fax on my company letterhead. I replied I don’t have a company, it’s me and a few friends who decided 2 weeks ago we want to become a group. He said it’s still considered a business for Gisol purposes, and I should create a letterhead by putting my company name at the top of the fax in a different font. He said to send the fax to 801-812-8067.
- Joshua asked me when I’d be sending the fax. He seemed reassured when I said I’d send it immediately. He insisted it be a fax, not e-mail.
- I repeatedly asked for confirmation, which he gave me, that what was going to happen after I hung up the phone was a) I’d send the fax b) my acct would be reinstated c) I’d receive a rebate via certified mail, which I’d have to sign for, which would be a rebate to my Visa card for all but $42 of the full amount I’d been charged.
* Sent fax he requested
* 5:09pm. Called Visa to explain I was very suspicious about what just transpired. I asked the rep to put a note in my acct that I was not yet filing a dispute but that I wanted it in writing that I’d been calling and questioning. I explained to the rep that Gisol had threatened me not to get Visa involved, and I asked Visa how long I’d to file my dispute before I could no longer question the charge. The rep told me that I had 30 days. I explained the reason I wanted the delay was because Gisol was claiming I’d be issued a rebate and I wanted to give them a few days to make good on their promise. The rep put a note in my acct. He also advised me to speak with Visa’s fraud department after I filed my dispute.
* 5:30pm Spoke with Steve about his friend Ronny who was in the same predicament. Steve said Ronny had received the supposed rebate and it was just a credit towards other Gisol services.
Wednesday, April 9
* FYI, I never received confirmation from Gisol that they were reinstating my acct. The last e-mail from them about my status was Monday, April 7, saying the acct was suspended.
* My husband counseled I shouldn’t let Gisol push me around; my relationship with Visa should be much stronger. He advised me to send a fax to Gisol canceling my acct, retracting my fax from the day before.
* 4:45pm. Sent the fax (which included the above and also requesting a copy of the telephone calls from April 7 and/or 8 )
* 6:05pm. Received a call from a private number (Joshua at Gisol). Joshua said the billing department had received my second fax and they were going to proceed with terminating my acct.
* 6:09pm. Called Visa to see if I could commence filing the dispute. The rep said no because the charge had still not posted.
Saturday, April 12
* Called Visa to start the dispute process. Visa credited my acct for the full amount after I reviewed my story with the rep. She advised to fully document all that had happened and connected me with the fraud department. The fraud department said, since I’d given the merchant my Visa number, there was nothing the fraud department could do. She said Gisol would have 60 days to counter my dispute. If the merchant does counter, I’d have to send a letter disputing the merchant’s claims.
May 15th, 2008
* Gisol did dispute my claim. Documentation they sent my credit card company included the signature they had obtained from me April 7 which they had cut/pasted onto 1) an invoice for $1798.20, 2) the contract I told Joshua I never received, which he reviewed with me over the phone. They are now FORGING DOCUMENTS. I’m currently putting together a rebuttal to Gisol’s paperwork that I’ll send to my credit card company this week.
* FYI Gisol never sent a “rebate” even though they claimed it was in the mail on Tuesday, before I canceled Wednesday late afternoon
Reader's Comments. (1)
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About the same happened to me
I complained by Visa, they gave my money back until it was sorted out. Different letters with lies from Gisol. Visa however never reacted to my complains, that I was frauded by Gisol, they only came with lies from Gisol. One lie from Gisol that I had a lot of trafic on my website. The only thing it was not my website at all! And now I got last friday 20-06-2008 my account sheet from Visa that they paid the money to Gisol again. I am trembling and something should happen, who can help?