27 Sep 08 Gisol’s Special Offer Countdown Timer has GONE!!!

After all the years that Gisol’s Special Offer Countdown Timer has been conning people into rushing their decisions to sign up to their scam, it has now mysteriously vanished!

You know the one… It looked like you had to sign up really quickly, or you wouldn’t get that Special Deal… The timer that reset itself EVERY DAY… Another one of the false and misleading adverts that Gisol is famous for…

This coincides with me putting my own countdown timer on this website (synchronized with their’s) ONLY 4 DAYS AGO!

Quick work Gisol. How about giving your victims’ money back as quick?

Oh by the way, seeing as though you check out all the anti-gisol websites against you on a daily basis, why don’t you leave us a comment? Leave us your side of the story…

…we wouldn’t want it to be all one sided.

Added Oct 06, 2008:

The countdown timer is still there in the html page source of the Gisol site… it’s just temporarily unused. When will it be back I wonder?

<!—script language=”JavaScript” src=”countdown.js.php”></script>

<!— EXPIRATION OF SPECIAL END —>

24 Sep 08 Thanks Gisol, I’m not bothered!

He He,

I just got this mail from Gisol! If you’re looking, I haven’t been a customer for months, my account is closed, and I got my money back from you!

Return-Path: <>
From: admin
Subject: [IMPORTANT] Your mailbox is approaching its limit.
Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:41:13 +0100
X-NAS-BWL: No match found for ” (174 addresses, 0 domains)
X-NAS-Bayes: #0: 3.20328E-072; #1: 1
X-NAS-Classification: 0
X-NAS-MessageID: 5074
X-NAS-Validation: {1FC5CDE6-BEBB-40E6-B823-E9B8DA5EFE44}

THIS IS AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE . THERE’S NO NEED TO REPLY.

Dear Customer,

This is just a note to remind you that your mailbox is nearly full.
This may be as a result of you receiving many emails or large files
that have used up a large part of your quota.

This means that if you don.t deal with it very soon your incoming mail
won’t get to you, but don’t worry it’s easy to sort out. Simply delete
the messages you don’t need from your “Inbox”, “Sent”, “Trash/Deleted”
and any other webmail folder, starting with the oldest ones first.

That way you’ll make plenty of room for your new messages and you’ll
start to receive them straight away. Please remember that we can’t keep
any emails that we can’t deliver to you. So it’s important to make
sure you’ve always got space in your mailbox for incoming messages.

Quota Type: bytes in the mailbox
Quota Available: 11207696
Total Quota: 31457280

PS. Go get Fu***d in jail scumbags!! I hope everyone’s mailboxes are full using up your crappy disc space!!!

24 Sep 08 Also scammed by GISOL for $1798.20

Hi, I sent this to Mike last night but figured I should share. I’ve been in contact with Frank and he’s been a big help in giving me direction on what to do now.

So here’s the story:

I signed up with GISOL on 02-07-03 with Best (Annually + 3 Months Free) ($95.40). This was for a hobby website. I had no issue with GISOL until sometime last year. I called to cancel my web hosting in October of 2007 because I was going with another host that was giving me 6 months for free plus a cheaper deal. I spoke with a rep in India and they confirmed a cancellation. I forgot about it because my hobby website is not a big part of my life. I received a bill in November, called again and the rep told me not to worry about it. In January (01-11-08) I got a notice that said I was going into collections for this bill. I wrote to them and received no response. This happened again on 01-18-08 and 02-17-08, each time I wrote emails without receiving a response.. So I called on 03-03-08. I had my wife speak to the guy since I can get kind of angry and she is good with people. He hung up on her. I called back and spoke to the same guy asking why he hung up on my wife. He denied doing it and started lying about how she had ended the called. This should have been a red flag for me but I was too angry at the time. He said that I can only cancel online and that phone cancellations don’t count and that the charge stands no matter what. I got him to escalate me to someone with more authority (personnel #66316). I argued with this man for over an hour. He really got me angry and now I know why. When I got to the point of desperation (I had to run and was tired of arguing) he threw out the bait: He said he would cut me a break. I felt so relieved I swallowed it, hook, line, and sinker. Basically, I could sign up with them at my previous rate and after 8 months I could cancel and he would wipe the collections. He even complimented me on sounding like a person of good faith. I told him to email me the details of the arrangement and stupidly assumed he would charge me at my current rate. At the time I was running late and did not ask him the total amount. I thought this was going to save me. Oh how wrong I was.

I handed the phone to my wife because I had a meeting and she gave him her credit card. They did not tell her how much they were charging and she assumed they had already told me. They had her sign a page on the web that (according to the rep) was agreeing to terms and services. This web page did not list a price on it. She received an email with the link stating “Thank you! Your signed gisol terms form has been successfully submitted via SignatureLink.” We never got a chance to printscreen this page for it had expired before we could use it as proof.

The next day I received a charge notice, at my email address, for “Unlimited Upgrade (49.95)” for 36 months, with a date in the subject line (2008-11-19) which refers to my expiration date for my hosting. The total amount was $1,798.20. I said no way and sent them an email. After waiting a few days for a reply, I attempted to call and was put on hold for 51 minutes before I had to hang up. My wife and I tried to contact them for several days, no email response, long holds or busy phone. When my wife finally got through, they informed her that we would be receiving a refund with a confirmation letter “soon.” She told them to send an email confirming this. They did not. We waited, called back, they said yes, We would be receiving a refund. We again asked for an email about the call. Nothing. (the pattern here is that they do not document any of these promises). Then on 03-28-08, I had my wife start the process of a chargeback because we were getting no where with the company. I also contacted the BBB and Office of the Attorney General. After long delays between responses (GISOL would take over a month to respond), both cases were eventually closed due to lack of contact with GISOL.

This was around the time we found that GISOL was listed F with the BBB. We made attempts to cancel the service but the cancel page would error out like our account did not exist. I still don’t know what I’m going to do about this since it’s already hurt my stance on the issue considering the account is still active. (but of course now I’ve got Frank’s advice)

First contact with First Tech Credit Union was on 04-01-08. This was for initial information gathering. We then heard nothing for a long time.

On July 29th we received copies of papers that GISOL sent to First Tech in regards to the chargeback. One stated that they had spoken to my wife about starting an online business and wanted that she asked for the 49.95 package even though the GISOL rep told her that a cheaper package would be better for what she needed. Another document showed my wife’s signature on receipt for the amount $1798.20. This was the first time we saw this. My wife stated she did not sign that page. This was always about me and my website which expired at the same date that was listed on the confirmation charge email I received at my email address. It appears they superimposed her signature onto the page. Also there is a discrepancy with the time stamps. The time stamp on the receipt is listed: 03/03/2008 8:30:32 pm. The full header on my email confirmation has “Mon Mar 3 17:33:16 2008″ as when it was sent from GISOL, with “We have received and processed your payment of $1,798.20.”

I was pretty outraged and told the rep from my bank to include it with references to the BBB and the Google of “GISOL” to show that the company is shady. She was reluctant to do this and I’m actually not convinced she did.

Then we waited.

Over a month later, on 09-09-08, First Tech wrote back to us to state that Visa is rejecting our request for a charge back. They included a letter from GISOL that states that we are the ones in the wrong because we are lying about facts. It’s a vicious letter and GISOL implied we were trying to get service for free because the account is still open. I actually felt shame and wrote back to our bank saying in regards to the outcome, if we could compromise and pay for just the time that has elapsed. Of course they didn’t even bother VISA with this and told us it was not possible.

So there it is. I’m going to try some of what Frank said and see how it goes. I feel like I’ve been getting beat down with a metal pipe for the past week and this is the first day I wake up with only having to deal with the soreness. Thanks for having this website.

-David

22 Sep 08 The start of a new Gisol?

Last night I Googled “Gisol” for what seemed like the 1,000,000th time:

Nothing strange about the results, although I was happy that gisol.com is 2nd, and www.gisolsucks.com is 1st. Good news that they’re not topping the search results for their own name, and an added bonus that it’s a website against them that does! (A little jealous maybe – I’m trying to get to the top myself)

I was just about to do something else Gisol related (yeh, it has become an obsession) when I noticed the Sponsored Links to the right.

‘What’s this?’, I thought, ‘Gisol.com Problems? Yes, we’ve got those (duh), I better take a look’.

The mouse clicked the link and I ended up at www.dailyrazor.com, a webhosting company. ‘OK, no problem, they’ve heard about Gisol’s Fraud, and are jumping on the bandwagon trying to poach their unhappy customers’, methinks.

Suddenly, something caught my eye… Something was moving… Something with numbers… counting down…

‘My God! It’s a Special Offer Countdown Timer!’

!!GISOL ALARM!! !!GISOL ALARM!! !!GISOL ALARM!!

‘Is it? NO, it can’t be. Is it? A new Gisol?’. I scanned a few pages for the checklist:

• 30 Days Money Back Guarantee* – Tick
• 99.9% Uptime Guarantee** – Tick
• Free Domain name*** – Tick
• 24/7 Technical Support – Tick
• Free Website Builder – Tick
• Spelling mistakes (techincal) – Tick
• No Terms/Policy link – Tick
• A Suite Number in the Address – Tick
• State-of-the-art Data Centers – Tick
• Don’t forget the COUNTDOWN TIMER! – TICK!

Straight back to Google I went, and typed in “dailyrazor reviews“…

You can do the rest yourselves… This is the first one I found to help you on your way:

http://www.webhostingstuff.com/review/DailyRazorHosting.html

Disclaimer: I nor report-gisol.com are in any way suggesting that dailyrazor.com is in any way connected to gisol.com in any way, BUT, there are some similarities on the website and in the reviews, anyway.

ADDED: Searching for “dailyrazor scam” brings up some interesting results. I should have added to my checklist:

• Registering domains in their name
• Domain hijacking etc…

Ringing any bells?

22 Sep 08 Small Claims Court – Self Help

This only applies to victims in the US…

For any of you thinking that you cannot take Gisol to Small Claims Court because you cannot get to Los Angeles, please see:

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/smallclaims/findright.htm

Gisol’s contract states:

ANY SUIT, ACTION OR PROCEEDING CONCERNING THIS AGREEMENT MUST BE BROUGHT IN A STATE OR FEDERAL COURT LOCATED IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, AND EACH OF THE PARTIES HEREBY IRREVOCABLY CONSENTS TO THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF SUCH COURTS (AND OF THE APPROPRIATE APPELLATE COURTS THEREFROM) IN ANY SUCH SUIT, ACTION OR PROCEEDING AND IRREVOCABLY WAIVES, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ANY OBJECTION WHICH IT MAY NOW OR HEREAFTER HAVE TO THE LAYING OF THE VENUE OF ANY SUCH SUIT, ACTION OR PROCEEDING IN ANY SUCH COURT OR THAT ANY SUCH SUIT, ACTION OR PROCEEDING WHICH IS BROUGHT IN ANY SUCH COURT HAS BEEN BROUGHT IN AN INCONVENIENT FORUM.

But, as with many points in their contract, it may not actually stand up in court. See this quote from the California Courts Self Help section on Small Claims:

What if I’m suing because of a contract?

You can file in the county where you signed the contract. You can also file where the defendant lived or worked when you signed the contract.

Don’t assume you have to be in Los Angeles to file a small claims – check with your local courts. And don’t just accept the quick answer.

You signed your contract at home on your computer.

A victim posting on this site successfully took Gisol to Small Claims and WON. Read her Story.

20 Sep 08 A personal Gisol experience and new blog

Of the many, many victims that have contacted me over the last few months, one of them feels so strongly about her personal struggle with Gisol and her Credit Card, that she has decided she wanted to start her own blog detailing her own experience.

In her first post, she has tried to express the way that many of us might be feeling, and her open letter to you all shows why it’s important for us to have as much information as possible about how GISOL struck each of us, and what damage they did, so that the authorities will have the evidence they need to put the GISOL people away for a long time.

She will probably come back to write from time to time to share her ideas and some of the ones we’re tossing around about how we’re going to handle the months ahead, as we get closer to beating these criminals.

You can see her blog as a subdomain of this site at http://4one4all.report-gisol.com/

18 Sep 08 More of the same

I have a similar story to everyone who has posted on your site. I used GISOL for quite a while before I had any issues with them; must have be 2 or 3 years. Then they let my domain go into redemption and threatened to charge me ~$750 dollars in ‘penalties’ for letting it go that far…the domain was registered in their name, as usual. Not sure how I can be charged for a domain they have registered, especially when they didn’t notify me or request any info.

Anyway, after an hour on the phone with ‘Steve’ I finally got a’manager’ to talk to me and he said I could have my domain back, without penalties, but my old package wasn’t available anymore so I’d have to get a new plan which was like $40/month. I was strapped for cash and told him ‘no way, can’t afford it, your penalty fee is ridiculous and you can have the domain, and you can come and try to claim your penalty fee’.

I was about ready to hang up on him and try to find the ICANN rules on domain redemption when he changed his tune a bit and offered to get my service back, at my old rate. The only catch was I’d have to pay for the new rate, and ‘if I promised to refer 3 friends to them’ I was eligible for a rebate for the difference. It would automatically be credited back to me in 30 days.

I should have smelled a rat, but didn’t – I’ve never encountered anyone so boldly false in my life, and I’ve met some pretty nefarious folks. And my rebate never came through – that date would have been 28 AUG 2008. So I (my wife) called to inquire about it and they completely denied any rebate could have been issued, saying they don’t do that.

To top it off, I waited 10 days for them to reinstate my domain and they didn’t do it until I called them back and complained about it not working. ‘Steve’ tried to tell me a domain sniper had nabbed my domain before they could re-register it and I got hopping mad because I was looking right at the whois database that showed the domain was available (I know they aren’t always accurate/up to the minute). I argued with him for about 10 minutes and he finally said that maybe the ‘tech admin’ could do something and voila, it started working while I was on the phone. That’s when I KNEW something was not right.

Incidentally, I’ve talked with them several times on the phone and I always talked with ‘Steve’ – he has a very distinctive voice and I’m good with voices anyway. So, since my wife inquired about the failed rebate we have been trying to call them back to ‘confirm the status of our rebate’, and if it isn’t forthcoming, which we now know it won’t be, to cancel service and demand a full refund, but we haven’t been able to get through – always busy.

We’ve put a dispute on our credit card for the amount of the rebate, which was well over 1/2 the cost and requested a new card too. The only thing I can see that is different in my case is that I badgered them up front about the full cost, and they told me. Where with most others here it seems they were clearly defrauded, in my case I was just lied to and then possibly defrauded, if I can prove the rebate thing. I’m sharing this to help build your information base on them. I have since stopped using their servers for anything (except junk mail still goes there, I can’t stop that) and I consider my contract with them canceled, even though I can’t contact them to do so formally. I know about their cancellation page, but I refuse to use it. I want a name, badge ID, phone number, and witness to my cancellation.

I want my money back, and my domains transfered if possible, but more than that I want to see justice done. As responsible citizens it’s our duty to police ourselves. I only wish I lived anywhere near LA, I’d be much more proactive in dealing with them. I hope this helps in some small way to create a case against them and to help those who got taken for a worse ride than I did.

After sharing my story with Mike (report-gisol.com) via email, he asked if I’d post it here so I am. He also suggested that I contact the Det. Kaplan, which I have. Keep dogging them, they’ll get what’s coming sooner or later.

Danny

11 Sep 08 Gisol’s “Money Back Guarantee” has gone

Gisol’s famous non-existant 30 Day Money Back Guarantee is no longer advertised on their website. At some point this year, their highly trained graphic artist (or a 3 year old) has changed their front page. In fact, it has changed a couple of times over the last couple of years. Using the Internet Archive “Wayback Machine” I managed to get some screen shots:

December 25th, 2006…

December 25th, 2007…

September 10th, 2008…

It’s amazing that the “Special Offer” $5.95 price that’s STILL going to run out soon hasn’t changed, and I LOVE the satisfied customer quotes. I guess they MUST be real?

By the way, the Wayback Machine is great for checking what Policy/Contract you were signing up for at the time.

06 Sep 08 Please help support Report-Gisol.com

As you may have noticed, I’ve added a new donate widget to this post. If you have a few dollars to spare, please help to keep the site running by donating. It’s totally secure, using PayPal.

I’m not asking to make a profit, just to help pay for the hosting, sending letters, making phonecalls often internationally etc. If we get enough and there are other people who need help with the cause, I’m happy to share the donations.

Along with the website itself, the amount of time I’m spending replying and trying to help people around the world is unbelievable. I’m happy to do this for as long as it takes. I want Gisol in jail, and I want everyone to get their money back. I’m just asking for financial help to enable me to keep doing it.

Thanks to you all,

Mike.

If want any further info or want to contact me direct, please email me at report[dot]gisol[at]gmail[dot]com

03 Sep 08 Gisol ripoffs extend to the Caribbean

I’m located in Barbados, and wish I had found this (and many other sites) before allowing gisol to pressure me into agreeing to a cc charge of over $1,000

I found a great site, domaintools.com, which among other things, allowed me to see that gisol DELETED my domain several days before I called them regarding domain expiry

If they deleted my domain, how can they then tell me that they could put a backorder on it?

The new domain registrant is now emailing me with offers to purchase the domain for $600

I’m going to go to my bank with all of the information I have and get a chargeback

gisol are blatant criminals and I am reporting them to every agency I can think of