30 Oct 08 Update on TenSux’s Story – He got his money back!
Tensux got his money back from HSBC by contacting MasterCard direct…
i finally got my money back, i sent a letter to head of the General Counsel at MasterCard international explaining the details, that they had a fraudulent merchant in their system, and the difficulty i was having with my bank HSBC. I also copied the head counsel at HSBC. As soon as HSBC counsel got the copy of the letter the letter i sent to mastercard international they called me. it was a very nervous woman from the presidents office of HSBC who seemed surprised i had contacted mastercard international general counsel, and she had the charge reversed, permanently
i did all of this at the advice of a friend of a friend, a person with a very high position in the credit card industry, he said that it would get their attention quickly, the banks who use the master card logo have agreement with master card international to honor their zero liability fraud protection, HSBC’s last response to me that it wasnt fraud but a mischaracterized charge was outrageous and i included a copy of it to what i sent to mastercard international
maybe this can be booked marked for people who used mastercard:
Noah J. Hanft, Esq
General Counsel
Mastercard International
2000 Purchase Street
Purchase NY 10577if they get enough of these letters, maybe they will pull Gisol’s merchant account, if they are not already in the process
like i said earlier, mail this guy along with the general counsel of your own bank if they are not helping you
30 Oct 08 “GISOL has kidnapped my domains”
I have been with Global Internet Solutions for over two years with one site and about two years with another. I had asked for my domain names and they told me that they owned them and that I could purchase them for $ 500.00 apiece. This was not part of the user agreement that I signed with them. They are using a new user agreement and saying that I have to abide by the new agreement. I never agreed to this, but they have changed the name of the account holder to their name. I am filing this and filing a complaint with the registrar next. Stay as far away from GISOL as possible.
30 Oct 08 “Worst company to deal with ever”
Gisol is the worst – canned responses to questions from a support department in India – took my money, but closed my account for non-payment. There is no one to report this problem to and I have tried everything, they don’t return calls emails or their own support tickets. 3rd year in a row I have had to go through this and this year I can’t even talk to anyone to get them to find the cashed cheque, last year they realized they had credited it against the wrong account.
This whole company has gone from reasonable 6 years ago to pathetic ( thieves ).
29 Oct 08 “Junk!”
I can’t stand it any longer. I’ve been with GISOL for 2 years now and I don’t know how I’ve put up with their crap for this long! Canned tech responses, lost web site, corrupt MYSQL database, unscheduled “maintenance”, major downtime and very unreliable servers (had them move me to several different ones). Absolute junk! I’m moving!
29 Oct 08 “GISOL – STAY WELL AWAY – CON ARTISTS”
I have had extreme troubles with GISOL.com and I have been brought in to try and solve an issue for my client. Failing that, we have had to purchase the same domain with a slight amendment and use the GISOL CP to perform domain redirects and MX redirect until July when it will expire. Lets hope the domain is released and we can repurchase it. By the way, I have scoured the internet for reviews, probably out of 200 I have read, NONE are positive. Should be expecting a public review on GISOL similar to RegisterFly’s problem and de-accreditation, released soon in the SiteProNews newsletter… Lets hope GISOL finally get what they are well and truly over due.
For those interested, the problem I have had is the release of the domain name purchased through GISOL.com although my client was invoiced for it and has payed subsequent renewal fees. My client has had continual problems with server issues with GISOL throughout there hosting time with them. GISOL fail to response to support requests and the online support technical department refer ALL technical issues (ie, nameserver changes and domain release EEP auth codes) to the sales department.My client wanted to transfer the domain away from GISOL especially after receiving my news of GISOL after reading, what must be more than 200 bad reports; my client was told the hosting account could not support this (obviously they have no idea) and an upgrade to another account, 36 months in advance, total of $1798.20 is required (dont worry, we didnt actually do that). Even tried contacting alldomains.com whom GISOL used to register domains and apparently they cannot do anything about it because they have an agreement with GISOL stating they will not make any domain amendments unless approved by GISOL (now that sucks) – could they be a GISOL partner???
STAY WELL AWAY!
Other than that, I wish you good luck finding a decent web host.
24 Oct 08 Gisol causing a lot of harm
I used to be the owner of a domain name hosted by Gisol, which exhibited Math and Computer Science material, from January 18, 2005 to January 18, 2008 when Gisol failed to notify me to renew it and so my domain name was bought by Maxim Petrukhin of Russia who exhibited pornographic material. The seriousness of the problem lies in the fact that I was exhibiting at the Mathematical Association of America-American Mathematical Society meeting in San Diego, CA January 6-9, 2008 where this domain name was given to 5000+ participants (mainly University professors) only to learn later that it is not mine any more. Rather than seeing Mathematics related material these participants were now unexpectedly taken to an inappropriate and indecent site. As soon as I discovered this serious problem I was furious and called Gisol to ask them why they failed to e-mail me a reminder right before January 18, 2008 as they did in late 2005, 2006, and 2007 and the only thing that this Gisol representative told me he can do is for me to buy from them a new domain name to put my Math and Computer Science material and that after their rebate my cost will only be $3.47 a month for 3 years so I accepted having been paying them $71.40 a year for 2005, 2006, 2007 to surprisingly realize a day later after checking my credit card balance online that I was charged $1798.20. So I called Gisol to tell them that they made a mistake in the amount charged to my credit card but this guy tells me now that I will get a letter from them with a specific day to call at which time I will provide the special number on the letter and then they will issue me a cash rebate for $1673.28. A few months later, while talking with the Gisol administrative office at (323)924-1109 about my upcoming rebate on October 22, 2008 (that was the date Gisol assigned to my letter), I got another surprise when I heard the guy mention “credit rebate.” I told him that at the time I signed up for their service on February 22, 2008 I was promised cash rebate but he said “that is our policy now”. That is when things looked fishy to me and I decided to cancel Gisol service and I did that on July 1, 2008 after only about 6 months by using the “terminate your account” button on Gisol website and I disputed the charges with my credit card company (JPMorgan Visa). Later, after learning that I disputed the charge, Gisol threatened me over the phone by saying that I am no longer even eligible for the credit rebate. Visa issued me a chargeback. Unfortunetly, however, this outrageous charge reappeared unfairly on my visa card and, I learned later, that was due to a letter loaded with lies that Gisol has sent my credit card company. I was disappointed that JPMorgan Visa cited with Gisol based on lies they used to victimize me. I have later on discovered that these same lies have been used by Gisol with other credit card companies to victimize others. Here I am stuck with an outrageous charge of $1798.20 for service I do not really have. Gisol’s fraud and arrogance are making me more determined to fight these unfair charges and I am now even considering legal action against Gisol for their negligence resulting in enormous harm.
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
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
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
12 Aug 08 Ripped off for $1798 from GISOL and HSBC wont help
Has anyone had any luck with dealing with their credit card companies on this? Everyone I spoke to at HSBC agreed with me that they believe I was scammed by GISOL but they are telling me there is nothing they can do about it. I sent them every bit of information including the police reports I filed, copies of an original order from GISOL for one years of service. I pointed them to Robert Jackson a Californian District Attorney who is currently investigating them. (If you haven’t called him yourself, please do 213-580-3324).
HSBC sent me a letter today saying that there was nothing else they could do for me as I had disputed the charge as an “unauthorized charge not a mischaracterized charge”. Their words, I shit you not! How can HSBC say they made a good faith attempt at recovering these funds? Its obvious fraud.
Any suggestions on how to deal with the credit card company?
28 Jul 08 Possible New Scam by Gisol
Be aware of a possible new scam by the crooks at Gisol. They allowed my domain name to expire and it was quickly bought up by a company with the name of Acquire This Name. I offered to buy my domain for $9.95 (the normal domain name fee). Below is a copy of numerous letters that I have received from this company. My offer was insufficient but they will graciously sell it to me at THEIR ridiculous price.
……………………………
Betty Jo
We have received your email regarding the domain bjswebworks.com
The owner of the domain has listed the sales price of $1,750 for this domain.
To purchase this domain, please reply to this email with your contact information and an AcquireThisName.com (ATN) representative will contact the owner on your behalf. Upon hearing from the domain owner, we will notify you.
Best Regards,
Brian
AcquireThisName.com
BrianL[at]AcquireThisName[dot]com
………………………………….
So now they are trying to resell me my domain name and the price is surprisingly close to the $1798.20 that they already stole from me!! DO NOT FALL FOR THIS SCAM! I believe it is the same people that own Gisol. What a racket!!
Betty Jo
25 Jul 08 Bastards
I am seriously ready to go postal on these guys. Here is my situation I’ll just post what was communicated between them and I. Forgive my writing I was very frustrated and upset. Especially look at their dumb ass response and also how long they took to reply to my dam ticket. Bastards.
View Ticket: 771220 [ Reply to Ticket ]
Status: CLOSED
Date Opened: 5/31/08, 12:37 a.m.
Closed Date: 7/24/08, 10:25 p.m.
Username: magji
Name/Email: *********
*********@aol.com
Subject: Whats up with my website!!!!!
Phone Number: *******
Domain Name: www.******.com
Password: ········
Department: Technical Support
Account Type: Best Package
5/31/08, 12:37 a.m
Message:
Why is my website not showing up, its messed up directs to a page i did
not create and says that this website is for sale!!!! My next bill with you all
is in 2009!!! Whats up with this!!!!!!
Follow-ups:
1 – Tech Reply – 7/24/08, 4:48 p.m.
Hello,
Thank you for using the Online Support Agent at Global Internet Solutions.
Account renewal and domain renewal both are different aspects, I see that your account expires on date 2008-05-07. Account renewal is a automated process, while domain renewal is a manual process. You need to inform us regarding domain renewal. I have confirmed that your domain has expired on 2008-05-07. please refer following link http://who.is/whois-com/ip-address/*****.com/. We have checked and found that is not registered with Gisol Also the name servers are not pointing towards Gisol. So you need to contact your domain Registrar: POWER NAMERS, INC. to renew your domain, as we do not control your domain.
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to reply to this ticket.
Regards,
Technical Support Department
Global Internet Solutions
A GISOL, Inc. Company
http://support.gisol.com
2 – User Reply – 7/24/08, 7:29 p.m.
I registered this domain through you guys! I never got any account information from any
other company in regards to this domain! You guys never gave me anything or told me
anything its a package that I PAID you all for.
Now I need my domain BACK! I paid for service through you guys and now its useless if thats
the case I want my money BACK! Whats going one here why is your service so poor! I’ve been
a customer for years and you all do this to me???? PLEASE fix this ASAP!!! This is not right.
3 – Tech Reply – 7/24/08, 10:25 p.m.
Hello,
Thank you for using the Online Support Agent at Global Internet Solutions.
We are sorry for the inconvenienced caused to you.Please send an email to admin[at]gisol[dot]com regarding this.As they are the concern department.
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to reply to this ticket.
Regards,
Technical Support Department
Global Internet Solutions
A GISOL, Inc. Company
http://support.gisol.com
16 Jul 08 Gisol Victim
My nightmare began with an actual recommendation to go with this company from a friend who has had an account with them for years.
I signed up for one year of service at $7.95/month with a fee for connecting to search engines and the owner privacy fee, my total $135.20. I was called the next day to be told that my “e-signature” was not accepted by my credit card company and that I needed to sign again. I was not at a computer so they gave me a number to call back. before doing this I called my credit card company to find that there was an authorization to gisol for $1798.20.
I called gisol back and questioned this. The conversation went on for awhile and I was assured that it was a “pre-authorization” and I would only be billed for the actual amount of $135.20. They even went so far as to call my credit card company while I was on the phone and have a customer service rep explain pre-authorization. Again, with absolute assurance that I would only see a charge of $135.20 I re-signed the e-signature.
Days later I recieved a reciept in the mail for $1798.20 and the nightmare began. calls to the number they gave me just rang without answer, a call to their customer support line had a rep telling me I needed to email “refund[at]gisol[dot]com”. I did this several times with no response from them. I had contacted my credit card company and they corrected the amount to $135.20. I made a report to gisol via their tech support and the response I got was to contact gisol at “sales[at]gisol[dot]com or admin[at]gisol[dot]com” no responses to any of my numerous emails was ever received.
I contacted the BBB in California, as that is where gisol’s business address was located. They logged the complaint but said there was nothing else they could do. I made several attempts to cancel the account but, again got no reply and the “cancel account” tab from the administrator’s home page was not allowing me to cancel it that way either.
After a month I received an email from gisol stating I owed a monthly payment of $19.95. I contacted the tech support email again and was again told to contact the above, uneffective email addresses. Gisol sent another email saying I would be sent to a creditor if I did not pay the additional amount and my account would be cancelled. I responed to this email by stating I wanted my account to be cancelled and again cited my original complaint to them.
In the mean time my credit card company (discover) reauthorized the original amount gisol billed me stating that they had submitted proof that I had agreed to this amount. I sent them every email I had sent to gisol from the beginning and the printed pages of the screen images from the gisol sign up page showing exactly what I had signed up for and agreed to pay (thinking this would be enough) I even included the info on the fact that the account had been cancelled so I wanted all my money back since I was not receiving any service now.
After a month of not hearing anything I called back to find that they still found in gisol’s favor! They stated gisol sent a letter with my e-signature at the bottom stating I aggreed to the billed amount and that, since I didn’t cancel the account all money was forfeit!
Discover now tells me my only recourse is to sue civilly, which I can’t afford.
If anyone else has successfully gotten their money back with discover, please contact me. I need some hope. I’m a single mom of a son who needs multiple corrective surgeries for his cleft lip/palate. I barely have the money to pay my portion of his medical bills, I am distraught at having to pay discover for gisol’s fraud but I don’t want to ruin my credit either………
06 Jul 08 Same Old Story, Different Day…
Back in February, I reported my “issues” with these guys back before this website was started. You can find my woes on other sites.
I came to “G” via my brother who has been with them for several years. I told him of the rip-off I had and to heed my warning. He actually listened, and set-up other sites for his customers to go to before anything might happen. Sure enough, his site was “frozen” pending payment.
I tell you this to let you know that we both now are victims of these guys, me for the $1,798.20 and my brother for the website hostage situation these guys are pulling.
Anyway, he found this website that is yet MORE information on how they are attempting to expand their profits…
www.u-magazine.com/magazine/articles.php?articleid=102#top
Good luck to us all!
videojim
