Re-Invent hosting price dispute - third party input wanted

Who do you think is right, maybe I am wrong.. (but I dont think so)

I am hosting a site with the company "re-invent" I assumed the site would cost $4.09 per month because that is what it says here http://www.re-invent.com/webhosting.aspx, but now they are saying it is going to be $7.16 per month, I had a long discussion with them (I had a bad day and was a bit warn out, not to excuse my rudeness but I may not have sware otherwise)

discussion with re-invent as follows

Michael

You list your HE-25 package for $4.09* (
Monthly Fee if Paying Annually) And we are going to pay Annually
http://www.re-invent.com/webhosting.aspx
Why does it say it is $7.16/month in my account
Also is it possible to add domains to this account?

Re-Invent

The hosting plan is for hosting 1 web site. The price listed is the average monthly price if purchasing the HE-25 plan annually. The HE-25 is $85.92 paid annually which is $7.16 per month if broken down monthly. The 9 Additional Months free makes the HE-25 plan $85.92 for 21 months of hosting. This breaks down to $4.06 per month if figuring monthly.

Michael

Where do you say it is $7.16 on your home page??

If you say it is $4.09* (Monthly Fee if Paying Annually) on your home page THEN IT IS $4.09*, how can you say it is $85.92 paid annually which is $7.16 WHEN IT SAY THIS NO WHERE

Look at http://www.re-invent.com/webhosting.aspx it say it
$4.09* monthly, that is the only reason I went with you other asp.net provider offer $4 as well

Re-Invent

Again, The HE-25 plan is $85.92 paid annually. That is the regular price and term of that hosting plan. The current promotion is that We give 9 Additional Months Free away with the plan this brings the price down to $4.09/mo if we were to break it down monthly. After the initial 21 months term the hosting plan is then renewed for 12 months jat the standard term and price. That price being $85.92 for 12 months of hosting which is the regular price and term of that hosting plan. Apparently we made a mistake by offering 9 additional months free so the promotion will expire this month.

Michael

http://www.re-invent.com/webhosting.aspxplease point out where on this page it say the monthly fee is $7.16

Re-Invent

It Doesns't say it.. It says the the effective price is $4.09/mo on the HE_25 if paid annually with our 9 Additional Months free offer. This is true and correct. If you divide $85.92 divided by 21 you will get a monthly price of $4.09 if paid monthly over the 21 months. That is the price with the promotion. After the promotion the same price is $85.92 but for 12 months of hosting.. There is nothing more to it then that.

Michael

It does not say "if paid annually with our 9 Additional Months free offer"
It says "Monthly Fee if Paying Annually"

Either you charge me $4.09* as stated http://www.re-invent.com/webhosting.aspxor I submit your scam to Microsoft asp.net licensing division and every rip off site I canwww.ripoffreport.com

For **** sake you say it is $4.09* Per month

Re-Invent

Yeah that is right when you figure in the promotion that is the effective monthly price if broken down by month. It says it in plain english on that page. That is why there is an asterick with the price.

* Average Monthly Price if paying annually with our 9 additional months free promotion for 21 months of hosting."

I cannot explain it any other way and no one esle has had any problem with our promotion to make hosting just a bit more cheaper for our new customers. I've turned this ticket over to our legal team, since you made threats against our company and for using profain language.. We are a professional company and will not tolerate such behavior to our support team. I will recommend your account be suspended. We will no longer be responding to this issue.

Michael

Please do not suspend the account we will leave on our own accord please

I do not believe reporting the matter to anyone would be a problem if it was not true

Saying * Average Monthly Price if paying annually with our 9 additional months free promotion for 21 months of hosting.

DOES NOT SAY THAT THIS IS REFERING TO WHERE YOU SAY "Monthly Fee if Paying Annually

I found your hosting bad to start with, no asp.net application manager, etc, etc. I would also be happy with a refund and I will move my site somewhere else where they charge $4 per month and mean it

Re-Invent
Yeah its terrible here. The 100% uptime and the instant support for $4/mo or 13 cents per day is not very good at all. You should expect much more than that for $4/mo.

Once you cancel your account per the hosting contract our billing manager will consider your case since you are so confused to the 9 additional months free promotion. Note that this promotion has run for almost 2 years now and your the only one that complained about a promotion that gives free months away on hosting plans that are too cheap as it is.

Michael

P.s.
This is not my site (my name is michael vandiermen), I will talk with the owner of the site Khan and see if he is willing to pay this amount on an ongoing basis. Sorry



Michael

Why are you still saying it is $4/mo when it is $7/mo

Well Michael if it makes you feel any better, I do also find that "special" confusing. Certainly isn't that easy to understand but as I read through your notes, I did understand what they were saying. Looking at the site, it would take a moment or two or three to "get it".

I think it pushes the envelope of "confusing". I think they should have worded it differently. Purchase 12 months for $85.. and receive 9 months additional hosting free. Average cost is $4.04.

Hope this ended better than it started!

I would class that as a scam rather than a marketing technique.
Companies like that :/

Thats definately borderline scam/dodgy advertising.

Prices need to be clear, and exact.

__________________
Cpanelv11 / CDP / PHP5 / MySQL5
WESH UK Web Hosting :: 0845 257 1084

Richard thanks for commenting... It's nice to hear from someone in the industry.

They have changed the pricing on their site now! (a week after my discussion with them and posting this thread), funny...! now they are saying $85.92* Annual Fee (Includes discounts)
perhaps someone here had something to do with it, thanks for your comments
This is what it has looked like for the last year or two
http://www.budgetwebdesign.com.au/re.../2006-2007.mht (I made a copy of it just after my discussion with them...)

Also on their home page it now say

Their pricing is a nightmare

I think thats why we appear to be more expensive, simply because there are no little "*" marks all over our website next to everything to imply that everything costs extra and we dont have any mental pricing timeframes that change the entire dynamics of everything.

Everything cost's the same, regardless of how often you pay for it, and there are NO hidden charges or stupid small print that we would later know damn well you wouldnt have seen it.

Is this what it has come to in the hosting industry for some companies where they feel they need to "Almost cheat" customers into believing they are getting something that they actually dont?

__________________
Cpanelv11 / CDP / PHP5 / MySQL5
WESH UK Web Hosting :: 0845 257 1084

Actually some hosting companies oversell their products and attract customers by such tricky wording or by
publishing their hosting plan in such confused manner but they forget that there are active webmasters as like you
who don't fell prey easily and can fight for their value.

I heartily congrats You for your success and thanks you for helping other( few newbie) who would have caught in their net.

I hate it when hosting companies do that - it gives the rest of us a bad name.

I also hate it when people advertise things and have a big * next to them - they might as well just put the regular price on!

well it's marketing isn't it?
i don't think it's ethical but it works

I represent Re-invent Technologies. In no way was the promotion we ran a scam. We offered more to our customers for less, period. Instead of 12 months they got 21 months on annual payment. That is it. It was plastered all over our web site that for $85.92 you get 21 months of hosting. That is what he received and that is what anyone else who ordered received. After the 21 months the hosting term would be renewed for 12 months at the same $85.92 if they choose to renew. We listed the average monthly price taking into consideration the 9 additional free months. We also spelled all this out in our ordering system so anyone who ordered saw exactly what they were getting prior to placing the order. This is also stated in the hosting contract that suppose to be reviewed prior to saying you agree with it. Many of our direct competitors in the same market we are in run these type of promotions. If this person was so confused they should have contacted us for an explanation prior to ordering. After the fact -some 10 months later he inquired and we then tried to explain it to him which resulted in our support agents being threatened and swore at. No matter how you look at it he got 21 months of hosting for the $85.92 and if he doesn't want to renew after the term, he can freely go where he wants.

In the ever competitive hosting industry where most hosts oversell and give everything away for free we provide promotions from time to time to attract customers.

As stated when the promotion was running, it was for a limited time. The promotion is now over however the details can be seen in the hosting contract.

If this person in this forum topic feels he was not properly informed or wronged in some way, he can cancel his account and we will provide him with a full refund.

Brandon
Re-invent Technologies LLC
Since 1998

What happened here is easy to explain. On the one had you have a company that is actually offering 2 different pricing, but not as clearly as it should. How you phrase a message can make or break a business.

*If a customer signs up for the Special Promo 21 month plan, the charges will be $7.16 for the first 12 months and free the last 9 months which will total out to $4.09 a month for the total 21 months billing period.*

Covers everything with out sounding like you are running around in circles.
Absolute clarity is vital. The easiest way to think is
I am offering this: 21 months broken down into 12months at $7.16 and 9months free
The promo for 21 months then is: 21 months = $4.09 per month.

So when I advertise:

Special 21 months limited hosting offer from Ashur hosting..........We are offering you the first 12 mons of service at the regular cost of $7.16 a month and the last 9 free of charge. Which means your charges will average out to $4.09 a month for 21 months.

This is similar to how it was explained on our site and how it was indicated in our ordering system when the promotion was running.. It is what he saw in detail when he ordered the plan some 10 months ago.

He purchased 21 months of hosting for $85.92. That means it has an average cost of $4.09/mo. After the 21 months it is renewed (if he chooses to renew) for $85.92 for the normal annual term of 12 months which is the normal cost of the hosting plan. This was clearly stated in multiple places.

The inference you get or at least I get from his post is that we renewed the account to his surprise or that we are billing him $7/mo each month. Neither is correct. He paid in-full $85.92, 10 months ago for 21 months of hosting. This account has never been renewed. It is still in the initial 21 month hosting term for $85.92. If he is complaining about the voluntary renewal that is 11 months in the future, then that is the time when either party can walk away and choose not to renew it if terms cannot be agreed on.

Brandon
Re-invent Technologies LLC