Way back in the day, in late 2000 and early 2001, when I was first tinkering around with internet marketing, one of my first hosting companies was CI Host. They were the biggest, had the slickest looking website, and their prices were reasonable.

At first everything went well - their support was good, and their servers seemed to be beefy enough to handle whatever scripts and traffic I threw at them.

In September 2001, I finally bit the bullet and got a dedicated server through them. I really couldn’t afford it, but it seemed the logical thing to do since my online business was growing. And, since this was in the days before $30 reseller accounts, I figured I could resell some of the extra space to help make the server payments. After a $300 setup fee and a $300 first month’s fee, I was up and running.

However, all was not well in Marcland. Less than one month after I got my shiny new dedicated server set up, my websites disappeared. I couldn’t get my email. I couldn’t pull up my sites in a browser. I couldn’t even get into FTP. So, I called CI Host’s support to see what the deal was.

After some investigation, the tech support person I was speaking to informed me that they had received a spam complaint from someone, and therefore my server was shut down.

“Who was the spam complaint from?” I asked.

“We can’t tell you that.” he informed me. “You need to promise that this will never happen again if you want us to turn your server back on.”

“How can I promise you that it won’t happen again if you won’t tell me who complained? I can’t remove the person from my newsletter if I don’t know who it is…” I said.

“That’s not our problem - you have to make sure it won’t happen again, and we can’t tell you who made the complaint. It was anonymous.” he explained.

So, CI Host received a SINGLE anonymous spam complaint, and shut down my dedicated server until I could guarantee them that it would never happen again. It was apparent that these guys didn’t want my business, so I told them I would move to another hosting company. I asked for access to my FTP so that I could download my databases and files, and I’d go on my merry way.

“I can’t give you FTP access until you can guarantee we won’t receive any more spam complaints.” he told me.

After 20 minutes of back-and-forth, I was forwarded to the “Abuse Manager”. He seemed a little more intelligent, at least at first.

“All my newsletter subscribers are double opt-in. I have the IP address of whoever filled out the form, and the IP address of whoever clicked the link in the email.” I told the Abuse Manager.

“Ok, send that to us, and I can turn your server back on,” he said.

“Well, the records are in a database that’s on the server that you’re holding hostage. If you can give me access for a few minutes, I can get the records for you.” (I had rolled my own autoresponder in PHP and was running it on the server)

“Well, I can’t give you access to the server until I get those double opt-in records…” came the reply.

Jeeze-o-flip!

So, I parted ways with CI Host. For a total cost of $900 ($300 setup, $300 first month, and $300 second month), I got approximately 31 days worth of dedicated server… and I never did get access to my files and databases.

Because of this horrid experience, I’ve told people who ask to never, EVER get hosting a CI Host… especially if they are marketers. They put a single anonymous Spamcop complaint ahead of paying customers, and would not provide anything to allow their customer to prove his innocence.

6 Years Later

Today, I got a letter in the mail from a bill collector. Apparently, I owe CI Host $320. According to the information I’ve been able to obtain from the bill collector, CI Host’s Terms of Service back in 2001 dictated that in order to cancel an account, I have to fill out a form, sign it, and fax it to them - any other method of canceling an account is not valid.

So, they turned off my server with no warning based on a single anonymous spam complaint, held my files and data hostage until I guaranteed something that I could not guarantee, and refused to refund my second months payment or my setup fee… and because I didn’t fax in a form telling them to cancel my account, I’m liable for another month’s worth of dedicated server.

After I told CI Host to shove off, they still had my credit card on file. They had my email address, my phone numbers (home AND cell), and my address. From November 2001 until yesterday, I had not heard a single thing from them. No bills, no bill collection calls, no charges to my credit card.

Then, out of nowhere, they want me to pony up some cash that they say I owe from 6 years ago, or they’re going to ding my credit report with a bad debt…

The Verdict

So, am I going to pay the blackmail money they’re demanding? When I first got the letter I was so infuriated that they would have the gall to pull a stunt like this, I called my lawyer. I don’t talk to him much, and when I do, I’m usually pissed off about something (such as this situation) - he probably thinks I’m just a generally angry guy…

Yes, we could fight it, he told me. And we’d probably win, due to the fact that they never bothered to inform me of the debt for 6 years. But, it would cost more in legal fees (i.e., HIS fees) to fight it than to just pay it.

The pissed-off former Marine in me says “I don’t care how much it costs - it’s the principle!”

The shrewd businessman in me says “Just pay it and move on.”

So yeah, I’m probably going to pay the bill collector. But I’m not going to do it cheerfully.

For the past 6 years I’ve been telling people to avoid CI Host. Inevitably, those people ask “Why?” So, thank you, CI Host, for providing me even more ammunition with which to answer that question…