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		<title>Siteground Creates and Promotes Fake Awards</title>
		<description>Discuss Siteground Creates and Promotes Fake Awards</description>
		<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/</link>
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			<title>Irina says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9837</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Glad to find this review Still have Siteground signup page open saying "Sign up with 70% off" and "Congrats! You have our highest value coupon code." Just a few moments before it was just "Sign up with 60% off", and only after i have tried to close the page a console poppped up saying don't leave, we're now ready to give you an even better discount. Haha. What a dumb move. Surely, must work for many though, since theyre using it. Me? Such tricks only make me more suspicious, and angry. I just don't like companies engaging in such practices. I'll find something more trustworthy. Or perhaps just set up email myself on a good hosting.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Irina</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Mon, 13 Sep 2010 23:03:21 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9837</guid>
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			<title>Tracy says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9741</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Siteground is terrible. Beware that international transaction fees also apply which inflate the cost over advertised. Their salesperson didn't bother to warn me about that.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Tracy</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:53:45 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9741</guid>
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			<title>MasterZuFu says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9570</link>
			<description><![CDATA[I think I'll tac-on my little review here as well. Siteground is the biggest scam on the face of the planet. I have been a customer with siteground for nearly three years, hosting up to six domains with them, and also paying their outrageous fees for addon slots. When I had my new domain, www.certifiedethicalhackers.org, and wanted to get rid of my other domains that I wouldn't be needing anymore, I put in a trouble-ticket nearly a month in advance and requested the cancellation of those five domains and all of their extra addon features. The customer support team said they took care of it, so no worries right? I turn around a month later and they've not only NOT canceled any of my domains or items, but renewed every single one of them all at the exact same time, charging me close to $600.00 on my credit card, which maxed it out. When I realized what had happened I promptly put in a trouble ticket to demand a full refund and my accounts be canceled as I had previously requested. It was supposed to be a smooth and simple process. I just didn't want the stuff anymore, how hard is that to understand? After a few days the ticket is forwarded to a sales person who informs me that I won't be getting a full refund as I had requested. Because the site was already registered, they said they couldn't "un-register" it, and that I would still have to pay the renewal fees and the cancellation fees, but because it was their fault they would refund me everything but those fees. That's more than $100.00 in fees. How on EARTH can ANYONE expect ME to pay for THEIR mistake? WTF?! I didn't order those renewals, so how is someone going to charge me a renewal FEE for something I didn't even order? IMHO THEY should be paying the fee because THEY ordered it. Further more, the cancellation fees should be free for me because of their huge screwup. If they really wanted my service they would have paid for that too. Instead we went round and round in the ticketing center me saying I wanted a full refund and them saying I can only have a partial refund. I went to BBB (Better Business Bureau) and asked for help in a refund, I got nothing because it turns out siteground hosts their servers from in the US but the company itself is out the US, therefore BBB has no jurisdiction against them. Smart move on SiteGround's part really, but it didn't make me feel any happier spending two years of my lift side by side PROMOTING a scamming thieving group of wanna-be Americans. I did everything I could to get my money back that they STOLE from me. I reviewed the on alexa.com. I reviewed them on facebook (which they quickly deleted - if you'll notice you can't even leave comments on their page, you have to reply to THEIR comments...they DELETED their comment after I put my review on it). I did EVERYTHING I could, and they still only said "partial refund". That's when I was just furious, I was pissed. And this is what went down: 2010-05-18 08:19am by me - If you're not going to give me the full refund you can expect a complete refusal of the refund and I'm going to make a chargeback for everything, understood? 2010-05-19 02:12am by natalie - Hello, I have further discussed your case with my manager and we will waive your domain name renewal fees as well. Thus the total amount of the refund that we will issue upon your account cancellation will be $543.25. Please let me know should I proceed with the refund or you prefer to process the refund in parts. Best Regards, Natalie SiteGround Billing Department www.SiteGround.com It's funny how when I threaten with a $600.00 charge-back they suddenly jump to their feet more than willing to do as I ask. After all of that, I just wondered why they wouldn't budge until that moment. I can guess that this is why: BBB has no pull over them, so BBB is no threat to them. People post negative reviews about everything, and facebook...well...as I saw they just delete anything that makes them look bad. I don't recommend this site to anyone for a hosting site. They're just a bunch of thieves and crooks who will scam you any way they can. They make themselves look all pretty and attractive for you, but just like any other snake out there, it's just a trick to make you fall into a trap. Be very careful with these nuts.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>MasterZuFu</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Sun, 23 May 2010 03:52:53 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9570</guid>
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			<title>Charlies says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9242</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Siteground.com is a SCAM. They should not be voted as best web hosting company for 2009. I have had accounts with them for the past 5 years. I had two accounts as of June 23rd, 2009. One account which also had two subdomains (and domain names purchased through Siteground) I'll refer to as Account A. On June 23rd I went to Siteground and received notification that it was due for renewal. I renewed the account for one year. I had a second account, which also had two subdomains (domain names purchased through sitegroud), we will refer to this as Account B. Account B, on June 23rd 2009, was NOT due for renewal because it had a TWO YEAR contract that had only used a portion of that at that time and I would have renewed it at the appropriate time. However on June 23rd, 2009 I went to fix some problems associated with Account A. What I was able to do for five years prior was no longer allowed. I could not figure out why. I contacted SiteGround and they told me that they no longer offered those features on a basic account and I needed to UPGRADE to a DEDICATED server for approximately $100 a month. I told them that was unacceptable. I contacted SiteGround both by phone and with online tickets. I stated within 24 hours of renewal of Site A that their terms of services had changed and this was no longer suitable for my needs and that I was canceling my renewal. They stated several times that they REFUSED to cancel my renewal and refund my money. I then got onto this facebook site and politely informed its readers of certain of these problems. I was then contacted on facebook and via email by a SiteGround representative associated with this Facebook Page stating that she will take the necessary actions to rectify the situation and refund my money. INSTEAD what has happened is that SiteGround CHARGED ME for the RENEWAL of Account A (that I instructed was the be cancelled) and additionally it SHUT DOWN Account B which I was still under a previous 2-year contract with and was "willing" to live with it until it expired. I found a new hosting service which is honest and does not operate as a scam. I have been continuously in contact with Siteground throughout this demanding the proper refund of my renewal of Account A and now to deal with the fact that in their terminating the Account B (before its contract ran out), without my knowledge, permission, or advanced notification - I lost all the emails and websites hosted on that account, have lost business, the businesses that were on that account lost their business, and I am out not only the lack of the REFUND for Account A but for DAMANGES from the loss of Account B (and the domain names that were associated with it as subdomains). SiteGround is a registered business in PANAMA. Its support (phone and internet) are located in BULGARIA. They refuse to put me in touch with ANYONE of "supervisor" or higher status on the phone. They are rude and continue to "parrot" the lies that the phone representative is instructed to tell me, contradicting the facts, and still refuse to place me through to a supervisor or someone with authority to rectify the situation. In fact that ADMIT that on June 23rd Site A was RENEWED. Site A is STILL ACTIVE (despite my demand to CANCEL that renewal - and is how I have been communicating with them). I received a BILL on my credit card for the renewal of June 23rd. I have NEVER been refunded that money. And now they claim two contradictory things: (1) That Site B had EXPIRED and that is why it is no longer active; (2) That they "refunded" me for Site B. If it had EXPIRED there would have been nothing to REFUND. And had the REFUND I had asked for been given that account would no longer exist. And had they not TERMINATED an active and paid account (two year contract) Site B would not have had all of the files, folders, and emails delated and would have continued through to its expiration date. SiteGround refuses to allow me access to anyone with authority to speak about these issues and continues to LIE (as I show with LOGIC above). SiteGround is a SCAM. I DEMAND that SiteGround have an OFFICIAL of the Company, not a parroted phone operator, contact me directly by phone to discuss this (and resolve this matter) - but they continuously refuse. I will be looking for who owns the Servers located in Dallas Texas that this Panamanian registered company is using for this business and I will be seeking CIVIL action in the United States for loss of earnings and income, damages, as well as the refund of the money for the canceled renewal of Account A and the second year that was previously paid for when Account B was terminated. Until such time I will continue to advise people to STAY FAR AWAY from Siteground and DO NOT DO BUSINESS with them.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Charlies</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:44:02 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9242</guid>
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			<title>Gamoss says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9223</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Personally I don't give a rat's ass about awards since the Internet is full of "vote us to be the best of the best" -crap. I choose my hosting companies based on personal reference which is much more reliable than all the award images and flash banners that hosting companies have on their sites. As we all know not everything is the ultimate truth on the Internet :-)]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Gamoss</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:39:33 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9223</guid>
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			<title>WebHostingBuzz says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9221</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Steve, I'm more than happy to engage, discuss and take criticism where due and I think we did hit the blog comments a bit too hard (I check regularly and it still surprises me to see more comments). I know we're not a big player in the Joomla! or the open source marketspace and it is something I want to address in 2010. I'd like us to become more involved so I'll be actively looking for discussion, attending some conferences/seminars and contributing some skins/themes to various projects (without linkbacks). It was actually my friends at Rochen that linked me to this post and I apologise if I've taken this off topic but wanted the chance to respond to some of comments from other users. I like the site though and am going to mention it when we update our wiki with useful sites/resources. Happy New Year all, Matt]]></description>
			<dc:creator>WebHostingBuzz</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Sun, 03 Jan 2010 09:23:58 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9221</guid>
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			<title>Matt Fraser says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9210</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Steve, Thanks for letting people know about these "shady" marketing tactics. I signed up once for Sitegrounds services but never again. I was looking for a service such as Simpleweb (back in the day before Simpleweb existed, and before I had any idea of what I was doing with Joomla :-) and was severely disappointed. I'm glad that I was able to cancel my services and get a refund before the "refund" period ran out. Frankly, I would never use Siteground for hosting nor would I recommend them to anyone regardless of what marketing they use.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Matt Fraser</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:01:05 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9210</guid>
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			<title>Sean Cook says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9204</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Well, the tactics are used because they get results and most don't even bother to do what Steve did here. They see the awards and take it as fact. I'm with Steve here, they have some sound SEO tactics, then some flat out dishonest ones. I would rather spread the word in other ways that still get good SEO/SEM/SMM results. Thanks for the post Steve!]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Sean Cook</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:24:36 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9204</guid>
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			<title>Steve Burge says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9201</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Hi Matt I definitely thank you for engaging. WHB wasn't even really the focus of this post. You've been responsive and engaging whereas Siteground (the actual villains of this article) haven't responded in anyway. Still, quite a few of things you've said and done around this RFP have come across as a little tone-deaf.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Steve Burge</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:16:23 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9201</guid>
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			<title>Amy Stephen says:</title>
			<link>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9200</link>
			<description><![CDATA[To be fair, the RFP required a revenue share element to be considered, so, I wouldn't really call that "giving something back." Personally, I'd rather see us build up our contributing community than outsourcing. The commercial companies within our community should be able to support our operations. My 2 cents.]]></description>
			<dc:creator>Amy Stephen</dc:creator>
			<pubDate>Thu, 31 Dec 2009 09:26:26 +0000</pubDate>
			<guid>http://www.alledia.com/blog/rants/siteground-awards/#comment-9200</guid>
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