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Story by Francis Lumford
Daily Internet Clarion of New York
January 9, 2006: How would you feel if
your website vanished for weeks at a time, year after year, because the
company hosting your site made needless mistakes that often?
How would it grab you to lose your listings at Google and Yahoo whenever your web was taken off line
"by mistake?"
How would you like to pay good
money to have a company host your web, and never receive the service for
which you paid?
Horrifying stories like these
are spreading across the internet, told by clients, past and present, of
Tera-byte Dot Com, a Canadian corporation that is hosting many websites.
"I think Tera-byte Dot Com stuck it to me on purpose," said Mary Hollywood,
designer of websites. "Tera-byte could make dirty money by killing
off websites here and there for several weeks apiece.
"Tera-byte pays for bandwidth,
you see, but only if customers actually use that bandwidth. Customers pay for
bandwidth, however, whether they use it or not.
"If Tera-byte cripples
a website of mine, Tera-byte pockets money for bandwidth
that I never used.
"Financial troubles at Tera-byte
have been in the headlines for years," she said.
According to Charlemagne
Rutherford, communications analyst, a website might get crippled or killed at Tera-byte Dot Com.
"When Tera-byte murders my website, I lose all my listings at Google
and Yahoo," said Ruterford. "It usually takes me a year, or two, to regain the listings I lost.
"I lost a few
listings and never regained them," he added.
According to Terry Mutsuhito, consultant for
corporate websites, the worst way to learn about Tera-byte is to become its
client.
"One of my clients placed his web at Tera-byte
Dot Com," said Mutsuhito. "During the past 18 months, his site
broke down, and stayed that way, for many weeks at a time, not just once but several times,
and Tera-byte took the blame."
"Because of mistakes made by
Tera-byte, my client lost all of his listings at Google, several of
which were top-ten for his keywords."
"People in business pay big
bucks to advertise at Google, to have their websites featured near the
tops of pages there. My client, however, paid nothing at all.
All of his listings were free.
"Those bungling fools at Tera-byte ruined my
client and never apologized."
Said Mary Hollywood, "They
apologize to me whenever my website disappears through no fault of my own.
But after I get the apology, I'm forced to wait for days, or months, for
so-called technicians to fix their mistakes and put my website back in
working order.."
"I have a whole new attitude,"
said Betsy Grant, former client of Tera-byte. "Never
again will foreigners host my web."
"Ordinary Americans can't afford to sue a
corporation on foreign soil," she said. "Tera-byte can
misbehave, and none of the victims, probably, will have recourse to justice."
"Tera-byte, in that regard, is
beyond the reach of law," she added. "Tera-byte trashed
my website, which took me years to build, and all I could do about it was
weep for days."
All people interviewed for this story were in
agreement about one thing: People abused by Tera-byte fear to tell their stories.
"People stand to lose everything," said Mary
Hollywood, "if they own a subdomain at Tera-byte Dot Com. Addresses of pages
at subdomains cannot be moved or transferred to other hosts.
"Tera-byte can erase the pages of people who
tell the truth; and that would amount to total loss for any subdomain."
"Tera-byte grabs your
groin when it grabs your money," said Victor Lombardi, highly successful
creator of popular websites. "Me, myself, I know too much to deal
with those sons of bitches, but several of my closest friends have taken a screwing from them."
"Those friends of mine bought subdomains
at Tera-byte Dot Com, a fact that lead to tragedy for them all. They lost their listings at Google
and Yahoo due to excessive downtime. And whenever my friends
complained, the service got instantly worse."
According to Lombardi, there
is no hope for customers who complain to Tera-byte Dot Com.
"One of my partners was
stupid enough to file a complaint in writing," said Lombardi. "Three
of her websites disappeared within the next few days -- supposedly by accident -- and those webs remain off line
to this day. Tera-byte graciously took the blame ... and
the technicians at Tera-byte are still looking into the matter."
Ziggy Zinger, designer of
webs, concurred with the words of Lombardi. "May God
have mercy on any webmaster if he is told by Tera-byte that 'technicians
are looking into the matter.' If Tera-byte gives you a statement like
that, kiss your website goodbye," Zinger said.
"In my opinion," said Zinger,
"the mafia guarding my wallet is better than Tera-byte hosting my web.
Tera-byte is a host from hell, the doomsday of a website."
"The government of Canada should
investigate," Zinger added.
One corporate representative of Tera-byte
Dot Com was given a chance to comment on the issues presented above.
"I cannot help you," said the rep., who did not divulge his name.
"Contact technical service," he added, "and they will look into the
matter."
For the protection of several
people interviewed for this story, name and gender of various speakers may
not be verbatim.
Republished with permission of the Daily
Internet Clarion of New York.
©
Daily Internet Clarion of New York
All Rights Reserved
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