Host watch: TopHostingUK

Having hosted many websites in the past, I know full well what it is like hosting people data. To some it is their life, their business, their income, their eduction, their fun, their past time and so much more and it really annoys me when people run cowboy web hosts.

So this article is about the web host called “North West Web Solutions” and what seems to be directly related to them – “Top Hosting UK”. Right from the start we have a typical website written in such bad English (look on the status page). Judging from their website we also can see there is very little technical experience from anyone and every solution to their problem seems to be to get a new server which they seem to claim is better and better each time but if that is true is something I can not comment on.

While this typical stuff with these web hosts, what really interested me is the amount of bullshit that came from this host when a person whom we are going to call Ms. X tried to cancel. What happened is Ms. X was basically annoyed with their services that she tried to quit, she got a friendly message from support.

hi Ms. X
right what i m willing to do is unsuspend and release your accounts so you can move then to where ever you wish .
on the payment of the lastest invoice . for the vps server you ordered and now canceling …
this can then be set off against the 400 pounds we ve paid out to setup your vps server …..
onces invoice paid i will unsuspend all your accounts for you so you can move them ……
the 40.00 is to cover our wasted time moveing your accounts over and toward the whole server cost

So Ms. X was told to pay up £400 because she wanted to cancel her virtual private server and was told. The reason for this charge either seems because they had to get a new server just for her (which still isn’t right) or they was just looking for a way to milk her dry and I would bet it was the second one.

For a short while later, she was suddenly told that her account was actually suspended and was basically told she had to pay up or within seven days she would be taken to court (the value now being over £40). A short while later, North West Hosting Solutions decides to charge for each account that was transferred which now is starting to sound like extortion. If you wanted to know what the e-mail said, have a look at this.

right it will be 25.00 plus v.a.t each account moved 26 x 25.00 = 650.00 plus 20 % vat
total 780.00 pound we get the invoice sent to you ok
have a nice day
your d buik owner / director

Nice to see them charging VAT without actually being VAT registered. In fact seeing they are United Kingdom based it is very nice that their website also does not have any form of address seeing they are actively trading on the website. Just like any sane person, Ms X did a charge back on PayPal and although she did ultimately lose, it goes on.

After a short time, Ms. X details was released by said company and while I am not going to bother writing on about the owner of the company said about “sending his London boys”, some escort business and quite a few other dodgy stuff. What I did want to get onto was the fact this very same company decided to then SELL the websites in question to recover a debt that does not exist.

As I am very lazy, if you want to read up about the whole thing then go to Web Hosting Talk: northwestwebsolutions.co.uk Fraud – Holding my sites hostage for money. Either way, never buy from this company if you actually want to keep your website and secondly do not ever, and I repeat ever, tell a web host that you are thinking of moving away from them without a backu