Warning - Terrible Customer Service beware when buying

[teknotel 26]

Very reluctant to do this but I feel as though they are antagonising me so I am going to just explain what happened and let forum users decide whether they will purchase from them in the future.

I wanted a DayZ server, I saw a lot of people had vilayer.com servers. Seemed easy and they advertised 'Automatic Whitelisting'. I went with them. I used Paypal luckily, and the purchase went though on the 29th of July. The paypal email explained this was an automated monthly payment which importantly began on the 29th of July, the next bill would be collected on the 29th of August. So I was being charged for renting the server from the 29th of one month to the 29th of the next month. So that IS the billing cycle.

Here is the email Vilayer send you upon purchasing your server, I actually sent them a ticket as it was very confusing and they told me they have revised there welcome email based on my issue, anyway here is what I recieved:

PLEASE PRINT THIS MESSAGE FOR YOUR RECORDS - PLEASE READ THIS EMAIL IN FULL.

We are pleased to tell you that the service you ordered has now been provisioned and is operational.

Game Server Details

=============================

ARMA 2 : DayZ

You can start using your ARMA 2 : DayZ package straight away please login to the ACP-Layer with the following details

Web Address: http://acp.vilayer.com:8880

Username: *******

Password: **************

=============================

Vilayer LTD

Ok so it specifically says, 'You can start using your ARMA 2 : DayZ package straight away please login to the ACP-Layer'.

I tried logging in, didn't work, tried for ages. Then was looking for information for new customers on the site. There is not any. They say there is a knowledge base. But it is empty. There is no information any where for new customers. So I sent them a ticket asking for some information on help, here was there extremely helpful reply:

Terry,

This is because the server you ordered is not yet ready.

Ok fair enough, but you would see why this would be confusing based on the initial email.

I expected there to be some wait anyway so this was fine. So the next day someone I play with text me saying that my server was up online, you could find it in the Arma 2 Server search. When I came home I tried to go on, but it was stuck on creating. I was able to log into the control panel, it indicated the server was up and running and the server was listed on my Vilayer account are as being active. Again looked for information on the site, no luck, there is nothing. I then used google to try and find something somewhere. I finally found a post about updating the server to the correct version. So I did it. Still didn't work. I then put in a ticket just over a day after the billing period started.

2 Days later absolutely no response and the server was still stuck on creating. I had tried going on their TX3 but at one point there was over 30 people waiting in their due to their control panel breaking due to Java problerms. Even when it seemed their was no one in their I could not get a response. I had enough. I setup a cancellation and stated all my reasons, the main one being they had advertised iot as being immediate and automatically whitelisted when it wasn't and the lack of customer support was a bit annoying. At this point I had no real problem with them, I understand they had been busy and maybe my incident was an unfortunate one off. Although I really think a basic FAQ on the site would have really helped out rather than a misleading support section which is completely empty.

However cancellation was an automated process which means they may not have seen my message explaining the reasons for my cancellation. I also realised this would not get my money back. At this point I presumed money back was obvious, I mean I had not even used the product. I had not even received the product, there is not even an argument as I did not have access to the server once. I set up another ticket explaining that I had setup a cancellation but I wanted my money back as there was no mention of this anywhere. I then went to paypal and cancelled the subscription and also disputed the payment just in case.

The payment was held and when I got in from work 2 days later I recieved this email:

Hello Terry,

If you put in a cancellation request on an immediate protocol it will be cancelled within 24 hours after the request has been put in.

I can refund your balance back to your credit however a refund to your gateway is not allowed as it fully states within our Terms of Service.

If you would like your service to be put back online please let me know.

Just to mention they never replied to ticket for help when the server was stuck on creating. Credit, no refunds because the terms and conditions do not allow it. I tried again and sent them another message basically saying this was really unfair I will be disputing it and I hope you change your mind over the £31, I really don't want this to get nasty but I will post about your service if you don't as I think it is only fair potential buyers no how it works, seeing as none of this is obvious. Finally I got a proper email response from them actually explaining things:

Hello Terry,

As you have a Paypal dispute i can continue the discussion within there.

However the automated whitelisting is correct for Europe services, You are mistaken by your whitelisting terms.

The ip addresses are whitelisted however the instance id is not automated, We have no way of automating this as we are provided it by DayZ for your server.

When we have 100s of orders come in we have to gain more instance ids from DayZ of which this can take time.

I am extremely sorry to hear about your problem and i can have your server backup within 5 - 10 minutes, however if you would like to continue the dispute you are more than welcome to.

I then emailed them basically giving them one last chance to settle the dispute. They refused and closed the ticket saying this would be dealed with through paypal.

All it says from pre purchase, to purchase to login is the words 'active', immediate' and 'automatic'. But now it takes time. To be honest part of the reason I decided to go with them was that it was advertised as immediate. I have no problem with it taking time to setup that is fine, as far as I am concerned if I have the opportunity to cancel my order and get my money back there are no problems at all with any level or lack of service.

But the problem I have now is that technically they began billing me on the 29th of July, for a service that was not ready or usable 3 days after the billing period began. This is really unfair. I also felt it was kind of pathetic on their side, they said in the email they have '100s of orders'. If they have a 100 orders, thats about £5000 income a month, I imagine they make maybe 5 or 10 times that amount. Yet after everything I experienced, they even apologised for it, they refuse to click a button in paypal and give me back my £31. For something I never actually used or received. The funniest thing about it is they don't even have the £31 from me, it is being held by paypal, yet they still want to dispute it with me. With absolutely no reason for keeping it other than 'it says in the terms and conditions'. I didn't really receive any support from them and I didn't receive the product, so can someone please tell me what I paid for.

Also there is nowhere anywhere that talks about DayZ instance Id's and that you have to wait for this before your server is operational. They actually say the exact opposite, everywhere. How can you promise people something you don't actually have in your position at that moment. Also when I sent them initial email saying I don't really no what's going on, the one they replied with 'your server is not ready yet', why didn't they just say it may take a few days and all this would have been avoided. To be honest after a few days it still was not ready and I had heard nothing from them, that's why I decided to cancel. Also they started my billing period on the 29th of July, so technically I was charged for at least three days where I could not use the server.

I think this whole episode was really bad on their part and a refund should have just been basic courtesy. I cannot believe they have refused me a refund, I gave them 2 or 3 opportunities to agree to the refund, I even said on two occasions if they refused I would tell as many people as I could about my experience and to be honest over £31 it is pretty stupid on their part to uphold the refusal of refund. Especially when more than likely paypal will side with the buyer.

So that is why I am here, to warn people exactly how the Vilayer server setup, customer support and cancellation and refund policy work because actually there is no information on this anywhere and I think it will be extremely useful to people deciding who to buy a server with.

I also think their whole stance on refunding is really petty and I think my experience is almost stealing. Feel free to agree or disagree with me, I hope at least people can learn something from this and at best Vilayer see this and decide to change the way they are running things.

[PersonalJ 5]

Terry, Your server was in fact setup and was simply awaiting a mission id. The welcome email has since been edited as it does not apply to DayZ. Once you open a PayPal dispute all communication is then dealt with through that portal. We would have been more than happy to extend your billing but you began to simply threaten us and you filed for an immediate account termination in our billing system and disputed the payment.

You can find our refund policy in our terms of service and is fairly standard with what you see in the web-hosting industry.

Edited August 2, 2012 by PersonalJ

[motocross 49]

Owned.

[BlazeN'Chronic 51]

owned...

[teknotel 26]

Erm I didn't threaten you I asked for my money back first. You refused. At which point I said if you don't give me my money back I would post about my experience with you. Which I have done, you seemed totally fine with that outcome, so I have posted. I don't really see where the threat is there. In fact I think I was polite with you as you were with me There is no real online information for new customers. How was I supposed to know that at any point of the process? I asked for help. I came on your TS3. It never really got anywhere.

I never even had a problem with any of that. I would have just presumed a refund would obviously be the case as I never actually got to use the server.

I think over £31 this is absolutely ridiculous. There are trading standards laws which completely override your terms and conditions. You could have given me a refund, if you wanted to. You didn't because you didn't like the wording of my ticket, which I don't even understand because I think I was completely civil with you.

As you have stated this will be dealt with through paypal now and as I stated 3 times, if you don't give me my money back I will post on my experience with you. You didn't respond properly to me until I setup a cancellation. I din't even know about billing extensions.

Just tell me what I paid for?

By the way I am happy to post all of my communications with Vilayer so you cann see how threatening I was. I didn't because I thought it was a bit long winded or pointless. I was asking for a refund for crying out loud.

[phoenixf129@gmail.com 11]

Terry, Your server was in fact setup and was simply awaiting a mission id. The welcome email has since been edited as it does not apply to DayZ. Once you open a PayPal dispute all communication is then dealt with through that portal. We would have been more than happy to extend your billing but you began to simply threaten us and you filed for an immediate account termination in our billing system and disputed the payment.

You can find our refund policy in our terms of service and is fairly standard with what you see in the web-hosting industry.

So "Immediate Activation" as it says on your website, turned into a three day wait on his behalf, no reply from you guys, and you expect him the consumer, to be nice-y nice-y about it.

He didn't get what he paid for, therefore, he should have his money back.

Terms and Conditions do not cover fuck-ups.

[teknotel 26]

How is that owned? I completely understand that I have no knowledge of how the server setup process works. I asked repeatedly for support and looked online to try and find answers, what am I supposed to do, develop telepathy? That has no bearing on this whatsoever. I was charged money for absolutely nothing. You may say owned, but paypal will eventually say 'breach of trading standards' money back to buyer and when I do I will post it here for you to see who was owned.

These forums are horrible. I work 6 days a week and a company making £1000s and £1000s of pounds think its ok to take my money for absolutely nothing and then the people read the forum support them. Get a life guys..

[teknotel 26]

So "Immediate Activation" as it says on your website, turned into a three day wait on his behalf, no reply from you guys, and you expect him the consumer, to be nice-y nice-y about it.

He didn't get what he paid for, therefore, he should have his money back.

Terms and Conditions do not cover fuck-ups.

Thank you was beginning to loose faith in humanity. Just to reiterate, Vilayer say I threatened them, I am happy to post all of my emails to them so you can see how threatening I was.

I say it again what was I charged for? Also Phoenixf129, Paypal will almost certainly refund me, so this is so pointless on their behalf. They are persuing this because they have a personal problem with me for a reason I really do not understand. I admit, I said if you do not refund me I will post about my experience to warn other potential buyers. That is all they can be talking about and this was after they initially refused me a refund.

[Silentdeathz (DayZ) 2]

Owned.

Who? That makes no sense.

Terry, Your server was in fact setup and was simply awaiting a mission id. The welcome email has since been edited as it does not apply to DayZ. Once you open a PayPal dispute all communication is then dealt with through that portal. We would have been more than happy to extend your billing but you began to simply threaten us and you filed for an immediate account termination in our billing system and disputed the payment.

You can find our refund policy in our terms of service and is fairly standard with what you see in the web-hosting industry.

Quite clearly it states here that they rolled out a new service (dayz server hosting) and failed to update their automated messages, and as such caused confusion for the customer. Vilayer didnt just start selling dayz servers a couple of days ago...

Now, would it have been easy for the mto simply reply to the email saying that they have updated their message, they are sorry for the confusion caused, and that they will make it clear on their sales page for future customers? Yes. Yes it would.

Now... On to the second part. What was essentially said is that they KNOWINGLY start the billing period well before the server will ever be operational and that, knowing this, they continue to operate in such a manner as to shave a few days off the customers service... What exactly is acceptable about that?

When a company makes such a mess of things, I'd expect them to try and offer solutions AND offer a refund, not try to offer store credit so you can purchase the same product which you are obviously unhappy with... again.

Furthermore, when a company has a customer emailing them saying they will post about their consumer experience on the forums, and it is viewed as a "threat" (this is an assumption on my part that the 'threats' didn't extend beyond this - but it was very unprofessional to even mention it in the first place) its obviously not a good state of affairs, and certainly shouldnt be viewed as an acceptable standard by the company itself.

All in all this makes no sense, and as a friend of mine today purchased a server from a different host, and made a ticket asking how long it would take before the server would be operational and only had to wait minutes, not days for his ticket to be replied to clearly and concisely I'm wondering why this isn't being viewed as a learning experience and a positive thing as it has allowed you (vilayer) to amend your automated emails and highlighted areas you can improve on in your customer relations.

Edited August 2, 2012 by Silentdeathz

[Cheekything 10]

Sounds like you did about as little research as possible before you rented the server.

A quick search pretty much links you to links that say it will take a while or at least hint at it and by a while it seems about 3-7 days averagely sometimes longer or shorter.

Here are a few

http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/22240-new-server-signup-and-ticket-system/

http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/38643-server-set-up-eta-vps-vs-managed-what-are-the-differences/

http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/50412-host-altitude-server-hosting/

http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/38552-how-to-setup-public-dayz-dedicated-server/

So in short you are impaitent and didnt bother to do any background research and your plan to get your money back is to post one sided emails (I noticed how you didn't post your replies) and say they are bad when from what I've read they are one of the better servers for dayz with decent customer service.

Lastly I think you are mistaken with paypal giving you your money back as well if paypal did that for every stupid complaint like this no serious company would use them and I suggest you google before you buy from now on.

[carcher7878 6]

, I said if you do not refund me I will post about my experience to warn other potential buyers

Im not saying you are wrong to voice your concerns, but to a business. Thats a threat.

Im sorry you've had a bad experience with ViLayer. I cant say I had the same issues with the support team. There have been a few rocky days i was like wtf?!? but they were eventually sorted out and taken care of. Sadly I didnt get the full experience; I cancelled my services. The control panel for me atleast was a little confusing with the updating process and the rules of Dayz were just a tad bit ridiculous for someone paying so much which isnt Vilayer's fault.

I hope everything works out for ya bud.

[Silentdeathz (DayZ) 2]

, I said if you do not refund me I will post about my experience to warn other potential buyers

Im not saying you are wrong to voice your concerns, but to a business. Thats a threat.

Im sorry you've had a bad experience with ViLayer. I cant say I had the same issues with the support team. There have been a few rocky days i was like wtf?!? but they were eventually sorted out and taken care of. Sadly I didnt get the full experience; I cancelled my services. The control panel for me atleast was a little confusing with the updating process and the rules of Dayz were just a tad bit ridiculous for someone paying so much which isnt Vilayer's fault.

I hope everything works out for ya bud.

That SHOULDN'T be a threat. The fact that your customer relations are so poor that someone posting their experience is viewed as a threat to the business is RIDICULOUS.

Sounds like you did about as little research as possible before you rented the server.

A quick search pretty much links you to links that say it will take a while or at least hint at it and by a while it seems about 3-7 days averagely sometimes longer or shorter.

Here are a few

http://dayzmod.com/f...-ticket-system/

http://dayzmod.com/f...he-differences/

http://dayzmod.com/f...server-hosting/

http://dayzmod.com/f...dicated-server/

So in short you are impaitent and didnt bother to do any background research and your plan to get your money back is to post one sided emails (I noticed how you didn't post your replies) and say they are bad when from what I've read they are one of the better servers for dayz with decent customer service.

Lastly I think you are mistaken with paypal giving you your money back as well if paypal did that for every stupid complaint like this no serious company would use them and I suggest you google before you buy from now on.

This doesnt make any sense. If its common knowledge that the server wont be up for a few days, then the company should make this explicitly clear, and shouldn't start their billing process when they dont even offer an expected time period to the customer of when they will even be able to begin using the service they have paid for.

As for paypal, everyone knows paypal is heavily sided with the buyer, and that plenty of sellers do not like paypal for that very reason. But it's so widely used because as a buyer, is it very safe. (and at the end of the day, its the businesses who server the buyer, not the other way round)

Or are you suggesting that you should pay 100% of the price and recieve as little as 75% of the service you paid for?

Edited August 2, 2012 by Silentdeathz

[teknotel 26]

Sounds like you did about as little research as possible before you rented the server.

A quick search pretty much links you to links that say it will take a while or at least hint at it and by a while it seems about 3-7 days averagely sometimes longer or shorter.

Here are a few

http://dayzmod.com/f...-ticket-system/

http://dayzmod.com/f...he-differences/

http://dayzmod.com/f...server-hosting/

http://dayzmod.com/f...dicated-server/

So in short you are impaitent and didnt bother to do any background research and your plan to get your money back is to post one sided emails (I noticed how you didn't post your replies) and say they are bad when from what I've read they are one of the better servers for dayz with decent customer service.

Lastly I think you are mistaken with paypal giving you your money back as well if paypal did that for every stupid complaint like this no serious company would use them and I suggest you google before you buy from now on.

How is it a stupid complaint, lol. I got charged for something I never received. That's the bottom line. They falsely advertised immediate connection. I have said several times I will post my messages to them if need be. I actually did a lot of research.

I read these forums and I searched google and there should be some basic info on their site.

Technically this is stealing. Paypal will definitely not see it your way. In Europe 100% the law is if you request a refund and return the product in the same condition you bought it, you are 100% entitled to a refund, as long as it is within 7 days. This overrides any businesses terms and conditions. In this case I did not even receive the product lol. I think you should do some research into trading laws before you call people names and talk about things you have no idea about.

[carcher7878 6]

That SHOULDN'T be a threat. The fact that your customer relations are so poor that someone posting their experience is viewed as a threat to the business is RIDICULOUS.

This doesnt make any sense. If its common knowledge that the server wont be up for a few days, then the company should make this explicitly clear, and shouldn't start their billing process when they dont even offer an expected time period to the customer of when they will even be able to begin using the service they have paid for.

As for paypal, everyone knows paypal is heavily sided with the buyer, and that plenty of sellers do not like paypal for that very reason. But it's so widely used because as a buyer, is it very safe. (and at the end of the day, its the businesses who server the buyer, not the other way round)

Or are you suggesting that you should pay 100% of the price and recieve as little as 75% of the service you paid for?

I totally agree, Just saying they would see that as a threat. It could of been handled more professionally

Altho, I have noticed on weekends its MUCH more harder to get ahold of someone rather on the week day. I had the same issue. Same email, got it up and running the next day. it needed updated. I updated it I thought. People were on, I didnt see it on the hive, I tried to remote access it, said bad version. I ended up just keeping the server turned off.

Just like another server company I delt with, There were a few bad support members, but there was one that stood up and got things done.

I've requested a refund with ViLayer, and so far they are being nice about it. :) 'standby'.

[hsmagnet 14]

every host we have dealt with on this mod is either shady, incompetent or both

[teknotel 26]

I totally agree, Just saying they would see that as a threat. It could of been handled more professionally

Altho, I have noticed on weekends its MUCH more harder to get ahold of someone rather on the week day. I had the same issue. Same email, got it up and running the next day. it needed updated. I updated it I thought. People were on, I didnt see it on the hive, I tried to remote access it, said bad version. I ended up just keeping the server turned off.

Just like another server company I delt with, There were a few bad support members, but there was one that stood up and got things done.

I've requested a refund with ViLayer, and so far they are being nice about it. :) 'standby'.

Please post the result of your refund request here. Will be great to see if there terms and conditons are selective. Also if they do give you a refund, even partial, I will post all my responses and tickets to them so people can see just how 'threatening', I really was.

This whole episode is pathetic.

[teknotel 26]

Or are you suggesting that you should pay 100% of the price and recieve as little as 75% of the service you paid for?

I received 0% lol.

[teknotel 26]

Guy above - dont even understand who you are saying is pwned or owned. Just so you know, posting one word replys on a forum is definitely not cool and does not do anything for you. Just thought I would let you know.

Just so you can see how threatening I was here is one of my messages to Vilayer. You know on review I was really terrible to them........ not

I would like full refund and cancellation for my server. I havent used it once, I paid for it on the 30/7/2012 via paypal and it was ordered the day before. Was advertised as being instantly usable with automatic whitelisting. The welcome email again reiterated that immediate use was fine and advised me to log in to my control panel. I could not.

I had to send two emails in order to be told why this was the case. The first response said 'server not set up yet' as if it was obvious that this was the case. Yes you would think it takes time to set up the server, but when you are told every where and sent emails confirming that it is immediately accessible.... I guess you may think you could use it.

The next day the server appeared online. It is stuck on creating. There is no information anywhere on the site giving you any instruction of how to set your server up. IT says automatic whitelisting, literally everywhere from sale to logging in afterwards when trying to set up. I had to look around for an hour on google to find out the most basic of information on setting up the server using the vilayer control panel. There should be like basic information page somewhere giving new customers information on what is actually going on, time estimations for set up and a basic FAQ for a newly purchased server. There is nothing on this.

I did open a ticket over 24 hours ago but there is no response. I can see from your Ts3 now that you guys are busy, so I understand not being able to get back to me, but I just do not really care anymore, I thought the server was expensive anyway (not vilayer, just having to have a minimum of 40 slots), DayZ have so many rules that there is not even any benefits to owning a sever, the game has been ruined by hacking and I thought from the information I was given when purchasing that I would be playing on my server immediately.

I have not even used the server so I hope a refund is fine. Just a really bad experience all round, I will keep this to myself as long as you refund me.

Many thanks

Terry Arif

See how threatening and terrible I was towards them. That was my first request for a refund, I wrote that in the cancellations bit before realising, cancellation is automated, so obviously would have to open a ticket to get a refund.

[mgsloth 12]

Instead of all the rules for admins, why are there no rules for GSP's to follow? where can anyone rent a dayz server that isn't run by complete noobs or fly-by-night's?

maybe there is rules regarding hosting companies but it seems like they have little or no hosting experience and are trying to cash in just because they were lucky enough to get the server files and whitelistings.

I know of at least 15 people looking to rent a server personally, but cannot find a reputable place to do so..,

[teknotel 26]

http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/54200-vilayer-can-you-get-your-act-together/page__st__20

Definitely do not go with these guys. I cannot believe their front to be honest.

[Lith 80]

ALL middle-man providers operate this way. I don't get why people act surprised. Get a dedicated box from a TRUE hosting company and you'll never look back.

[NightRipper 284]

At least they're more polite than defcon hosting...

[sloppzz 3]

Sounds like you did about as little research as possible before you rented the server.

A quick search pretty much links you to links that say it will take a while or at least hint at it and by a while it seems about 3-7 days averagely sometimes longer or shorter.

Here are a few

http://dayzmod.com/f...-ticket-system/

http://dayzmod.com/f...he-differences/

http://dayzmod.com/f...server-hosting/

http://dayzmod.com/f...dicated-server/

So in short you are impaitent and didnt bother to do any background research and your plan to get your money back is to post one sided emails (I noticed how you didn't post your replies) and say they are bad when from what I've read they are one of the better servers for dayz with decent customer service.

Lastly I think you are mistaken with paypal giving you your money back as well if paypal did that for every stupid complaint like this no serious company would use them and I suggest you google before you buy from now on.

While i agree with the comments you make about research, you need to bear in mind that on Vilayers website it clearly states "instant setup".

You cant advertise this if you are not physically able to do so. If this is because of getting the server registered with the hive or whatever, then so be it... you just simply cannot claim to be instant. It is false advertising and should really be removed. I think its more of a ploy to get people to buy with them, as most other hosts dont state instant.

I myself went with Vilayer after seeing some good reviews on the forum. However in my personal experience ive found their customer service to be top form shite! When i ordered the server i received no confirmation from them. Only from Paypal for placing my order. They then went radio silent on me for 4 days without even so much as update as to what was going on. When i opened a ticket to ask them for an update it was closed with no update.

When my server did come online, i wasnt even told, and it just appeared as active on my account and my billing date was also set to the date i originally ordered, meaning i lost 5 days total usage.

In my opinion that is unacceptable, and utterly shameful.

I accept that these servers wont be instant because of the fact that they need approval etc. But vilayer claim to have a bunch of whitelisted IPs. So again this shouldnt cause the delay it does.

Im now considering my options as to whether i move provider. At present my server is running ok, however im thinking of going dedicated but just not sure yet.

Cheers

[james222 49]

Vilayer sucks, stealing location ID's since they started.

[OrLoK 16185]

Hello there

I can see where the company could have been a bit annoyed by the "threat" to go public, but if they indeed did advertise a service which is up immediately, if I was them I would have made a "gesture of goodwill" and if not a refund (which gets a potentially troublesome customer off their back and would most likely filter to the forums, which is nice cheap advertisisng) but they could have offered an free extension of service.

Their offered service was not equal to that which was advertised. A mistake on their side, which they have apparently acknowledged.

Its foolish of them not to refund/credit the customer.

Rgds

LoK