I saw one of Server Mania's offers and decided to signup for it. It was for a yearly VPS offer at a decent price. My purchase was on behalf of the company that I work for. I made the purchase using my corporate credit card, and from my corporate email account since this was a corporate purchase.
Our company has been in business for over 5 years, and we are incorporated in the same state that we reside in. Furthermore, we have a website, and our informational can easily be verified by googling the company's name and/or calling directory assistance. Not to mention we have a DUNS number with perfect credit.
After I submitted my order, Server Mania had the audacity to request that I submit a copy of my ID and credit card. This was not mentioned anywhere during the ordering process or on their website. While this may seem reasonable for a personal purchase, this is highly unreasonable for a corporate purchase! Especially when all of my information matches the company's public information.
Requesting a copy of a customer's ID and/or credit card should be the absolute last resort when a company is unable to verify a customer by using other verification methods.
Who knows what these people do with your ID after you have submitted it to them. With all of the recent data breaches I do not feel comfortable sending over copies of my ID or credit card to anyone. Especially since your ID contains most of the information needed to steal your identity. Furthermore, Server Mania may be in violation of PCI Compliance by requesting that I send in a copy of my credit card. PCI Compliance is very strict when it comes to handling customer credit card data.
I ended up canceling my order after I received that ridiculous request. Server Mania should first attempt to verify a customer's information using public sources before asking a customer to submit highly sensitive information.
Also, Server Mania is currently false advertising. They pulled a classic bait and switch. The advertisement that was displayed to me offered:
4 GB Ram 150 GB SSD Raid 6 IP Addresses 4,000 BW
for $98 dollars a year. When I clicked the link to visit their website the offer had suddenly changed to:
2 GB Ram 100 GB SSD Raid 4 IP addresses 3,000 BW
for $98 dollars a year. It wasn't a deal breaker for me, but I thought that was very fishy. Buyer beware!
LowEndTalk http://lowendtalk.com/discussion/19913/beware-of-server-mania Beware of Server Mania! Web vps hosting server Linux - Windows webvps.blogspot.com
Hi there. Just discovered this myself. To be fair though when I signed up with MyHosting 6 months ago the same thing happened - they gave me a story at the time which satisfied me (my work credit card, not my private one!) Anyway this time with Server Mania, I asked on the support line and I was swapped over to PayPal very promptly, they were very helpful (as you might expect I suppose) Also NO bait and switch, I got the plan I wanted for USD 97 and a written advice that my yearly renewals will be at the same discounted price. So far it seems fast, but I've only just started with this one.
ReplyDeleteServerMania is one of the most serious VPS hosting and dedicated server hosting around at a decent price. I find them to be competitive for cost/service, very serious, costumer care works perfectly. I selected them again after having a VPS for 1 year with them. I always payed with paypal.
ReplyDeleteFor me they are one of the best VPS providers around.
I am from Italy so I hav eno business with them, I Wanted a VPS in USA and I found their service very good.