A warning to anybody who is looking to purchase a VPS.

[KynloStephen66515]

Tonight I stumbled upon FortaCloud.co (FortaTrust), a company seemingly offering very low cost VPS's, however...all was not as it seemed.

I decided to go ahead and pay the $0.91cent monthly fee (Not exactly gonna break the bank)...and I chose to do this via Paypal...so I can at least reverse it if things are not as they seem.

Once I had created my account and setup the server I wanted, I was told the server was online and ready to use...so off I went to Remote Desktop Connections so I could get things ready and working...and...NOTHING.  The server doesn't respond at all.

So...Things seemed a little funky with my setup, so I headed over to their support ticket section...only to find that they are charging £5 per resolution...so...I would have NO choice but to either just go away and not get anything for the money I paid (I know it is basically nothing, but I still feel scammed)...or I could give in and pay £5...well...

I decided to try head over to their Facebook page to see if I could see anybody saying the same thing, or see if I could get help from there...and to my absolute horror, I found the following:

Antwan Carr There is not even a free billing contact. Im asking my lawyer there has to be something wrong with this.
5 September at 02:40

Stephan Alex I would like to cancel my account however there is no link allowing this, and I don't believe that I should pay US$5 for a support ticket to do this.
5 September at 20:18

Onsel Isleam This website is a big SCAM !!! DON'T BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS WEBSITE
5 September at 23:01

Michael Nicholas Hi Mate, Just joined your cloud server website and the passwords do not work.
7 September at 09:21

Ham Zaa Dont buy anything from this website, its just yet another scam. you will regret after paying
7 September at 22:00

Virgil Brimley Oh my God, What a nightmare. 8-27-14 paid 394.41 for the X16a Server I got access for 5 days and now I get no response to tickets, calls, chat requests nothing. Oh, and to add insult to injury these folks are the same as SeverPronto I didn't get hit in the head for as much money but I did get hit none the less. If I had a forum to warn anyone else I would pay as much as they asked for non existent services to do so. This entity truly sucks the big one. Panama or busted!!!
8 September at 07:57

So...There is a little warning...I guess you can't FortaTrust them eh!

Oh...I have initialized a dispute and escalated the claim (Seeing as I am not willing to pay another £5 to contact the company in question to try and resolve it myself).

[mwb1100]

All I can say is that I'm glad you didn't get stuck for 394.41 like poor Virgil.  Yikes!

[Renegade]

the $0.91cent monthly fee

-Stephen66515 (September 09, 2014, 09:20 PM)

Uh... and you expected something different? That's a completely insanely low fee for a VPS. It's nowhere near realistic.

Take your lumps and walk away. It's not worth pursuing.

[MilesAhead]

Some kind of terms disclosure law would be nice.  I wasted a couple of hours on a "free" web account.  The ftp upload did not work.  Finally I find the web based file uploader.  After playing around with it for 1/2 hour I notice tiny print that the total size of all files uploaded cannot exceed 1 MB.  Yeah.  That's MB with an 'M'.  It seems to be designed to waste people's time rather than rip off their money.

Sorry but I don't recall the name of it.  I found it in one of those "best free web account" lists.

[app103]

the $0.91cent monthly fee

-Stephen66515 (September 09, 2014, 09:20 PM)

Uh... and you expected something different? That's a completely insanely low fee for a VPS. It's nowhere near realistic.

-Renegade (September 10, 2014, 01:44 AM)

I know someone that charges what works out to be about $0.83 per month ($10/year) for his smallest VPS package, that would give a lot better customer service than that, for free. (and yes, I already pointed Stephen in his direction) So, no, the price isn't that unrealistic.

[Renegade]

I know someone that charges what works out to be about $0.83 per month ($10/year) for his smallest VPS package, that would give a lot better customer service than that, for free. (and yes, I already pointed Stephen in his direction) So, no, the price isn't that unrealistic.

-app103 (September 10, 2014, 05:53 AM)

I'm skeptical. Got a URL?

[4wd]

FWIW, all the VPS' I've got atm, (only 4 - but they're addictive), I got through deals via Low End Box.

Low End Talk, their sister site, is a good place to do any research on a provider, eg. FortaTrust

[mwb1100]

Low End Talk, their sister site, is a good place to do any research on a provider, eg. FortaTrust

-4wd (September 10, 2014, 06:10 AM)

And one thing that's clear from reading Low end Talk for a bit is that the low end VPS market is littered with sketchy vendors.  There are vendors who provide what they say they will; but there are a lot who don't, who are fly-by-nights, or are simply in over their heads.

Low end VPS is a real buyer beware situation.

[wraith808]

Low end Talk for a bit is that the low end VPS market is littered with sketchy vendors.  There are vendors who provide what they say they will; but there are a lot who don't, who are fly-by-nights, or are simply in over their heads.

Low end VPS is a real buyer beware situation.

-mwb1100 (September 10, 2014, 10:58 AM)

That's why I pay my money and am happy to do it.  I recommend LiquidWeb to anyone that asks... but they are definitely not lower end, though they were a bit more so when I started with them.

[rgdot]

A choice like a host has to be googled before using, the price may be one hint as to quality but more expensive doesn't equate to good either.

[app103]

I know someone that charges what works out to be about $0.83 per month ($10/year) for his smallest VPS package, that would give a lot better customer service than that, for free. (and yes, I already pointed Stephen in his direction) So, no, the price isn't that unrealistic.

-app103 (September 10, 2014, 05:53 AM)

I'm skeptical. Got a URL?

-Renegade (September 10, 2014, 06:02 AM)

http://www.mycustomh...ting.net/kvm-vps.php

From DC member pip2kk

[4wd]

Low end VPS is a real buyer beware situation.

-mwb1100 (September 10, 2014, 10:58 AM)

But the deals from reputable providers are too good to pass up sometimes 

eg.
OpenVZ
50GB space
512MB + 512MB
3 virtual cores
1Gbps
2TB / month traffic

for $15/year, was absolutely excellent at the time I was looking and the provider has been very good.

[wraith808]

A choice like a host has to be googled before using, the price may be one hint as to quality but more expensive doesn't equate to good either.

-rgdot (September 10, 2014, 01:35 PM)

I don't even trust google.  I trust word of mouth from people using it... and policies on things like money back and such.  If the implication was that I was saying that liquidweb was good just because of price, that was the wrong impression I was giving.  I pay my money because they're a good service that I trust and have been with for years.

[SeraphimLabs]

A choice like a host has to be googled before using, the price may be one hint as to quality but more expensive doesn't equate to good either.

-rgdot (September 10, 2014, 01:35 PM)

I don't even trust google.  I trust word of mouth from people using it... and policies on things like money back and such.  If the implication was that I was saying that liquidweb was good just because of price, that was the wrong impression I was giving.  I pay my money because they're a good service that I trust and have been with for years.

-wraith808 (September 10, 2014, 11:25 PM)

Google is too easily manipulated, and there is an entire market that exists for the sole purpose of 'secret formula' google manipulation to make your results appear above your competitors.

The shady providers oftentimes take advantage of these questionable services to boost their rankings and drive sales.

Taophoenix did a study of shared hosting providers some time back though and determined that there was a sort of sustainability barrier that would appear in the 6-7 month time period. A majority of providers who took his challenge failed within that 7 month window, while providers who survived it experienced something similar to a half-life phenomena as time went on.

I held the lead position on said study for quite some time, and probably still am marked as such despite my recent downscaling. After 5 years in the business I'm realizing that I just plain can't compete with most of what is being offered nowdays.

Unfortunately I don't offer VPSs myself. Its a market I've wanted to get into for a long time, but the infrastructure requirement to do it was always just out of my reach.

I can do referrals to PhotonVPS or LoveVPS though, companies that I have been using for several years with good results.