Another victim
Another tale of woe from the former Gunnels Collective - remember, STAY AWAY FROM STEVE GUNNELS!!!
I started hosting with Gunnels in early 2001 with my own domain name - $399 for 6 years. This went well, so I brought in 4 of my clients, at $299 each, for 4 years. Then he offered me a commission for new domains I brought in, at which time I officially became a reseller for him. Long story short, I brought in a total of 41 clients, most were $299 w/4 year terms, a couple were $399 w/6 year terms, and 4 w/lifetime upgrades for $399.
Between the out of pocket expenses I incurred for obtaining new hosting, and the long term commitments I have now to provide hosting to all of my clients, I was burned for about $14,300 all in all. Many of my clients never knew what happened as I made the decision to move all of them and not wait until all of Steve's boxes went offline. I could see the writing on the wall. The last commission check never arrived. The thing that pissed me off the most was him going over my head emailing all of my clients threatening them that their servers would be shut down if they didn't pay for the Xeon migration. That, and hitting their credit cards without authorization.
He has thought of all the angles and is probably following these forums and snickering. His wife is just as bad as he is and I suspect he is bringing up his kids to be thieves just like dad. Most likely his defense will be bad business practices so the Feds can't get him. If we can't prove his intent was to defraud, he will get off scott free. I would suggest a class action civil law suit, as we can share the expenses and might get some of our money back. He registered in Delaware for his LLC corporation and with the homestead act in Texas, they can't touch his property.
I couldn't imagine treating my customers like he has treated his. Whether I am legally responsible or not for providing hosting services to all of my clients, I have a strong moral responsibility to do so - and will - for whatever agreements I have made with them. At least I can sleep at night.
His day will come.
I started hosting with Gunnels in early 2001 with my own domain name - $399 for 6 years. This went well, so I brought in 4 of my clients, at $299 each, for 4 years. Then he offered me a commission for new domains I brought in, at which time I officially became a reseller for him. Long story short, I brought in a total of 41 clients, most were $299 w/4 year terms, a couple were $399 w/6 year terms, and 4 w/lifetime upgrades for $399.
Between the out of pocket expenses I incurred for obtaining new hosting, and the long term commitments I have now to provide hosting to all of my clients, I was burned for about $14,300 all in all. Many of my clients never knew what happened as I made the decision to move all of them and not wait until all of Steve's boxes went offline. I could see the writing on the wall. The last commission check never arrived. The thing that pissed me off the most was him going over my head emailing all of my clients threatening them that their servers would be shut down if they didn't pay for the Xeon migration. That, and hitting their credit cards without authorization.
He has thought of all the angles and is probably following these forums and snickering. His wife is just as bad as he is and I suspect he is bringing up his kids to be thieves just like dad. Most likely his defense will be bad business practices so the Feds can't get him. If we can't prove his intent was to defraud, he will get off scott free. I would suggest a class action civil law suit, as we can share the expenses and might get some of our money back. He registered in Delaware for his LLC corporation and with the homestead act in Texas, they can't touch his property.
I couldn't imagine treating my customers like he has treated his. Whether I am legally responsible or not for providing hosting services to all of my clients, I have a strong moral responsibility to do so - and will - for whatever agreements I have made with them. At least I can sleep at night.
His day will come.
posted by No more Steve Gunnels! at 5:06 pm
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