Account disabled

[bzprod]

Hello everyone,

I have just had one of my accounts disabled by a VERY respected host...one of the most respected on the most popular web hosting talk website.

I was accused of spamming. The email was from a site owner that reported my link request as spam. It was a personal request where I used the sites owners name and sent the request directly from their site.

Has anyone had this happen to them? It seems very ridiculous to me that my site would be disabled based on one spamcop report. I have been in this business for seven years and this is absolutely ridiculous.

I do not consider a personal link request as spam, and if some else does...then fine...but don't disable my site.

I am getting really sick and tired of people that think anything and everything is spam.....ahhhhhhh

-J.P.S

[claus]

If it's sent from their site, they are likely to be the sender themselves. Spamcop would identify this site and not you. Still, although i know that your mail was not, a mail sent from their own site could be spam.

I think "a VERY respected host" would be VERY hard on this matter, i use one myself for email.

/claus

[bzprod]

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm not sure that I understand what you are saying.

-I visited a potential link partners site.
-I clicked on "email me" link
-Included my request and a friendly hello in the request
-They then reported this as spam
-Now my account is disabled

I hope this clears things up a bit more.

-J.P.S.

[claus]

Ah, okay, it was a mailto: link. I just read your description as if it was a mailform, so i thought it sounded odd.

Then, the site holder is just a bit aggressive in reporting spam, i'd say. That does not need to be your fault, perhaps s/he just get too many emails with link requests.

So, the potential consequence would be to use freemail accounts for link requests, in which case they would surely be considered spam. That's a tough one i think.

Anyway, the mailhost thing... the one i use for my critical email addys is also one that would shut down my account immediately if i was spamming - i believe one report would be enough. Otoh, they will reopen it if you can convince them that it was a wrong accusation, so you should try contacting your host and explain what happened.

Imho, a link request is not the same as trying to sell a product/service, so it might be treated differently depending on the specifics of their UCE policy.

/claus

[bzprod]

Thanks claus for your help.

I am corresponding with the host owner right now. He as reinstated my site. He has also said that if he ever receives another complain, then he will shut it down indefinately. I have only been on this host for a few days and have been thrilled with them. Questions are answered in a matter of minutes and sites are very fast. If he is going to take this stance on the issue, then I will be forced to leave, and not transfer my main sites from my old host. I can not risk my reputation in my indusrty as my main site is a very trusted source.

I am a bit disappointed that someone does not understand that links are the foundation of the web...however, I am not taking it out on him.

I will see what comes of this in the hours to come. Thanks again

[percentages]

bzprod, some hosting companies are now shutting down sites for the most minor reasons because of spam. I know of two that relish doing so because they impose a $300 fine to put them back online afterwards.

If your sites are financially viable then I would advise going for dedicated servers. Rackspace and ServerBeach both offer excellent products, and a high degree of tollerance to this type of thing. Messing with the paranoid shared hosts is becoming cost ineffective for those operating financially important sites.

[edited by: percentages at 8:32 am (utc) on Oct. 9, 2003]

[claus]

>> transfer my main sites from my old host
>> If your sites are financially viable then I would advise going for dedicated servers

There's another option as well, ie. to have your web pages hosted at one host and your email at another. There are a lot of companies specializing in "Email hosting" (G search) [google.com]

/claus

[bzprod]

percentages,

Thank you for the info regarding shared hosts. I have been using shared hosts for seven years and have never had a problem with issues like this. I have surely thought about going dedicated, however, I don't need much space or bandwidth.

I do earn my living online and have done so for many years, but I sell high priced items to limited traffic. I will certainly reopen consideration to going dedicated. The thing, is, the source of the problem is not only my host, but the planet also.

claus,

I will also look into an email host.

You both have been great help!

-J.P.S

[nakulgoyal]

I know another guy in UK and something same happened with him.

[Global Wayne]

Seems that hosting services have gone crazy with spam in every shape and size.

I offer hosting as a side issue to my business to off-set my operations overhead. I have set up servers on 3 continents as I was never happy with the service I was being provided and service was always poor.

That said I am now at the other end of the stick and have had so many email violations and spam reports thrown at myself and my clients - who are in the main good net citizens - that it has become rediculous to say the least.

One spam organization took out the WHOLE IP range and knocked all my clients off line for a report that had zip to do with any of us - very STUPID - but that is the space we are living in!

bzprod - if I were you I'd be indignant to say the least. There are plenty of hosting organizations who have been around for many years and have a broader attitude than your last experience!

One word comes to mind - MOVE!

/Wayne

[bzprod]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I have spoken to the site owner that sent in the spam report and he has sincerely apologized and said that it was an automatic report. He said that he never even received the message, and to please resend the link request as he is always looking to trade links.

This is a bit more comforting, now that ALL parties involved believe that it is not spam. The only party involved that believed it to be spam is Spam Cop. This is very disturbing that my site was suspended for nearly two hours because of an email that was automatically reported as spam and was never read by anyone. Very sad...

My host has apologized to me as well. I understand my host's reason to be cautious, and appreciate him being upfront with me. If this problem had came to be with one of my other hosts, the matter would have taken many many hours to resolve. With this host, I exchanged about 10 emails with the owner of the company, within seconds of being suspended. This is service that I appreciate.

I will stick with this host right now for my less financially important sites and wait it out for a few months. Once I see how things are, and build a strong relationship with the hosting company, then I'll reconsider switching my main business.

Thanks all

-J.P.S.

[mil2k]

Ah all is well that ends well. But this is the second incident where I have heard link request being classified as SPAM. I would be very miffed if I were you bzprod.