I have just taken over payables for one of our sub companies and were looking over our phone bill when I saw a charge from another company about a web site. I know that no one should have ordered such a thing and called my phone company to take this charge off our bill and to put a block on it, which they did. Unfortunately I don't know how long it has been on, but I went on line to see about this site and I find that it is a scram.  Well needless to say, we got screwed but no more and I can't wait to have someone from that company call me for payment.  Not only will I file a formal complaint with the Federal Trade commission, I will give whoever calls looking for money an ear full - and he/she ears will burn.
You have to watch every bill you get from utlilies very closely.  It is really a shame.  There are such low lifes in this world.

They are a scam.  I urge everyone to hangup on Telemarketers.  These guys scammed the setup and monthly fee for a 96' era crap website that showed up on our phone bill.  When I called ATT, they told me to call ILD Teleservices Inc to clear up the charges, ILD told me to call HostAWebsite.biz...  Problem is you can't get anyone on the phone!!  What's worse is the F.C.C. allows jokers like ILD Teleservices to jack into my account billing in the first place.  Burn in HELLLLLLLLLLL... and stop wasting my time!  Power to the Sheeple!

This just happened to me too.  I can't believe I told them my information and what phone company we use.  Their questions are phrased so perfectly and they made me re-record and record until I answered everything to their liking.  I'm calling my phone company right away to get any 3rd party charges blocked.

Yup.  Same deal.  Didn't even say yes.  Almost $600 bucks down the tube.  I have the audio recorded in which it is very clearly deception.  This was an intentional act.  We'll let the attorney generals office sort it out.  We've since cut them off, but they should be shut down.

Be careful.  This exact same thing just happened to me yesterday.  This was from the same number (888-775-3655).  The man conducting the call claimed his name was Kevin Brodski.  He verified our phone number and it was correct, but later in the conversation when he verified it again (after he realized he was getting nowhere), he transposed the numbers.  I corrected him and he then stated that they had the wrong phone number in their system and I needed to authorize a change by doing yet another recorded process.  I told him I would not, and he said that if I didn't, my company would have the wrong phone number listed on their page and it would be my fault and the business owner's fault.  I hung up but called our phone provider to block this company from calling again.  Please be careful not to try to "fix" an error in their system- yet another way they will try to solicite money from you if you do not follow through with their procedure.

These postings go back to 2007. If the authorities are contacted, why is something not done. I will contact everyone I can think of to stop them. I just called and asked who authorized it and all they could say was Jessica. I asked for a last name and they asked me if I can't follow a simple conversation because they already said Jessica.  HOW RUDE and degrading.  I am mad and feel sorry for all that is scammed.

Looks like Local.com now owns these fraudulant "subscriber" - they have been using shareholder equity and cash to pay Thomas Rossi and Jeff Lavino (LaRoss Partners) aka hostawebsite & mysiteonlineis + dozens of other scam internet websites.  Complaints are going into Yahoo about Local.com violations of
Yahoo's terms of service - I expect Yahoo to stop placing ads on local.com ASAP.  Yahoo doesn't need this negative press generated by organized criminals.

My telephone bill was crammed by hostawebsite.biz.  I was bilked out of $1000 over a two year period before the maurading bandits finally got too cavilier and greedy and charged my telephone bill twice in one month ($69).  It caused me to look into the source of the increase on my phone bill.  I called my attorney general's office and have hounded Qwest to refund my money.  They are doing so.  That's good but what about all the other unsuspecting businesses and individuals who are currently getting scammed by this fraudulent company?  I would like to start a class action suit and go after these criminals.  One of us alone can do next to nothing.  A large group can bring attention to the company and get them shut down.  If you are interested in joining me, please email me at:  barbarapsych@gmail.com

I was scammed by hostawebsite.biz and PaymentOne.com.  They bilked me out of close to $1000.  I called Qwest and complained to the Executive/Regulatory Escalations Analyst's office 1-877-440-8959.  I described how PaymentOne fraudulently charged my phone bill for services I never ordered.  In one day of my compliant, I was credited every penny that was stolen from me.  Qwest will send me a check to cover all losses.  I strongly encourage everyone else who has been scammed by this company to do the same.  I have asked Qwest to look into the fraudulent practices of hostawebsite.biz (aka PaymentOne.com) but so far that request has fallen on deaf ears BECAUSE QWEST BENEFITS BY THE TRANSACTION.  Qwest takes a percentage of the take!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, here we go...glad to see I am in such good company!! Just received the letter from "Hostawebsite".
I called my phone company, which is Verizon, they told me "NO" the charge had not been added as of yet...and for an additional $3.00 I could put a block on my phone bill to cover 12 numbers !! I found this astonishing. How do these people have access to your phone bill...? Why isnt the phone company protecting its customers?
These scammers have been in business for years. Why arent they in jail? The voice on their answering machine's sound like gansters from the east coast. (No offense east coast!!) I called this morning and was put on hold for too long, I will try again later.
Everyone needs to look at all their mail, read everything and look for hidden charges. Take action against these individuals. I wonder how much money they make a year off of unsuspecting people. What a shame that this is there way of making a living. They should be shot.

I have found charges of 14.95 for "Real Smart Mail" and 34.95 for "Ameritel Website Srvc" on a recent bill.    Charges are from "PaymentOne" on behalf of RealSmartMail, LLC and Ameritel.  Payment One credited the Ameritel charges with no hesitation and said they put a "block" on them.  I was then transferred to RealSmartMail (apparently they sign you up for service when you fill in too much information on certain web sites.  www.ihirenow.com for one.  Again, they credited all charges and gave me a confirmation number.  No I just need to wait and see if the credits are applied.

I have a better one- I received a letter today stating Host-a-web is pleased to announce that they have acquired the hosting and servicing of our small business website. Effective May 21st,2010 we will receive the same high quality service weve accustomed to, with out any interuptions. our website domain will not change so no need to notify our customers or change our marketing. no need to write checks or use our credit card. we will be billed on our local telephone as we have previously been. then it lists there customer service #(888)775-3655.
Funny thing is we do not have a website at this time!!!!
Looks like I will be contacting my phone company

Sigh.....

The stories above are true.....  this people should be locked up - I had a guy from India.... but the call started with a women who, passed me on to him.  He must have been standing right next to this gal, as she did not event put me on hold......


Next time, I will hang up.

If you call them up, you're just playing their game.
Just call your phone company and tell them to take
it off your bill, and tell them you want all such
add-ons blocked.  Works for me.

Just received a phone call w/caller id blocked, from a man named Jack Dawson with "the Yellow Pages."

He wanted to verify our company information for the yellow pages "free business listing." He recited, in turn, the name of the company, and the street address, and the phone number. I said "that is correct," to each one. He also stated that the company would not be charge anything.

He said he'd be forwarding me to his manager, for the verification process, and it would take about 20 seconds to switch into it. It did, and the recording first asked for name, company, position and phone number. I gave all information. I said "Business Accountant."  He asked for my month and day of birth, and I asked what do you need that for? He said it?s just for verification for the free listing. I then asked why you need my DOB for a free yellow page listing. After going back and forth, when I should have hung up on his a**, I stated my month and day.

Then it got really sneaky. The next question asked in what category is your busines.

Next, I was asked by the recording if I was authorized to accept charges. I knew Jack was still there, so I stated if this is a free listing, why is this thing asking me to verify and telling me a number to call and cancel.  And he told me it's just about the authorization, "no charges will be incurred unless the owner calls back and activates the service for the website." So I asked him could he play that part back to me.. He goes into this long a** spill and tells me, I will have to start the whole thing over I can?t go back to just that part?.and I said ok (because I wanted to make sure I got the phone number the machine stated for cancellation, which was 888-775-3655). He stated if you are charged anything, I will pay for it out of my own pocket, ?I promise you that you will not be charged anything, and this is just an authorization for the free yellow page listing and if you are charged you can call me back I will give you my number?. I said ok, what is the number? He states 877-517-6100 Ext 02.    

Now I am still feeling something aint right about this, but I have already went through the process. He hit repeat on the question recording, and at the end I said yes. The final question was one he walked all over, very eager to explain that it was "just an ad for the web services." I listened more to the recording than to him, and it indicated that if I answered yes to this question, there would be a trial period and then charges would be applied through my phone company.

After hanging up the phone with this fake a** Jack Dawson, because I called the number he had given me back and got this number has been disconnected, I called the number I had written down during the recording (888-775-3655), and spoke with Rex, I told him that I didn?t feel comfortable with a call I had just received from the previous caller and gave the spill and told him that the guy had given me a fake number. He said ?fake number?? He asked me for my phone number and stated I don?t show anything in the system have you received the activation letter. I said no, that someone had just called and I felt uneasy about the call from the fake number this person gave me, He said ?fake number? and chuckled as if I couldn?t hear him, then says well how did you call this number if it is fake. I said yes fake number; I got this number when I wrote it down during the recording, the same number the person told me that I wouldn?t have to call unless it was activated. I said now I know what I heard and that thing said that after 30 days if we didn?t call back to cancel that we will see a charge on our bill. I then told him that if I see any charges on my company bill that I will be taking legal action and I don?t like the fact that I was lied to. He then told me to call back on Wednesday it should be in the system by then and ask for him and said my name is Rex. Said they are not with the yellow pages they are with some website hosting mess, I told him I know that, but the person making the calls for them said this was all about a free yellow page listing when it is clearly not?.

I'm going to be their worst nightmare if this s*** is not solved?..and charges show up on this company bill.

They called my office today and I fell for their line.  I have always hung up on these scum bags but today I did not. I mean they call 2-3 times per day.  Today I decided to see what they had to say and just like the others have said they did to me.  So I decided to call AT&T right away and explained what happened to the nice lady on the phone. She explained to me that she will place a block on all outside billing not associated with AT&T she also gave me a confirmation #. Problem solved. There is no way we are going to pay for a serivce in which we did not sign up for.

same thing here got billed on att bill called them they can;t revers charges called this ild company they can put a stop to further charges but cannot reverse old charges. Host a website will stop further but will not reverse charges. They a rfalse recording of questions that were filled in after the fact. Misreprested them selves on original call. I have submitted complaints to ftc attorney generals office and icc hope someone can shut these people down ans some jail time should be involved for there practices... ild phone 800-433-4518 host a web # 88-775-3655. I now make it a practice not say anything over the phone I start out by saying send me somehting in writing and hang up with not further talking// What a shame it has come to this........ hard to run a business when you are afraid to answer the phone...

They called us this morning at our small business, claiming that they were with the local yellow pages. After going through a small discussion with a very polite lady, we were transferred to a man with an extremely heavy middle eastern accent. He proceeded to tell us exactly what to say to respond to the questions and wouldn't let us say no to anything. When the "website" offer came up, we told him we weren't interested. He said there would be no charges and no website unless we called the 1-800 number to set everything up.. that the agreement was merely a formality. Luckily, before we agreed to anything, we checked online and discovered they were scammers. The moment we asked him what company he was with, he hung up.

We have a website under their heading -(www.hostawebsite/mycompany)  and can't google it at all??  We got caught too !

Just went through the same thing as well- I clearly said no then was preopmted to say yes- stupid me.  HAng up on these criminals if they ever call.  I did get my host fees refunded after 90 days but the customer service girl just hung up on me when I called about the set up fee of $9.95.  Did anyone actually ever get a website?  lol

My story is just like Annoyed Receptionist's experience. I don't know why I didn't hang up early on - I knew in my gut this was a scam. Here's my notes-to-self on the phone call:

Just received a phone call w/caller id blocked, from a man named Lewis with "the Yellow Pages." He wanted to verify our company information for the yellow pages "free business listing." I asked him are you with at&t yellow pages, he said yes. I told him our new listing was just printed, why do we need to do this now? "We have lots of phone numbers, so we start early, and you'll be all set for next year." He recited, in turn, the name of the company, and the street number, and the phone number. I said "that is correct," or a variation, to each one. I also told him "don't change anything, andd on't charge my company for anything." He siad he wouldn't.

He asked then if we're interested in "any of our web hosting services." When I said no, he said he'd be forwarding me to another number that would take some additional information for verification that we spoke, and it would take about 20 seconds to switch into it. It did, and the recording first asked for name, company, position and phone number. I gave all but position, and Lewis' voice came in again asking about position (title?). I said "office manager."

Then it got really sneaky. The next question asked what is your current phone companym, do you have a yellow pages listing, and in what category. Lewis' voice came in again, coaching that I coulds ay "don't know" if i didn't know. I didn't want to risk this being the scam it's turned out to be, so I said don't know at the end of that question.

Next, I was asked by the recording if I was authorized to accept charges. I knew Lewis was still there, so I asked him "what charges are these?" And he told me it's just about authorization, "no charges will be incurred." He hit repaeat on the question recording, and at the end Is aid yes. The only time in the entire converstaion I used that word. Dammit!

The final question was one he walked all over, very eager to explain that it was "just an ad for the web services." I listened more to the recording tha to him, though, and it indicated that if I answered yes to this question, there would be a trial period and then charges would be applied through my phone company. By the end of the question, though, when I said "no," it was clear the recording had ended and there was no-one on the line. A company name (HostaWebSite) and phone number was given partway thru the last question, to call back, and I only caught the 888-775 part. Googled the rest, and got 888-775-3655, which hit on lots of people complaining about scams from this company in various forms.

Called 888-775-3655, and spoke with Natalie, who sounded very taken aback at the guy's method, and told me that if the call just happened nothing would be in her system yet. Told me to call back in a couple days and ask for her. Said she's not with HostawebSite, but that her company is called CSO, a customer service clearinghouse that serves a lot of companies.

From what I imagine after reading all your posts about recording manipulation, I'm going to have a hard time with getting this cancelled. Here's hoping I don't have to go to any extra work like "Wrong Person" did. Thanks, by the way, for posting the extra info!

Yep, same ol' song, and dance!!!Exact same senerio, except out of morbit curiosity, I went to look at "my new website" and found that I sell used tires, and sparkplugs, because that is what they used for pic's. These Bast@#*!'s  didn't even consult with me as to what I would have wanted on my "site". They just threw some S#*T together with my address, and phone #. I wasn't even the one to answer the original phone call, one of my employees did, and the same thing....They tell you what to say, for the "Survey", and then record, and mix in some contracual agreement right before he said "yes" to a stupid default question. I am so upset.....I spent 2 hours today between; Quest, Payment 1.com, and Hostawebsite.biz, just to find out that I am screwed, and most likely, will not get any form of refund! Why is it legal for your phone company to bill you for something that you did not agree (With them!) to be liable for?!?!?!?  All I can say, is check your phone bill, every month, that is how I found out about this crap! An extra $34.95 on a commercial phone bill is vertually non-detectable. I fiqure that is what they are hopeing for. I hope these Bast#*@s rot in hell for this!!!!

Yes, it happened to me. I listened to that recording and got more and more angry by the second. I knew that I had not agreed to that website. I remember clearly answering questions, but they were not the questions they had in that recording. I was so angry. How did they do that?

Thankfully I found this website which confirmed that I wasn't insane. I'm in the business of designing websites for my clients. I have several websites for my business. I would have no need for this website and I would have never agreed to it. It just stinks.

But how do I get this refunded!!!

Like the other posts, our company fell victim to this scam.  I personally listened to the recorded conversation of my husband answering the questions to "verify your information"  and they "conveinently" forgot to record the "NOT INTERESTED" in this offer.  I called the 1-888-775-3655 I demanded they cancel this service and refund my $9.95 set up fee and $34.95.  "Mike" told me they can only refund my $34.95 and not the $9.95 set up fee.  I guess that's how they make their money.  We'll see if that refund shows up or not.

I recieved what sounded like a very important phone call from "Martin"; a gentleman that I could BARELY understand because of his thick Middle Eastern accent, telling me that "something or other" was about to expire, and that I needed to act fast and give him some information, so that he could send out the information to have me put back into the system, otherwise "something or other" would expire and charge me a "such and such" amount of money per month.

He also asked me many different questions about my company, my phone number, my address, my birthdate, how to spell my name, etc etc, insisting that it was not a telemarketing call. So, I agreed to listen. However, I had to listen to him for OVER 25 minutes total on the phone.

I'm a receptionist for a fast paced Engineering Firm, and I had other phone calls coming in from clients, and he would NOT let me put him on hold in order to take the other calls.

The first call, he told me that the phone call would take only 30 seconds, and watching the counter on the phone, I was on the phone with him for around 17 minutes, THE FIRST TIME. I got annoyed by him because of the persistant questions, him reapeating EVERYTHING that I said over 6 times, just over and over and over again, and then not being able to understand a "fliiping" word out of his mouth, I got so frustrated, so I hung up to take REAL client's phone calls. Two seconds later, he called me back, asking me firmly, why I had disconnected him! Of course, since he snapped at me, I snapped back, and told him that he lied when he told me that it was only going to take 30 seconds, and that he needed to hurry up with whatever it was taht he was trying to help me out with so that I didn't get into any trouble for whatever it was that was going to expire.

I agreed, and then told me that this would only take another 15 seconds, and that I would just have to be patient, and agree to the terms, and he stayed on the phone with me, and there was a recording, and he'd say,
"state your name", "now say YES", "now saw YES again", "Give me your birthdate again", what is your company's name", the entire time he was breathing hard on the phone, so that I could not hear the voice recording in the background, and whatever he would tell me to do, I would say what he asked me to.

The second phone call I was on the phone for 9 minutes. Repeateating EVERYTHING that we had just gone over, and it was soo annoying because I didn't know what was happening. At the end of the voice recording in the background that I was able to get the millionth time that he'd asked me, while he breathed in the phone like a stalker on a window pane, I was able to get the 1-888-775-3655, and I heard that if I didn't cancel, that we'd be charged, so when I said, "HEY, what's that, you said that this wasn't a telemarketing call, that it was important!" He told me to have a nice day, and he hung up!

I agree that I was naive in the fact that it was a scam, and that I should have just hung up. Seeing as how I usually don't have a problem hanging up on weirdos I SHOULD HAVE. After hanging up with him, I called the 1-888 number, waited on hold for about 5 minutes, and this lady answered, "Hello, customer Service", I explained to her my situation, and she replied, "well, I am sorry, but that company is an internet website company", she has no way of contacting them, there was nothing that she could do about canceling me, and that they DID NOT have a telephone number to reach them at. I would have to email them, and then handle it through emailing the company. When I asked for the address to the websites office, rather than a phone number, she replied, "Have a nice day", and disconnected me.

After hanging up with her, I googled the 1-888 phone number, and found this site, and now I'm telling my story. I now have to remind myself to email three days AFTER today, so that by the time the info goes through, it will be canceled. This has been such a hassel! I have telemarketers...

Ditto, same operation.  They offer a free yellow page listing and them billed thru my phone via ILD services.  ILD will block the billing if you ask.  Hostawebsite will not call back.

Follow up to my posting above: After filing complaints with the FCC, FTC, our state?s Attorney General?s Office and Utilities Commission, we received a call from someone identifying himself as Michael Thomas from Hostawebsite.biz. He was profusely apologetic that we ?misunderstood? their company?s phone pitch and that we could expect a full and total refund on our next phone bill. No doubt the letter they received from our state?s Attorney General?s Office helped them have a change of heart.

Meanwhile, I did some additional investigating. According to caller ID the number from which Mr. Thomas called belongs to a company named Mboli LLC . According to a Google Search of that company, a State of Maine web post lists Mboli LLC operating under a DBA name of MY SITE ONLINE IS.COM. (If these embedded links do not work, Google them yourself (Mboli LLC) etc)

Here begins a series of interesting coincidences:

?Hostawebsite.biz is registered on that same Maine web posting as an LLC.

?A Whois.net search of Mysiteonlineis.com and Hostawebsite.biz finds that they are both hosted by Wild West Domains, Inc. on the exact same Scottsdale, AZ server.  

?A Google search of MySiteOnlineIs.com uncovers several similar complaints lodged against it from victims in Roanoke Rapids, NC as well as Newton, NC using the same M/O as Hostawebsite.biz.

It?s apparent that these crooks are operating multiple DBA accounts so if one of their companies draws too much attention, they can switch to another one.

If you have had a run-in with MY SITE ONLINE IS.COM, or Hostawebsite.biz (or any other website hosting scam) contact your state's Attorney General?s office etc.

An example needs to be made of these companies. Your time and resources are too valuable to be taken up with such nonsense.

Our small business had the same experience as these other posts:

HostaWebsite.biz LLC is practicing ?cramming? where 3rd party charges are fraudulently placed on customer's phone bills. Call your state?s Utilities Commission or the FTC. They are well aware of this practice. These charges are not the result of a misunderstanding but a scam done with calculation and forethought.

We have never heard of Host a Website.biz until the phone bill arrived. We can also attest to the fact that we have had no prior conversation and/or contact with anyone identifying themselves as being from or otherwise representing this company.

They billed through a 3rd party company, ILD Teleservices, for monthly web hosting and set up fees. FYI - Since the Fed deregulated the phone industry, 3rd party billing is allowed so competing long distance companies could "piggy back" on your local phone  bill. Unfortunately scammers have found this loop hole.

Upon contacting ILD Teleservices, they played an audio recording of the supposed verbal agreement that was made. What I heard was appalling. It was my wife?s voice but it was obvious that the conversation was contrived. The recording sounded as if it had been spliced together making it appear she agreed to these charges. In retrospect she recalls participating in an automated phone survey of some sort in September, but other than that, we don't know how they captured her voice. This recording is nothing more than a ?fig leaf? intended to bully you.

Upon contacting Host A Website.biz, I was told that as long as her voice is recorded as having said, "yes" to accepting this service, we were responsible for charges incurred to date.  I then asked the representative how she could work for a company that engages in such unscrupulous activity. Instead standing by her company and defending the recordings as authentic she replied, "Hey, we have to eat too".

I then asked to speak to a manager. Conveniently, I was told no managers were available at that time but one would call me back. After a week, I have received no such call.

People, this is not a case of ?misunderstands?. What this company is doing is insidiously fraudulent.  

Don?t let this go! Fight it?

What you can do:
?If you can?t resolve it by calling the offending company (and chances are you will not), send a certified letter contesting the bill.
?Keep the receipt and a copy of the letter on file indifferently.
?Call your phone company and contest the charges.
?In addition, ask your phone company to block 3rd party billings to your phone bill. Believe it or not you have to ASK. They will not do it automatically.
?Contact your state?s Utilities Commission. We did and they quickly contacted AT&T on our behalf.
?Contact your State?s Attorney General?s office and file a formal complaint.
?Contact the Federal Trade Commission and file an on-line complaint.
?Get caller ID and simply don?t answer calls from toll free or unknown callers. If it?s important enough, they can contact you via mail.

Good Luck!

Hostawebsite.biz Here's a twist on the previous 2 postings about this company - A man identifying himself as a representative of an internet business directory (not hostawebsite) called to confirm my company information in order to 'continue the free listing'. He briefed me on what questions would be asked, then required me to finish the call by listening and responding to a recording which asks the same questions again, with my answers to the questions being recorded. Lo and behold, I get my phone bill today and see charges from Hostawebsite c/o ILD. When I call to dispute the charges, the folks from ILD play back a recording of my voice answering questions having nothing to do with 'confirming company information.' Instead, my recorded voice has been spliced into an agreement to purchase website hosting services. Quite insidious! ILD refunded part of these charges (unfortunately the refund to my phone company can take up to 90 days), but Hostawebsite is refusing to refund any of the remaining charges, using my recording as evidence that I agreed to the charges.

Hostawebsite.biz  They people call and want you to order a website, when you tell them NO, they want to record the conversation.  They don't record the No I don't need this.  Then they charge your phone bill for set-up.  They say they sent an introductory letter and cancellation instructions,  I never saw the letter.