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Is this ethical business practice?
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Is this ethical business practice?

stallionstallion Member
edited May 2014 in General

I started off with a reseller hosting plan with a medium level company. They offered whmcs bundled with their plans so it was cheap. I still host my whmcs with them but have acquired another server because as I grew I needed more resources.
Only today I have noticed that this host is doing something which I find is very unethical even shady practice.
They offer cpanel with softaculous and when me or any of my clients click on softaculous, then my provider's url appears in the title of the page and couple of other places on the page. I am sure this is a recent change. It means my provider is promoting his services to my clients/in other words trying to steal my clients. It doesn't stop just there. When someone installs wordpress using softaculous, my provider's link appears in the footer which says "proudly hosted by blahblahhost . com".
I am very shocked to find out this. They are literally trying to steal my clients.
What do you guys think about this?

Comments

  • BradBrad Member

    Just move on to a different host then. You already have a medium sized client base, so you can afford WHMCS..right?

  • They were launched recently only a couple of years ago and seem to have gained many positive reviews in a very short period of time on WHT(probably paid). Do you think I should expose them?

    I could move whmcs today if I wanted. But I don't want to host everything on one place. Please also suggest a good host for hosting whmcs(best uptime and accessibility from all over the world).

    @Brad My question was do you think what they are doing is ethical?

  • BradBrad Member
    edited May 2014

    Can you confirm they are doing the same to any other of their clients, in other words: are they only doing this to you?

    As for a recommendation for a host(s), http://lowendbox.com/blog/top-provider-poll-2014-q1-the-results/

  • @Brad said:
    Can you confirm they are doing the same to any other of their clients, in other words: are they only doing this to you?

    There is no way for me to find out.

  • BoxodeBoxode Member

    Name and shame, simple.

  • NickMNickM Member

    I think it's more likely that it's a configuration problem, rather than them trying to steal your clients.

    Thanked by 1Maounique
  • sirmbhesirmbhe Member

    Have you ask your provider regarding this problem? And what was their answer?

  • chrispchrisp Member

    Did you buy the reseller plan as whitlabel reseller hosting? If not I would understand there are brandings of the host left.

  • blergh_blergh_ Member

    Steal your clients? He's making money from your success as well so..

  • Ethical smethical, money talks and bullshit walks...

  • nerouxneroux Member

    @viCommunications said:
    Name and shame, simple.

    What for?

    @sirmbhe said:
    Have you ask your provider regarding this problem? And what was their answer?

    Only reasonable course of action.

  • leapswitchleapswitch Patron Provider, Veteran

    Softaculous must have some option for branding which they forgot to disable or used the same setup as their own servers. Why don't you contact them regarding this ?

  • wychwych Member

    Ask the host to check the branding out, could be a honest mistake.

    Thanked by 1Maounique
  • defiantdefiant Member

    stallion said: There is no way for me to find out.

    If they have a trial period or a 7-30 day money back guarantee, just sign up for one under another name and see if this is being done for that account too.

  • ztecztec Member

    @linuxthefish said:
    Ethical smethical, money talks and bullshit walks...

    Hehe. Love the reference.

    Thanked by 1linuxthefish
  • Why don't you just go ahead and ask them?

    If it's normal, just go elsewhere -- name and shame them only after you're done migrating.

    It's usually customary to finish crossing a bridge before you attempt to burn it, etc.

    Thanked by 2GIANT_CRAB Mark_R
  • wychwych Member

    @Wintereise said:
    It's usually customary to finish crossing a bridge before you attempt to burn it, etc.

    Nice saying.

  • DewlanceVPSDewlanceVPS Member, Patron Provider

    You can ask this question to your provider and I am sure your provider will remove branding links from your account/customer accounts.

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