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Oh... Thats good to know may I need some.
Always, OnlyFans isn't taking off the way I was thinking it would so could use a side hustle.
... Yes ...
They do have at least a thin veneer of plausibility that they're not running a scam. I think it's car washes that are more likely money laundering anyway as they can explain away a larger sum of money.
So... What now? We wait for the new owner to see what they decide to do with our paid services? What's being discussed over their Discord?
Does Lewis gave Eric the full amount of prepaid money?
The Story Eric has said is Lewis took the stripe account and money and bailed, so he has nothing from Lewis's contracts, and trying to use that as a possible reason to cancel the existing contracts
whoever believes that Velox actually changed hands will believe their 3 year deals are gems
Hang on, are we all just forgetting who's behind all this? Isn't he the one we should be going after? Are we just gonna let him walk away without paying any price for what he's done?
Let me be very clear.
Lewis and this "Eric" person... Are not at all bright, and clearly Lewis did not want his business to crash and burn in his hands. He washed his hands when he handed over the keys, and that's it. You are free to go after him legally if you have services(although I am not a legal expert in UK law... Despite being born there).
Lewis was clearly experienced but had no idea on sustainability.
Eric is just outright inexperienced and has no idea what he's accepted, any concepts of a plan and is pretty dreadful to existing customers and their frustrations.
Good chance he got some stripe/paypal totals showing insane pulls...because it was 3 years of prepay. Likely didn't do much research because as they said, there's 500 some odd products in the system for some reason? I guess they didn't want to use a location picker.
They're in the UK. Just find a support ticket or discord message where he calls someone a knob and the police will arrest him before they're done opening presents in the morning.
(kinda) jokes aside, sorry everyone, this is a really shitty situation.
Francisco
Well, that means the asset transfer is incomplete.
In nutshell, Lewis is giving out rented property to another party (lewis), then running away with money that should fund the lease fees for the rented property.
Here's the Gemini's take
This is a complex legal situation involving cross-border contract law (UK vs. US), the distinction between asset vs. entity sales, and potential fraud.
Disclaimer: I am an AI, not an attorney. This information is for educational purposes and should not be taken as legal advice.
Here is a breakdown of the legal principles that generally apply to this scenario:
In a typical business sale, there is a major distinction between buying the entity (the company itself) and buying the assets (credentials, hardware, customer lists).
UK Sole Trader: A sole trader has no separate legal personality from the individual. Therefore, the US citizen cannot "buy the company" because there is no company structure to buy. They have likely only performed an Asset Purchase.
Liability: In an asset purchase, the buyer generally does not inherit the seller's liabilities (the obligation to honor old contracts or pay old debts) unless they specifically agree to assume them in a written contract.
2. Failure of Consideration and Incomplete Transfer
For a contract of sale to be valid, there must be "consideration" (an exchange of value).
If the UK seller promised a "functioning business" but failed to transfer the necessary working capital (the funds meant for lease fees), the US buyer may argue breach of contract by the seller.
If the transfer is incomplete, the US citizen could potentially rescind (cancel) the deal entirely due to the seller’s failure to deliver the agreed-upon assets.
3. Privity of Contract
This is a core principle in both UK and US law.
The original customers have a contract with the UK Sole Trader, not the US citizen.
Unless the US citizen explicitly signed an agreement with the customers to take over their plans (Novation), or the original Terms of Service had a specific "assignment" clause that was properly executed, the customers’ legal recourse is usually against the original UK seller.
4. The "Successor Liability" Risk
While generally not applicable to small asset flips, US courts sometimes apply "Successor Liability" if:
The buyer is merely a "mere continuation" of the seller.
The transaction was a fraudulent attempt to escape creditors/customers.
If the US buyer continues to use the same brand name and collects new money while ignoring old prepaid plans, they could be sued for Unjust Enrichment or Consumer Fraud in US courts.
5. Practical Implications
The Hosting/Lease Issue: If the funds for the lease were not transferred, the infrastructure provider will likely terminate the service for non-payment. The US citizen has no legal "duty" to pay for these out of their own pocket unless they want to keep the servers online.
The 4-Day Window: If the US citizen "bought" the business on Dec 24th, they are likely not liable for orders taken by the UK trader between Dec 20–23, as those transactions occurred when the UK trader still had full control and ownership.
Summary
The US citizen likely has no direct legal liability to the customers to honor the prepaid plans because:
They bought assets, not the legal person/liability of the sole trader.
The seller breached the deal by withholding the funds necessary to operate.
There is no contract between the US citizen and the customers who paid the UK trader.
Recommendation: The US citizen should immediately document the "sale" terms, preserve all Reddit/chat logs, and perhaps issue a statement to the customers explaining that the previous owner failed to transfer the funds required to service those accounts. They should consult a lawyer regarding "Tortious Interference" or "Fraud" if the UK seller misrepresented the financial state of the operation
This situation genuinely needs some serious unfucking from serious people who seriously know what they are doing.
>
Thing is, now that this is out in the open, a lot of their monthly recurring revenue likely cancelled, or converted into these stupid crazy deals. They were 'only' 25% in the hole, some better plans (maybe still 30G or whatever but at a lot higher price would still sell well) to fill in that hole and they learn their lesson.
That 25% is likely going to be a fuck load higher real quick though.
What's the fix? Send everyone a new invoice to make up the difference? People will go report them to some anti consumer boards, or demand refunds/chargeback. Chargeback fees could be $30 on top of the lost cash.
I don't know what the fix is. I don't see why any host would try to white knight this when they could just offer some crazy plans (that are at the very least break even) without taking the baggage.
Francisco
If I had 12 months of op ex available in the bank and I was given the keys... Here's what I would do, that should have actually happened.
I'd cut the fat. If we have under utilized hardware, either get rid of it or push new products out at 3% above break even pricing. The unsustainable deals is what got us here in the first place.
Those 30GB VPS? Discontinue. You have 6 months. Or you can have what you actually need based on your current usage and you can have a guarantee it will be there. Pro rata it.
Price increases HAVE to happen. Yes that's going to upset customers but it would only affect new customers. Existing customers on monthly have 3 months notice so they can decide.
Diversify. Can't just be a hosting company... We need to offer something different and unique(got a lot of knowledge in container orchestration and networks).
As for unfucking the current mess if we include every mistake made outside of my pipedrea
Give customers 3 months. Refund and shut it down. It's tarnished. Nobody sane enough can salvage this unless you have fuck you money and staff. Only the insane would try and salvage it (I am insane but not insane enough).
The 25% figure is when Lewis was the operator. Because Lewis took away the stripe (and its balance), the figure is near 100% for the next few years
Eric says that Lewis is helping him in technical matters. So has Lewis run away?
If you had access to the money in the bank and the dedis and such are all m2m rentals, I would most likely just rata refund everyone and cancel the nodes. Maybe you’re short a bit of cash but you aren’t stressing for the next 12 months.
Francisco
That's the contradicting details. But, Lewis may ceased helping him after sometime (probably after not honoring the prior agreement e.g giving the stripe and its balance)
That, plus we don't know how true those figures were. Usually with a sale of company stuff can be pumped up a little. And if you offer and handover a company the way this went, usually there isn't a real good look at books, so you can even get away with it.
Signals are going all over the place - even from the same source ("Eric"). One time it's "willing to help" other time it's "I don't know what this plan exactly means it says 'triple' but...". I mean, before writing somewhere here and you have a good contact with the original owner (if it's not you) you'd ask him first, right?
I can live with money lost. As long as things were done honestly and didn't work out.
What I can't accept is when people make such a mess of things without communication, in their talking go from black to white to purple...
Can you trust what is coming out of that account?
I think not.
If Eric is really a different guy, then his dismissive attitude and being overconfident will bring his downfall.
I do not wish that to happen but the way it is going on, he will be the biggest looser in this whole fiasco.
Just trying to untie the knots because whatever he says, it seems like one needs to decrypt and decipher it.
There's nothing to decipher.
Unless there's a serious business plan, VeloxMedia is fucked.
Happy to eat my words if I get proven wrong.
Even if there is a serious business plan with someone that knows what they are doing, the brand os fucked. Its a liability and not an asset, much better idea to start something new.
One of my servers London based has been up and down for the past 48hrs and not marked unavailable in the client panel.
The end started Xmas day lol
Hopefully you have moved your data elsewhere. Also, how much you prepaid?