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GoodLeafDev Review: Hidden Fees, Staff Abuse, and Fraudulent Practices
itsmeza0103
Member
i'm writing this to warn other server owners about goodleafdev (goodleafdev.com) what happened to me goes beyond a simple billing dispute it's a systematic bait and switch that i believe is designed to trap customers i will lay out the entire timeline coldly and factually so you can judge for yourself
Pre-sale: the friendly face
i was looking for a vps with path.net ddos protection specifically for a2s caching on a cs 1.6 server goodleafdev's budget vps page advertised "17tbps ddos protection" clearly on every plan including the $9.99 plan 1 it explicitly listed "path.net mitigation" in the description i joined their discord and spoke with a staff member named "Nate" he was friendly answered all my technical questions confirmed that path protection and a2s caching were included and even offered a 48 hour money back guarantee verbally i have all these messages saved
i ordered plan 1 in amsterdam for $9.99 paid via stripe (visa) this is where the trouble began
Post-sale the hidden fee emerges
immediately after payment i noticed my vps ip was not showing in their "enhanced protection panel" (the path firewall) i opened a support ticket their agent "Joseph Hollinger" replied
"yes ip changes are a 1 time $10 fee"
nowhere on the plan page is this fee mentioned not in the product description not in the order summary not during checkout the protection was advertised as included but suddenly i had to pay extra just to get what i already paid for when i pointed this out and attached a screenshot of their own page joseph went silent
Discord betrayal
i went back to discord and politely asked nate to help his tone completely changed he said "we only offer pre sales support in discord just to keep everything clean and clear" this was the same person who had answered all my pre sale questions there now that i had paid support was cut off
i told him i didn't like how things were going and that if we couldnt resolve this id have no choice but to share my experience on hosting forums i didnt threaten i stated a fact
his response:
"who do you think you are?"
"no fuck you suck my cock"
then he banned me from their discord i managed to copy the text before the ban hit (after a 5 sec) but i wasn't fast enough to screenshot the message itself.
Website ban
minutes later my account on their website was restricted with the reason "conduct towards staff" i never insulted anyone the only abusive language came from their employee but by banning me they locked me out of my ticket history and my ability to manage the vps
Refund policy trap
while researching how to get my money back, i discovered their refund policy page i states:
- "Refunds are not available for VPS/Dedicated Hosting"
- if you file a chargeback, they threaten a $350 "administrative fee" and claim they'll send it to collections.
there's also a hidden $30 fee if your VPS suffers file corruption after normal restarts.
remember, "Nate" had promised me a 48 hour money back guarantee on discord. that was a lie. their own legal page contradicts it.
they ask for fees and fines for literally everything. restart your VPS? fine. dispute a charge? fine. want what you actually paid for? another fee. please check their refund policy page yourself and you'll see exactly what im talking about its a trap designed to squeeze money out of you while making it impossible to leave: you can check here
Business model
lets strip this down rationally goodleafdev's model appears to be
advertise premium protection (path) at a low price to attract buyers
after payment demand an extra fee to "activate" what was advertised as included
if the customer complains cut off support insult them and ban them
the "no vps refunds" clause and the $350 chargeback threat are designed to scare people into giving up for a $10 vps they risk very little most customers will just walk away they count on that...
The resolution
i eventually got my money back whether my bank reversed it or they refunded it themselves after realizing i had evidence im not entirely sure but the money is back in my account thats not the point
Why i'm posting this?
im posting because this isn't about $10 its about trust a host that treats customers like this baiting with false promises hiding fees insulting and banning those who complain should not be trusted with anyone's server especially not a game server that relies on stable connectivity and honest communication
the stress and wasted time were far more costly than the money i spent hours debugging messaging and documenting instead of working on my server and the worst part? i ignored a warning from another server owner who had similar issues with goodleafdev he told me his vps went down for hours and they never explained why i didn't listen i hope you do
Evidence
i have screenshots of :
- the plan page showing "17tbps ddos protection" with no mention of extra fees
- the support ticket where joseph demands $10
- the discord conversation with nate including the insult (copied text i'm also requesting my discord data package for the original message)
- the website ban message
- their refund policy page with the $350 and no vps refund clauses
- i also have a full video recording of our discord conversation in case they try to deny any of this if needed i will provide it to forum moderators or any authority
this post will be shared on multiple platforms to ensure the community knows what to expect from goodleafdev if they want to dispute my account they are welcome to i have nothing to hide
if anyone has questions or wants me to explain anything further, ill do it with pleasure. just reply here or DM me.
stay safe and choose your hosts wisely
Proof and screenshots:
purchase: https://imgur.com/j9Qu0uf
refund confirmation on discord: https://imgur.com/a/HF2sO7l
ticket conversation: https://imgur.com/yr1xJPh
sales page showing they give path on the vps plan i bought: https://imgur.com/nGm3FiY
fees if you restart vps multiple times: https://imgur.com/kzVNYbh
the way he talks: https://imgur.com/WU638ZW
ban on their website: https://imgur.com/ocpsWT4
Comments
https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/193079/goodleaf-hosting-scam-attempt/p1
https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/193079/goodleaf-hosting-scam-attempt/p1
Full disclosure, I work for Nate, but this was done because I'm helping him professionalize. There is a lot of work to be done, but this entire thread is pure braindead slop. You made accusations that I've never seen in any of the tickets and never backed up with evidence. Additionally, we do not offer managed support for free, which you are complaining about. We have so many clients despite having pop up warnings constantly restart their windows server for no reason and corrupt the installation. This happens so frequently that we are developing a new panel slowly BTS to prevent this. Additionally, we charge because we do not have the time to do fix every installation for free. We do however provide a video and instructions on how to fix it yourself. We also have "fees" for disputing because disputing a charge for 'fraud' when it isn't fraud is illegal and induces fees and potential reputational harm with our processors. Every provider, with a brain, will send you to collections if you dispute a charge despite passing 3DSecure.
The following messages never occurred.
I used to think Nate was a skiddy summer host, but he moves more money than most hosts do in a year weekly and has some of the most immature, entitled, and borderline braindead people purchase his services than I've ever had to encounter. For what it's worth, he provides a good service for what he charges and has to put up with.
Jesus christ.
Edit: I checked your ticket again, you were on a cheap VPS, and we offered to waive the fee. We are getting too many requests lately for IP changes on cheaper plans. Fee was implemented to curb the abuse temporarily as we expand IP space.
WHO ARE YOU?
Adam.
Thanks Adam, but still don't know who Adam is and why Adam replied on behalf of a banned host.
I'd like you to have first grade reading comprehension skills and to literally read the first sentence of my reply. Nate is also banned from LET because his LET account was hacked two years ago. That thread is inaccurate, old, and I am one of the OG replyers to it. I used to have beef with Nate before we became friends and I started working for him. Thank you for passing kindergarten.
Edit: If LET Mods could get in contact with us, we'd like to appeal the ban.
I would also like to clarify, we do not charge for DDos Protection, nor to "activate" it. We have switched clients back and forth like ring around a rosie from Path to Terabit to Path without additional costs. I don't know what crack OP was smoking, but I think I'd like some.
If you truly want to "professionalize" start by checking your internal logs more carefully before calling customers "braindead"
Here is the exact transcript of the final conversation on discord before i was banned:
"Me: look, i dont like whats happening. i dont want to escalate this to people on lowendtalk, webhostingtalk, trustpilot, reddit, and communities. ill act like nothing happened 😊 . but your guy is probably playing with me and your website imposes fines on almost everything. so please process a full refund like you mentioned before. now.
Nate: Hes not? we charge a $10 fee for ip changes. he even notified you that as a courtesey he was waiving the fee for you. your paying us $10.
Me: i didnt ask for ip change.
Nate: yes you did. if you want path it requires a ip change.
Me: you have my word. just process the full refund now and ill act like nothing happened. i wont post anything anywhere. i just want my money back and we both move on.
Nate: so me telling you that we dont offer support in discord your response is to threaten to review bomb me? who do you think you are?
Nate: No. fuck you suck my cock."
go to your logs and check for yourself. if those exact words from nate are not in your transcripts, i will delete this entire discussion and publicly apologize to you here.
since you are so confident it didn't happen, why dont you post a video of the full transcript from your side?
facts over insults.
This kind of attitude doesn't make you look good at all and is probably a very bad mindset for you to have.
I checked the logs and this never occurred. I will speak to Nate about it, but I cannot make that decision.
Respectfully, I would have given someone like you, my respect, but I'm not going to pay respect to someone who doesn't make it mutual. I get what your saying, but they have zero intentions of being polite, civil, and educated, hence my brashness.
I would never and never do reply this way in tickets and have made significant waves in making sure Nate doesn't.
Edit: Also, a majority of our customers are smart, we just for some reason get a lot of customers who do not listen to instructions and when they have the slightest inconvenience, they chargeback and go straight toward attempting to dox our leadership team. We've posted about this consistently in the IPv7 discord server. I'm going to stand by what I said.
You just edited your reply. first, you said "it never occurred" and now you are saying you will "speak to Nate about it." which one is it?
If you truly checked the logs and confirmed it did't happen, why the sudden change?
the fact is, you are backtrackng because you know the toxicity is real. i have already provided screenshots of the ticket where the hidden fees were demanded and the ban messages from both the website and discord that followed immediately after our conversation.
if those insults aren't in your "logs," then your logging system is as broken as your refund policy. im waiting for a real explanation, not more backtracking.
Since youare claiming im lying, if you don't provide a full, unedited video of the discord transcript from your side showing the entire conversation before the ban, then everyone here will know who is really telling the truth.
What even is this...
Client buys a vps with DDoS Protection, asks about setting it up.
Support Rep states it's a $10 fee for "IP change"
Then you have someone named Vexelia who claims to work for Nate but profile says works for Vexelia replying to this thread. They state there is no fee for activation but what exactly is this $10 fee then?
If a service requires a $10 fee for the IP change or DDoS Protection or whatever you call it. I would expect it to show up as an extra addon after clicking deploy now/buy now.
It never occurred and I edited it because I was in the middle of speaking to Nate about posting the transcript. I am bound by a NDA and cannot do it myself without my bosses permission. It is his company's data, not mine.
Anyways, your channel was closed, because you owned a discord ticket, meant for pre-sales, for technical support and threats.
I only have access to a HTML copy and I don't see at all what you are claiming?
stop playing games. everyone knows an "HTML copy" can be edited in seconds using F12 (Inspect Element) to remove any embarrassing messages.
if you are so confident in your logs, dont just send a screenshot. provide a video of you accessing the transcript, showing the full conversation, and refreshing the page to prove its not an edited local copy.
as for the "NDA" and "Boss’s permission," you’ve been replying and making accusations here for hours. Now that you're asked for actual proof, you’re hiding behind "permission"?
the timeline is simple i asked for a refund, Nate insulted me, and i was banned immediately. your excuses and backtracking only make the company look more guilty.
Video or it didn't happen.
Vexelia was a hosting business I was working on until we had to pause progress due to prior commitments. There is no fee for activation, the client wanted a new IP, for whatever reason, and the fee was offered to be waived. We haven't billed anyone for said fee, it's just really to discourage unnecessary IP change requests AFAIK while we are working on expanding IP space.
stop lying to the community. at no point did i ask for an ip change.
i asked why the firewall panel (path.net protection) wasn't active for the service i already paid for. your support agent, joseph, was the one who replied saying: "yes ip changes are a 1 time $10 fee." i have already posted the screenshot of this exact ticket. why would i "ask" for an IP change on a brand new VPS? i just wanted the protection that was advertised as included on your sales page. you tried to gatekeep a core feature behind a hidden $10 fee, and now you're trying to frame it as if i made a special request.
the evidence is in the thread for everyone to see. can't you even read your own staff's tickets before coming here to spread misinformation?
I want to remain polite and remind you I am not Nate and only conveying what I can see. I'm also curious, can you explain how we can gatekeep DDos Protection? Your VPS was using Path for inbound IP Transit and we use the vanilla PathModule WHMCS plugin. There is nothing that "disables" Path for our clients on Path's transit.
I'll see what I can do about the "IP change fees" going forward, but it's not a "hidden" fee.
Nate's boy
Your channel was closed (as in deleted) and all that is available is HTML. Anyone using ticket-based Discord bots would know this is the case.
I've also reviewed your case further, you were on RoyaleHosting's DDos Protection which is far more stable than Path in AMS, which is more given on-demand/on-request in Amsterdam, due to Path being Path and our low client volume there. I am sorry for the inconsistency, I did not realize you were on a AMS plan until just now.
This would essentially mean if you wanted Path, we'd change your IP, hence I believe the fee was proposed? I'm not sure why it was mentioned, it must've been a mistake on Joseph's part, but it was offered to be waived anyways.
yeah no please do not call me that
last thing i am is that
@Vexelia It's comical that you keep posting like a skid and then editing the post once you get called out. Nate 2.0. Ban this skid.
One of the replies had a meme and a short one liner, now it's all respectful suddenly.
I don’t get it. OP did not ask for IP change. The IP change was mentioned by the support rep and whoever was replying to OP messages in the discord logs that you posted above
you actually just provided evidence against yourself btw.
you banned me and reported me to fraudrecord for "conduct towards staff" right? yet in the very screenshot YOU posted, where is the misconduct?
Is asking for a refund "misconduct"?
Is saying "ill act like nothing happened and move on" an insult?
Is pointing out that your website has hidden fees "abuse"?
even in your edited version, i remained civil. the only "conduct" problem here is Nate’s response, which you conveniently cut out of the image. You reported a customer to a global blacklist simply for saying they would write a review. that is a malicious abuse of the fraudrecord system.
If i really insulted your staff, show the community the "bad conduct" I committed before the ban. you can't, because it doesn't exist. you are blacklisting customers for exposing your hidden fees.
You all are acting like I am not busy and pre-occupied with several things. Respectfully, I do not give a shit if I am banned, for no reason quite frankly, on this platform. I want to be critically honest here, barely anyone uses LowEndTalk nowadays and it's a dying platform that worships Path like it's the next coming of Jesus. It is sad, but if being banned for voicing a company's side that I quite frankly volunteer at for a low wage out of the kindness to a friend, I literally wouldn't care, nor would anyone or real client we have I know.
I am in the process of multi-tasking several things and tired after both college courses, drywall repair, cooking three meals, and more. I'll have to ask you to give me a break though knowing how childish this thread has become, you guys are terminally online.
I am one person versus multiple people.
I edited to make sure that things were accurate and grammatically correct. I do not have the time or energy to double check before posting and I have not made major edits. I just added more information such as it took me until now to realize he was on AMS.
I'm sorry that I have to pick apart things that literally do not make sense on both sides.
its funny how the story changes every hour. first, it was "you asked for an IP change" now its "i didnt realize you were on an AMS plan."
to answer your questions:
Gatekeeping: You "gatekeep" protection when your staff tells a client: "if you want path, it requires a $10 fee for an IP change." that is a paywall for a feature advertised as included. period.
The "hidden" fee: if its not on the checkout page as an addon and not in the TOS it is a hidden fee.
The Logs: you keep hiding behind "HTML copies" and "deleted channels" if you truly cared about the truth, you wouldnt have posted a truncated screenshot that conveniently hides your staff's verbal abuse.
im glad you admitted the "inconsistency" in your service, but its too late for excuses after you already tried to blacklist my name on fraudrecord based on a "conduct" charge that you still havent proven.
one last thing i know exactly who im talking to. you can switch accounts and names as much as you want but the style remains the same. stop playing the "Vexelia" character, Nate. we all know you use multiple accounts to manage your business and your "reputation"
the community sees through the masks.
Lol what. What crack do you smoke now?
Exactly. thank you for confirming what ive been saying from the start.
the constant editing and shifting between "insults" and "respectful" tones once they get called out is their standard operating procedure. its clear to everyone now who is really behind these accounts and why the service is such a mess.
I came into your ticket a little blind admittedly as I only read the discord conversation with barely any context. I later got filled in further and Nate kept rinsing and adding new details I didn't know prior. Going forward, this won't happen again. It is a genuine mistake.
Also, I am not Nate. I am Adam, anyone and everyone who knows me, knows this is the case.
Nate and also myself are done replying to this childish thread. I've said and shown what needs to be shown.