About 10 or so years ago, I tried to self publish one of my children's stories. The stories are a series and I had this grand vision of doing them all myself. I hired a friend to do the artwork, bought a fancy printer, and tried to do it all. The final product was pretty crude and I wasn't happy with it. This is just the background for today's fun.
I purchased a domain through BlueHost to try to merchandise the book. I sort of forgot about it but they have been charging my credit card all these years and it is actually still an active website. Now that I've jump started the book series again, I thought I'd go edit it and get it up to speed.
Not so fast......
Of course, there is no way I would remember the password. As with with most online accounts, it's pretty easy to reset. They just send you and email with a reset password. The problem is, I no longer have that email address. It was from the cable provider I used in Austin.
I called tech support and they told me, in a lot more words, tough ****. He then proceeded to lecture me on using an email address from a cable provider. He told me I should use gmail or yahoo mail. Thanks, man. He then told me I can try emailing the billing department. So, I did.
I didn't hear anything from billing so I called sales. The guy I talked to was super helpful. He did indicate it eventually had to go through billing but he thought they would just update my email address and be done with it. He put me on hold and called billing, then told me I should hear back from them pretty quickly.
I did.
To add another twist to the story, when I originally set this self publishing stuff up, I tried to set things up as a business. I created a business name and had a PO box and everything. I honestly cannot recall if I went the whole 9 yards on this and got a tax number or not. I don't think so, but it is in the realm of possibility. I do know for a fact that it is not a viable entity anymore if I ever did.
So, I got this lovely email back from BlueHost
Quote:
Hello,
Thank you for reaching out to the billing department, and we appreciate your business with Bluehost. We noticed the account xxxxx.com is under a business name. In order, to verify this account we need a primary document listed below. Please be aware, a primary documentation must match at least the BUSINESS NAME as well as the most recent contact information on the account in question. IF, your address on the primary document you chose to send in does not match please provide one of the documents from the secondary list below.
PRIMARY DOCUMENTS:
Here are documents needed to fully validate the business account in question, in addition these following documents cannot be expired:
Business license
Certificate of Incorporation
Record of Registration for Business Name
State Certificate of Exemption
501(c)(3)
An equivalent of the above documents for your Country, State, County or Provence
*Above are examples of popular Business Documents
NOTE: A 501(c)(3) letter from the IRS - No other tax documents can be accepted as primary documentation
-*English language* (or certified translation) or we may not be able to accept them.
SECONDARY DOCUMENTS:
» Addresses on documents from the above list must match what we have on file.
IF your address on the documents list (from the above list) do not match please provide one of the following Secondary documents.
Utility bill(s)
Credit Reference Letter from a utility company such as gas, electric, water, telephone or cable.
Other official documentation such as tax documents that matches the organization name to the address on the domain/account
» REJECTED ITEMS
Junk mail
Passports
Employer identification document
* Anything that is not in English or is not a Certified translation into English.
Please remember, in order for a business document to be approved for account validation purposes with the additional documents above. The name on the document must match the most recent account contact information, along with the following criteria: Please make sure the document is in color (if the document comes in color) without filters, certified translated in English (if not in English already) with seal or stamp, text/signature(s) is/(are) clear, has an expiration date, which can not be expired, the address must be visible and lastly all edges need to be visible. Please contact our support team if you have any questions regarding these requirements for an immediate response.
Should you have any further questions or concerns please do not hesitate to ask we are here to help have a great day.
**WHEN PROVIDING ADDITIONAL RESPONSES/INFORMATION REGARDING THIS ISSUE PLEASE RESPOND DIRECTLY TO THIS TICKET/EMAIL**
Help us improve our support by answering a quick survey: http://survey.bluehost.com/s3/05be838c35ed
Thank you,
Alex
Compliance Specialist
BlueHost.com
So, basically I've been paying (10 years) for a service that I can't use. I might have to hire a lawyer for this one.