1dollarhosting.com, Webcountry.net, Webcountry Inc., and Phil Shapiro
run a ripoff/scam/fraud hosting service.

2) Webcountry has a rating of 1 star (lowest rating possible) on YELP with 99% of reviews being negative.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/webcountry-tarzana

3) Message boards cite numerous unfair business practices
http://siteownersforums.com/showthread.php?t=3473
http://www.webhostingchat.com/forum/web-hosting-discussions-forum/10419-webcountry-1dollarhosting.html
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/webcountrynet-c14195.html
http://www.ripoffreport.com/Search/webcountry.aspx

4) Another teacher at my school received a call from Financial Network Recovery over 4 years after he cancelled his account.
They said he owed in excess of $500. Of course they have no chance to collect since the statute of limitations has passed, but
this just shows the extent Webcountry and Financial Network Recovery will go to defraud.

I have submitted complaints to:
Los Angeles County Department of Consumer Affairs: https://cmsapp.co.la.ca.us/dca_ecomplaint/Step1.aspx
Federal Trade Commission: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en
California Attorney General: http://ag.ca.gov/contact/complaint_form.php?cmplt=CL
Better Business Bureau: http://www.la.bbb.org/ComplaintDetail.aspx?CompanyID=13139946

Here is the basic Gameplan that I'd recommend:
Step 1: If you get a call from a collection agency, inform them that all correspondence should be done by mail. Also say that it is
inconvenient for them to call at any time. I recorded their call and filed it. The collection agency must follow the FDCPA (Fair Debt
Collection Practices Act) and failure to do so results in you being able to sue them for ~$1000 per infraction. Read the FDCPA
here: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf

Step 2: You will get a letter in the mail from the collection agency. Respond with a letter sent via certified mail saying that you
dispute the debt and tell them to validate it. Basically you are telling them to prove that you owe the debt. If the letter from the
collection agency was their first contact, you might also include that it is inconvenient for them to call you at any time. Here are
some sample letters from creditboards: http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18802

Here is the letter I sent:

August 29, 2011

Kevin Takeuchi
My Street Address
West Hills CA 91304

Financial Network Recovery
P.O. Box 940730
Simi Valley CA 93094

RE: Account# 0005316316

Dear Financial Network Recovery,

I have received your letter dated 8/24/11. This is not a refusal to pay, but a notice that your claim is disputed. Pursuant to my rights under federal debt
collection laws, I am requesting that you provide validation of this debt. I am requesting to know the owner of the disputed debt, whether Financial Network
Recovery or Webcountry. I am requesting proof that I am indeed the party you are asking to pay this debt, and that there is some contractual obligation
which is binding on me to pay this debt. It is inconvenient for you to call me at any time at any phone number.

Sincerely,

Kevin Takeuchi

Step 3: Send a copy of your debt validation letter to the Credit Reporting Agencies (Experian, Transunion, and Equifax)

Equifax (www.equifax.com)
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
1-800-685-1111

Experian (www.experian.com)
P.O. Box 2104
Allen, TX 75013-0949
1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742)

Trans Union (www.transunion.com)
P.O. Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
1-800-916-8800

Step 4: Since the debt is fabricated by Webcountry, they will not be able to validate the debt. Most likely you will be sent some old
invoices which basically show they know your name, phone number, address, credit card number, website name, etc. This is NOT
validation of the debt and they certainly won't be able to produce a signed agreement unless they forge your signature (easy $$$ for
a violation so you should hope they do). You will need to send another letter via certified mail to the collection agency that what they
provided is not validation and that you consider the matter to be disputed. They will probably continue to send you some bs
validations, but nothing that proves that you actually owe the debt. I would send them something like "Since you have failed to validate
the bs debt, I consider this matter closed and expect no further attempts to collect. I also expect any reports made to the credit
reporting agencies regarding this bs debt to be promptly deleted." You can also add that you'll might sue them failing to follow the
FDCPA, defamation of character, mental anguish, etc., etc., but that's probably not necessary since you just go ahead and sue them
if you need to.


Check out this validation attempt by Financial Network Recovery. Webcountry apparently has more overdue invoices than active
clients...............I don't think many legitimate businesses have ratios like that. Also note that according to their records, the debt in
question was paid 12/31/1969. Lastly, I had been a customer of Webcountry since 2002, yet their records only show me as a
customer since 2006.



After receiving Financial Network Recovery's attempt at validation and their response to my California Department of Justice
complaint, I sent them the following letter:

September 18, 2011

Kevin Takeuchi
My Street Address
West Hills CA 91304

Financial Network Recovery
P.O. Box 940730
Simi Valley CA 93094

RE: Account# 0005316316

Dear Financial Network Recovery,

I have received your response to the Department of Justice inquiry and appreciate your time in this matter. In your response, you mentioned and included
the "terms and conditions" located on 1dollarhosting.com. The "terms and conditions" you included were from September 1, 2011. You highlighted
"section 17" (Payment Policies, Renewals and Fees) which described the current cancellation policy. I had been a 1dollarhosting.com customer since
2002 and have included a copy of the "terms and conditions" that I agreed to when I initially signed up for service. In the "terms and conditions" that
I agreed to, accounts for which a credit card is not successfully charged for renewal are cancelled. It also says that services can be cancelled when
payment for hosting fees are not received. Here are excerpts from the "terms and conditions" I agreed to:

"……An attempt will be made to process the charges everyday until the end of the billing cycle. If the credit card is charged successfully, you will receive
an email confirming payment. If the process continues to fail and the billing cycle ends, the account will be canceled."

"Cancellation
1dollarhosting.com/Webcountry, Inc. reserves the right to cancel service of an account at any time without notices and without a refund, in the event that:
1) The account violates our posted policy.
2) Payment for hosting fees in not received."

The "terms and conditions" from 2002 do not mention a requirement to cancel 30 days before the renewal date or a $150 collection fee. They simply say
that if payment is not made for the next year, the account will be cancelled.

Financial Network Recovery has twice mentioned the current "terms and conditions" in their attempt to validate this disputed debt, however the "terms
and conditions" have been changed since I initially agreed to them. I have never been notified and have never agreed to any change in the "terms and
conditions". This fact makes the current "terms and conditions" not binding, which is supported by the courts. See Douglas v. U.S. District Court ex rel
Talk America Inc. No.?06-75424. (9th Cir., July 18, 2007).

Furthermore, under my agreement with 1dollarhosting.com/Webcountry, I would prepay for each year of hosting service. When my year of service was
over, 1dollarhosting.com/Webcountry would change my website to a page that said my hosting service had expired. Services would not continue unless
another year was prepaid. 1dollarhosting.com/Webcountry has not provided any services that were not paid for. I have no legal obligation to pay for
a service that was never rendered.

The debt has not been validated and is disputed.

Financial Network Recovery should be made aware that Webcountry/1dollarhosting.com has a Better Business Bureau rating of "F" with 52 complaints
filed against it. Financial Network Recovery, especially since it is a small business, should be responsible for due diligence in making sure it does business
with reputable companies. Knowingly collecting fraudulent debts on behalf of Webcountry could result in civil liability. Refer to the numerous complaints
with the Better Business Bureau in regard to the billing practices of Webcountry.
http://www.la.bbb.org/business-reviews/Website-and-Web-Page-Development-Services/Webcountry-Inc-in-Tarzana-CA-13139946 .

Financial Network Recovery should be made aware that customers of Webcountry/1dollarhosting.com who signed up with accounts before the current
"terms and conditions" were in place are not bound by them. Collection of debts known not to be valid is a violation of the FDCPA.

"§ 808. Unfair practices [15 USC 1692f]
A debt collector may not use unfair or unconscionable means to collect or attempt to collect any debt. Without limiting the general application of the
foregoing, the following conduct is a violation of this section:
(1) The collection of any amount (including any interest, fee, charge, or expense incidental to the principal obligation) unless such amount is expressly
authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law. "

Any violations of the FCRA and FDCPA will result in legal action.

A copy of this letter has been forwarded to the CA Department of Justice, Los Angeles County Department of Consumer Affairs, and Federal Trade
Commission to accompany my complaints.

Best Regards,

Kevin Takeuchi

Enclosure



I received the following letter from Financial Network Recovery stating that they are not going to continue to try and collect the debt. Although I was hoping to catch them in some FDCPA violations, I'll take some pride in standing my ground and basically proving that the debt was not legit. Financial Network Recovery should see that it is not wise to do business with the con artists at Webcountry.

For a few more laughs, check out Webcountry's response to my Better Business Bureau complaint. Their "Final business response"
is unintelligible. I think that once they saw my "Consumer rebuttal", they knew they had no legal ground to stand on. The BBB responses
from Webcountry are probably written by Phil Shapiro himself. They are actually entertaining to read cause he misspells simple words
like "profanity" (he typed pranity) and "reply" (he typed replay). It looks like a middle school dropout is in charge of customer service.

Complaint: 08/25/2011: Today I received a call from Financial Network Recovery (a collections agency) saying that I owed money to Webcountry. After
switching to a different hosting company last year, I did not renew with Webcountry and cancelled my account with Webcountry. I find it disturbing that
a company would attempt to make money for services that were not rendered. How could I possibly owe money when I did not renew my hosting service?
If I somehow did owe Webcountry money, why did I not receive a call/bill/email? I noticed that on the California Secretary of State website
(http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/cbs.aspx), Webcountry is currently SUSPENDED and its business entity's powers, rights and privileges were suspended or forfeited
in California. A simple Google search of "Webcountry" shows that others have had similar experiences with Webcountry, so I do not think I am experiencing
an isolated incident. I hope that this BBB complaint will help to resolve this issue, but I won't hold my breath.

Business response: Per our terms and conditions all accounts need to be canceled 30 days prior to the renewal date. This customers account was due on
9/25/10 and we received the cancellation on 10/20/10 which is almost a month after the renewal date. The customer was informed by our system about the
outstanding balance via emails send to the email address on file. I will include a link to our terms and conditions that all customers agree to during sign up
in this replay. Further, they clearly state that all over due accounts will be send to our collections agency to collect. http://www.1dollarhosting.com/terms.shtml

Consumer rebuttal: The "terms and conditions" from when I signed up with an account (around 2002) do not state anything about accounts going to
collections, etc. In the "terms and conditions" it states, "1dollarhosting.com/Webcountry reserves the right to cancel service of an account at any time without
notice and without a refund, in the even that: 1) The account violates our posted policy 2) Payment for hosting fees is not received." It also says that you will
try to charge a credit card to renew accounts and "If the process continues to fail and the billing cycle ends, the account will be cancelled." I have a copy of
my original "terms and conditions" . 1dollarhosting.com cannot change the "terms of service" and expect them to be enforceable unless they notify customers
of the changes and the customer agrees to them. By saying that the "terms of service" can be changed at any time makes the entire "terms of service"
unenforceable. See Harris v. Blockbuster Inc., No. 3:09-cv-217-M (N.D. Tex. April 15, 2009). Also see Douglas v. Talk America No. 06-75424 (July 18, 2007).
Be advised, a "Suspended" company cannot defend itself against lawsuit and all contracts are voidable.

Final business response: The account got canceled after the balance was due. We have never allowed an account to cancel while there is an outstanding balance.
As with most companies, accounts need to be in paid before they can be canceled.

Webcountry/1dollarhosting.com leaves consumer's sensitive information unprotected!
On a more serious note, the "Webcountry cancellation system" is an open page with no security measures: http://www.1dollarhosting.com/cancellation/search.shtml.bk

You can see exactly what people put in their cancellation request, including user names and passwords. I'm sure there are many people that
use those same user names and passwords to access their bank accounts, investment accounts, and other sensitive information. This is likely
a violation of the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR Part 314 RIN 3084 AA87 Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2002/05/67fr36585.pdf. If you search for common words like "name", "support", "fraud", "you", etc. and you can see
people's personal information and their comments about Webcountry. There are literally hundreds of complaints within the cancellations. If I
were an attorney, I would contact every customer in the cancellation system and prepare a class action suit for not protecting customer's
information. I would also prepare a second class action suit focusing on the fraudulant billing practices at Webcountry. Either suit would be
a death-blow to Webcountry, but as far as making any real money, only the attorneys would profit significantly.

Take a look at a few of the cancellations. I took the liberty to block out some profanity:

1dollarhosting.com changes their "terms and conditions" which means that the current "terms and
conditions" are not legally binding
The collection agency will cite the current "terms and conditions" located on 1dollarhosting.com. The current "terms and conditions" do
include numerous shady items such as automatic renewal, having to cancel 30 days before the anniversary date, $25 late fee, and $150
collections fee. Those "terms and conditions" have likely changed since you first signed up for an account. You can see what the "terms
and conditions" used to look like by using websites like: http://wayback.archive.org/web/. You are not bound by the changed "terms
and conditions" unless you have been notified (which 1dollarhosting does not do) and agreed to them. Since the "terms and conditions"
are like a contract, a contract cannot be legally changed unless both parties agree. The following cases back this up:

1) A company cannot change "terms of service" without notification. Douglas v. Talk America No. 06-75424 (July 18, 2007), service
providers should not be able to change their terms of service arbitrarily without notifying their registered users, according to the judges
in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

2) If you are in Texas, this case applies to you. All "terms and conditions" can be considered void if they claim they can be changed
at any time. On April 15, 2009, a Texas federal district court held that an arbitration provision in Blockbuster’s online terms of service
was “illusory” and unenforceable because Blockbuster had reserved the right to change the terms of service at any time. Harris v.
Blockbuster Inc., No. 3:09-cv-217-M (N.D. Tex. April 15, 2009).

Common complains against Webcountry are that the customer says they cancelled by email or phone, yet Webcountry continued to bill
them and eventually sent them to collections. Webcountry will lie and say that they have never allowed cancellations by email or phone,
but their prior "terms and conditions" say otherwise. At Webcountry, dishonesty is the policy.

After the collection agency violates the FDCPA, SUE THEM!
Collection agencies are often small businesses, which I generally try to support. However, when a company chooses to do business with
fradulent companies like Webcountry, I lose all respect for them and could care less if they go out of business. A small business can
ill-afford to get caught up in money losing propositions. Collection agencies are in a low-margin, high-volume business. Suing them will
hurt their business model and make you a tidy profit as well. It costs significant money to defend oneself, especially against multiple
lawsuits across the country. Find an attorney at the National Association of Consumer Advocates (http://www.naca.net/). A 30 minute
consultation will be free and you can find an attorney that will work on contingency. It will cost you nothing to sue.

The FDCPA says that if the collection agency violates the FDCPA, they owe you money:

§ 813. Civil liability [15 USC 1692k]

(a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, any debt collector who fails to comply with any provision of this title
with respect to any person is liable to such person in an amount equal to the sum of --

(1) any actual damage sustained by such person as a result of such failure;

(2) (A) in the case of any action by an individual, such additional damages as the court may allow, but not exceeding
$1,000; or

(B) in the case of a class action, (i) such amount for each named plaintiff as could be recovered under subparagraph
(A), and (ii) such amount as the court may allow for all other class members, without regard to a minimum individual
recovery, not to exceed the lesser of $500,000 or 1 per centum of the net worth of the debt collector; and

(3) in the case of any successful action to enforce the foregoing liability, the costs of the action, together with a reasonable
attorney's fee as determined by the court. On a finding by the court that an action under this section was brought in
bad faith and for the purpose of harassment, the court may award to the defendant attorney's fees reasonable in relation
to the work expended and costs.

If you dispute a debt and the collection agency reports it to a credit reporting agency
without saying that the debt is disputed, they just violated the FDCPA:

§ 807. False or misleading representations [15 USC 1692e]
A debt collector may not use any false, deceptive, or misleading representation or means in connection with the
collection of any debt. Without limiting the general application of the foregoing, the following conduct is a violation
of this section
: (8) Communicating or threatening to communicate to any person credit information which is known or which should
be known to be false, including the failure to communicate that a disputed debt is disputed.

If you dispute a debt and the collection agency continues to try and collect, they just
violated the FDCPA:

§ 809. Validation of debts [15 USC 1692g]

(b) If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period described in subsection (a) that the
debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, or that the consumer requests the name and address of the original creditor, the
debt collector shall cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof, until the debt collector obtains verification
of the debt or any copy of a judgment, or the name and address of the original creditor, and a copy of such verification
or judgment, or name and address of the original creditor, is mailed to the consumer by the debt collector.

If you signed up with 1dollarhosting.com prior to September 2003 and you were contacted
by Financial Network Recovery after September 22, 2011, you should sue immediately:

If you had an account with Webcountry/1dollarhosting.com prior to September 2003, you signed up with the same "terms and
conditions" that I had. In my September 18, 2011 letter to Financial Network Recovery, I informed them of the court decision
that makes the changes in "terms and conditions" not binding. Financial Network Recovery has the legal obligation not to pursue
debts that it knows not to be valid. If Financial Network Recovery attempts to collect a debt from you after September 22, 2011
(3 business days after I sent the September 18th letter) and you signed up with Webcountry/1dollarhosting.com prior to
September 2003, sue them immediately for violating of the FDCPA.

"§ 808. Unfair practices [15 USC 1692f]

A debt collector may not use unfair or unconscionable means to collect or attempt to collect any debt. Without limiting
the general application of the foregoing, the following conduct is a violation of this section:
(1) The collection of any amount (including any interest, fee, charge, or expense incidental to the principal obligation)
unless such amount is expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law. "

Here is the September 18, 2011 letter which was sent certified mail:

Be sure to read the FDCPA, so you know what a collection agency can and cannot do. Do not panic if a collection agency
contacts you. Consumer protection laws are in place and you have done nothing wrong. Webcountry/1dollarhosting.com
is trying to defraud you, so stand your ground and take the fight to them. Thanks for reading and good luck!

If there is anything that I should add or change to help people better deal with these parasite companies, please let me know.
Comments and suggestions are appreciated.

kevtak690@yahoo.com

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