🚀 go-pugleaf

Beginning April I receive a letter together with an "account
statement". As I found out through the ping.users newsgroup, the
same letter has been sent to all users. The "account statement"
consists of a list of -not paid- invoices. It does -not- list
all the ones I paid so far. There are recent invoices, that I
could not pay because I never saw them in my email, but also an
invoice dating from October!! Besides, the invoices are -very-
creative, to say the least...

The user-friendly and very commercial sentence is in the letter:
"We do not wish to perform any communication on this matter. In
case we do not receive a payment by the requested due date,
access to the account will be blocked and the debtor file will
be transferred to a collecting agency".

I tried several times to -phone- to the famous Ping account
department - to no avail. Either busy or "in meeting".

Today, Friday the 11th of April, I try to connect to my mail and
it says "Password incorrect". I phone the support and they say
that my account has been blocked. I say that I tried to contact
the account department all week and can they please prolong the
period till Monday and can they please contact me. He answers
that sorry, he can't do that, he received very strict
instructions -not- to prolong anybody, or else he will loose his
job!!! (Speak about friendly management even in-house!!!)

It is being noted that we are -Friday evening-, and that I am
being deprived of service (included my email which I entrusted
to Ping) for the -whole week-end- and I can't contact or
complain to anybody before Monday!!!

I am personally not against a domiciliation under certain
conditions, and I always paid the bills THAT HAVE BEEN FORWARDED
TO ME, but I find outrageous the manner with which Ping has
handled this matter. No warning and the customer has to pay, in
cash and in deprivement of service, for the real MESS that their
account department is, and their marketing and client-service
obviously has revealed to SUCK now as well.

I was till now a moderately satisfied Ping user. The speed is
-slow- (I have a much higher speed with other providers) and the
friendliness of their staff and management more than disputable.
The only good thing with Ping -was- their newsgroups. I was
already considering dropping Ping and register to foreign
specialized newsgroup providers, and am now definitely looking
for this solution. Anyone having, though, the coordinates of a
good Belgian newsgroup provider, please kindly tip me on.

You may wonder how I can still write in this newsgroup if I am
being cut off my account? My email is cut, but I can still
access the server. When I pointed this out to the support guy,
he said that my access will also be cut today, so am quickly
writing this message.

But think about it: how many other users have been savagely cut
from service and can't express themselves here? I read a message
by Geert De Becker in the newsgroup to the effect that blocking
account won't take place. This is obviously just another lie.
Accounts are being cut (as confirmed by the support), but those
being cut obviously can't express themselves here anymore. So
this is something he can very safely say without being
contradicted.

Dead to the new dictatory of services providers. Let's encourage
an healthy competition so that a "successful" service providers
won't feel entitled anymore to treat their customers like pings
(sorry, pigs) under the pretense that they have 10,000 other
customers. Don't support a provider who inspires himself of the
recent methods of Renault and keeps on lying straight here in
the middle of the newsgroup under the disguise of an apology.

I have no objection to pay my bills, as I always did, but now
they can come and get it. Please anyone who are ready to testify
in Court about the Ping practices e-mail me.

Gabor.Barna@dg8.cec.be