European customer protection in the US

[torobravo]

Hi to all,

I don't know wether this is the place where to ask for such a question, or not... but I would love to have some advises about the following problem:
I have been running my website since 1999, and since the beginning, despite the fact that I was living in Spain, I've always had webhosts in the U.S. (because the offer was much larger and the prices generally less expensive than in Europe). The problem is that I am not sure of which protection the european customer could find using online services in the U.S.
I was quite satisfied with the last one until its owner sold it to a larger company. Then the service lowered dramatically and I decided to leave this company, which was proudly stating on its homepage that "if you're not happy for any reason, you don't pay !".
In fact they are still owing me the sum of nearly 150 US $ and although its president-owner replied to me saying that he would absolutely honour this debt, I never received any refund.
I wonder what would be the ways that could force these people to pay ? I backed up absolutely every single one of the messages I ever received from this company since the start of our business relationship, and I can definitely prove every point of my claim (including the abusive statement on their homepage about refunds that they never honour). Are the websites dedicated to online customer protection, efective ? What would be the smartest way to act from Spain in order to get back this (relatively) small sum of 150 $ ?
Thanks to all for your attention !

Julien

By the way I would like to add that, from my own experience, Vortech is the best hosting company I ever had to deal with so far. I've been with them for only 2 months... but I hope this will be my home online for a long time to come !

[Curt]

Hi Julien. I can sympathize with your situation. I got caught up in a bad situation with my former host as well. Resolving it really depends on the extent to which you're willing to go though.

I'd recommend starting by looking over any contracts you had with the previous hosting company. Part of a contract usually includes the jurisdiction that any legal issues should be dealt with in. Chances are, it's wherever that hosting company is located. I would suggest emailing or calling your previous hosting company to tell them that you still haven't received the refund you were promised, and if they do not follow through within a reasonable timeframe, you will contact a lawyer. That will probably be enough to scare them into action. If not, it's your call whether you want to follow through on your words and actually hire a lawyer in the US to take them to court.

Your other option is to just consider it lost money, use it as an expensive learning experience, and move on with your business. I don't think you've got too much to be worried about here though. It's been a long time since anyone on the forum has had anything bad to say about Vortech that they could actually back up.

Best of luck, whichever route you end up taking.

[generic]

find a few forums and post your experience, find a few places that list the host for ratings and rate them appropriately

[torobravo]

Originally Posted by tracewebspace

find a few forums and post your experience, find a few places that list the host for ratings and rate them appropriately

I will certainly do that. Thank you !

Julien

[dpyers]

Also look up their local Better Business Bureau (BBB) or Chamber of Commerce for info on filing a formal complaint.

[nelsonke]

I agree with those suggesting you visit web sites that rate hosters.

I cannot recomend that contact an attorney. In the first 1/2 hour you will spend as much as you have lost. Unfortunately I can tell you from experience, justice is very expensive.

One option is persistence. Continue to send letters, emails, and make phone calls.

As painful as it is, it may be best to move on, and put your efforts into finding and serving new customers.

[torobravo]

Many thanks to all of you who spent some time in sharing their experience with me. It is unfortunate that some people can take business engagements without having to honour them, but I guess that's life... and will wisely forget everything about that story (but not before leaving some appropriate comments on appropriate forums).