Drama with Alex at Pacific Rack?

[Brad Mitchell]

No spamming other boards! We don't spam other boards about GFY. We need the same courtesy!

The purpose of this post is to clarify a thread that I read on another board, if it's true then surely there is reason for concern.

Alex, so am I to understand that your real name is "Chris Gotzmann" the original owner of Foundry NAP (who screwed everyone) then worked for Orange Fiber/Alpha Red (no drama) and that you are now "Alex Ferrier" who is partnered with Milan of OC3?

Dude, who are you? If the Web Hosting Talk thread is completely inaccurate, please clarify. I can't imagine either James or Milan knowingly doing business with a fraud or being a part of one, their reputations are better than that.

I'm just repeating what I read somewhere else so flame away if you feel the need but this is stuff in other public forums. People have been asking me what's up on ICQ all day and I'm simply reiterating for our community so that it can be cleared up. Since neither Alex or Milan like me, I might as well be the one to bite the bullet and ask for clarification rather than some other troll posting a thread later.

Here's to hoping it's all BS on WHT

Brad

[sandman!]

i dont think there will be a response if it worked for alphared why not OC3 ?

LOL

[Nicky]

Interesting but I'd skip the link to the other board

[WiredGuy]

Wow 16 pages already? And I thought gfy moved fast.
WG

[2012]

[candyflip]

Not really something a customer wants to read. I'm digging thru it all now.

[IllTestYourGirls]

shit PR is my host.

[Pornopat]

Maggot I still remember you and you still owe me 2k.
If we ever meet I will take it from you. And it wont be in a friendly way.

[Brad Mitchell]

Originally Posted by Pornopat

Maggot I still remember you and you still owe me 2k.
If we ever meet I will take it from you. And it wont be in a friendly way.

You're talking to the other guy and not me, right?

Brad

[FightThisPatent]

I use pacific rack with a dedicated server, much like i have dedicated servers at other webhosts, including working on adding one at mojohost (i like to spread the luv around).

I have read up to page 12 of the other forum and stopped.

I read that part of the "scam" was that those that thought they were paying for a dedicated server, were actually vhosted up on a shared platform.

i can understand how that might feel like someone got ripped off, but if you noticed the performance of your server was not matching the specs, or checking the loading and things didn't line up, then you could suspect something wrong, complain, and if you didn't get the right answer you take your business elsewhere.

"Alex" did a great job in getting my dedicated server online when i was complaining about some ssh connectivity issues, that tech support was having trouble figuring out.

My email responses were always timely, and despite some initial glitches on the startup, the server has been cranking along nicely.

I follow the simple belief that if someone hasn't wronged me, delivered what they said they were going to do, then all is good.. as I look at it somewhat with blinders.

Hosting is different than billing, because with hosting, you can switch off in one location and switch on at another alot easier than trying to do the task of moving rebills.

I appreciate brad's heads-up here, but as for me, it doesn't change my position to use them. I hold them to the same standards as i hold any of my other hosting providers, that if there is problem, they fix it.. if they f*ck up, i move my business.


Fight the unsolicited response!

[Pornopat]

Originally Posted by Brad Mitchell

You're talking to the other guy and not me, right?

Brad

Hehe offcourse.
You are cool.

I think I was one of the first persons to call this guy out on gfy. (nicknamed Maggot as he used the name Magg)
Not many people in the industry knew me back then and he had made a lot of friends giving away free virtual hosting to fools.
I ordered a server from him and within the first week it went under 4 times. His defense was that this was ok cause my "foreign" wire never arrived. He played the foreigner card a lot and I have seriously considered flying over to his office to have some foreign words with him.

Over time you are able to let go and I am not looking for him. If we meet by chance though things will happen. I am a good guy but this joker triggered me. This man has made an enemie for life.

[Sly]

Originally Posted by FightThisPatent

i can understand how that might feel like someone got ripped off, but if you noticed the performance of your server was not matching the specs, or checking the loading and things didn't line up, then you could suspect something wrong, complain, and if you didn't get the right answer you take your business elsewhere.

I'm sorry, but that is totally ridiculous.

If someone "sells" you an orange but instead they give you a rock disguised as an orange, they are a scammer. Period.

Scams like that hurt everybody surrounding them. The consumer, obviously, by providing a different service than they paid for. Other hosting companies, by losing business to others in an unfair manner and also later on having to deal with customers that very well may have lost their livelihoods and will no longer trust any hosting companies. And anybody else that gets wrapped up in the mess.

"You got scammed and you didn't know it, your fault." I don't buy that. Frankly, it's bull shit.

For the record, I don't know anything about Alex and I am only posting based on that quote. I dealt with many customers that get damaged pretty hard by "Magg" in the past. It is not fun for anybody... except the man running away with their money.

[d-null]

I'm getting great performance and service from Pacific Rack

will wait and see what OC3 says and how things pan out

[FightThisPatent]

Originally Posted by Sly

"You got scammed and you didn't know it, your fault." I don't buy that. Frankly, it's bull shit.

Alot of current programs used usenet content to bolster up their members area in the past.

this hurted content producers because they weren't getting paid for the content.

this hurted competitors who did pay for the content and was a competitive disadvantage when the competitor then had thousands of images/videos without having to pay for it.

those same program owners are still around, and doing very well, and some are on the anti-piracy bandwagon.

so if you want to be a purist, you probably wouldn't be able to do business with a majority of the industry folks if you are holding onto the past actions.

i am not defending crooks and scammers, i am not blaming the business owners who got taken, i am saying you are responsible for your own business, and you watch whats going on the best you can, and even then you can get burned.

given those experiences, you are less likely to work with those that were involved with the company that burned you... this example couple be used with all the former ibill employees who went off into other processing companies....some had nothing to do with the issues, some did.

I have not been burned by the people in question. As far as i see it, my server is performing and I pay for the service each month. At any point i feel that i am not getting good service, or i feel like i am getting scammed, then i move on.



Fight the caca!

[Klen]

Hi Brad how are you

[Brad Mitchell]

Originally Posted by KlenTelaris

Hi Brad how are you

Hi Klen,

I've been missing you. Are you coming to Internext so we can have a drink?

Brad

[GonZo]

Spin control at its finest. Nice editing out the link.

[Klen]

Originally Posted by Brad Mitchell

Hi Klen,

I've been missing you. Are you coming to Internext so we can have a drink?

Brad

Am afraid not since i am somewhere around 6000 miles away.Too bad i would realy like to talk with you about fashion

[Brad Mitchell]

Originally Posted by KlenTelaris

Am afraid not since i am somewhere around 6000 miles away.Too bad i would realy like to talk with you about fashion

Damn man and I have a whole slew of new shirts to show off, too!

Maybe next time.

Brad

[FightThisPatent]

Originally Posted by Brad Mitchell

No spamming other boards! We don't spam other boards about GFY. We need the same courtesy!

i thought the whole point of not "spamming" other boards, was about not driving traffic to a competitor.

the webhosttalk.com website is not in the adult space, and it contained information that allows a person to draw their own conclusions, which is why brad put up the link.

Brad wasn't trying to do a shill for a competing webmaster resource site, he was trying to point out something.

I need to go back and read the "rules" about this.

Fight the link nazis!

[GonZo]

Originally Posted by FightThisPatent

i thought the whole point of not "spamming" other boards, was about not driving traffic to a competitor.

the webhosttalk.com website is not in the adult space, and it contained information that allows a person to draw their own conclusions, which is why brad put up the link.

Brad wasn't trying to do a shill for a competing webmaster resource site, he was trying to point out something.

I need to go back and read the "rules" about this.

Fight the link nazis!

"Evidently people dont care when the cash is green"

[Ice]

Originally Posted by FightThisPatent

i thought the whole point of not "spamming" other boards, was about not driving traffic to a competitor.

the webhosttalk.com website is not in the adult space, and it contained information that allows a person to draw their own conclusions, which is why brad put up the link.

Brad wasn't trying to do a shill for a competing webmaster resource site, he was trying to point out something.

I need to go back and read the "rules" about this.

Fight the link nazis!

It doesn't matter what type of forum it is... adult, non adult, etc. That is our rule

[Brad Mitchell]

Originally Posted by Ice

It doesn't matter what type of forum it is... adult, non adult, etc. That is our rule

Like my dad always said, "You gotta have rules!"

Brad

[FightThisPatent]

From GFY Rules:

1. No spamming other boards! We don't spam other boards about GFY. We need the same courtesy!



could this be clarified better? like No spamming other adult boards?

and by "board", i assume that means like a message board..

what's wrong with linking to a mainstream message board?

its the same as linking to an article on a blog or news website where you wanted people to view the whole article.

most sites don't like it when you copy/paste their article, and would rather you quote an excerpt and have a link to their page.

part of that reason is so they can certainly get the advertising exposure.

so should the rule be like "no linking to any external website, other than to pic hosting sites where you can view copyrighted material in the would-you-hit it threads?"



Fight the clarification!

[WiredGuy]

I get the whole no linking to other boards as they're competition, but this is a webhosting board, nothing related to adult. Why edit the url out? Its not like Brad could say go to WHT then click the thread about Pacific Rack, a direct link is more or less needed to see the 20 page thread...
WG

[FightThisPatent]

Originally Posted by Ice

It doesn't matter what type of forum it is... adult, non adult, etc. That is our rule

that cleared up that question.... so its ok to link to a blog or news site as long as its not a forum/message/board ?

What about if the blog or message post allowed people to make comments, so that its like a message/forum/board?

Just want to make sure i don't break the rule.



Fight the part deux!

[d-null]

Originally Posted by FightThisPatent

that cleared up that question.... so its ok to link to a blog or news site as long as its not a forum/message/board ?
!

this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone,

it is pretty much accepted all over the place in the internet message board world that you don't link to other message boards...

[FightThisPatent]

Originally Posted by jetjet

it is pretty much accepted all over the place in the internet message board world that you don't link to other message boards...

and why is that?

i can understand not linking to a competing site, but how do you interpret the reason for this "golden rule" when its not to a competing board?

if you link to a blog post or a news site (which most now are basically like a single thread where people post up responses below the article), those sites have advertising, that are then getting the eyeballs.. so i can understand that reason, which basically means no linking to anyone, which is completely contrary to the nature of the web.

sorry to go off on a tangent to your thread brad, but the matter-of-fact response from jetjet prompted my further inquiry.


Fight the postulation!

[sandman!]

Originally Posted by FightThisPatent

and why is that?

i can understand not linking to a competing site, but how do you interpret the reason for this "golden rule" when its not to a competing board?

if you link to a blog post or a news site (which most now are basically like a single thread where people post up responses below the article), those sites have advertising, that are then getting the eyeballs.. so i can understand that reason, which basically means no linking to anyone, which is completely contrary to the nature of the web.

sorry to go off on a tangent to your thread brad, but the matter-of-fact response from jetjet prompted my further inquiry.


Fight the postulation!

the rule has been in place forever like it or not its here to stay.

[FightThisPatent]

Originally Posted by sandman!

the rule has been in place forever like it or not its here to stay.

i have accepted the GFY rule, the discussion has moved to about other internet message boards

fight the convo shift!

[CyberHustler]

Back to the original subject please....

[candyflip]

Originally Posted by sandman!

the rule has been in place forever like it or not its here to stay.

It's always been selectively enforced, and like in this instance...it pretty dumb and doesn't make sense. As a PR customer, this is all pertinent information and not "spam".

[Ice]

Originally Posted by candyflip

It's always been selectively enforced, and like in this instance...it pretty dumb and doesn't make sense. As a PR customer, this is all pertinent information and not "spam".

I always edit out urls to other forums.



fight selective enforcement

[d-null]

linking from one discussion forum to another is like a 'traffic leak', the idea of a discussion forum is the discussion takes place in the forum, not shifting to another forum or even reading another forum..... it doesn't matter what the main theme of a forum is, people talk about anything on any given forum </offtopic>

[candyflip]

Originally Posted by Ice

I always edit out urls to other forums.



fight selective enforcement

Only if you a happen to catch them though.

Regardless, this wasn't spam and wouldn't really effect GFY all to much. Unless PR is a paying advertiser.

Me on the otherhand host with them and am glad the link was posted here for me to check out. Notice that I'm back posting here and not there, so there was no negative effect of him linking to another board.

[Juicy D. Links]

http://www.GigoloForums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2

[Juicy D. Links]

Originally Posted by Ice

I always edit out urls to other forums.



fight selective enforcement

http://www.GigoloForums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2

[Ice]

Originally Posted by Juicy D. Links

http://www.GigoloForums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2

fight the rick roll

[buzzy]

bump for an awnser

[FightThisPatent]

Originally Posted by Ice

fight selective enforcement

its "fight the selective enforcement!"

lol

fight the protocol!

[Juicy D. Links]

Originally Posted by FightThisPatent

its "fight the selective enforcement!"

lol

fight the protocol!

check out gigolo fourms!!!!!!!!!!!! loll

[Oracle Porn]

holy fuck i just finished reading 19 pages im going to sleep...

p.s. shitloads of url to gfy from wht and not even 1 link from here? c'mon....



ice please msg me about you know what me wait long time.

[Babaganoosh]

Originally Posted by Ice

It doesn't matter what type of forum it is... adult, non adult, etc. That is our rule

Stupid rule.

[ladida]

Milan's answer (if it's Milan)

---
Hello, my name is Milan (Ilan Mishan), and I am the owner and President of OC3 Networks and Pacific Rack. This will be my only post on this subject. We DO NOT engage in shady business practices and I would like to focus on the TRUTH. There have been many exaggerations and complete untruths stated which have been assumed to be facts, which need to be addressed.

Alex Ferrier IS Chris Gotzmann

When I hired Chris a year ago solely as a sales rep for Pacific Rack, he explained two things to me, what actually happened 5 years ago, and what the WHT perception of what happened was.

Before I hired Chris, I looked all through Google and Web Hosting Talk for instances of him being a scammer. I simply could not find anyone who got scammed and I made the choice to let him operate from an alias rather than try to explain the entire issues to WHT which as I can see now is fed by mob mentality.

Chris definitely made some mistakes when he was 16, but after listening to what actually happened and doing my own research, I decided to trust him and give him his second chance. We have all made mistakes in business, I for example grew too quickly in 2003 without paying attention to who my customers were and what customers a company I purchased had, and ended up hosting some spammers through a corporate acquisition. Upon learning about this, I spent the next year cleaning the base from spammers and I in no way support or host spammers.

When I hired Chris it was under very specific rules and guidelines. Chris knows his employment (as with all of my staff) is dependent on his continual adherence to our ethical guidelines. We absolutely do not condone unethical business practices, and for his entire time with me he has not shown any deviation from my guidelines.

There have been many ASSUMPTIONS and RUMORS that have been perceived as truth! We need to clear these up and prevent false information from spreading.

When Chris was 15 years old, he attempted to run his first internet venture “racksmart”, his partner - a 30 something year old had some shady business dealings with Tina before he and Chris were involved and are completely unrelated to Chris. The company didn’t succeed and folded after just a few months.

This is where Foundry NAP started. FNAP eventually made its way to be colocated with Karl at Steadfast, and was hosted on a single rack.

FNAP’s History:
FNAP was started by Chris when he was 15/16, when he was 17 he suddenly dropped off the internet as he was hospitalized for radiation therapy and surgery related to colon cancer. During this time he was unable to pay his colo bill and manage FNAP. Karl shut off service upon non-payment, thus resulting in the end of FNAP. FNAP was nothing more than a very small kiddy host that went under.

From all the research I did, I concluded that there were no scams!

There are only a few unsubstantiated internet claims I could find of him being a “scammer:”

1) A customer hosting Warez had his account terminated with no refund as per ToS. Just like any other host.

2) A package bought from EBAY shipped via UPS. The package was never received and as such a paypal complaint was filed and awarded in Chris’s favor. There was never a delivery confirmation or signature – the sellers "friend" chose to spam the internet rather than file the paperwork with UPS for insurance reimbursement.

3) A host by the name of Visionary who attempted to scam Racksmart and who’s thread was jumped in by Poundhost confirming that this Visionary person had pulled the same scam on them and attempted to sully their name.

4) A single managed customer was put on the webserver for FNAP as Chris, 16 or 17 at the time, had a failing business and couldn’t afford to buy another server. THIS WAS WRONG AND UNACCEPTABLE ACTION OF A 16 YEAR OLD.

Chris DOES owe Karl a past due hosting bill accrued as his company went out of business, same as any other host. While normally these are normally thrown out while the LLC is dissolved, in the interest of doing what is right, I would personally like to work with Karl on resolving any past due balance.

Alpha Red:
Chris, needing a job and wanting to utilize his skills in the industry went to work for Alpha Red. WHT simply continued to snowball his tiny companies closure and without the ability to defend himself (he was banned from WHT) the issue just continued on from a small host going out of business with Steadfast taking over all the equipment on the rack, to the COMPLETELY false claim that he “scammed people” stealing “hundreds of thousands of dollars”.
Because of his inability to defend him self and the mass amount of rumors and assumptions that were perceived as facts, I assume the decision was made to use an alias. Chris was never an executive at AlphaRed and was only a sales rep.

To reiterate:

Chris HAS NEVER scammed people out of “hundreds of thousands of dollars”. The claims you see today have grown over a period of FIVE years that have gone from a small kiddy host going out of business to a “notorious” internet legend that now belongs on Snopes.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE; NO ONE ON THIS THREAD OTHER THAN KARL HAD ANY INVOLVEMENT OR HAD ANY DAMAGES TO THEM OR THEIR COMPANIES BY THE SHUTTING DOWN OF HIS ONE RACK. THE MAJORITY OF THE POSTERS IN THIS THREAD ARE SIMPLY LOOKING FOR A BIT OF FUN AND DRAMA AS MOST HAVE ADMITTED.

Chris is simply a sales rep for Pacific Rack, and has provided fantastic service to all the customers he has worked with. He has been stand up, and an asset to our company. He is NOT going to be let go, and he will continue to be one of the sales reps here. We have 2 other sales reps (Jordan and Adam), that work with Pacific Rack clients that you can speak with if you’d rather.

I am willing to back Chris fully, and will cover any past due bill that he has with Karl/Steadfast in order to ensure a fair resolution.

In Conclusion:
Look though webhosting talk, look at our reviews, we provide fantastic service to our customers and everyone has been very happy. We have absolutely nothing to hide and the only reason it was chosen to use the name Alex was to avoid the completely untrue allegations by this community and the stigma that follows him from self-admitted drama seekers.
Not only has Chris been attacked in this thread, but you have also attacked a bystander (Kate) and made some borderline sexually harassing statements regarding her transition from Kevin to Kate. This in itself is disturbing to me and you should be ashamed.

Chris did break the rules of WHT by having another account. Because of this, we fully respect WHT’s choice to disable his account.


Ilan Mishan
President
OC3 Networks and Web Solutions, LLC
-----

[ladida]

There's a link that needs to be edited, i can't anymore...

[Juicy D. Links]

ladida u in the danger zone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you psot urlllllllllllllllllll iceeeeeeeeeeeeee he is in the danger zoneeeeeeeeeeeeeeee helppppppppppppppppp loll

Ice is my lover

[Juicy D. Links]

Originally Posted by ladida

There's a link that needs to be edited, i can't anymore...

hehehe i was reading it and noticed it after the fact loll Iceeeeeee is gonnaaa enter the danger zone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1


Toower this is Ghostrider ...requesting a FLYBYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

[d-null]

nice well written response by Milan

[buzzy]

Originally Posted by Juicy D. Links

ladida u in the danger zone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you psot urlllllllllllllllllll iceeeeeeeeeeeeee he is in the danger zoneeeeeeeeeeeeeeee helppppppppppppppppp loll

Ice is my lover

lay off the absinthe

[Manowar]

oh god, the nick Magg and FNAP bring back some ancient memories