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Some months ago a tried to open an account with DO, but my account was blocked by DO before creating a droplet because my dad, who has the same name as I do, ha

by antr 13y ago

Some months ago a tried to open an account with DO, but my account was blocked by DO before creating a droplet because my dad, who has the same name as I do, had already used the service. DO wanted me to verify my identity, address, etc. I can't stand such friction, so I stayed with AWS, who have never had an issue with having a customer with very similar or equal name to another. Clearly, there is something wrong in DO's identity/fraud detection process, and even more wrong is the fact that they are locking user's production accounts without any warning at all.

jd007 13y ago
I ran into the same problem just last week when I tried to make an account to try it out. I added a credit card to my account without a promotion code, but later on found out about the new promotion they are doing (free $10). I realized that you cannot enter a promo code if you didn't do it the first time you add payment to an account, even if the account is otherwise still new (I didn't do anything with it after adding the payment card). So I de-activated my account, and made another one, entered the same payment info but with the promo code this time. Then my account was instantly locked for using the same credit card, and I received an email shortly after citing section 2.6 of their ToS which prohibited users from using the same payment card on multiple accounts (even though my previous account was de-activated). Their trial/promo code system really needs to be revamped as I spent way more time figuring out how to put the code in than actually trying out their product. Also their fraud detection system is perhaps too sensitive? I mean I should be able to re-use payment cards if my old account was de-activated...
- arthulia 13y ago
  They have really quick customer service; they probably would have added the promotion to your account if you had contacted them.
  - jd007 13y ago
    Probably. But at the time I thought it was a problem I could've taken care of in less than a minute, basically de-activate my account then create another one and add the code. In this case I chose not to contact them, because as fast as their support can be it mostly likely won't be faster than I can de-activate and make a new account. But I was wrong as my account was locked :( Another thing is their ToS. I admit I didn't read their ToS prior to registration (most people don't I assume, but I won't use that as an excuse), but I did go back and read it afterwards, and it said: "Users are restricted from registering multiple accounts with the same billing details without first notifying DigitalOcean of that intent to ensure that accounts aren't automatically flagged as possibly fraudulent and without notification accounts may be treated as abuse and/or fraudulent which would lead to suspension of service." And I thought, even if I did read this I would've reasonably assumed that since my other account has been de-activated, I'm free to make a new one with the same billing information. Unfortunately I was wrong.
- opendais 13y ago
  Ya, I contacted them to get them to apply the promo since I didn't have alot of faith in their automation/tooling. Honestly, for the price, some level of issue/limitation. If you are charging 50% [or more, depending on whom you compare to] of the price when compared to a major competitor, you have to cut somewhere. It seems DO has uneven support quality [like any low end provider] and smaller features set [combination of time and $$]. Then again, people think I'm too generous with Linode and the issues they've had [they cost twice as much for similar specs to DO] so maybe it isn't just the price point.

by antr 13y ago

jd007 13y ago

I ran into the same problem just last week when I tried to make an account to try it out. I added a credit card to my account without a promotion code, but later on found out about the new promotion they are doing (free $10). I realized that you cannot enter a promo code if you didn't do it the first time you add payment to an account, even if the account is otherwise still new (I didn't do anything with it after adding the payment card). So I de-activated my account, and made another one, entered the same payment info but with the promo code this time. Then my account was instantly locked for using the same credit card, and I received an email shortly after citing section 2.6 of their ToS which prohibited users from using the same payment card on multiple accounts (even though my previous account was de-activated). Their trial/promo code system really needs to be revamped as I spent way more time figuring out how to put the code in than actually trying out their product. Also their fraud detection system is perhaps too sensitive? I mean I should be able to re-use payment cards if my old account was de-activated...

arthulia 13y ago
They have really quick customer service; they probably would have added the promotion to your account if you had contacted them.
- jd007 13y ago
  Probably. But at the time I thought it was a problem I could've taken care of in less than a minute, basically de-activate my account then create another one and add the code. In this case I chose not to contact them, because as fast as their support can be it mostly likely won't be faster than I can de-activate and make a new account. But I was wrong as my account was locked :( Another thing is their ToS. I admit I didn't read their ToS prior to registration (most people don't I assume, but I won't use that as an excuse), but I did go back and read it afterwards, and it said: "Users are restricted from registering multiple accounts with the same billing details without first notifying DigitalOcean of that intent to ensure that accounts aren't automatically flagged as possibly fraudulent and without notification accounts may be treated as abuse and/or fraudulent which would lead to suspension of service." And I thought, even if I did read this I would've reasonably assumed that since my other account has been de-activated, I'm free to make a new one with the same billing information. Unfortunately I was wrong.
opendais 13y ago
Ya, I contacted them to get them to apply the promo since I didn't have alot of faith in their automation/tooling. Honestly, for the price, some level of issue/limitation. If you are charging 50% [or more, depending on whom you compare to] of the price when compared to a major competitor, you have to cut somewhere. It seems DO has uneven support quality [like any low end provider] and smaller features set [combination of time and $$]. Then again, people think I'm too generous with Linode and the issues they've had [they cost twice as much for similar specs to DO] so maybe it isn't just the price point.