Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/08/2025

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have been a Pair Networks customer for more than 21 years with stable, modest billing (typically ~$200$240 annually). On September 1, 2025, Pair charged $825.71, over 240% more than the prior year. Pair later claimed they sent a single notice on August 1, 2025, which I did not receive; there were no follow-up letters, dashboard alerts, or phone contact. I canceled promptly, removed all services, and requested a refund. Pair refunded $596.16 but is withholding $229.55. After my dispute, invoices in ******** began showing retroactive discounts and a fabricated $596.16 account credit, making reconciliation impossible.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/09/2025

  Hi,
  On July 31, 2025, we sent a notice to the customer about the upcoming changes to our ****************** services that we would no longer be including email in our hosting package beginning on September 1, 2025.  These were sent to the two email addresses that the customer had listed on the billing account as verified contacts.   From our marketing dashboard, we have confirmed that the email was delivered successfully to both addresses on July 31, 2025 at 12:01PM ET. Both emails were opened by the customer (or someone with access to those email addresses) at 6:36PM ET on the same day.

  
  Additionally, we sent a separate notice to customers who had a large number of mailboxes who would be billed for a larger mailbox bundle with a higher monthly cost.  This email was sent to the same two email addresses on August 31, 2025 at 10:13AM ET. From our marketing dashboard, we have confirmed that the email was delivered successfully to both addresses, and one copy was opened at 12:35PM ET on the same day.

  
  The customer was billed on September 1, 2025 to the credit card on file. Per our service policy, **************************************************************************************
  Section 12 states You agree that if you are paying by credit card, prepayments will be billed and charged automatically, and that Pair Networks may apply the amount due to the provided card at any time.

  
  The customer reached out to the billing department on September 2, 2025 via email to our ticketing system, asking about the charges for the mailboxes, and stated that they would be removing mailboxes.  This came from the primary email address listed on the billing account. Due to an influx in tickets, we addressed the ticket on September 4, 2025. By this time, the customer had made changes to the hosting package and mailboxes had been removed. Both the mail and hosting package were canceled within our ********************** by the customer (or someone with access to the account.)

  
  Our billing department responded to the user notifying them of a refund in lieu of the downgraded services:
  As a one-time courtesy, I was able to refund the charges in the amount of $596.16 to the card ending in 8006. Please allow 3-5 business days for the refund to show on your banking statement.   
  
  A copy of the invoice showing the refund has been resent. Please note that the invoice will still list the larger package and bundle because it is a copy of the original invoice. The next invoice you receive will have the correct package and bundle.

  
  This refund included 11 months of the ****************** service for $422.59 from October 1, 2025 to September 1, 2026 and a prorated refund for downgrading the base hosting package to a less expensive package for the billing period of September 1, 2025 to September 1, 2026.  The response to the customer also included additional information about the change in the email hosting that would no longer be included and a link to a website with the information included in the initial email sent on July 31.

  
  A few hours later on September 4th, the customer wrote in using the secondary email address on the account because they had not received a response regarding the charges and additionally requesting to cancel the whole account for a full refund. 

  
  The reply from the billing department was sent on September 5, it was noticed that the reply from the previous day had failed delivery to the primary address as the primary address (not under under purview) had rejected reception of the message, so a copy was sent including the information about the refund and about the mail changes. This email from the billing department also offered a 25% discount off of the hosting package for the next year if the customer would like to continue using the services.

  
  The customer responded that they still wished to cancel.  Per section 12 of the service contract, canceling an account cancels the autorenewal of the account and the end of the current billing term so the account would remain open until the end of the current prepaid period which will end on September 1, 2026.  

  
  If a customer requests to terminate their account, service will end at the conclusion of the current service term and will not automatically renew.

  
  The autorenewal had already been canceled by the customer through the ********************** on September 4th so this was confirmed and the information from the Service Agreement was relayed to the customer, including the link.

  
  Part of the reason that we do not cancel accounts and leave them open through the end of the prepaid billing period is to allow the customer to have access to the files. If we were to cancel immediately, they would lose access to their contents. Their website and email would also immediately be down. This gives them time to make copies and changes.  Redirecting a site to a different hosting provider takes time to copy/upload contents. Then switching traffic can take ***** hours once all of the files are at the new host.  Additionally some of our customer prefer to leave the account open in case they decide to come back or if they decide to keep the account available for storage of backups. 

  
  The customer was notified twice about the upcoming changes to 2 different email addresses. Three of these notices were opened.  When the customer contacted us after the fact, we adjusted the invoice and gave a refund for the changes that had been made with no contest. We offered a discount and pointed them to our cancellation policy as stated in our Service Policy. Our actions were made in good faith to warn the customer of the changes, rectify the charges after their changes, and to ensure that the services were not abruptly stopped which could have caused loss of their data.
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/10/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  I appreciate the detailed reply, but several points in Pairs response are misleading and do not resolve my complaint.
  
  1. Notice of Service Changes
  Pair claims I was notified of service changes via marketing emails. Their proof is limited to internal dashboard data showing an email was delivered and possibly auto-opened. This is not independent proof that I received clear, conspicuous notice. In reality, I was never made aware that email hosting would be stripped from my plan and converted into an automatically billed add on service.
  
  2. Billing Without Consent
  On September 1, my credit card was charged for services I never requested. Pair frames this as acceptable under their contract, but automatic enrollment into additional paid services without explicit consent is not industry standard and is anti-consumer.
  
  3. Delayed Response to Billing Dispute
  I contacted billing on September 2 regarding these charges. Pair admits they did not respond until September 4. This delay forced me to act on my own to downgrade and cancel, creating unnecessary confusion. Their late response materially worsened the situation.
  
  4. Refund Characterization and Altered Invoices
  Pair describes the $596.16 as a one-time courtesy. This is inaccurate. The refund corrected improper charges for services I never agreed to. Furthermore, instead of transparently issuing a refund, Pair disguised it as credits spread across multiple invoices. These altered invoices misleadingly made it appear I had purchased upgrades rather than being refunded. This is not transparent accounting and Pair has not addressed it in their response.
  
  5. Cancellation Policy and Retention of Funds
  Pair insists on keeping my account open until September 1, 2026, despite my clear request to cancel on September 4. Their justification, that this benefits me by preserving access to files, is inaccurate. By the time Pair took two days to respond, I had already deleted all domains and files. There was nothing left to access. Their refusal to terminate the account served no purpose other than to retain funds for services I did not want. Most hosting providers issue pro-rata refunds upon cancellation. Pairs refusal to do so places them far outside standard industry practice.
  
  6. Industry Standards
  Pair portrays its actions as good faith. In fact, they are out of step with industry norms:
  -Grandfathering: Reputable providers typically grandfather loyal customers into legacy pricing or features instead of stripping them away.
  -Email hosting: Most providers either include email or offer it clearly as an optional add-on, not an automatic paid conversion.
  -Refunds: Transparent pro-rata refunds are the norm; disguising refunds as invoice credits is not.
  -Loyalty: Long-term customers,  in my case, over two decades, are generally rewarded with stability, not surprise charges and contract traps.
  
  Pairs actions are not good faith: they are opportunistic, misleading, and anti-consumer.
  
  Requested Resolution
  I respectfully request:
  -A pro-rata refund for the remainder of the unused prepaid term.
  -Immediate termination of my account without further charges or retention of funds.
  
  Pairs reliance on contract fine print does not excuse practices that mislead customers and deviate from reasonable industry standards.
  
  Respectfully,
  **** ***

  Business Response

  Date: 09/18/2025

  A refund for the remaining charges has been processed. Please allow 3-5 business days for the refund to appear.   

  A direct email from our billing department has been sent with more detailed personal information.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/18/2025

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.  I am accepting the refund of $229.55, which Pair Networks has stated is being processed and is pending credit back to my credit card. 
  
  Thank you for your assistance.

  **** ***