I have been keeping my eye on a new company called Digital Ocean (DO) for a while now. Their offerings seemed to be "too good to be true" so yesterday I bit the bullet and signed up. The sign up process was dead easy. They verified my email and then I entered my credit card details in the Billing section for them to take a small verification sum which they said would be refunded, fair enough I thought, as they dont charge for services until the end of the month. So far so good. I go to setup a "droplet" which is their name for a VPS, but the system wont let me, my account has been flagged and is blocked. I am really puzzled as to why I am blocked, they have all my details!! Have I entered something wrong? Has my CC been flagged for fraud? I would like to know what is wrong!
So I get a ticket opened automatically asking me to provide more details, including a link to a social media profile. So not knowing which one they wanted I replied "Which one?" Like most people I have a number of them and some I keep as "close friends and family", others I use in a more business sense. Anyway, next thing the ask me to send a copy of my passport or other government issued ID. Now let me remind you, I had not even setup a service yet and they wanted my ID !!! So my sense of humour kicked in and I replied back saying that I wasnt applying for a US Visa or trying to get through airport security!! Whilst waiting for a reply I searched for "digital ocean account verification", and I was shocked and stunned at the stories I read!! This behaviour is very common it seems.
After all this back and forth emailing, I explained that I would like to know why I was flagged and "assumed to be guilty of something" but they wouldnt tell me, saying that "We cannot reveal our security practices as it, obviously, would compromise our system"
Can you imagine going into business with these people and hosting a mission critical server with them, then one day out of the blue they just switch you off and block your account for no reason what-so-ever? It really could be the nail in your coffin so to speak.
So thats my personal experience with DO and why I now wouldnt touch them with a barge pole!!
So I get a ticket opened automatically asking me to provide more details, including a link to a social media profile. So not knowing which one they wanted I replied "Which one?" Like most people I have a number of them and some I keep as "close friends and family", others I use in a more business sense. Anyway, next thing the ask me to send a copy of my passport or other government issued ID. Now let me remind you, I had not even setup a service yet and they wanted my ID !!! So my sense of humour kicked in and I replied back saying that I wasnt applying for a US Visa or trying to get through airport security!! Whilst waiting for a reply I searched for "digital ocean account verification", and I was shocked and stunned at the stories I read!! This behaviour is very common it seems.
After all this back and forth emailing, I explained that I would like to know why I was flagged and "assumed to be guilty of something" but they wouldnt tell me, saying that "We cannot reveal our security practices as it, obviously, would compromise our system"
Can you imagine going into business with these people and hosting a mission critical server with them, then one day out of the blue they just switch you off and block your account for no reason what-so-ever? It really could be the nail in your coffin so to speak.
So thats my personal experience with DO and why I now wouldnt touch them with a barge pole!!
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