😱

ElestiOMG

A bizarre interaction with Elestio support and their CTO/Founder

Mocked Suspended Banned Threatened WTF?

Background

I enjoy playing with technology, including self-hosting various services. I have a custom domain that I use to self-host Matrix on a VPS, and I pay Masto.host to host Mastodon for me. I was investigating setting up a Mattermost instance and came across Elestio as a potential managed hosting option, so I decided to create an account and try them out. What followed was one of the oddest customer service experiences I've ever had with a company, even after decades in tech.

⚠️   Important Note

This was my actual experience with Elestio's customer service and CTO/Founder, Joseph Benguira.

All screenshots are 100% real and unaltered, except for my contact information being removed.

While legal action was threatened regarding "defamation," I am not publishing false, misleading, or defamatory information, I am simply sharing factual screenshots of my actual interactions with Elestio. Truth is an absolute defense to defamation.

What Happened?

Thu, Oct 30th @ 2:31pm: I signed up for an Elestio account, and a ticket was opened for my verification.

Fri, Oct 31st @ 5:49pm: I figured at this point I wasn't going to hear back until after the weekend, so I setup an account elsewhere.

Sat, Nov 1st @ 8:02pm: I still hadn't received a response from Elestio, so I commented on the ticket saying they can close the ticket I went elsewhere.

Sat, Nov 1st @ 11:31pm: I received a fairly snarky response, which surprised me.

Sun, Nov 2nd @ 10:18am: I asked for the ticket to be escalated, as I figured the response I received should be reported.

Then things got... weird:

  • 10:20am (2 minutes later): Received an account suspension email because their fraud detection team flagged my account, and I was asked for ID and proof of address.
  • 10:24am (4 minutes later): Responded to the account suspension email, asking again to escalate the ticket.
  • 10:30am (6 minutes later): Received an email saying that I was banned from their service and I would hear from their legal team shortly.
  • 10:44am (14 minutes later): Received a fairly legally-threatening email from Joseph Benguira, Elestio's CTO and one of their founders.
  • 10:45am (1 minute later): Me, scratching my head to the point of it almost bleeding, wondering if this really just happened.

So to summarize: I tried to escalate a ticket to show the unprofessional response I received from customer service, and I had my account suspended, then I was completed banned and told their legal team would be in contact with me, and then I received a threatening letter from Joseph Benguira, Elestio's CTO and one of their founders, all within a span of 26 minutes. On a Sunday morning. What the actual f*ck.

Sun, Nov 2nd @ 8pm: Created this site to document my bizarre experience.

Full Breakdown