Huff Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 Good day, Excuse the negative feedback, but I was absolutely amazed at the unprofessional way the new user registration is handled. And I was even just trying to get a DEMO license. The situation is as follows: I am currently on vacation (working vacation...) and wanted to register for a demo account. My company, my servers and my country of residence are in The Netherlands. WHMCS refuses to register me unless I give them the current address of the hotel that I am staying in on vacation?!!?! This is absurd. Even after email three times with the support staff they were unwilling to accept that I am a real person (not a bot) and that I did really want to test the software (with a demo license for starters). I am disappointed. Hi Our Fraud system seems to think you aren't placing the order from where your registered address is. Is there a reason for this such as different location to the business address? Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance. Regards, Joe Good afternoon Joe, Of course there is a reason for that, but the question is whether it is significant for the registration of a software license (demo license, for starters) to my company that is registered in The Netherlands? If you insist, I could give you my holiday address here in Malaysia, but that hardly seems right since it is temporary. You could be of further assistance to me by registering me for a demo account. I presume that the automatic check on the registration form will keep rejecting me (it has already rejected my email address when I tried to register again). Thank you for your support Hi, We need you to signup with the actual address you are located at for verification purposes. Regards, Matt 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 Why not give it a try once you are back home? I personally don't see the reason of verifying unless you are actually buying something but I guess that is the way it works at WHMCS and I am sure it won't change anytime soon, companies are quiet worried about fraud orders. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickendippers Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 Stop working and enjoy your holiday 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huff Posted June 28, 2008 Author Share Posted June 28, 2008 Thanks for the response guys. I think that upon receiving real mail, fraud seems unlikely. At least less likely than a random person registering from a random address in the IP zone. If I register from a hotel in Asia, does that sound like a serious business wanting to use your software? Secondly... fraud?? a) demo license is free, so no financial loss if someone registers that isn't actually planning to buy a full license; b) money in the bank -> activate license, no money, disable license - seems like a pretty fraud-proof construction, so why care whether I am actually in the office or at home or even on vacation when I register? We verify all orders the same - whether they are for paid or trial licenses - as if as we hope you go onto buy a license you will need an account with valid details. Without that, you will just find in 2 weeks time you are having issues in making a purchase. Ok, so I should register from a fake address (the hotel is not my real address) to be allowed to have a real license? It seems this is the world up-side down. What happens when I return home and continue to use the producet, with a license, that is registered to a holiday resort in Asia?? Ohhh, of course, I have to go through the whole process again... In my opinion, it's only a matter of accepting a real, potential client, putting one tick in a database field and everything is good to go. My information has definitely already been registered (upon retry I received the response that my email address was already in use), so it cannot be more than that. So why do I spend my time writing here? Because I would be testing the software but now have some spare time on my hands. And I am a bit frustrated that something as daft as this can even still happen in this time in history. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handsonwebhosting Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 I can understand how the automated process would fail (your address being different from that of the IP number where you are dialed in from) however I would think that something could be done to override that on the part of the admins. That being said, we do the same thing here with our webhosting. If the IP numbers don't match, we fail the order and run voice verification before signup. I can understand the frustration on your part but also see why things are the way they are on the WHMCS's part. The only way you can get this override would be to have a ticket open with the makers of WHMCS - if they don't accept the reasoning then that's their perogative. You may just need to wait until you return to your home area before making the purchase/demo. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stugster Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 some holiday... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bin_asc Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 Well, why not just signup with your details from the hotel and change them afterwards ? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.D Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Don't get frustrated. Still WHMCS is one of the best! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uberhost Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I am disappointed. True disappointment will come if you let a trivial matter like this stand in the way of obtaining the best product of its kind in this price range. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNodashi Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 You need to keep in mind, that although your intentions are good, there are a LOT of fraudsters on the internet who also want the demo, even if it's just to steal ideas from it. Fruad prevention is a big think for MOST internet based companies, not just WHMCS, and since they use a 3rd party to check it, it's not really their fault. Added, it's very easy to use your current addres ( to signup, and go through the IP check successfully), and then update the address details once you're home. From Matt's response it doesn't look at all like he was rude, he was merely explaining to you that's how the software works. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BionicInternet Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Hello there. You are out of line here in my opinion. Matt, Jo & Andrew do a FANTASTIC job. Matt has done a few custom mods for us and by god is he a damm good coder! You need to think about this very hard. 9 Times out of 10, people that sign up for something and use a different IP to their billing address, will either be fraud, phising or both. So naturally WHMCS are cautious... It does happen from time to time. Just give them the link to the hotel, if they have one.. Its really not rocket science. As far as I can see, there is and was no need for neg comments here. WHMCS is THE best billing system out there for such a small fee. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Ok, so I should register from a fake address (the hotel is not my real address) to be allowed to have a real license? It seems this is the world up-side down. What happens when I return home and continue to use the producet, with a license, that is registered to a holiday resort in Asia?? Ohhh, of course, I have to go through the whole process again... Huff I also think your being far too harsh here. Keep in mind that Asia is responsible for the majority of spam/fraud next to the USA, so much so, we wont even answer an email from anywhere in Asia. Most of the spam that hits our network originates from Asia somewhere. I'd say good on WHMCS for sticking to their guns, they dont know you, or who you really are, and if your address doesnt match your IP, all they know and can establish as fact is that your in Asia. Why dont you ask somebody at your office in the netherlands to register for you from the office, then WHMCS team can be sure to match the address to the IP and will obviously happily sort out your demo? Lateral thinking my friend, the world isnt always out to get you... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huff Posted July 2, 2008 Author Share Posted July 2, 2008 You need to keep in mind, that although your intentions are good, there are a LOT of fraudsters on the internet who also want the demo, even if it's just to steal ideas from it. Fruad prevention is a big think for MOST internet based companies, not just WHMCS, and since they use a 3rd party to check it, it's not really their fault. Added, it's very easy to use your current addres ( to signup, and go through the IP check successfully), and then update the address details once you're home. From Matt's response it doesn't look at all like he was rude, he was merely explaining to you that's how the software works. Thanks for all your responses guys (and ladies?). Valid points are that I could let it be and just get on with it and that I could let someone else register for me. I am a one-man show so I don't have work people in the office back home. Two things that I still don't understand in the discussion about fraud: 1) Anyone that wants the demo can get it - fraud or not. At the moment I am at a Starbucks cafe, so I should enter the Starbucks address to make the IP-check pass - what does that say about my intentions? I pass the fraud test, I get the license, I am untraceable. 2) Even if a 'fraud' gets a demo license, what is the problem/risk? How does it threaten WHMCS? Spam is annoying, but officially you can't use the system without a license so the control over the use still lies with WHMCS and if you don't pay (fraud or just not convinced) you do not get to use the software. And that's it. So I still don't see a benefit of using this registration system and particularly using it in such a rigid way that there is no way to register, even with a fair claim that the IP and the business address do not match. Referring to Richards feedback: I'll take your word for it that the guys at WHMCS have a great piece of software and that they deliver great solutions, but my feedback is aimed at the registration process only - and personally I still feel that there is some improvement necessary in that specific field. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrat Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Valid points are that I could let it be and just get on with it and that I could let someone else register for me.You have it one. Exactly that. People protecting themselves against Fraud and such like are not to blame for the measures they take. The blame lies firmly and squarely with the perpetrators of fraud. It'll get a lot worse before it gets better. I pay a monthly fee for my licence through my host provider yet cannot Register here either for support or downloads of the latest versions, patches, etc. So am loyal to, committed to, pay for and do use WHMCS as the basis of my whole client/billing/provisioning system. Where do I stand? What support do I get? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bin_asc Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 The only problem in spamming demo licenses would be the mere fact of bandwidth. Hackers writing a script, using whatever way of downloading multiple whmcs`es at once, and causing a severe botnet attack. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickendippers Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 I pay a monthly fee for my licence through my host provider yet cannot Register here either for support or downloads of the latest versions, patches, etc. I'm pretty sure the WHMCS guys should be supporting you, it says so here: http://whmcs.com/resellers.php 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Yes, WHMCS will offer support but you will need to get the files from your hosting provider. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPS Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 I agree about the registration process, there are certain things that should be changed imo. WHMCS should have just created an account for you imo. Your real address information should be inside your account. Your temporary IP is meaningless for now. When you pay for your account if you ever do convert over to a non-demo product, your IP is still checked (at the time of placing the order). The only problem is with the initial registration of the account. I think WHMCS should have just created your account for you, since you clearly are not fraud. Just enter a fake address if you need to. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrat Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 @chickendippers and Daniel........Thanks for the heads up on getting support. Much appreciated. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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