Xerobank questions ?

Well, it's GREAT to hear from you Wizard!! It's a shame that XeroBank has waited SO long to communicate &/or follow-up regarding questions that have been brought-up here the Wilders Security Forum. Now understand, most folks are going to continue to be extremely skeptical regarding a NEW web site, since they've been hearing the same "promise" for the past few months! Plus, after the XeroBank Forum was taken down, numerous questions/issues were left "unanswered" here at Wilders! Hopefully, your response here at Wilders will be a "sign for new times" at XeroBank!!

For me, I cautiously await the "launch" of the new site!! Only "time will tell" regarding that endeavor!!!!

 

You can login to your dalpay account and remove the credit card yourself and never speak to Dalpay. But I have spoken to the Dalpay guy on 3 occasions and found him to be very pleasant.

 

Xerobank is awesome!

 

Haha! Yeah I read that a long time ago. They would have to be pretty serious about solving a *real* crime to jump through all of those hoops......AS THEY WELL SHOULD BE.

 

$35 USD a month, seems a bit steep for a VPN service when there are so many in the EU like Sweden offering at 5 Euro a month that seem decent enough.

 

xB is about the best deal in its class. Really.

 

I'm disappointed in you, Caspian. I thought Steve's "reply" to me was rude. You thought it funny? He had the time for that - but no time to answer customer questions all through this thread? So, I'm disappointed in you. Though, I have seen you get involved in discussions where you are VERY knowledgeable and then ask something terribly basic. Smart guy/dumb guy routine? I have a hard time believing that the disappearing act by Steve and XB is truly seen as acceptable by several here. The theme seems to be as long as it's operating everything is good. The complete shutdown on communication with customers at the forum, email, Wilders, etc. should wise a few of you up to a serious problem. It's like if Wal-Mart just opened their doors for business every day, but they shut down the Customer Service department, cut the staff to the bones, nobody can answer any questions - but they're still open for business! YES! Love Wal-Mart! Don't think so. I think, frankly, these homer posts stretch credulity to a limit that's not believable (literally not believable) and are just an extension of XB guerrilla marketing. Voices for XeroBank when, for whatever reason, the official voices have been silenced and communications shut off. As an XB poster said above, "Make of it what you will."

 

Xerobank ok whats the deal is it a scam or not i have read so many things more negative than positive iam using the trail right now seems ok no portforwarding etc torrents but lots vpn do that for security so they claim. I went for Xerobank because of the double hop option etc and my regular vpn service as been messing about for the past few months. so joined up to the forum to see if these technics that Xerobank are true or any old open vpn service would be the same for half the price

 

I'm sorry Lockbox. I thought it was funny that he just popped in out of the blue. I wasn't thinking so much that he was responding to you, or what he said, just that it was so unexpected.

I can understand your concerns about Steve being unavailable and the forum being down etc... The way I see it is they are probably really bogged down with a huge project. I figure that it may involve a lot of traveling and a lot of people that they have to deal with....and a lot of headache. And if Steve did come here and start posting and replying, it would burn up a lot of time. I assume that he does not have that kind of time right now. So I am hoping that all is well and that everything will be better than ever soon. I am willing to wait patiently.

I apologize for being insensitive to you, That was never my intent.

 

Re: Xerobank, a PR disaster?

I'm both angry and saddened as I read through this thread and other recent comments and sites that deal with Xerobank.

First off, I would like to say that while Xerobank did not serve my needs (simply won't connect reliably at slow internet speeds common in many rural areas of the USA; using the Firefox browser makes the problem even worse), I was fully supportive of the concept and if the service had worked for me, I would have probably stayed with it.

What disturbs and saddens me is not the concept of Xerobank, but rather, its saboutage. Normally, I would be suspicious of competitors and those with perhaps a personal axe to grind against Steve Topletz, the Xerobank founder. I do think those people are involved to some extent in an effort to smear Xerobank's name. However, in the bigger picture, it is becoming apparent that Xerobank's Topletz is becoming his own worst adversary. The complaints about poor support from Xerobank come from so many sources, many of whom do not seem vindictive, that it appears to be a valid complaint. I remember years ago when the argument about Metropipe's and Xerobank's relationship came out that Steve argued that Metropipe's greatest weakness was its lack of responsiveness to clients. It astounds me that Steve realized the seriousness of that weakness and now seems to have repeated it with his own Xerobank. Why would he allow such a problem to eat away at a concept and business that started initially with such a bright future floors me.

The incident on this thread where Topletz comes out of what looks like hiding to make a smart remark, then disappears again, also confuses me. Why would he do something so obviously self-destructive, when he hasn't attended to the basics (what people complain about the most is the closed forum at the Xerobank site)? I don't understand that either.

I hope that Steve steps back and sees how destructive his recent actions have been for Xerobank's reputation. Obviously a number of people are now moved to complain somewhat bitterly about Xerobank on the internet and those comments are likely to remain for years, thus hurting Xerobank well into the future. I still believe in the Xerobank concept. I hope that Steve will realize that some of us support his ideas but not his behavior, mainly what seems to be a cavalier attitude towards his support base and paying customers.

Just needed to get this off my chest after spending a few hours reading all the recent stuff written about Xerobank including the innumerable complaints.

 

Re: Xerobank, a PR disaster?

Seconded ^

 

Re: Xerobank, a PR disaster?

I'm an Xerobank user, and i believe everything you have said to be completely true! Its a shame that such a great service is being underminded by its own inventor. Though I personally have not needed any Xerobank support since the forum has been down i see no excuse for Xerobank's silence towards their customers. Its just plain wrong. This leads me to believe they are having serious financial problems, or something way worse that i do not want to speculate about. At anytime Xerobank you can do the right thing, and begin to make things right! You have a long tough road ahead of you to earn back your customers trust.

 

Re: Xerobank, a PR disaster?

I'll do it for you (I love speculating about things)
Alien invasion.
They killed teh interwebz!
Bought by the XYZ Mafia.
LEA honeypot.

Name one good reason why any of you supporters continues to "trust" Xerobank. "Still works for me" is not good enough with these sort of delicate services.

All security, anonymity and privacy that Xerobank offers is built on trust, all promise, zero verifiability.

Truth be told, my speculations probably are as stupid as they sound. I mean who in the right mind would do something nefarious with that service and then tip everyone off that "something is wrong". Looks more like incompetence than anything. But does that even matter, like an incompetent company deserves any more trust than a shady one?

 

All things considered, I would blame Steve's personality for the ongoing Xerbank disaster. Firstly, he seems to bites off more than he can chew and promises more than he can deliver. That strategy initially works, but there's always a backlash, which can end up overwhelming those who initiated the strategy. The obvious reaction to the backlash is to retreat or hide. If I were in Steve's shoes, I would certainly be tempted to do that, especially since it looks very strongly like Steve is the only full timer at Xerobank, with a few unpaid advisors (who seem to offer little, especially in the realm of public relations!! and some short-term contracted programmers.

Secondly, it's obvious from his history that Steve is highly intelligent. The flip side is that his intelligence is what probably explains his dismissive attitude towards some comments or complaints of others. While many questions/comments thrown at him may be as ludicrous or silly as Steve seems to believe, it behooves him to not belittle anyone on the internet for the simple reason that enemies made in cyberspace are not easily overcome. Dare I use the word 'arrogant' to describe some of Steve's remarks here on Wilders forum? He has legitimately come down hard on some sock puppets BUT I have also read threads when he has come down hard on individuals that (at least to my mind) are guilty of nothing more than persistent questioning or probing of topics Steve doesn't explain fully (either purposely or otherwise).

Xerobank may or may not have financial problems but the current customers here don't seem to be finding any lasting problem with the service, so probably it's okay from that end. As for the comments of the whole thing being insecure or privacy compromised, I've not run across one complaint of anyone being picked up by the police, honeypotted, or otherwise suspecting that their privacy was compromised while using Xerobank. The system may well have weaknesses but I haven't yet run across any poster offering tangible evidence on that end (much less propose a better alternative than Xerobank). I'm all ears if someone reading this thread has something specific to share.

 

Isn't it clear that they're working on a new project, that it's taking longer than they expected, and that they don't want to talk about it? And, given their commitments, why is it surprising that they would choose to keep their work private?

 

Well I hope all is well with Xerobank cause to me out of all the anon services this one seemed to be the best looking one out of the bunch. Now its not so clear to me, but I hope all is well with xB and they come back with a bang lmao.

 

I want to see them do well, but they need to communicate with their customers. It would be great just to see a progress report.

 

Well no, it is not clear at all. I haven't seen anything from any Xb staffer to that effect. Customers have just heard silence, and a couple of occasional provocative messages dropped on wilders. The dark.ai page that is still advertised on Xb main page, causes more questions than answers. Others have contended that its a pilot program, but if this is the case, then why is it advertised on Xb's front page as what one can only assume is a product offering?

The only thing that is surprising if is Xb responds to its customers. What commitments? Are you aware of something? We can only speculate what they are up to. Indeed, if Xb HAD communicated accordingly and accurately, much of the criticism that they are receiving now would not exist.
The Xb forums went offline as the unrest and commentary was growing by its users. A convenient "website" upgrade was used as the reasoning, but that was some four months ago now. Rightfully customers feel they are being treated with contempt.

 

@Sheldon7

OK, I'll expand my assessment.

1) "they're working on a new project" -- That's clear from their website, from various threads on the old xB forum, and from posts to Wilders by SteveTX and wizard101. It is true, however, that we know virtually nothing about said "new project", or how (if at all) "dark.ai" relates to it.

2) "it's taking longer than they expected" -- Admittedly, I have no clue what they expected. Perhaps I should have just said that it's taken far longer than they said it would (and/or, than I expected it would).

3) "they don't want to talk about it" -- That seems rather clear from comments in this thread by SteveTX and goldenone. Why they haven't just said so, I have no clue.

4) "given their commitments" -- Given that SteveTX went out of his way to post Anonymous Lifestyle: Second-Realm Strategy Handbook, I'm assuming that he's committed to such goals. It could be flack, I suppose.

 

Heirophant,
If there were more people like you who unquestionably support an operation that has a bad reputation for non-support, there would be no need for customer service anywhere! Just kidding. I think the point is that most people are not like you in that they expect to get some help in a timely fashion when they need it, especially when they're paying for that service.

Like I said earlier, I understand that some people are out to put down Xerobank no matter what they do, but there are clearly people whose only beef with Xerobank is the poor customer support, and that has been an ongoing issue that only recently seems to have gone from bad to worse.

I guess it is confusing to me that the internet is scattered with promises (and I remember that the old Xerobank forum had even more) of 'upcoming' services that never seemed to eventuate in quite the form they were promised... if at all. So I wonder why are things different now? Some posters have made issue that Steve promises more than he delivers, so what gives now?

Finally, why would anyone jeopardise the certainty of a customer base for the uncertainty of the success of some unknown improvement such that they would not bother to communicate anything more than (on this thread) a snide comment to another poster? That in itself makes no sense.

The bottom line is that customer service makes or breaks a lot of companies, Steve once distinguished Xerobank from metropipe in that Xerobank would give better customer service, yet Xerobank now seems to saboutage itself with the poor customer support. I've become clear that Xerobank is pretty much Steve Topletz working alone, and that the allusions to numerous staff were illusions he was creating in cyberspace to make the company look better than it was. Thus, he COULD well be overcommitted. I guess the only thing I disagree with you, Heirophant, is that I have seen first hand how damaging poor customer service can be to a good business idea AND for that reason, I cannot think of one valid reason to let one's loyal customers down on service and support.

 

@Nathan C

If products and services work as expected, there's not much need for customer service. The root of xB's customer service problems, IMHO, is that it doesn't work as most customers expect.

Most customers expect that providers can easily recover or reset forgotten account information. That's apparently impossible with xB, given its privacy-centric design. Instead, the customer (not xB) must cancel the dead account via DalPay, and create a new one. And xB must convince them to do that. Nightmare, no?

It's arguable that xB just didn't hire enough support people. However, it's also arguable that $35 per month won't cover that much support. Perhaps they'll write a book about it

 

oh come on....get real please.....

 

OK, what's your burning question that xB support failed to answer?

 

not directed towards any products

but to your "If products and services work as expected, there's not much need for customer service. "

don't agree to it.