Ezesurf hit by Trading Standards investigation

Jane Wakefield ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 30 Aug 2000 16:39 BST

ISP Ezesurf is under investigation from the Institute of Trading Standards Administration, it emerged Wednesday.

As reported by ZDNet News last week the ISP is the latest victim of the increasingly chaotic unmetered market. It is not clear whether the ISP intends to pay refunds to any of its users, who paid a one-off fee of £39 in return for unmetered Internet access.

The Dundee-based service provider is currently being investigating by trading standards officials. "I can confirm that Ezesurf is being investigated following a number of general complaints from consumers about the service," says a spokesman for Dundee's trading standards office.

Ezesurf's managing director posted a long apology to customers on its Web site earlier today but the site has since shut down. "He appears to be blaming everyone but himself," comments a spokesman for Energis Squared, the firm that hosted Ezesurf's Web site.

Energis Squared admits it pulled the plug on the Web site after Ezesurf failed to pay a £2m bill but was unprepared to comment on suggestions that the service was a scam. "It is our belief that the company was a legitimate enterprise but its business plan failed to keep pace with the rapidly changing Internet industry," says an Energis Squared spokesman.

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