Bitcoin Forum

UPDATE:  9/4/2013 08:52     Hostedmining is Moving!  I am pleased to announce that I have acquired a new hosting facility. I will have the move completed by this coming weekend.

This move is being made in conjunction with the release of a Revenue Share on LTC-GLOBAL. This investment opportunity is to expand the existing Hostedmining scrypt farm from 40 MH to over 100 MH.

Check it out here.  https://www.litecoinglobal.com/security/HOSTED-MINING (https://www.litecoinglobal.com/security/HOSTED-MINING)



Thanks everyone for your support and patience. Enjoy and let me know what you think.  Photos and more updates to follow through out the week.  :)

zif








You can always reach me at zif@hostedmining.com or zif33rs@hotmail.com or call toll free 1-888-872-6424 Mon-Fri 10am to 4pm pacific







Hello all


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/HostedminingNewLogo.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/zif33/media/Hostedmining/HostedminingNewLogo.jpg.html)

DO YOU WANT TO MINE BITCOIN BUT LACK THE TECHNICAL SKILLS?

Do you have an existing mining operation but have maxed out your space or wattage?

HostedMining.com offers a unique approach to get anybody started in Bitcoin mining regardless of technical skill or lack of space. We have turn key solutions ranging from full rig build out, hosting, maintenance, troubleshooting, and providing hosting space to simply building and shipping a custom rig to your home or business. The options we provide are cost effective, easy to use, and will get you up and running in a matter of days. Getting started is easy! Just follow the simple steps outlined on the website and you will be quickly on your way to loading your wallet with profits from Bitcoin mining.


 

I am proud to announce the launch of www.hostedmining.com. I am currently working with 2 customers and hope to have more soon! You can see pics and video in the gallery.

This all started from a thread here at bitcointalk.org.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=179363.0

I would like to thank mr-sk for being my first customer. Thank you!


I will be posting on my blog and here to keep you up to date.


zif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/1369327304670.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/zif33/media/Hostedmining/1369327304670.jpg.html)

Interesting! I'll be checking on your status from time to time, hope to see your business grow!

Zif is a solid guy. On trust and after various phone calls, we worked within my budget to price a rig, I ordered the parts, he assembled, tuned and it's hashing! I created a pool worker specific to him and that's it.

I live in NYC and the cost per kw/hr is .20 (including delivery). Zif offers me a much better rate, along with monitoring and troubleshooting my rig.

If you're interested and want to talk about the process from a customer, feel free to /pm me.
Good luck bud!

Great looking site!!  :o   8)

Can zif use your testimonial on his site?

update on the litecoin miner.  8)


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/th_20130511_000139.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/20130511_000139.mp4)

that machine looks like a beast! I don't know much about rigs yet but anything that needs that many fans has to be pumping out some computing power!

Of course.

@Zif, video looks great!

Hey mr-sk!  

Moar pics!  x16 riser shipment arrived.   8)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/20130513_162613.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/zif33/media/Hostedmining/20130513_162613.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/20130513_152339.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/zif33/media/Hostedmining/20130513_152339.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/20130513_162356.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/zif33/media/Hostedmining/20130513_162356.jpg.html)

and video   8)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/th_20130513_151744.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/20130513_151744.mp4)

I am in talks with Zif for a 4 gpu miner. Very professional and nice guy. Will keep posted.

Shibaji

Thank you for your order! I expect your party to arrive tommorrow.




Update: I have my 2nd customers unit hashing away at 1900kh\s+ on 3 cards now. I am waiting on powered riser cables to hookup the 4th gpu.

There is some problem at my end - I will update you later - let me sort through that first.

Due to some unrelated confusion on my part this fell apart - at least for now - until I redo the whole process. However, even though I could not go through this (while I was very interested), I would like to mention that Zif is very professional, and I liked talking to him.

I would like to send a small appreciation to Zif for his effort and taking time to help me through the component list and being patient. Zif - please post your BTC address so that I can  send a small thank you gift.

Best wishes and I hope your business flourishes. I also hope in near future I can become a client of yours.

Shibaji


I am sorry that you had unexpected problem's. I hope everything has worked out for you and I am here for any further questions you might have.

Please do not hesitate to contact me for any future concerns.

I have edited my sig below to add the company tip jars. Any donation would be greatly appreciated.

Your servant

zif

Best wishes.
http://blockchain.info/tx/493afb2c51c5161d175b7c7787772688309b6f4c7dec3d457a89b828ee5e3517

tx #493afb2c51c5161d175b7c7787772688309b6f4c7dec3d457a89b828ee5e3517


Thanks!

Another update.

Video of open air frame prototype II    8) 

I didn't receive the part that allows stacking of these units. I have reordered it..once in I will be able to have 5 of these stacked together.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/th_20130522_120920.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/20130522_120920.mp4)


Pics

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/20130522_120835.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/zif33/media/Hostedmining/20130522_120835.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/20130522_120738.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/zif33/media/Hostedmining/20130522_120738.jpg.html)

So what would be the cheapest machine i could get from you, and can i use the machine to mine any coin?

You really have to decide on a budget yourself. I can build a single gpu system for pretty cheap..but you have to look at the ROI. It really breaks down to about $1 per kh\s

Some photos

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/20130523_095309.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/zif33/media/20130523_095309.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/20130523_095352.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/zif33/media/20130523_095352.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/20130523_095339.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/zif33/media/20130523_095339.jpg.html)



Short vid

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/th_20130523_100648.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/20130523_100648.mp4)

It's awesome seeing these photos and videos, Zif.

For those considering mining, but are not sure of building or even hosting themselves, definitely consider Hostedmining.com. I'm a recent customer, and it's an excellent service.

I was interested in a 4 GPU rig, and Zif was very helpful in preparing the parts list and answering questions.

Once the hardware was shipped to him, he assembled, installed, and configured the rig in a very short time.
He had the system pointed to the pool of my choice in less than a day after the shipment.

Even though the fourth GPU required the use of risers which were waiting on a separate order, he had three GPUs running for me during those days. Once the risers arrived, the hardware setup was rapidly upgraded for all 4 GPUs, and the mining configuration was updated.
 
The rig has been running for over a week now, and I'm very happy with the whole process from start to finish.

It's been very smooth and professional. Thank you Zif!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/20130525_103840.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/zif33/media/20130525_103840.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/20130525_103853.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/zif33/media/20130525_103853.jpg.html)

I apologize my website is down temporarily for major updates. After some issues I have had to completely re-install the database. Will have much more content to share after the 1st of the month. The mail server is up and functioning at zif@hostedmining.com and contact@hostedmining.com. Facebook page and twitter also are live.

THIS...

New look for hostedmining.com. Check it out and let me know what you think.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/DSC01461.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/zif33/media/Hostedmining/DSC01461.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/DSC01464.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/zif33/media/Hostedmining/DSC01464.jpg.html)

Congrats Zif! The site looks awesome - also I am glad that you are offering complete solution, where someone can just buy the whole miner off the shelf.

Best wishes.

Thanks shibaji!  Its really coming together..I apologize again for the lengthy downtime. Still fine tuning the payment system...appears there is a bug since I added SSL. Think I need to update an IP.



Hope you like all.    8)

Been on the phone and comp all day with support trying to figure out the credit card payment error I have. I apologize everyone. It will be fixed asap.

In the mean time I am sponsoring a Flash FR over at the Seals With Clubs bitcoin poker site.  https://sealswithclubs.eu (https://sealswithclubs.eu)


Enjoy a Free Roll on Hostedmining.com.   8)

Site is live. I also have a live chat option available from the contact page. I will be online Monday-Wednesday-Friday from 12pm to 6pm pacific for all your cryptomining questions.


Thanks
zif

1200+kh\s miner sold today. I would like to thank and welcome MsCollec of bitcointalk.org to Hostedmining. Thanks!

Your part should be in early next week and I well set up your rig and have it pointed at your pool soon.

zif

My decision to purchase the rig was due to your quick, accurate, and competent response to my technical question. I look forward buying more rig from you.Thanks once again zif

The new and improved site looks great, zif! Nice seeing all the photos of the farm.

What could i get for 2 BTC?

This is exactly the sort of thing I'd like to see more of you should be able to get alternate currencies as well like Litecoin at some point.

At the moment Hostedmining is focused on ltc but most coins can be mined.

Just ordered 4 of the big boy rigs from the Hostedmining website and am shipping my two rigs I already have to him as well. Looking at about 18+MH/s (scrypt) of computing power to be hosted for me by Hostedmining! Very excited for this opportunity!

cptmooseinc

Welcome in a BIG way to Hostedmining!   I really appreciate your business and am extremely excited by this opportunity. You are going to be blown away seeing your rigs in the Mark III hosting frame.

Thanks!

You should make those frames and sell them on the forum. People would eat them up and you'd make some more profit!

Just waiting on some aluminum to build the Mark III. I will have it listed on my website but will sell them here as well. For all of you interested in a open air frame come back at the end of the week and check it out.

Basically open air but with a cooling solution intergrated.   8)

Some testing going on here...   8)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/20130623_003420.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/zif33/media/Hostedmining/20130623_003420.jpg.html)


Inventory is raising.  ;D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/20130621_134107.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/zif33/media/Hostedmining/20130621_134107.jpg.html)

You never responded to my last email, :p.

Woot! First rig I purchased from zif is online and hashing! Just needs some tweaking to get the kH/s right. Thanks for all your hard work zif!!! Can't wait for the other 3 to have their parts arrive and be built!

Just placed an order for a Mark II case. Great prices! Will update on my experience.

I'm interested in buying.

As promised, my experience with Hostedmining and zif was exceptional. Ordered a case from there and had a super quick turnaround. Thanks!

My own review up to this point is still kind of iffy. I purchased two rigs back a week and a half ago, which were said to arrive on Wednesday (for him to host). One of them had problems with it, so its hash rate was diminished a bit, but it was put online on Thursday as promised (technically it was stated that it would be online on Wednesday but when he got it he said it would be until Thursday. One day isn't so bad so I figured it'd be alright). I was then given the information for logging in to it and everything was good on that part (aside from the issue with one of the cards). It was also insinuated that the second rig would be finished getting set up on the same day, and then he would work on figuring out what is wrong with the first one. The second rig, as far as I know, is still (almost a week later) not online.

Since last Thursday, the one rig has hashed around 48 hours or so total, due to being taken offline for multiple days. Zif said that he is dealing with heating issues and so had to take all the rigs offline and move them to another room while he tries to deal with that. Sadly, during this entire period he has been pretty hard to get a hold of. I usually wait 36 hours before sending him another ping to try and see what is going on with this, and even so it can still be many hours before he gets back to me (I ping via cell phone and email).

What makes issues worse than this for me is that he states the following:

06/28/13 - "Only getting hotter this week..need to fix this issue now"

06/28/13 - "yea..sorry..I will have it all locked down this weekend I promise...right now its been alot of other crap..havent got to sit wdown with it...once i have 2nd unit up i will go back and fix 1. probably just a bad setting. The heat is horrible...its 90 degrees inside hosting room. Lemme deal with this.  :)   should not be to long."

06/29/13 - says he is still dealing with the heating problems and will update me "tonight" -- never did so I had to get a hold of him the next day

06/30/13 - still no contact

07/01/13 - "Yes...still having heat issues..and im really sorry. Its frustrating. I did take Sunday off to be with my kids and family. I am up and at em this morning and will have issues resolved by tonight." (so much for 24/7 monitoring and service?)

07/02/13 - Messages sent starting at the 36 hour mark and still have not heard anything back via cell or email.

What irritates me about this is that I thought before he started running the service he had everything locked down. I have so far lost a week of my hashing power, decreasing the ROI by a lot in the process (as I had spent days planning out everything prior to making the decision to purchase). Not only am I left in the dust still, pretty much, but it is hard to even figure out what is going on or when it will truly be fixed. At this point I am full of regret of even jumping in on this. It seemed like a great idea when I did the research, talked to him and jumped on it, but sadly this is not looking so great.

As a business owner myself, I make it a priority to:

1) Fulfill my obligations to my customers
2) Follow through with timelines I give out
3) Stay in contact consistently

I have never "taken a day off" when I had something to get finished. If I promised something would be finished on Saturday night, and it happened to not be finished that night, I would be up until I passed out working on it, and the first thing I would do Sunday is continue at it until I got it resolved. There is no way I would leave my customers in the dark because I decided to take a break; that is nothing but showing a lack of care.

I seriously hope some of you have had better luck with this.

As an update, my last contact attempts were at 6 AM CST and 5:30 PM CST. Neither of them has been responded to and it is 9:30 PM CST.

I also just checked the pool I am on and found that the rig is off again and has been for who knows how long.

Latest update from me. Still no contact but one of the rigs appears to be back up now. Based on the charts it was down for 14 hours this time.

Edit: also want to point out that according to the logs he was on the forums last night and today...

Update: just sent off another contact attempt to Zif, as he has still yet to get back to me, one rig appears to be online now partially (it goes up and down throughout the day) and the other has still yet to be seen. I'll let you guys know where this contact leads...

Update: he finally got back to me. I normally would not enclose an entire email like this but I think it's important for transparency, and it also shows what my issue is here:

====START====
I am so burnt..   I have your 2nd rig up...should be seeing it..but I am still having issues with more than 2 gpus running. Not sure wtf is going on. I need to unplug..I am making mistakes..and its not good. I have lost a couple of powered 1x to 16x riser cables...or the whole batch was bad..I cant tell.....bah,...im rambling.


I am working on your 2nd rig. the first rig keeps throwing that one gpu so i need to look at that as well. 2 power supplies, 2 motherboards and a dozen cables risers all gone bad since the weekend. Add the heat wave and I am telling you I am at the end of my rope.   I am doing the best I can. I am taking tommorrow off(the 4th) so what ever I get done tonight is going to be it till friday.

Please be patient...heh..more patient that you already have(appreciate that).

====END====

I'd also like to throw up some notes of my own. I am literally losing money every single day this isn't dealt with, and I am about to lose yet another day. The two rigs (running $5300 and supposed to be hashing at 6 MH/s total since last Wednesday as per our pre-purchase agreement) have earned less since last Wednesday than my single $400 rig that only hashes at 560 KH/s.

When I first started looking into doing this, I was also given different information than later on. For example:

"At 15% I can cover my overhead and still make a few percentage points in actual profit. This price is final and will not change for gpu hosting."

When I was told this had changed to 20%, I brought it up and got this response:

"dam...I lied I guess. I was crazy to even think of offering it at 10% and 15% seemed like a reasonable step. I decided that with the 24/7 monitoring and the remote access more than makes up for the rate hike to 20%. It is still way cheaper than most can host for themselves.

This price is final..I promise. It will be in the contract."

I am LOVING this 24/7 monitoring. It is doing so well that two days have been taken off working on the problem now and my issues still aren't resolved. Along with this, the total effect in 8 days now of two rigs capable of "3 MH/s+" each has been worth less than my single 560 KH/s rig. Not to mention at least with my local one, if something happens I can actually deal with the problem instead of claiming I give "24/7 monitoring" when that is completely false.

At this point our original agreement has already been defaulted on, he has fed incorrect information to me multiple times, and if I continue waiting this out I am getting screwed over in the deal. I am seriously debating just calling this off and either requesting a refund or disputing it. This is beyond ridiculous and I am losing my patience with this.

At this point I would not even continue with our original agreement. We would definitely have to make some amends to take up for the lost time and such that has been caused by all of this, as well as the lack of faith I now have in his business and the lost funds and the seriously delayed ROI that has occurred as a result of this stuff.

As a business owner myself, I never would have even considered putting one of my customers through what he has put me through. That is horrible business.

I apologize ranlo. I have been in contact with you but I have not been on the forums other than to check for PM's....I see that might have been a mistake.

I do appreciate transparency.  Thanks.

I am burnt.

I am sorry you are not satisfied. If you wish your rigs shipped back to you that was and is always an option. I have been busting my ass this last week to rewire, cut holes in the ceiling and roof and a ton of other stuff. It HAS impacted my ability to build, tune and monitor the rigs I do have up and working. There HAS been record temps in Seattle the last week. It crushed every attempt I made to fix the problem.

I have not really had anytime off, besides what was stated...in 60+ days...its taken a toll. I not only run this, but another business as well. I also care for my disabled father and have 3 teenage daughters. You want it out in the open..there you go. I have nothing to hide and am not trying to rip you or anyone else off.

I really was not prepared for how quickly this all blew up. Thats not your fault ranlo and I realize you have expectations. I have replied to every text or email sent within a reasonable amount of time. I have most of the issues solved and am now working on your 2nd rig...which has been hashing partially since last night.

As of today I have both your rigs up but the 2nd is only running 3 cards. I have x1 cables on order and I hope they show friday.


That pretty much sums it up I think. I have been able to keep the majority of my 12 customers up and hashing. Again I apologize your the one who slipped thru the crack.

You want resolution? You want to modify our agreement?  Fine..but I would appreciate an email or a phone call before you drag it all over the forum.

I am sorry you have not earned as much as you expected in the 9 days you have been a customer.

zif


p.s. Have a Safe and Happy 4th of July everyone.

I'll send you an email in a few -- need to decide how to go about this and go from there. I didn't bring everything up until the lapse in communication happened, and that was not for fear of "ripping me off," but rather because it goes against everything that was stated in emails between each other prior to getting this going, as well as the selling point all over your site. When someone, and a site, makes a claim about something, it is generally expected that they follow through with said claim. Otherwise we in the business arena call this "false advertising." This is by far one of the worst things a business owner can do.

I want to add a public update for everyone on my experience as well.

The past 16 hours have gone pretty good with whatever is up right now. It appears to have had a few short drops but that is likely due to pool issues or something (they were pretty small drops and were not 0 hash rates, just lower than normal). I am pretty satisfied with this time period and I hope it continues!

I am all about being transparent. When I have issues with a business, I bring them to light. Why? Because all too often people don't take the time to do this and others have no idea what they're going to experience. I have no problems with you as a person, just rather the claims that have been made then the lack of following through with all of those. The communication was the big thing; lapses for 36+ hours are never a good sign.

I am more than willing to do another review and update once things have been on track for a little while, and was already planning to do this. I was hoping that my first review would have gone a lot better, but it is what it is.

My goal with all of this has not and will not be to hurt you or your business; it is to give others a run-down of my own experience so that they understand what they are possibly getting into.

With that said, I'm off to draft up this email and send it off!

Update: Zif just spent quite a while with me (well, still is) helping me better understand what's been going on, what the plan is for the near future, etc. We also went through the rig settings together to ensure everything was set up properly, and fixed a couple issues (ex. getting two separate accounts set up for the two rigs so that I can differentiate them). I am pleasantly surprised and this is definitely a huge positive from everything.

While we had our issues, what he did today definitely speaks volumes about his service and willingness to try and get everything resolved!

I am extremely happy I was able to resolve your concerns and get you  back to hashing Ranlo.

Most of all I am happy to report everyone is being serviced and the farm is up and functional. As Hostedmining continues to grow I will continue to be available for live chat monday thru friday 10am to 4pm on site.

Update for Tuesday


Things are smoothing out at Hostedmining after a rough start to the week. I received a miner from a customer that had damage yesterday. After documenting everything and getting in contact with the customer I was able to determine that a corrupt hard drive is the most likely culprit. I am repairing the rig and doing what I can to help with the insurance claim. Basically the "case" and drive are the only casualties. The GPUs tested out as ok.

I still have not received replacement riser cables. Its seriously slowing down builds. I hope to see them tomorrow.

I still am having heat issues in the hosting room. I have done a lot of work adding venting and stuff but its just not able to contain the 12 rigs I have going. I am looking at renting/leasing another warehouse or office immediately. The other option is to rent or buy a container(can) to drop in the yard. I can then add what cooling/ventilation needed to it.

Still alot of decisions to make for growth.

I would like to remind everyone of the new Finance options available. I have 3 lenders ready and waiting to get you into a Mining rig today!

Also...I can now accept bitcoin directly from my products page.

Still have 10 7950s for sale at 209.99 each!

zif

Well...im sure its coming so I will just post it myself. I am done micro managing peoples workers. I set up the miners to the best setting I can. Ever one is different. Even machines with identical parts.

I had a 3k machine for ranlo working excellent..even thought it was only pulling 2.9mh\s not the 3k I have promised. Alot of this was due to the heat issue I have been fighting. I have some rigs de-tuned to help with stability. After granted remote access he has managed to crash it at least 3 to 4 times a day. The settings I had on cgminer are all messed up and now one of the cards is not running at full speed. I have been fixing and repairing these mistakes as best I can but I am done.

This is what I sent him and this is hes reply.


And by the way...it says "monitoring" not fix 24/7. It does not state I will do anything about down times caused by the owner.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Card #2 - Read Me First
From: *********  *************
Date: Wed, July 10, 2013 8:02 am
To: zif@hostedmining.com

On 7/10/2013 9:50 AM, zif@hostedmining.com wrote:
Most of my other rigs have TV. The problem with TV is that unless you have a monitor plugged into the graphics card all you get when you remote to it is the black screen. I am going to try dummy plugs but they cost money. I had to order 75 ohm resistors so I can make my own. Still in process.

Its a real pain in the ass. I know its all about ROI and profit. But I should require everyone to ship me monitors and keyboards/mice. I swear to god i spend half the day walking around moving monitors and I/O equipment.

All of this is a lot of growing pains. I have been in business for less than 60 days and while its been alittle bumpy, I am making progress. I will have it all ironed out and working smoother in the next few weeks.

Basically this falls under the category of "setup" fee. If you change the settings that I set the machine up with, it is going to cost $100 for me to fix it. Also...working on modifying what I have stated about down time and monitoring. I am here all the time(mostly) but I do have other obligations as well. If you need the machine rebooted "after hours", ...a fee, If you change the miners settings and I have to fix it, ...a fee. I am basically "open" 10 to 10. If something needs done after that or before, ...a fee. I think you can see where I am going here. While I want you to enjoy your rig to the fullest I have to set some boundaries for OCD people like you. :)
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Card #2 - Read Me First
From: ********* ************
Date: Wed, July 10, 2013 7:09 am
To: zif@hostedmining.com

Are the other rigs you have running (that don't have this problem) using
TeamViewer? If not, that could be the culprit.

I have already reverted back absolutely everything on the rig, including
ensuring that all processes are closed out, with no luck. I've even quit
using cgwatcher on it, and instead manually ran cgminer from command
line -- same thing.

The only change there should be from when it first started now is in the
cgminer.conf file, as I added a pool for FTC that has 0% fees. Past
that, everything should be just like it was.

If the other rigs do have TeamViewer, are they set up to run on Windows
startup? If not, you can close that out and see what happens (maybe it
is thinking the monitor is one monitor and the TV is a second one --
which would make sense, being that card 1 reads fine and card 2 reads
with the slower speeds).

Anyways, just throwing out ideas here...

My problem with these "fees" is that they are not stated on the site. In fact, check out this image:

https://hostedmining.com/zif33rs/images/Front_Page.png

"24 hour worker monitoring."

From here: https://www.hostedmining.com/Howitworks

"...you enjoy the following: ... 24 hour hour[sic] monitoring maximizes your worker's up-time."

Now you're saying it's 10-10... and for the record, 24 hour monitoring should be 24 hours; taking days off should not be a part of that, as that is the opposite of the site's claims.

At this point I'm just going to have to decline. Please give me your LTC and FTC addresses and I will send you all of the earnings from both rigs. I am requesting a refund under false advertising between this and previous statements that were made in the past that I was willing to let go but can no longer do. (For the record, there were no mentions of fees based on changes prior, and the only reason I even started making changes was because of the immense downtime we were facing; when I start a project I don't let it go... and have spent many hours a day researching these exact issues).

I apologize for any inconvenience caused by all of this; I was just under the impression that what was offered was what was going to be delivered. At this point it's best to just split ways.

Thank you for the opportunity though and I wish you the best of luck with your business.




zif

2 3k miners at work.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/th_20130710_200704.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/zif33/Hostedmining/20130710_200704.mp4)

Sorry to hear this zif. Feel free to hit me up if you ever want to go over some issues you have or want some suggestions.

UPDATE:  9/4/2013 08:52     Hostedmining is Moving!  I am pleased to announce that I have acquired a new hosting facility. I will have the move completed by this coming weekend.

This move is being made in conjunction with the release of a Revenue Share on LTC-GLOBAL. This investment opportunity is to expand the existing Hostedmining scrypt farm from 40 MH to over 100 MH.

Check it out here.  https://www.litecoinglobal.com/security/HOSTED-MINING



Thanks everyone for your support and patience. Enjoy and let me know what you think.  Photos and more updates to follow through out the week. 

zif

UPDATE ON HOSTEDMINING:

So apparently Joe, aka "zif33rs" lost his house that he was hosting all these machines at. He promised a new facility was coming to everyone even though he hadn't even been approved for it yet. I got messages from him late last week saying that he was "fucked" because his application for the new facility had been denied and he needed to be out of his other place basically immediately. All my hardware was taken offline on Friday in anticipation of the "big move". Now his cell phone is no longer accepting incoming calls and he's not responding to emails either. He hasn't been on bitcointalk.org since Sept. 14th either. Is there anyone else hosting with him that is in any sort of contact with him? I know he has a few other clients that are hosting a machine or two, but not sure whom exactly.

I have over $15k in equipment and cash that's in his possession and not making any money at the moment. Currently, I feel like it's all been stolen because he won't respond to me. If I don't hear back before the end of the week, I'm going to try to find what my legal options are. First, I'll have to find out where he's run off to, then next I'll have to try to reclaim my cash and hardware.

I'm not saying my stuff HAS been stolen, but right now it FEELS like it.

Joe, if you're reading this, get ahold of me and tell me what the fuck is going on.

-Moose

I've been spam emailing and calling him as well with no luck. Sending you a pm about this.

Still attempting to contact Joe at this point. No returns to emails, phone calls, texts, 800 number on his website, support tickets, anything. Last login is still Sept. 14th which is the last contact I had with him after I didn't offer to co-sign on a new lease for him.

Is there anyone in the Seattle area that would be willing to go check at this address and see if he's still there or long gone?

Joseph Councilman
8428 17th Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98106

I'm really hoping he just freaked out, shut down, and has begun to ship back parts along with an explanation letter or something. I know for a fact that he just recently got 50BTC in funding from an investor (not me) and then shut everything down a week later. I have copies of his license and him holding the signed contract as well. He may be gone from the above address, but I have enough to go after him if need be. He'll have to turn up somewhere on a new lease, and then his name will pop up in a people finder website. You do NOT steal ~$15k from me.

I have a rig with him and he's yet to contact me based on our agreement 12/sept/2013

MsCollec, you had an agreement with him started on 9/12/13?

Just to let everyone know, I have a friend in Seattle that lives not far from the address Joe has on his license. Though I don't believe he lives there anymore, I believe it to be the residence of his ex-wife and children. He's supposed to be going to knock today and try to get SOME sort of contact information for Joe (if anyone he knows does still live there). Also, the address where the miners are hosted isn't too far from downtown Seattle. My friend has business there on Wednesday, so he'll also be dropping by the address where the farm was located to see if anyone is home.

I go offshore Wednesday for roughly two weeks, but I'll keep everyone updated if anything is found out. If nothing is found out by the time I get back, I'll be contacting a lawyer to see what options there may be. I ran a partial information check on Joe from PeopleFinders.com (didn't pay for the full background check...yet). It seems maybe Joe Councilman used to be known as Joe Kremenic. I wonder why someone would have to possibly change their last name???

At this point, I'm not willing to spend the $40 on a full background check just yet, but may soon. Maybe other hostedmining.com members can chip in towards it and we'll split the cost? I -will- find Joe somehow.

Wow.

I was watching the securities thread last month when zif33rs was trying to raise funds for that big Cointerra buy.

Now that I see this thread in Services, I'm glad I didn't invest in any of his ventures. It looks like he tried to start
another one on litecoinglobal / btct.co after the first attempt was unsuccessful.

Now I guess we know why he was so eager to raise funds. He was trying to keep his house or something?
I'm sure that the investors would have been informed of that use of their funds, right?

I feel sorry for those who have assets tied up with the Silent One.

MsCollec's history reveals an even earlier date of business with zif33rs:  June 07, 2013.

cptmooseinc, I have some info that may be useful in tracking him down.

I will private message you.

No use letting the Silent One, who is reading these forums, know what is known about him.

I've actually had rigs hosted with him since late May. No signs of trouble the whole damn time. Still actively hunting Joseph Councilman.

It's looking more and more like a full background check will soon be ran, and I'll be consulting with an attorney once I return from being offshore. That is unless Joe reaches out and says something and returns my cash and hardware. I will find him otherwise, and I'll bury him through the legal system.

It seems you are one of those that needs to pile onto someone when they appear weak or unable to defend themselves...Your assumptions are false, and your insinuations only reveal to those that know whats really going on that you are a weak minded individual looking for attention and a lynch mob...You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Joe has always proven to be an honest person.....for those of you who have rigs with him or loose ends... you can PM me for more info. I have the list of customers, please don't waste your time PMing me if you are not an actual customer.

To anyone hosting with Hostedmining.com:

I just had a chat with BroadwayDraw. He revealed some personal info regarding Joe. Definitely contact him to find out more. Please do not post what you're told in this thread. BroadwayDraw does know where Joe is. As for the hardware, that remains to be seen. It will relieve you a little to talk to BWD and see his proof.

As for now, I suggest all mud-slinging cease. We all have a right to be angry (and angry still), but just chill for a bit until more is known. I believe my contract will still most likely be voided and hosting providers switched (if comparable terms can be negotiated), but let's all just step back for a second.

-Moose

It was and is very appropriate to point out these problems so that people know better than to invest in or buy from any of zif33rs' operations, like the one he tried to set up at litecoinglobal after the unsuccessful attempt with CoinTerra at btct.co.

It's most interesting that you attack personally rather than admit there have been serious problems with how zif33rs has done business. Look at the complaints in this thread. Where were you when people were trying to call and email him for what looks like over a week? Where were you while the HOSTEDMINING application still sits at litecoinglobal.com for more votes while zif33rs is not to be found?

He doesn't return, and instead someone with an unknown relationship with him shows up over a week later and claims to speak on his behalf, and the first thing they do is smear people who try to help track down a potential scammer? At the very least, we do now know it was deliberate unethical behavior, since you are here on his behalf but apparently he, you and nobody else were requested by him to directly phone/email or reply here since his disappearance.

BroadwayDraw, you and zif33rs both manifestly have a problem taking responsibility for unethical behavior.

You can say he has always been honest, but this behavior has been unethical, unless you believe that someone who holds people's assets has no obligations. Can you and zif33rs say that he fulfilled his obligations by not proactively informing people what was happening, and further remaining silent in the face of all the contact attempts by phone and email mentioned in this thread?

It's things like this that give Bitcoin a bad name. It says a lot about your lack of common decency and good will when the first response is not an apology on zif33r's behalf, but rather an attack and implying nothing wrong was done.

I don't need to waste my time further when the point of exercising judgment before investing in people with unethical behavior has been made. So if all you respond with is more irresponsible distancing of zif33rs from his actions with no explanation, I won't be replying. You should really spend your time on the issues mentioned above with zif33rs' customers and potential investors, such as withdrawing the litecoinglobal asset from voting.

I want to be clear...I am not part of Hostedmining...I only built his website as an independent contractor...just like you guys, I was wondering wtf happened to zif33rs so I started researching and I was able to find some publicly available information which allowed me to track him down...my reply to fritos was because, with the information I found...I knew that yummyfrito's assumptions were incorrect and to be frank, I cannot stand people who gossip.

I feel that the people who have assets with Hostedmining have a right to know what I found so that they have an answer as to what happened. as far as everyone else is concerned, I feel like it is up to zif33rs to decide if he wants to tell everyone what happened.


 

I want to thank everyone who's helped thus far. Let's avoid a flame war. Joe's location is known. Next step is finding the hardware. I'll try dealing with that a bit more in the couple of hours I have free every night after my 14 hour days offshore.

-Moose

He host a block eruptor for me... If you find the hardware, i wanted the block back...

I will swing by this address.  I need someone to send me his picture.  What is the list of hardware that the clients have offline right now?

+1 For the man doing the leg work!

Just because there's been pm's and statements about this (including Dalkore's own), I'm going to go ahead and let people know what's going on. I truly hope this doesn't undermine BroadwayDraw, but it's all public information so hopefully it doesn't cause an issue. I'm doing this so that people know what's happening; especially those following the situation and those that may choose to get mixed in with Joe in the future. So here we go:

Joseph is (or was) in jail. His record for this current jailing is as follows:

   
Cause No: C00767037
Court: SOUTHWEST
RCW / ORD: 46.61.502
Release Reason: Conditional release
Bail Amount: $5,000.00
Charge: FTA/DUI

Cause No: 073026791
Court: KING COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT
RCW / ORD: 9.23.010
Release Reason:
Bail Amount: $1,000.00
Charge: CONTEMPT COURT-CASH

These are from his move ("transport") on the 26th of this month. I'm a bit confused with the DUI, stating "conditional release," because his record doesn't show a release yet, but regardless, that's what has been going on as of lately. Whether this is the entire reason he's disappeared or not is not known; we just know that as of at least the last week, he's been in the jail system.

Update for anyone who cares: Joseph was released yesterday.

Release Date: 10/01/2013 17:53

any updates?  I am yet to hear anything from him

If he was released... Where is he ? ^^

He's out and been in contact with me. Supposed to talk to him tonight on the phone.

Free bump.

Great to see more services to trade e-coins!
I don't need to trade right now but I will definantly try you one time

So what's the news ?

I'm a customer of Hosted Mining.

This news is unfortunate. Can anyone confirm that they've talked to him by phone or email?
I haven't heard back from him myself.

I can confirm that I talked to Joe on 10/9/13. He's currently looking for a new place to put the rigs back up and online. All machines are currently safe in a storage unit according to him. He said he's hoping to have the farm back online by the end of October. That's only a couple of weeks away though, so I'm not sure how that's going to go. I told him to call me at least once a week to let me know the status of things. Any updates I get, I'll pass forward here.

Will be watching this thread, have an unfulfilled order that was originally placed in August... Was told multiple times via email that he was shipping the replacement parts and never got anything. Haven't heard from him in literally over a month now.

Thanks for the information ! If he can, a direct message of him here can be good...

Just texted him asking him to make an appearance and make a post. Not sure if he has internet access at the moment or not, which may be why he's not coming on. Asked him to call me soon with an update as well. Updates when I know something.

-Moose

Thanks, your work is much appreciated.

Yeah, thanks for all your work ! And i hope all going to be good for Joe.

Damn. I hope he can get those rigs back up soon.

[UPDATE]
Hi all,

I talked with Joe and he is meeting with a company to host our machines this afternoon.
Besides his personal problems, he is an honest and great guy. I trusted him with over 800+ BTC.
He just needs some time to get set back up.

I am the one who sent Joe 51.995 BTC to help him find a new place for all the Rigs.

Any tips, would be appreciated.

BTC address...

1KhYWsXSUbJ1fWi32rRby7or65v8Tzkq2C

Regards,
Shawn

Someone needs to relay to him the importance of getting back online and telling his customers what on earth is going on and what to expect moving forward.

int3r,

I think he knows. Trust me, my frustration isn't gone at all, but I'm trying to give Joe a chance here.

For sure. He seems like a decent guy from the conversations that we were able to have before all this shit happened, which is why I was so confused when he just all of a sudden disappeared lol. Hopefully everything works out :P

Any updates ?

I had to go offshore before I was able to talk with Joe. Haven't heard anything since I've been out here. Not much communication available from the platform I'm on other than some internet. Hopefully he'll email me soon or something. If not, I'll call him the day I get back in for sure! Tentatively that's November 3rd, but is subject to change.

The first time I had talked to him, he said he hoped to have something up by the end of October. I'm going to give him that amount of time and then make a decision on what to do after that seeing as how I should be back in shortly after the end of October.

-Moose

Well, this is going downhill, guys. I did a chargeback while he was in jail and provided more than enough proof he wasn't fulfilling the services he kept promising (his emails were enough to show that even prior to his jailing). He's now re-charged my credit card and is making claims that he wants the hardware "back" (the hardware that is still in his possession) and won't release the funds until I do so.

Dealing with my credit card company right now because I still have more than enough proof of this. I'm also pursuing this based on fraud at this point it looks like. I hoped to be able to just move on past it, but since he's now trying to flat out steal, I won't allow that to happen.

If anyone else is dealing with him, I highly suggest you do not keep delaying and you move on as soon as possible. As I said, the situation is going downhill fast.

Too bad, have been watching this thread and was hoping maybe he could pull something out of the hat but really starting to not look that way :/

Hey all, did anyone get the promised contract from Joe showing the services we ordered? If so, can you please let me know? I'm pursuing this further.

Ranlo, I think everyone has a slightly different contract with Joe.

As for Joe, I'm supposed to talk to him tonight hopefully. If I do, I'll post tomorrow about it.

Thanks,
-Moose

Thanks. He never sent me a contract (he promised one within 7 days of my purchase). Now his claims against me are that he mailed out everyone's packages. Apparently he has no tracking or anything for any of them, either.

When you speak to him, tell him I wanted to know what package he's expecting me to return, when he never sent out one. I've been trying to get ahold of him myself but he refuses to respond to me.

I seriously want to avoid taking this to court but I'm already preparing for it in case he ends up wanting to push this. A little ridiculous if you ask me, but I won't let this go. You don't flat out steal almost $6k from someone like this.

I'm also filing a formal report against his LLC with the state of Washington at this point.

Okey so, no more chance to get money or hardware online back ?... :/

No response to my text from Tuesday. Texted him again today. Going to make multiple attempts this evening to call him if need be. Still hoping for something.

Thanks for your efforts guys.

Good luck. He's still actively responding to anything related to my chargeback (at least to the credit card processor) but appears to be ignoring anything else. CC processor said they've had 0 issues getting ahold of him and he's disputing everything, claiming that he sent my systems to me and is still providing the service as promised originally.

For what it's worth, I still can't get ahold of him either. Looks like he'll only respond to those who are capable of taking his money back from him.

Got ahold of Joe a few days ago and just made it back around a computer to make this post. He's in talks with someone for a place. Rent has been decided but they're still supposedly trying to come to terms on lease-length. Joe wants 3 years and the landlord wants a 5 year lease. Sounds like he could have a new place to host within a week or two.

After talking with him though, I set a hard date of 12/15/13 to either have my systems fully up and running or our deal is off. Seeing as I have most of the hashing power of the company, that would mean a dissolution of the business. So if Joe can't come through with something for me (and the rest of us) by 12/15, we'll all be getting our systems back.

I'll be in contact with him early next week hopefully to see how leasing talks are going. That's all I have for now.

-Moose

Tell him to connect to bitcointalk, we news from him directly.

Seccour,

I've asked him to do as such. Right now, according to him, all computers are in storage, including his, and he doesn't have a way to connect it to the net. I'm doing what I can to keep communication flowing to everyone as best as possible. Hopefully he does get a new lease and can get online and do some explaining to everyone.

Don't kill the messenger please! :p

I have $15,000 worth of cash and equipment tied up with him, so it's not like I'm taking any of this lightly...

Again, thanks for your efforts in doing all this.

But you should relay to him that not having a PC is absolutely no excuse for not getting on these forums and posting for his clients. He can use a smartphone, go to an internet cafe or public library, the resources are endless and he owes his customers the decency of at least a few explanatory posts.

If you guys can get your equipment from him, I would be happy to offer my services hosting with a free 2 weeks to start.

And now Joe has been ignoring all phone calls and text since Thursday from me....

*sigh*

Hate it when this kind of shit happens, I was just trying to support a small crypto business and then this whole mess goes down...

His phone was shut off all day today. Now it's on and I'm calling continuously. He won't answer.

Anyone is welcome to try him and see if he'll answer:
1-206-453-8617

Call, text, anything him 24/7 until he answers or replies.

any new updates ???

No new updates. He is still not answering any calls or texts. His phone is still active because he shuts it off at night so no one can call in the middle of the night. Does anyone live near the Seattle area that could go knock on his ex-wife's door? I know her address and he HATES people going and bothering her and his kids (which live there). Maybe if we annoy them enough he'll come back out of his hole.

Something like this needs to be done if he's continually ignoring any attempts to contact him.

Still can't find Joe. I asked a friend who lives in Washington to pay a visit to his ex-wife's address. For any of you that may have friends in the Seattle area, I encourage you to do the same.

Her name is Nancy Councilman. Joe's children live with her. This is her address:

220 11th Ave N, Algona, WA, 98001-6516

I know it's legit too because Joe was upset I had sent someone there when he was locked up. Do what you will with the above information. I'm at the end of my rope right now.

Has anyone been calling/texting the number for him I posted?? Still no answers but I am hoping we can bug the shit out of him until his phone is unusable.

Also, I'm going to look for a local news channel up there that does investigative pieces and tell them the Joe story. Media loves running pieces on BTC and other cryptos when it shows people getting scammed. I'm hoping they'll find him, or at least bring a news van to his ex-wife's house and put them on blast. I'm going after her and his kids now to get him to come out of the bushes.

Do whatever you have to. What he is doing / has done is completely unacceptable and he needs to see the ramifications of treating your paying customers like dirt and running off with their money and products.

Wow are there ANY legit mining groups anymore? seems mining bitcoin has gone from "Mining" to "scamming"

Do what you want guys, but he have to be judge.

I pretty much have the same issue as everyone else here against Hostedmining. Joe has not responded to multiple e-mails or voice mails I have left for him. While I didn't initially realize he was in jail for a bit, I know he is out now and should be responding to people and at least let them know what is going on. I mean after his recent legal issues you would think the last thing he would want is to be charged with theft, which will only compound his problems a whole lot. I mean you can't just hold people's property and ignore them and think that is acceptable.

One other avenue everyone might consider is going to www.ic3.gov and filing a complaint. It's a website setup by the government to submit Internet based crimes and supposedly they will refer the complaint to the appropriate law enforcement agency. If enough people submit a complaint against Hostedmining I am sure it will get their attention.

One last note is that my mining rig that Hostedming has suddenly came back online on 13 Dec so apparently Joe has at least some of our equipment back in his possession. I was able to remote in and get the IP address and the DNS hostname. The DNS server was owned by Charter Communications and located in Wenatchee, WA. While this doesn't mean he's actually in that city he is probably in that general area. If law enforcement contacts Charter they can tell them the exact physical address of the IP address. I sent all of that in my report to ic3.gov so hopefully they will do something with it. On a side note I noticed he was using my rig to mine for his personal LTC account.

Wow Xavier, can you post which address these LTC are going to?

I will file a report today on Hostedmining. Joe's probably hoping to cash in on the high prices for his own benefit then try to come out with some story and get his customers back.

He actually is in Wenatchee, WA though. That's where he went to with his camper after getting out of jail. He was looking for leases in that city. He probably got one and is now getting miners set up to profit for his own gain.

I've called the Wenatchee PD to file a report on this. An officer should be returning my call soon. If anyone has relevant information on Joe, please PM it to me. Xavier, I've already PMed you for more info.

-Moose

Wow. After reading this thread like a novel, I genuinely thought Joe would get things back up and running again after prison. Seemed genuine, and someone reliable. Really hope you guys manage to track down your assets and get hold of them again.

Should probably post this on /r/bitcoin too, and maybe some other places. His site is still up and people may still be ordering! I was going to suggest contacting his web host, but that appears to be GoDaddy. So good luck.

Yep best of luck to all, I can't believe it came to this... He seemed like a great guy but this sort of shit is unacceptable.

At least everyone here has his ID and all the information they need about him. That's a great asset to have any time you are doing business such as this. I believe everything will be resolved for everyone in the end through Joe eventually forfeiting the assets or the law seizing them.

I'm just sad to hear that all this bad-ass Litecoin mining gear has simply went to waste when it was paying out at it's prime!! That's a damn shame.

Hope everything ends well for you guys.

Still no word from the police. Running out of ideas now. I can only hope a new address shows up in his public files that you can buy on the Internet. At this point, I'd love to just find an obituary on this piece of shit. I'm not giving up on finding him, but I wish some of you other customers would help. If I post the case number, will you call the Wenachee PD as well and file a separate report and reference my case number to be included in yours?

Have you all given up?! This mother fucker has to be out there somewhere. Does no one have friends around Seattle?

Maybe when he felt that people has given up, he will resurface.

Mailing a letter to Nancy Councilman today. Hopefully she still lives at that address and will call or respond to me.

Has anyone heard of any changes? I am new to the cpt currency game and on the advice of a friend bought two GPUs from this website. It still says processing so does anyone know of any way that I would be able to cancel my order and get my money back? I have also emailed and called this website several times but as you all may know, have had zero responses. I feel lost and am unsure of what my course of action should be. I think I am going to try my bank and see if they can dispute the charges on my behalf being that this website is obviously fraudulent website. any information would be great.

UPDATE: I have contacted paypal and they are going to pursue the seller and if they cannot find him they will pay me back what I am owed and then personally go after him themselves.

Did you just bought this GPUs recently??  He has stopped responding to calls and emails since last year

I'm still hunting this guy. No new information on any people finder tools just yet. I'm mailing out a letter to a PO Box that may be his and another letter to his wife. Also e-mailed his dad's email again I learned from a previous tip late last year. Is there ANYONE who can help me find this POS?

Seems like zif33rs is back with his new scam!

MsCollec et al.,

Would like to clarify that the HostedMining.com domain name is now owned and operated by us (CryptoNames.com (http://CryptoNames.com)). The previous owner let the domain name expire and we purchased it at auction. Would be happy to provide evidence regarding our claims of ownership and answer any questions that anybody may have. Hopefully, it is evident that we have no affiliation with zif33rs, nor is the new HostedMining.com anything even remotely similar to the old; as our service is 100% free and community based  ;)

HostedMining.com (http://HostedMining.com) is a 100% free community-based service that we have built to help crypto currency miners research and find the best places to host their mining hardware. Consumer reviews, interactive map and directory, pricing information, and more for crypto currency hosted mining (colocation) services.

Best,

CryptoNames.com

I've contacted a Private Investigator in Seattle. He now has all the information on Joe that I have. It's going to cost me $65/hr to use his services, but from what I've found online about him, he's pretty damn good.

If I'm able to locate Joe's whereabouts through this PI, I will share it freely on this thread. I will post a donation address though after I get the final bill if Joe is located to hopefully get donations from any victims if the information proves helpful in recouping losses associated with this.

The PI even said if he locates Joe, he will go try and see him and demand the equipment be turned over to him in its entirety right then and there. Otherwise, the legal route we go!

Thanks everyone,
Moose

The PI had located Joe at his Algona residence that he owns. The investigator spoke with Joe and he refused to talk and refused to give a phone number. I will be contacting the company's attorney tomorrow to talk about pursuing a civil suit. I will inquire about whether or not multiple people can join in. If any of you are interested please PM me.

I've spent $200 on the PI already. I have no idea what the lawyer will cost. $15000 worth of computer equipment and loans is worth pursuing. I hope some of you with systems with him will contact me and we can pursue this together to take this bastard down.