Account hostage situation – 10 days of circular verification, lost time, and zero resolution

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ (1/5)

Review:

I am writing this review after an exhausting, week-long struggle with TrueHost's support team that has still not been fully resolved. This is not about a minor glitch—it is about a company holding my business domain hostage behind an inaccessible email address and refusing to apply common sense to verify my identity.

Background: I hold two domains registered with TrueHost South Africa: foundersuh2.co.za (my business) and Dendarmotors.co.za. My registered email address was a Proton Mail account which, for reasons outside my control, became permanently blocked and inaccessible. I opened a ticket requesting a simple change of contact email to my current, accessible Gmail address (***). I provided my full contact details, company name, physical address, phone number, and all domain names.

The nightmare that followed: Over multiple chat sessions spanning more than a week, I was repeatedly asked to provide an OTP sent to the very email address I had just told them I cannot access. I explained this clearly, every time. Support agents would ask me to confirm my registered email, but then refuse to tell me what address they had on file “for privacy reasons,” leaving me to guess in the dark.

When I eventually identified the likely blocked Proton address, I was told an OTP would be sent there. I reminded them that address is blocked. They sent it anyway. The cycle continued—agent after agent, including Zola, would promise an OTP to my accessible Gmail, then switch back to needing verification from the blocked Proton address or a variant I never registered. At one point, a verification code did arrive at my Gmail and was accepted, only for the agent to then demand another OTP from the blocked Proton address before proceeding. This circular, illogical process left me screaming at my screen in frustration.

I spent over 90 minutes in a single chat on the night of 27 May 2026, begging for help, only to be met with stonewalling. I was eventually told the chat would be closed because I didn't reply fast enough. The lack of initiative, empathy, or problem-solving was staggering.

The aftermath: I lost more than a week of control over my business domain. I couldn't update my website, couldn't set up professional email, and lost actual income and credibility while TrueHost’s support hid behind a broken process. No supervisor intervened. No alternative verification was offered (for example, confirming the last payment amount, showing my ID, or verifying domain ownership via DNS). Just the same robotic demand for an OTP to an email I had declared inaccessible from the very first message.

What I want:

Immediate update of my account email to the one I have provided.

A formal, written apology from a manager.

A review of the support process that allows an account holder who has lost access to their email to verify their identity via reasonable alternative means.

I have been a paying customer, and I am treated like a threat. This is the worst customer service experience I have had in over 20 years of running businesses. I will be posting this review on HelloPeter, ****edOff Consumer, and other platforms unless the matter is resolved within 24 hours.

Name: Mohamed Rashid Kajee Domain: foundersuh2.co.za Support ticket references: Multiple WhatsApp chats with Zola and others