10x Overcharged: How One Business Paid $3,500 for $350 Worth of Web Services

A previous client hired me to refresh his pharmacy's website. What I discovered during the build process was a masterclass in how good businesses get trapped by predatory web services.

Steve had worked with me before on his online course platform, Healthy Profits for Pharmacies. So when he and Marian, his head of marketing, needed a website refresh for their pharmacy, Irsfeld Pharmacy, he knew who to call.

They were paying Hibu $235/month for web services and also had a FatCow account where "the emails live." They wanted to consolidate and modernize, so we decided to build a fresh new site on SiteGround - faster, more secure, and significantly cheaper.

I built them a beautiful new website, and everything was ready to launch. But when it came time to point their domain to the new hosting, that's when the real problem emerged.

We couldn't access the domain.

Nobody knew who actually controlled irsfeldpharmacy.com. Steve thought he owned it. The registrar had no record of him. ICANN complaints went nowhere.

What should have been a simple DNS change turned into a 6-hour digital forensics investigation. And during that investigation, I discovered something shocking: FatCow wasn't just hosting their email - they were charging for SSL certificates, domain privacy protection, site backups, security services, and other add-ons that duplicated what Hibu was already providing. Worse yet, many of these services were completely unnecessary or grossly overpriced.

What was really deceptive was that both also included "SEO" and "marketing". However, it was really simply listing the site with Google.

In Hibu's case, it included "analytics," which were essentially a watered-down version of Google Analytics. And yet, when leaving Hibu, it couldn't be accessed anymore - so not only was all content not easily transferable, but analytics were also tied to their platform!

Total hijacking.

In the wake of discovering they were spending more than $3,500 per year on their website alone, we recommended SiteGround Hosting as a TOTAL replacement to save them $3,196.

Let me put this in perspective: they were paying over $3,500 per year for web services that could be handled by a single $350 hosting account.

But here's what really made me angry: FatCow was charging $112 for an SSL certificate that SiteGround includes for free. They were charging $53.84 per email account for basic storage. They were billing $18.99 for "directory submission" services that duplicated Hibu's SEO work.

This wasn't just overpricing. This was systematic exploitation.

As I dug deeper into Steve's FatCow payment history, the scope of the exploitation became clear.

Over the years, he had paid FatCow $6,983.48 for services that should have cost a fraction of that amount.

The most egregious charges:

• $372.09 for SSL certificates across five separate payments (something SiteGround includes for free)

• $869.95 for "Exchange Basic" email over five payments

• $303.31 for basic email storage across 12 payments

• $373.68 for SiteLock security, duplicating what Hibu was already providing

• $113.94 for "SubmitNet Basic Submission" - that $18.99/year directory submission service

The pattern was clear: take basic web services that should cost $20-50/year and charge $100-400 for the same thing. Bundle them with confusing names. Lock customers into multi-year contracts.

When we tried to get prorated refunds for the duplicate and unnecessary services, FatCow's response was swift and final: "We don't issue prorated refunds for any cancellations."

Steve and Marian were trapped. Looking at their active contracts:

• Site Backups and Restore: Locked until September 2027

• The FatCow Plan: Locked until September 2027

• SiteLock Essentials: Locked until September 2027

That's over $800 locked up until 2027 for services they don't need, can't use, and can't get refunded.

Meanwhile, the superior website I'd built sat unused on SiteGround because we couldn't access their domain to point it to the new hosting.

This pharmacy's story isn't unique - it's epidemic. Here are the warning signs that you might be getting fleeced:

Pricing Red Flags:

• Monthly hosting fees over $50 for basic business websites

• Separate charges for SSL certificates (these should be included)

• Email accounts costing more than $10-15/month each

• "Security services" that cost hundreds per year

• Multiple bills for what should be bundled services

Contract Red Flags:

• Multi-year commitments for basic hosting services

• No prorated refund policies

• Inability to easily export your website or email

• Difficulty getting clear explanations of what you're paying for

• Automatic renewals for services you don't remember purchasing

Control Red Flags:

• You don't have direct access to your domain registrar account

• You can't easily change hosting providers

• Your web company owns your domain "for convenience"

• You receive no annual statements or clear service breakdowns

Behind these numbers is a family pharmacy that has served its community for years. Steve and Marian are good people who trusted professionals to handle their web services fairly. Instead, they've been systematically overcharged for basic services while being locked into contracts they can't escape.

This isn't just about money (though $3,500 per year could have provided staff bonuses, upgraded their pharmacy systems, or supported community health programs).

This is about the erosion of trust between service providers and the small businesses that form the backbone of our communities.

When was the last time you audited your digital expenses?

If you're paying more than $500/year for basic business web services (hosting, domain, email), you might be in a similar situation. If you can't easily explain what each charge on your hosting bill covers, you're probably overpaying.

The pharmacy that should be paying $350/year for web services is instead bleeding money to companies that refuse to let them go. Don't let your business become the next victim.

Want to learn what happened next with Irsfeld Pharmacy? Check out this article to learn how the domain ownership mystery unfolded, revealing a web of subsidiary companies and communication failures that nearly cost Irsfeld Pharmacy its online presence entirely.