WILLITS, Ca., 6/20/24 – There’s been talk for weeks about the imminent demise of Willits Online, an internet provider headquartered in Willits that provides service to Willits, Brooktrails, Laytonville, Covelo, Boonville, Potter and Redwood valleys, and other areas of the county. A sign on the door read that the office was closed temporarily, but service continued. Emails to the business went unanswered, phone messages from customers ignored. But the willitsonline.com website remained active, customer email services remained intact, and the residential and business internet connections continued.
While this may sound wild to most, this was not the first time Willits Online confused customers with its business operations. Over the years, Willits Online customers have grown accustomed to the company’s eccentric practices, such as the business not renewing its SSL certificate or the website contracting a cold on Friday that could not be cleared up until someone arrived at the office on Monday. People managed because internet alternatives are few, and when the office was staffed, a real, live, friendly person answered your technical or billing questions.
Then, on Sunday, June 16, the death knells drummed harder when Willits Online owner Mike Ireton sent a letter to customers saying that all services “are canceled effective immediately.” That seemed final, but people still had internet and email access. Was this news from Ireton real or not? But on Thursday, June 20, the final blow fell when voices on Facebook groups announced that they had lost their internet. Telephone calls to the office are now answered by a robo voice saying: “The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try your call again later.”
The letter that Ireton sent to Willits Online subscribers is below. The Voice will continue to update this story and chronicle how the closure is impacting inland Mendocino residents.
Dear Customers,
I regret to say that due to recent incidents, WillitsOnline is no longer able to continue as a service provider business in Mendocino County. No further payments are expected or required, all services are canceled effective immediately.
A competitor, with whom we previously had good faith negotiations with concerning a potential merger, illegally secured access to our confidential trade secrets and customer contact data, and used this information to transmit false and misleading messages directly to our subscribers, claiming we are going out of business and that everyone should switch to this competitor before it was too late. It is unfortunate that despite the message being wholly untrue, [it] has manifested the desired effect and has caused a crisis of confidence in our subscribers, leading directly to a cascade of customer losses which has now made the business unable to continue, while this competitor benefits financially from its dishonest and unethical actions.
As a public statement of fact, I, as the owner of the company, have been medically and mentally incapacitated at various levels and seeking to make business changes for the benefit of my health and the future stability of the service, and have kept the true details from everyone, including my formerly trusted staff. I have invested 22 years of my life in fostering this business and have tolerated all manner of embezzlement, theft, sabotage, dishonesty, pettiness and more. The issues now, however, with the catastrophic loss of subscribers, is simply more than I and the business of WillitsOnline are able to effectively address and recover from, and for this I am truly sorry.
To be clear, there will be a process to investigate and address the incident and ensure that all due justice is metered [sic] out to the responsible parties, and that any customer injury is duly addressed. Beyond that statement however, it is premature and inappropriate to provide further details or speculate about pending or planned future actions.
I wish to thank you for enabling me to have done something for the past 22 years that has truly been enjoyable, challenging, rewarding and the fulfillment of my teenage dreams. For those who have been there to see my evolution and to know the back story, and who supported me, thank you too.
Mike Ireton
Owner, Founder, President
Tiedye Networks, Willits Online, Your Town Online
May 5, 2002 – June 16, 2024
How does this tie into Pacific Internet closing the same day, I wonder?
The two events are related. This will be explored in a future article.
Mike owns both of them
I had a look at the closing notice online.
It doesn’t make any sense; it’s not a coherent explanation. Something about all of this stinks.