Thanks for all the help guys!
Got to admit though, ti ended up being file permissions anyways

I had a long "talk" with the hosting provider who finally figured out after like 45 minutes that yes, the directories were not 777 and no I couldn't change them, whenever I did they would always revert back!
Anyways, its all running well now - looking forward to using Joomdle!
Thanks again for your help Antonio and Chris!
Jon