How NOT to Handle Customers

[Vin DSL]

I figured ppl might get a kick out of this dialog...

I was looking at a thread concerning ProFTPD - officially the worst POS FTP server software I have ever used - when I ran across this. I find this 'ticket' interesting on two accounts - further proof that ProFTPD sucks, and how NOT to treat your "cherished" customers.

NOTE: JagPC tech support listened to 'our' complaints concerning ProFTPD, and recently starting installing PureFTPd on all their servers - effectively going from the worst FTP server software to one of the best...

digitalfoo.com
30-9-2003-7:33

For the second day in a row I am having trouble connecting to the server.. and my website. Yesterday for about 2 hours (that I know of) the server load was outrageous. At one point it was above 50 (via uptime). Three user processes running proftp [sic] had brought the server to a crawl. Finally the server came to a standstill and it was rebooted.

Today.. the same thing .. shona84 trashing the server with proftp [sic] processes. Periodically the website disappears off the face of the earth and I can't get to it at all. Either something will have to be done about this or I will seek a host elsewhere.

domain is www.digitalfoo.com on hic2.kazserv.com

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hostitcheap.com
User/Staff Follow-ups
Support
30-9-2003-8:39

We have a number servers that handle hosting for customers. What is your domain name or username.. so we can look up the server you are on. We are aware of issues with proftpd... There seems to be a recent bug it that is effecting many servers on the Internet. We are keeping a close eye on all our servers..

You may cancel your service at any time.. We do not require any commitment.. Which means you can cancel at any time whenever you desire... Of course we cherish our customers and try our best to please them, but you can't please everyone now can you? :-)

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digitalfoo.com
30-9-2003-9:33

server is hic2.kazserv.com
domain is digitalfoo.com
--Of course we cherish our customers and try our best to
-- please them, but you can't please everyone now can you? :-)
No.. but u could actually try to without being rude. I don't think trying to connect to my site is asking too much considering that is the service you are selling. I was just trying to give u guys a heads up about a problem and then I get this attitude???

btw .. looks like someone logged on and killed the processes.

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hostitcheap.com
User/Staff Follow-ups
Support
30-9-2003-9:37

Exactly, there was no need to threaten us of cancellation.. :-)
-
Hence that statement.
-
What is your domain name so we can figure out which server you are referring too.

[OMG!!! What idiots!!! Bwahahaha! - Vin DSL]


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digitalfoo.com
30-9-2003-10:37

EDIT TICKET CLOSED BY USER
Too rude for me.. I'll take your advice and cancel my account.

Bottom line.. hostitcheap.com sucks.

So, there you have it! Next time you get pissed at JagPC tech support, come back and re-read this message...

[jason]

LOL...reminds me of the host that some friends of mine were using when they first started their business. The hosting was great for a few months and then the ftp server (I don't know if it was ProFTP or not, but I think it was a CPanel site) completely failed. They contacted support (daily) and were told it was being worked on. After about a week they were told that FTP was not a "priority sevice" and that it would be repaired within 30 days! They changed hosts the same day. The original host dried up and disappeared shortly after.

--Jason

[JPC-Greg]

The problem is that any run of the mill net user these days thinks they can be a host. Unfortunately with cpanel they are only further encouraged and try to do it without a lick of experience or admin skills.

Above is the result, they pass the client a bunch of BS until cpanel can come to their resuce with some half baked bug fix to help all the wanna be admins.

If you dont know how to admin its no big deal to admit. Many places, such as ourselves, offer managed services for dedicated clients to cover those aspects. With us providing managed services for some clients, we have really become a host for hosts.

[Vin DSL]

Originally posted by Jag
The problem is that any run of the mill net user these days thinks they can be a host... they pass the client a bunch of BS...

Here's another good one for you (from today)...

Yes, we were offline for a short period while our previous hosting company decided to not pay his server bill of over $1,200 and get servers from another company that is cheaper.

While I have no problem with someone trying to save some money, I do have a problem with someone screwing his clients out of files, data, and money because he just felt like being cheap. And no he gave no warning to any of his clients or even his partner.

If you happen to run accross EliteWebServers stay a long way awy from them unless you want your site to get screwed by your host!

In case you are wondering just who to avoid:
EliteWebServers.net
Wesley Smith (Seven@Elite-Clan.net)
+1.5034199792
Fax: +1.5034199792
20060 Sw York St
Aloha, OR 97006
US

This person has no problem entering into agreements and breaking on a whim. He is dishonest, a liar, and several other things I can not print.

I've gotten some emails (I'm surprised they got thru before the domain is resolving) on the new site account asking for more information.

then I went to his support forums to see what he was telling people about this outage. After seeing his posts I posted what's going on with that server. It's no surprise that he deleted it and is now saying that it was all misinformation. He is hoping to cover his tracks as the mounting tide is against him in hopes of saving the business he himself has destroyed.

Long story short is that this is the 2nd time the server was unplugged for non-payment in the past two months. Other outages occured when server software was "Upgraded" incorrectly. This server has been down no less then 6 time in the past 6 months. Each time it went down we could count on 3 to 7 days without our sites and/or email.

MoreInfo:
Here are a few sites that have affected by this server unpluggin:
The Sci-Factor (http://www.the-sci-factor.net)
NukeScripts Central(http://www.nukescripts.net)
PHPNukeFiles (http://www.phpnukefiles.com)
NSN-Nuke Official Homepage (http://www.nsnnuke.org)
ArchAngelArtifacts (http://archangelartifacts.com)

If your site has/is/was affected by this please list them in the comments. If you were on the ill fated server you would have seen xeon1.elitewebservers.net in cpanel as your server and now you should see xeon3.elitewebservers.net as your server. You would have been on a quad Xeon server and would now be on a single cpu (possibly a Xeon) server.