I ordered a server from them and decided to cancel it a few days after (due to poor technical support and others technical problems), they didn't send me a confirmation but disconnected the server, so I assume they did receive my cancellation request...
But their billing department keeps billing my credit card ($250)..

So,
1) don't go with burstnet, they have a really poor technical support and a poor billing department.
2) If you choose to go with them, when you cancel your account, don't forget to cancel your credit card too or they will keep billing you.

MOD EDIT:

Please keep your language to proper english and refrain from cursing. Next time, I won't bother editing your post.

<< stu·pid (stpd, sty-)
adj. stu·pid·er, stu·pid·est

1.Slow to learn or understand; obtuse.
2.Tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes.
3.Marked by a lack of intelligence or care; foolish or careless: a stupid mistake.
4.Dazed, stunned, or stupefied.
5.Pointless; worthless: a stupid job. >>


Sure, we are human and capable of billing mistakes...
Have you even bothered to contact our billing dept and requested them to correct the issue for you?...or did you just decide to post here because our billing staff checks the forums in between every credit card transaction? :-(
How about contacting the people that can help you correct the mistake, instead of assuming we did it on purpose!

Sean R
BurstNET

I have to agree with Sean on this one , Burst promptly refunded my money when I decided to cancel my account with them . Their Billing dept even called me to make sure it was a valid cancellation .
They credited my credit card inside of three days (same standard I use for my clients ) .
Burst may have some issues but I don't believe refunds are one of them .

Did you even attempt to contact them by phone ?

Am I the only one whom is tired of Burst trying to turn the problem around on complaints by blaming the other party’s?

Additionally I am also tired of reading the smart-ass remarks they post in an attempt to belittle the poster.

Grow up and act more professional Burst!

-BW

I also agree with Sean! Contact the host first, then post here if you DO NOT get a reponse, people seem to think if they post here they are threatning the host etc...

:D maybe the customers should grow up a little and act more professional :)

Originally posted by BW
Am I the only one whom is tired of Burst trying to turn the problem around on complaints by blaming the other party’s?

Additionally I am also tired of reading the smart-ass remarks they post in an attempt to belittle the poster.

Grow up and act more professional Burst!

-BW

We have a widget here that is not working how I wanted it to.
I keep fiddling with it and don't know how to use it right, and it keeps breaking.
Maybe I don't know how to use it fully, and am playing around with it to see what works and doesn't.
I am entitled to my opinion, and to play with my product, which is my right as a Widget Company client.
I figured I would post a complaint here and see if Widget Company fixes it and refunds my money.
I haven't bothered to contact the Widget Company directly for a refund...
I think I will bypass the Widget Company credit/billing dept and ask for my refund direct from the readers of this forum.

The readers of this forum can send me my refund directly to:

Sean Rosler
PO Box #400
Bloomsburg, PA 17815-0400
USA

OK, I am "Predator", this is my other username, and it seems that I have been banned by a moderator (why ??) I can not post anymore with my other username so I will use this one instead.

I already contacted burstnet billing dept before posting something here and I did not receive any reply from them that's why I posted here.

If you did not get any response at all, it is possible they did not get your email
OR
they sent it to you and you did not get the response back...
This may be due to various reasons, including dns still active and the email getting routed locally, rather than you hnew host.

Whatever the reason, try calling them at 1-877-BURSTNET Ext #20 Mon-Fri 10AM-5PM EST, if email is not workig for you.

Sean R.
BurstNET

Originally posted by 2001
I already contacted burstnet billing dept before posting something here and I did not receive any reply from them that's why I posted here.

How long did you wait for a response?

Here is once again my case in point of Burst posting smart-ass remarks they post in an attempt to belittle the poster.

While I agree clients should work things out with a company first to resolve an issue, far to many people are posting these things stating they have done so with little responce..

My whole point is just for Burst to act more professional. The appropriate responce I would have expected is as follows.

XXXXX,

I would like to start off apologizing for any problems and or confusion you may have incurred. It is our policy to refund etc etc…

On your behalf I have spoken to our billing department and will be contacting you via email in regards to the problem, which occurred, and how we will resolve it.

Again sorry for any trouble we might have caused you, and we are sorry you no longer wish to host with us.

MyName,

Wishing you the best in your online ventures!

----

Thats how I feel a professional company would have handled this, but then again what do I know from my my business degree....

Originally posted by BurstNET
We have a widget here that is not working how I wanted it to.
I keep fiddling with it and don't know how to use it right, and it keeps breaking.
Maybe I don't know how to use it fully, and am playing around with it to see what works and doesn't.
I am entitled to my opinion, and to play with my product, which is my right as a Widget Company client.
I figured I would post a complaint here and see if Widget Company fixes it and refunds my money.
I haven't bothered to contact the Widget Company directly for a refund...
I think I will bypass the Widget Company credit/billing dept and ask for my refund direct from the readers of this forum.

The readers of this forum can send me my refund directly to:

Sean Rosler
PO Box #400
Bloomsburg, PA 17815-0400
USA

I dont think calling a company names would solve any of your problems.
I am sure a simple phone call would have fixed the problem.

I'm not going to say much.

But generally companies should be proactive rather than reactive.

TQM.

Thats how I feel a professional company would have handled this, but then again what do I know from my my business degree....
I agree completely! In fact, I may just copy that fake letter and use it myself...until someone decides my letter looks too much like someone elses letter and starts a whole thread about it.

Sean, I don't wanna be a jackass, but I think the reason people jump on you (EVEN when you are right, and you are this time!) is because the tone that is picked up from your writing. I just seems like your pissed off and mad and everbody you talk to. Which maybe you are, but you certainly don't want the some 20,000 people who read this board to think that, because that has to be horrible publicity. Read your posts and maybe you will pick up on it. Anyway I wish you the best.:cool:

Sean
I want to echo ckizer's sentiments in saying that I don't want to be a jackass either. However...you aren't a commissioned sales person are you? I would guess you make the same every week whether you make the sale or not. Am I right?

Originally posted by MattF
I'm not going to say much.

But generally companies should be proactive rather than reactive.

TQM.

That is sooooo true. What I don't understand is,
- why isn't BW banned?

Am i going to be banned for agreeing with matt too??

geez
my two cents.

Originally posted by ckizer
Sean, I don't wanna be a jackass, but I think the reason people jump on you (EVEN when you are right, and you are this time!) is because the tone that is picked up from your writing. I just seems like your pissed off and mad and everbody you talk to. Which maybe you are, but you certainly don't want the some 20,000 people who read this board to think that, because that has to be horrible publicity. Read your posts and maybe you will pick up on it. Anyway I wish you the best.:cool:

Burst could choose to never come to this board or what if they never had? There are hosts that have never came to this board and its just not the place to expect a host to respond for support or "host to client" issues.
If you need a response you should always use the proper methods that your host tells you to use.

At the same time if you are a host that intends on responding to your clients in a public forum you should always practice professionalism. And since a persons tone can not be easily relayed in a post or email its always good to be straight forward and drop any sarcasim.

Just my 2 cents!

This is probably not BurstNET's fault... customer just wanting to rant.

BUT.... BurstNET should be acting much more professional, and giving the meaning of stupid is not professional at all.

Right I have no problem with hosts defending themselves if they feel some one is posting inaccurate data. As I do not know the circumstances of all the posts dealing with them I cannot say who is in the right but I can say the way in which responses have been posted by Burst leave much to be desired.

For instance a basic principle in Business school lies in treating customers who are leaving with the highest of care. This is done to insure that if they have problems with the new provider they moved to they would hopefully remember you and think about using you again. Clearly not all companies go along these principles.

But more importantly when you treat customers or past customers with disrespect such as has been done (either in public forums, or via email) not only are you practicing bad business techniques, but you look disrespectful. In turn this makes you look bad to future customers.

I guess what I am trying to say is that you should put more thought into being curt, as you do in being witty. By no means is Burst the only one guilty of this, but they seem to stick out the most to me at least.

Again with the lack of one to one conversation on the net peoples intentions can be misinterpreted easily, but when you define the definition of stupidity about a customer of yours in an open forum I just consider that way over the line..

Sorry for my rant but I hope it has made the aforementioned people think more in the future.

-BW

We have nothing but good things to say about BurstNET.

There are people who have great things to say about crack too..irrelevant to the discussion of whether Bursts professionalism was lacking here. I for one agree it probably is the guys fault for not calling - but belittling him without even knowing if he had contacted sales would not be tolerated in my company. Sean gets paid to cruise forums and they may offer him that latitude at Burst - which makes it a reflection on Bursts professionalism and attitude towards clients as well.

My .02 - People post these things here because they know they'll get action - the more scathing the quicker the response. Burst conducts business here and customers know it and post specifically to get action. You make your bed you lie in it too - personally I think you'd be better served by a standard response in 90% of the cases here - call 800-xxx-xxxx and they can help you, we do not perform support in the forums.

Originally posted by marksy
we do not perform support in the forums.

And why not? Do you have something to hide?
Offering help in a public or customer only forum shows what you as a host are made off and other people learn from the help that is provided.

Making your customers smarter helps you too. But then again, some people want other people to stay stupid so they can stay in control. Some governments act like this too ;)

Originally posted by Domenico


And why not? Do you have something to hide?
Offering help in a public or customer only forum shows what you as a host are made off and other people learn from the help that is provided.

What he means is support in forums outside the host's own site or support forum. There used to be a rule at this forum, in fact, that it was not to be used to address support issues with a particular host. I see that rule has somehow vanished in the last iteraion of the rules, but I see another one that pleases me greatly and would please me more if people actually bothered to follow it:

"Equally, you may not respond by asking members to contact you about your services in your reply or ask the member to move the thread to the advertising forum, as has been sneakily happening recently. You should presume that threads have been started in correct forum unless otherwise indicated, and that such members are looking for users with past experiences rather than a string of sales pitches. If it is clear the thread would be more suited to the advertising forum where companies can reply, then the moderators will contact to the thread starter to clarify this."

Nothing more annoying than seeing someone post a simple question and then get bombarded with "move this to the advertising forum so people can make offers!".

OK, so a slightly off topic rant. But the first part is still within the bounds of this thread. :)

Mods, was that piece of the rule regarding support removed deliberately, or did it just fall through on the rewrite?

Originally posted by Domenico
And why not? Do you have something to hide?
Offering help in a public or customer only forum shows what you as a host are made off and other people learn from the help that is provided.

Making your customers smarter helps you too. But then again, some people want other people to stay stupid so they can stay in control. Some governments act like this too ;)

I agree with your last point. Helping your customers by explaining the problem, and offering verbose solutions does make them 'smarter' ... erm, at least till you started on government control via keeping the masses uneducated :rolleyes:

The point of marksy's post however was that WHT isn't a place for a host to provide individual support for their own customers. It's not applicable. It *is* the correct place to post generalized questions and answers relating to the industry. A hosts own support channels are where questions about a customer's account should go, not here. I presume this is what you really meant in your post having read it carefully. I would suggest you do the same yourself before firing off the hip regarding someone else's post.

In a lot of cases people who speak a european language other than english as their native tongue tend to sound more 'aggressive' than they mean too - it's just a syntax thing. From the location in your handle I suppose this is the reason you tend to rub people the wrong way sometimes.

For those of us who speak english as our first tongue the rash of aggressive responses lately is a little disturbing. Sean may be 'top of the pile', but I've seen it elsewhere in people that I used to have a lot of respect for in the way they handled people in a public forum. Whether it's stress, or whatever, I'd like to suggest that some people step back from their keyboards, and take a few deep breaths before they hit the reply button.

Greg Moore

Akashik,

woah, seems your catching up to Tim with the longest posts :D
Originally posted by akashik


I agree with your last point. Helping your customers by explaining the problem, and offering verbose solutions does make them 'smarter' ... erm, at least till you started on government control via keeping the masses uneducated :rolleyes:

The point of marksy's post however was that WHT isn't a place for a host to provide individual support for their own customers. It's not applicable. It *is* the correct place to post generalized questions and answers relating to the industry. A hosts own support channels are where questions about a customer's account should go, not here. I presume this is what you really meant in your post having read it carefully. I would suggest you do the same yourself before firing off the hip regarding someone else's post.

In a lot of cases people who speak a european language other than english as their native tongue tend to sound more 'aggressive' than they mean too - it's just a syntax thing. From the location in your handle I suppose this is the reason you tend to rub people the wrong way sometimes.

For those of us who speak english as our first tongue the rash of aggressive responses lately is a little disturbing. Sean may be 'top of the pile', but I've seen it elsewhere in people that I used to have a lot of respect for in the way they handled people in a public forum. Whether it's stress, or whatever, I'd like to suggest that some people step back from their keyboards, and take a few deep breaths before they hit the reply button.

Greg Moore

Ahh rubbish :D

Tim's are still at least 3-4 times as long as that one...Just think yourself lucky I didn't have a few drinks in me, or you'd still be reading *lol*

Greg Moore

Originally posted by Annette
Mods, was that piece of the rule regarding support removed deliberately, or did it just fall through on the rewrite?

I'm sure it was accidentally left off. I rewrote the guidelines, someone else rewrote them again, and I'm not going to bother with it personally. Email admin@webhostingtalk.com for any change requests re: this.

As to the other thing you mentioned, I remove too many of these 'post this in the Ad. Forum' posts per day, it is annoying, but it could be a whole 'nuther thread. Report it, and we'll leave a message asking them if they want to move it, but otherwise, like the guidelines say, assume it is postied in the correct forum.

Chicken, I wasn't denigrating the work of the mods. I wouldn't want to do the job you guys do, after all. It was just an observation in relation to the whole support issue.

Relax! No one wants to see a stressed Chicken! :)

Originally posted by Annette
Relax! No one wants to see a stressed Chicken! :)
You get stringy meat for starters... :D :D


Actually just would like to say thanks to the MOD's for their hard work and helpful suggestions.. makes for an interesting forum that I seem to be addicted to of late... :eek3: :)

I agree, these forums should be primarily to help people. I really do not understand why exactly Burst even replies to this forum. It seems that lately 60-70% of the posts are negative about Burst. I can understand defending your company and all, but why not start directing these type of issues to Burst's customer service or customer retention department? Why don't you handle this correctly Sean?

I was went after for making a comment about Burst about a month ago because I have not been a customer of them, so I do not have first-hand experience. However, I do read these posts as well as many other people. My impression of them is not too good and this is most likely why they get harassed.

People have come on here before and whined and complained about Burst or in some cases just wanted to pick a fight. Burst responded and added fuel to the fire everytime. Yes, many people back up Burst and that is noble, but it is an extreme rarity that the original poster is happy with the final resoluton, or if they are they never post about it.

If I was the representative of a business to thousands of people, I would definetly do my best to show how good my company is. Instead mocking a current or even previous client, is just childish.

Stress can get the best of everyone, but the beauty of the web and boards like this, you can read over your reply before submission.

Consider that next time Sean and I think you may have a better response.


...my 187 cents
Originally posted by Domenico


And why not? Do you have something to hide?
Offering help in a public or customer only forum shows what you as a host are made off and other people learn from the help that is provided.

Making your customers smarter helps you too. But then again, some people want other people to stay stupid so they can stay in control. Some governments act like this too ;)

While it's all good and fine to have people post about their experiences with a web host, their treatment and opinions, etc. (good or bad), I think we all pretty much agree that support requests should be dealt with with the company in question and not on the public web boards that have nothing to do with said company.

It would be different if a user posted stating they received poor support, but to come here with the intention to post to receive it, doesn't have any point, other than to get an actual response, for whatever reasons. If the reason is to actually give the company attention to the fact to actually get a response, then you should probably consider another company. This is under the assumption that you gave them ample time to deal with it, in a reasonable manner and a reasonable duration to do so. If you are simply trying to speed up the response time, that's an improper move.

Make your decision on what you're posting about and why, before you drag it into public, where you are apparently planning to retain hosting services on the company in question anyway. Otherwise, I simply don't see the point, other than to make the company you're hosting with look bad -- and that does you, as the client of that company, absolutely no good. Perhaps some people post in hopes of a response from the company, so the company might appear to have poor relations with their client's for everyone to see. If so, as this almost seems to be the case, why post at all in hopes of a response and why not simply leave the company in question -- then complain later about it, if it's relevant and you have a legitimate reason.

Sure, some people might accuse you of various ill intended reasons, even if you do (have a reason, after the fact), at that point, but it would be reasonable and have more of a point then. Asking for support, making a company you're hosting your services on look poor, is counter productive and has no advantage. Moreover, for a matter that has not had any action one way or another, other than lack of a response, doesn't tell anyone anything and I see no incentive to post it in the first place. This is not a support forum for any site, other than webhostingtalk.com and relevant aspects to that very site.

Therefore, this complaint had no substance, simply because this isn't the correct forum. That's tantamount to complaining to your milk man about it, it's not the right place, unless you're just looking to complain. I think that is the impression people got and why people don't agree this is the correct place for it -- even if the usual means of contact failed, this is still not the correct place for support.

On another note: Akashik's post didn't even come close. I intend to hold my title here, and since there's been a character limit on the posts implemented well after my pervious rants, I don't see my title being contested... SO THERE! HA!

Originally posted by Tim_Greer
(snip)
On another note: Akashik's post didn't even come close. I intend to hold my title here, and since there's been a character limit on the posts implemented well after my pervious rants, I don't see my title being contested... SO THERE! HA!
Looks like Tim's feeling better then :D

Heh, actually, I should have worded that differently. That insinuated that I would be here actively trying to retain my title; yet I meant that I didn't need to, without any action involved. I'll be disappearing again shortly. :-)

I think that most people post their complaint here because of a last resort after trying to get contacted by their own support people. After all we all know how powerfull the media is just because all the people you can reach in one time. People want to share their misfortune with others as you can see all the time. It's like a program we have on tv here in the Netherlands called "breekijzer" (in English: crowbar) it is sold to a major network I believe in the US so you will see what I mean in the near future I guess.
It is about people who have problems getting through to large companies with their sometimes small but sometimes very big problems. They get ZERO from the company leaving them on their own until this guy with camera team shows up and just walks in bypassing the security guards till he reaches someone with authority and the camera in his face. "so why is company XYZ threating this customer like ****? Do you threat all customers like this? The camera is watching together with 100.000's of people. How you like me now? Most of the time the problem gets solved ASAP! Without that guy and camera and all his ranting (he doesn't stop easily and he is very good with words.) those people never would have get through past the phone clerk pointing them the other way around. It's another discussion if this is the way to go but I hope you get my point. People want to be heard and if one on one doesn't work or can't get you get through or the support guy calls you an ******* they will find other ways to get heard. In public people act differently and more polite most of the time and also people tend to be more reactive in speed and taken actions. No support guy is going to be rude on you in public because it would be suicide for the company. Aren't we all nice guys in public when it comes to business? Customers act way different as real business man do and don't have to laugh all the time because they are thre ones with the actual power. Without customers there is no business so start threating them with all the respect they earn!!! If not they will take the respect from you I guess.

Sorry for my bad English but I typed this in a real hurry and I could have been more outlined have better and more lines and other stuff. The other thing is there can only be one Tim Greer on this forum so I better quit now... ;)

Whatever the reason, try calling them at 1-877-BURSTNET Ext #20 Mon-Fri 10AM-5PM EST, if email is not workig for you.

These guys work 10-5pm? That's what... 7 hours - 1 hour for lunch? Wow! And they are able to handle all support calls.

You know I have never been a customer of theirs and actually wanted to be one. I had not known of WHT so I really had no idea there were all these threads about them. Anyway, I set out to try to contact them to order a server or colo, wasn't sure what I wanted. I called in and the phone rang and rang and rang. Then voice mail hell. I left a message. No response. I called in again. Same thing. Eventually, I called in a few days later and finally got someone. I felt like I had to talk quickly because they were busy. Anyway, short end of it is that to me it seems that these guys are super busy with too much work. They got more than they bargained for. They are obviously working at it, but don't have the right approach. Maybe they should take the time to hire some advisors that can tell them how to make things better.

First thing I would do is stop posting smart ass responses on these boards and focus on communicating with existing (and new) customers effectively. When you send email that does not reach is destination (we all know how unreliable email is this days.... read sarcasm) you usually get a response back saying it was undeliverable. Excuses suck.

I know Burst is not asking for input on this and is probably tired of the comments about them. But the end effect of all this is that I for one will never go to Burst. Unless a miracle happens I will not touch Burst with a ten foot pole. I am sure I am not the only one that reads Sean's comments and decides to pass on Burst. Why would I put my business in the hand of a smart ass gentleman who thinks freedom of speech and opinion deserves flaming? You ever had a negative comment about Microsoft? You don't see Bill Gates posting to forums defending himself with simple excuses "Well, I didn't write the original code!"

No point to my post... Just echoing a growing sentiment. Even though I am not a customer, I feel like I have been and will never go back.

Maybe the Mods need to add a place for people to go and rant and b*tch :P

wow, think of a rant-forum! BTW, is www.hostrant.com free?

I know where you guy's are coming from. A lot of us have been in that boat and it's nice to see people's experiences, opinions and comments, so other's don't end up in the same boat too. Burst said they are looking to hire more people, and I know for a fact that they are. I might agree though, that perhap new orders should be held or put off on advertising any more, until there's enough staff to avoid all these problems and complaints. However, people run their business how they want.

I stand by my above comments, as this isn't a support forum. Perhaps posting gives _some_ hosts' a better reason to respond quicker, but to not respond to comments and remarks that will make it look like you're completely avoiding the issue or client if you don't, especially when people post challanging the company to respond with their "side" (how is that even relevant?), is sometimes difficult to avoid or resist. People know I tell it like it is, and my own comments have been questioned and dismissed, as well as accused of ill intentions, but although most understand that, I still fail to understand why someone would go with a company, or stay with them, if they feel they need to resort to posting things publicly, to get things resolved or have action taken.

This isn't a comment in regards to burst or any specific company, just simply that it is pointless and if someone feels that's the only means to get support, for whatever company it might be (since this is not just a burst issue on these forums, other company's get the same thing's posted too), then it's probably best to cool down a bit, try and be patient and if it's taking longer than you want, or it's already been too long, leave the company, instead of having to resort to such things. Certainly, sometimes people aren't completely reasonable or patient enough, and sometimes they have very good reasons to complain.

However, this just seems as a moot point to post this content, for the reasons I gave above. Everything else, I think we all agree on, and sometimes it's a learning experience. However, I won't comment on anything specific, or I'll be accused of saying it out os shear competiveness and spite or something. Oh well... Cheers!

<< These guys work 10-5pm? That's what... 7 hours - 1 hour for lunch? Wow! And they are able to handle all support calls. >>

That was referring to our billing dept's hours, NOT our sales/support/admin hours...which are 24/7.



Sean R.
BurstNET

I wholeheartedly agree with everything BW has said in this thread.

The complaints continue to mount.

Originally posted by BurstNET
We have a widget here that is not working how I wanted it to.
I keep fiddling with it and don't know how to use it right, and it keeps breaking.
Maybe I don't know how to use it fully, and am playing around with it to see what works and doesn't.
I am entitled to my opinion, and to play with my product, which is my right as a Widget Company client.
I figured I would post a complaint here and see if Widget Company fixes it and refunds my money.
I haven't bothered to contact the Widget Company directly for a refund...
I think I will bypass the Widget Company credit/billing dept and ask for my refund direct from the readers of this forum.

The readers of this forum can send me my refund directly to:

Sean Rosler
PO Box #400
Bloomsburg, PA 17815-0400
USA


Wow. I just found this thread - just in time too. I have been considering BurstNET and two others (site5 and handynetworks). After seeing this totally unprofessional behavior - BurstNET isn't even going to be a consideration.

We're adding, on average, 1 server every other month, to our "family"....and BurstNET will never see a one of them....ever.

To BurstNET, if you're reading this: That was REALLY bad PR and spin-control on your part.

--Tina

Hi,

I have to disagree with you, i have seen the way burst customers treat burst, they all seem the right to attack burst because everyone else does.

I am fully behind sean on this one :D
Originally posted by AffordableHost



Wow. I just found this thread - just in time too. I have been considering BurstNET and two others (site5 and handynetworks). After seeing this totally unprofessional behavior - BurstNET isn't even going to be a consideration.

We're adding, on average, 1 server every other month, to our "family"....and BurstNET will never see a one of them....ever.

To BurstNET, if you're reading this: That was REALLY bad PR and spin-control on your part.

--Tina

I disagree. Out of the 1000s of customers we have, there are maybe a handful that are truly a**holes to deal with. Even so, I would fire any employee that treated ANY of my customers like that.

No matter what the customer acts like, you smile, nod and be polite. Not that you have to give them everything they demand - but there is a right way and a wrong way to treat customers....and it isn't dependant on how the customer treats you.

Sean could have politely pointed out that this is not the place to discuss this and offered his phone extension, etc. to this guy. It would have shown me, and everyone else here, that BurstNET bends over backwards to rectify a situation and to maintain professionalism. Instead, he chose to let his annoyance towards this former customer show. This shows me how a potential problem with ME might be solved, should I sign up with them.

No thanks.

--Tina

I dont get me wrong here, i dont do this with my customers. But i feel sorry for sean in a way, he seems abandoned by support.

well i am not trying to start anything but i think tina is right. companies should treat their customers or former customers in a nice good manner because your attitude reflects what others think of you. We have to face it, not everyone goes about things nicely (unfortunately).
I can understand how some people don't have much tolerance for say, ignorant people, but sometimes, you just gotta put on a smile and be the bigger person. I know for a fact that if i ever saw something like what I have read in this thread that I would never go with that company either.

just my two cents

I guess the moral of the story is, even if someone's out of line, belligerent and unreasonable and hostile, it does you absolutely no good to do anything other than act with the utmost professionalism, even if you feel the urge to be sarcastic or respond in kind. I don't believe any of us are immune to emotions, but when you're not acting solely and exclusively on behalf of yourself only and it reflects on anyone else or any company, even your own, it will only harm yourself whereas professionalism, courtesy and the like will only help, if anything.

Nonetheless, it surely doesn't hurt the situation to act professional and level headed and it certainly does save you from stressing about it. It's a good policy to practice, no matter what -- especially to people that have (or did) pay you for a service, when that service has a lot to do with treatment. Just my thoughts in general, not about anyone in particular.

I take all comments for the company I work for to heart, and in some situations I get very frustrated and aggravated at some of the things stated, or in the manner/order in which they are stated. In some situations, as every host knows, it is very hard to be polite. You just cannot sit back and take a hit/blow every time when you disagree with the situation as presented. Sure, I do go a little overboard with my comments sometimes, but that is mostly due to my personal feelings for the company I word for. I seriously feel BurstNET is one of the top hosting providers in the industry today, and I don't like to see a a handful of clients out of thousands try and tarnish that. Large mega-corporations can afford to be cold and callous, with textbook responses, but a company in our position has to take a more personal approach. BurstNET is not a small host, nor are we a huge colossus of a corporation...we are in between...one of the larger of the medium sized hosts. We are at the size that most of the hosts on this board are working so hard to build their companies up to...we started small as resellers, then co-lo clients, etc...just like the rest of you. And just like every host out there we have our share of unhappy clients. Because of the fact that we have thousands of clients, of course there will be a larger amount of negative posts.
In a situation with a host having thousands of clients with say 20 complaints this year, compared to a host with 100 accounts and 2 complaints....the larger host really has the lower percentage of complaints, but....the public sees the larger host's complaints more often...thus thinking they have more...
The competition also likes to target the larger hosts, as they think that bringing down one, or taking a client from a larger firm, is a win for them. It is like that in every industry, not just the web hosting industry.
As always, some clients cannot be pleased either, no matter how much you bend over backwards for them.
We had a situation recently of a client that cancelled their dedicated server with us because we could not respond to tickets in 30 minutes or less. Well, what company really can? Sure once in awhile it is possible for small issues, but most tech issues take time to look up the client's login info, log into the server, diagnose the problem, which can take 30 minutes alone, prior to even fixing the problem. Another client recently cancelled because he did not receive his new server access information on time. Why didn't he receive it? Because his email server was rejecting the access/welcome info we sent him. We sent it 4-5 times, and he still did not receive such. When we figured this out, we even went as far to fax the info to him...but he still cancelled. Maybe he was too embarassed at yelling at us, and finding out it was his own fault...who knows...but we did everything we could to assist the client, and he still left angry. You cannot win in every situation, and you will have unhappy clients no matter what.
We have managed to only loose less than 5% of our managed dedicated server clients that we have since opening our new NOC, (some due to selling their comapny, other's couldn't afford the service, etc...ie..not all leaving unhappy...) so that is a figure we are very happy with....all this while growing our revenue approx 66% so far since the time we opened our new facility.

We are also doing many things to improve our service overall, including:
1. Building our own NOC - ...as to improve overall uptime of our network. We had our share of network downtime in the past due to the co-lo facility we were using mostly. Since we opened our own facilty the network performance has been nothing short of spectacular.
2. High Bandwidth Availability. BurstNET has been maintaining bandwidth above and beyond what we actually need, and ordering more well in advance of when we actually feel we would need it. This is one of the primary reasons for the spectacular speed of our network.
3. Support Forums. Due to popular request, BurstNET has opened a support forum for clients to assist each other, as well as chat about the overall BurstNET service.
4. Support Ticket System. BurstNET has implemented a ticket system that tracks all client emails and support issues. With this system, few issues are lost or overlooked, as well as transferred around the BurstNET staff to the appropriate individuals(s) to handle the issue(s). This system allows us to monitor over response time to tickets, and improve on that as quickly as possible. We also have the ability to monitor each staff members performance and responses to the tickets and clients.
5. Additional Tech/Admin Staff. BurstNET is hiring additional tech/admin staff as fast as we can find and qualify potential hires. At this point BurstNET not only has 24/7 staff on hand, but we also have 24/7 system administration staff on hand. We have also been weeding out any lesser performing staff members...while replacing them with primarily admins.

The areas of performance BurstNET is immediately focusing on are:
overall customer communication
order processing speed (especially new server orders)
higher telephone call completion ratio


In the grand scheme of things maybe I am a little unprofessional once in awhile...BUT:
...it is NOT because BurstNET is not providing good service
...it is NOT because BurstNET does not care about it's clients
...it is NOT because BurstNET doesn't do its job
...it is NOT because BurstNET is a bad company
HOWEVER:
...it IS because I take things to personally sometimes
...it IS because I care too much about our clients
...it IS because I care too much about the company I work for

Overall in the future I am going to try to be more professional and formal with my responses here, because that is what it seems the public wants from me. We could just not participate in the public forums at all, which would decrease just about everything posted about BurstNET, but what benefit would that really have for the industry? The heart of the forums is the hosting companies actually taking part and playing a role in the conversations that take place here. I will continue to defend the top-notch company I work for however to the fullest extent, and will not stand by when negative things are posted incorrectly or falsely regarding BurstNET.

Warm Regards,
Sean R.
BurstNET

Sean, you keep coming across like 'I might have acted like a jerk...but it's not my fault.'

Whatever the original poster said about your company went right over my head. I think we all know that there are problematic customers. What stuck in my mind was how you handled it.

Your company might have great equipment, excellent speed, etc. - but customer service is just as, if not MORE, important. In my eyes, and from the private email I received regarding this thread, YOU BLEW IT.

--Tina

I didn't have any reason or care to comment about anyone or anything in particular, nor do I now. However, I'm not sure how any of that was relevant to the issue, and I personally didn't care for the whole irrelevant story. You should have left it at, and only at the sentence in the last paragraph ("Overall in the future I am going to try to be more professional and formal with my responses here, because that is what it seems the public wants from me."), but by all means, do it for yourself, not because of what the public wants.

The public seems to want honesty and for hosts to be themselves, so they can make a judgment about whom to go with. I think people prefer to see people act in a manner they'd rather not have seen, because it allows them to make an honest decision. Be yourself, if you wish to be. I don't think any of us meant acting "professional" meant being fake. Do it for the sake of saving yourself stress and don't give excuses or stories or whine about everything, all company's deal with the same things, no matter how big they think they are. No, that's no na insult, but come on. I mean, just the mention of the "competitor" scenario again.. I have yet to see one company in here post anything bad to try and take your customers, other than what you assumed to be their motive to post. This sort of attitude is what people are hoping to see less of. Not because it does anything for us, other than to see less annoying and sarcastic posts and stories.

Now, I'll end that here, simply at that, with that personal thought of mine, before I am accused of saying this because I'm a competitor, and before Affordable host is accused of saying that because she's a competitor, and before all the other hosts that agreed, are accused of it. it's all pretty straight up and clear, it'd just be nice to see some people loose the sarcasm and blame game on these threads. If a customer is complaining and is out of line, we'll all recognize it, but sinking to insults, petty remarks, excuses and sarcasm isn't going to justify how annoying it is and how it's completely unnecessary. Take it for what it is, it's nothing offensive, it's not an attack, it's not making you look bad to steal away any client's, it's just simply and solely some mutual advice that can improve and lessen these incidents we all see here. No one's asking you to be fake or perfect, nor any excuses.

We had a situation recently of a client that cancelled their dedicated server with us because we could not respond to tickets in 30 minutes or less. Well, what company really can?

I know what you mean, Sean. We just can speak about italian market who is very competitive. We find out many many Noc in Usa who are use to supply support just using a single person (or a ticket manager) who generally is the owner, this sounds confidential but is not a good way to handle things.
We think best way is to open a few depts like somebody does, if you use external collaburators: different Icq and mail support can work faster and perform a real 20/30 min answer.
And small customers are as important as big ones. An example, somebody here co-locates starting at $25/month but support performances are always guaranteed. I don't mean to teach, just looking at the situation outside Usa. You are too use to handle things by yourself.

thank you

Sean, from all your posts over the last few weeks (months), I think you need to take a vacation.. and no, i am not being sarcy.. there comes a time when working, when you just need to get away from everything and relax.. take some time off...

take a week off... no kidding.. just some freindly advice.. .

I think kuuanl is right, you've been working over-time :(

Originally posted by kunal
Sean, from all your posts over the last few weeks (months), I think you need to take a vacation.. and no, i am not being sarcy.. there comes a time when working, when you just need to get away from everything and relax.. take some time off...

take a week off... no kidding.. just some freindly advice.. .

I was just being honest with my thoughts in my above post...and trying to explain why I post some of the things I do...and yes, I am due a vacation really really soon....like this month...


Regards,
Sean R.
BurstNET

This thread has been very interesting from my point of view. I've complained about Burst in the past and have used this forum to get support. I wasn't aware of any rules to the contrary and I think it would be a wrong rule to disallow it. Why? The host has to answer to a customer in front of the world. It makes the host a better host. The desperate customer has a great resource here to solve a HUGE problem fast. And the consumer gets some tremendous insight about the host.

I have to say that support has gotten better since Brad arrived. I hope I won't have to eat that remark later but knock on wood.

As for billing, I have to support that it isn't the most communicative. They double billed me, I'm not sure if I got refunded yet, and they messed up the next bill. I sent them an email a few weeks ago. No reply at all. I sent a reminder last week. No reply at all. I'll send another in a couple of days. I'm not irate or mad about it, because a few bucks off for the short run I can deal with. Downtime and I become a rabid animal :angry:

To those that say pick up the telephone, I say, hey, I run an INTERNET company, and I'm working with people that are supposed to be TECHNICAL. What's wrong with email? I do all my business via email, why can't my host figure out how to use email too? Just my opinion.

Hello, i am a Burst net customer.

when i ordered the server i was frustrated at the lack of communication and time to setup, i now understand that they have new support staff in place and the tickets i have sent in have been sorted, abit not a quick as i would like, but as long as this recognised as an area to be improved then i am happy.

If you want your hand held administering your server then try else where and pay far more, if you want competitive prices and resonable support then go with Burst.

carpman

Talk about support... They just answered my support request in 13 minutes.... I seen / was 100% full and I forgot what to do and Brad not only told me but went and cleaned up the HD for me.

Originally posted by venomx
Talk about support... They just answered my support request in 13 minutes.... I seen / was 100% full and I forgot what to do and Brad not only told me but went and cleaned up the HD for me.

Three cheers for Brad!! Support was my biggest issue, Amazing but true, One good guy on support can make the difference between a good company and a bad one.

I'm really excited to have him on board as the whole burst experience is now different...does anyone have info on his background?

No offense to Sean, I think it's great that he's on these boards and that is a big plus, you get plugged into things more, but he really doesn't understand how to be more professional. Even when he's right, which is less often than he thinks, he doesn't realize that he needs to have more respect for his customers....when a customer has downtime he needs to have the person he's paying to be MUCH more understanding...

YeP BurstNET (http://www.burst.net)

I can say that for our Cpanel/NOCsoft needs, BurstNET gets our business. In fact, we will be adding another server it'll be our 2nd in less than 2 months:eek4: ( the one we have now is almost packed) and guess what we are gettin it at BurstNET (http://www.burst.net) and you'll ask me/us why ? B/C they have the best prices on dedicated servers and the network is blazing fast :)

Originally posted by venomx
Talk about support... They just answered my support request in 13 minutes.... I seen / was 100% full and I forgot what to do and Brad not only told me but went and cleaned up the HD for me.

I had same problem but took 3 days, not a big issues as was only 82% full, was told to keep an eye on tmp dir, but not what files tro delete.

Still happy though :D

I'm with BURST and they are brilliant.

Whilst I had some initial teething troubles, down to me and my business partner, they have provided me with what IMHO is the best server I've ever had. And I've had a few!

They have been more than helpful with the tech support responses and have done much more than other hosts would care to do.

The icing on the cake is the excellent Webhosting Manager / CPanel software. Makes everything alot easier.

I have one person who has 'free' domain space, setup two days ago.

He is of the option that the WM is the best he's ever used too!

Playing devils advocate, whilst hosts have a DUTY to be polite and well-manned to customers (see *****.com t*ats), customers also have a DUTY to be more patient. I WAS one for pulling-out of a host if I didn't get my own way immediately and I believe thats something alot of hosting customers need to learn.

I could have blown it with BURST but for the first time ever I waiting a few days and didn't loose my cool because of the 'its not fixed in an hour' attitude and it worked. Everything got fixed and settled down.l

The other thing I like about BURST is that you can host ANYTHING LEGAL.

I do some non PC political hosting and just about every other host throws a fit when they find out the domain names / content.

BURST appear (like Interhost) to have a mature attitude to content and customer response.

Just a pity some of the other 'quality hosts' couldn't do this.

Despite the temptation at times..lol.. there is absolutely NO EXCUSE for calling a customer stupid like the burstnet rep did in this message board.

That fact alone is enough to disqualify them from consideration. Any organization that would publicly post a definition of stupid to reply to a customer complaint belongs in kindergarten and the "business hall of shame".

No way will I go with burstnet, for that reason alone. ***** is bad too. Still searching.

Hey is dellhost (Really, don't laugh) any good? They seem to have a decent price/features mix.

And, "well said, Tina", you responded like a professional. Good answer. :)

Hello,

I could be wrong here but I always thought Sean was the owner of Burstnet?

I looked into getting a dedicated server a couple of years ago and dealt with Sean. And then his signature was much different. I could swear it either said owner or CEO.

(the reason I didn't go with them was because It took them over 3 days to reply to my questions ... but that was 2 years ago ...)

Plus if he is the owner/CEO it almost explains why he can say the things he does in an unprofessional manner and have no fear of reprisals from his company.

But I am not 100% sure:D Someone correct me if I am wrong!!!

later

David

Not the CEO, but maybe he was the founder? Would explain a lot now that you mention it. How about it Sean?

I am one of the original founders of BurstNET...went to college with the CEO way back in the early 90's....
Our CEO's name is Shawn...hence the confusion...

Sean R.
BurstNET

I just wanted to chime in with others above and say that thus far I have been satisfied with BurstNET's support (even though I was a little worried after reading some of the comments on WHT!). Of the three times I or my business partner phoned for tech support, twice we got through right away, and the third time voice mail was responded to quickly. My last two emailed support requests (CPanel licence issue and for a reboot) were both answered and dealt with within fifteen minutes. Not bad, all in all.

Someone recently asked me what I thought about BurstNET, and if they should go with them for a dedicated server. There were a couple things that came up:

1. "THIS SECTION IS CURRENTLY BEING RE-DEVELOPED,
WITH REVISED INFO ON THE NEW FACILITY." Didn't want to buy without seeing. How long's it going to be under construction?
2. The sarcasm and unprofessionalism towards customers on this board.
3. The complaints about BurstNET here seeming more sincere than the praise.
4. The missing services on the entrance page (outlining goals? maybe i'm not looking hard enough, but i couldn't find any leased lines or wireless on their site)
5. And finally.. what's with all those ™s? To me it makes them seem less professional, not more.


Andrew™

Well, I like BurstNet from what I have seen (on their site) and read (on this site). I like especcialy the "Maybe we care too much about our customers"part!
Sean, can you take a look at this:
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=49696
I think we will be a great match :D!

Jacco

ummm, you just dug up a thread that's about 10 months old...:rolleyes: :eek:

Originally posted by 311
ummm, you just dug up a thread that's about 10 months old...:rolleyes: :eek:

Oops :stickout Well, I hope Sean responds anyway :D