Am curious why a reputable host would not offer phone number for contact in the event of an emergency?

We recently selected a host with a great reputation on this board. We just switched the nameservers
over to them this week. We asked them make an adjustment so that we would get our e-mail which was being sent to the local server instead of to our Exchange Server. Whatever they did, took down our DNS last night so that our site is not visible to most of the world (the switch to the new DNS isn't yet total) and we aren't getting our e-mail.

This is a critical error on their part, with a major impact on our business and there is no way for us to make human contact. This is frustrating. Our IS guy sent an e-mail and I sent a support ticket, but we've not yet heard if they are even addressing the problem. Their e-mail support is supposed to be 24/7, and in previous cases,
ie when their server was down a few days ago, they at least acknowledged the problem quickly. We're in a vacuum this time.

I am quickly losing faith. Seems no matter how much or how little we pay we
just get one incompetent host after another. No wonder this industry has such a crappy reputation.



PS Don't ask me for the host name. We're hoping our problems can be resolved and that we
won't have to switch hosts again. I won't identify the host unless they prove to be completely unable to
resolve this problem. I just want to know why hosts don't offer any phone support. Am not asking for
24/7, just during business hours would be nice.

By not offering phone support it allows hosts to priortise support requests, so emergences like yours can be delt with before the less important issues. Thats my theory anyway.

I agree with SplashHost.com. But even if they have no publicly advertised phone number, they should at least provide you with some sort of contact point (business phone, personal phone, cell phone, pager, etc).

When you do finally get a response from them, see if you can get some kind of emergency contact information from them (nothing email or support ticket related -- those are not for emergencies).

We have phone contact numbers, but very much prefer they not be used for support. Even when you do get through, you may be asked to leave a voice mail. Especially if there is an emergency going on.

This is an internet business and we do prioritize support problems. So if you are not getting a response, a major problem has probably occurred. Yours is not the only report of it and they are probably working on it.

However, computers and networks have lots of potential problems that most of the users do not understand.

I am sure they did not take your DNS down. Most likely propogation has occurred and there is a problem.

You left many questions unanswered. Did you handle the nic records yourself and if so, did you make sure you did it correctly. Start with checking the records and make sure they point to the correct nameservers.

Make sure yours is the only site on that network that is not functioning correctly. Whenever I have a site that is down, I work my way up the network and through the services to determine the extent of the problem.

If after you check all the other possibilities you still think it is in their DNS database, ask to see the A record to make sure it is pointing to the correct IP for the exchange server. I am assuming you have a static IP for your exchange server.

Good Luck

The DNS was fine until sometime after I left for home last night.
The problem was on their end. Zone related. But it has been resolved. :)
Or at least partly. Still waiting for them to set the zone file for our mail server.
Am getting tired of copying and pasting all the e-mail to my co-workers.
(Can't forward until this is resolved.)

But my concern is that we have no phone numbers at all for this host.
Not for support, sales, or billing. I think that is odd.

We have an emergency phone number listed, but we absolutely will NOT take sales or general tech support calls on that line.

Support, via email, HelpDesk, ICQ, AIM, etc. is a MUCH more efficient and cost-effective way of handling issues. We have over 2000 customers - and we have an excellent reputation for customer support.

It doesn't make sense to hire 10 people @ $10 an hour (this is not a decent wage either) to answer general support lines...for questions that take an average 10 minutes to handle...but could be answered in 30 seconds via email. Support, on the phone, tends to take much longer and doesn't always resolve the problem.

Also, there has been a study that shows that phone support people aren't really happy with their jobs. Think about it, how many of you have ever run into phone support (in any business) where you could tell that the person just didn't care if your problem was solved or not?

I would rather hire network administrators @ $50, who can handle all aspects of support - including answering difficult support questions via email.

The majority of general tech support questions can be answered by me, another "general" staff member and a multitude of FAQs and documentation.

Also, phone support isn't in writing - so, you can tell a user how to fix their problem (email login, update DNS, etc.) ...but if they don't write it down, or forget part of the instructions - they WILL call back. Email support doesn't have that drawback. :)


--Tina

I hope you get it all resolved. Mail problems can be tricky and in some instances it is actually the dial up provider that blocks the port requests. It can be a real pain in the rear.

Some of the better known hosts with good reputations do not offer phone numbers. I would not like that either. That is why we offer a phone number, but try to get people onto the email way of doing things.

It sounds like they are working with you though and that's good.

Good Luck :)

Chris,

You should take a look at our contact page. We offer an emergency number - but the way we have it worded, we RARELY get calls. Our customers know that we are available via phone for a true emergency, but they don't abuse it.

--Tina

Can't much argue with affordableHost :cool:

That makes perfect sense to me :D

Tina,
Amen.

[Also, there has been a study that shows that phone support people aren't really happy with their jobs. Think about it, how many of you have ever run into phone support (in any business) where you could tell that the person just didn't care if your problem was solved or not?]

It's because phone support people are generally college kids hired in at $7 - $10 an hour and they aren't looking at it being a long-term job/career. Also, they are usually treated as "just phone support staff" and their work areas tend to be rows of very small cubicals.

I can imagine that if I were working in that situation - and having to listen to crabby customers all day - I might be a bit cranky to them as well.

--Tina

Another reason a lot of hosts do not offer phone support is because they do not have a central office. THey co-locate at a data center and have employees working from home. THis makes it very difficult to offer a central phone line for support.

But if there is no acknowledgement of a support ticket being in the support queue or
no acknowledgement (heck even an autoresponder) of receipt of e-mails,
the customer is in a vacuum. This is frustrating as h*ll.

We don't know if or when the problem will be resolved. Our IS manager wants to give them
the boot because he tried to get them to make necessary changes to the MX record
a few days ago and now that we switched the DNS they won't respond.
If the problem isn't resolved, he'll switch us back to overpriced unresponsive host,
who at least had finally gotten their server problem fixed.

This new host responded to or at least acknowledged other issues quickly until now.

I work for a software developer. We offer both e-mail and phone support, but not
24/7. If we can't solve a problem quickly (within an hour or two) we at least keep the
customer informed. If this was an off hours issue, I'd understand the void, but it isn't.




Guess I'll have to restart the host search....

I still think it sounds like a DNS and propagation issue. If the DNS was set up incorrectly it would take a few days to show up through propagation.

You still have given no more information. It could probably be troubled shot by the people here if we had the domain name and host name.

Again, who handled the DNS information changes. The host or you?

You might get more help with more information.

And to Tina, I did look at your info. I may want to copy it somewhat (with your permission, of course). I will personalize it so that it doesn't look like we are the same people :)

Chris