Good Stable Company....Can't complain about that...but they cry when they don't have things going their way. I just received an e-mail from Joe Painter.... all this over a $12 that I will wire right now.....(great customer service.... huh?) Call me the "credit-$12 bandit" all this makes me laugh!


Dear J*** P***,

Your hosting accounts with RS Hosting will be deleted from our servers within the next 24 hours, due to non-payment of your invoice.

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank you for your custom over the last several months. During this time, we have provided amazingly fast support, a willing attitude, and incredible uptime - all at a vastly discounted rate from our normal fees. And in return, you have constantly paid late every month, ignored our emails during such times, and then ran off without even having the courtesy of letting us know.

It is customers like you who encourage us to keep our prices higher and not offer such discounts in the future, as we now get a far better class of customers, who actually have money, pay on time and have manners. You are clearly a penny-pinching little weazel, and do not deserve the care and attention we have shown you during your stay with us.

I hope that your new host is vastly inferior, and that you suffer much downtime and inconvenience. I also hope they are less lenient every month when you pay late, and terminate your accounts, as we should have done. And when you find you cannot get the service to which you will have become accustomed to with us, please do not come crawling back expecting us to put you on the same special rate as before - it just won't happen. We have learned our lesson, thanks entirely to you, and will not try to accomodate the flea-market category of customers, to which you so clearly belong.

I look forward to your lack of response, yet again,

Joe Painter
RS Hosting


What a lack of customer service manners....what do you guys think? Do you think this kind of e-mails are necessary in the web hosting industry? let's not forget that we are talking about $12 (twelve dollars) makes me think...maybe I did a good think by staying away from rshosting..net (now Rshosting..com)


(my response to Joe Painter)

Dear RShosting:

Sometimes people are busy with other things in life... things get overlooked from time to time. I know you are running your business, and sometimes it is frustrating dealing with customers that do not follow your demands or requirements, but for others your business is just another service from another vendor. A late payment from any of your customers do not justify in any way your stereotyping. Let not forget that we are talking about a few dollars here, this is not a life threating situation for you to act the way you do. Maybe you need to set up your billing system to give you a recurring payment feature. Maybe you need sensitivity training...may be you should learn some manners...maybe you need to learn how to run a business, maybe you should learn that there are other "worlds" besides your own. Maybe you need to remeber that you work for your clients, and that your clients DO NOT work for you.

If that is indeed a legit that's far from professional. It's down right rude and unacceptable.

I can understand the frustration of late collections . I have had my share. Every dollar counts in the webhosting business. But.... Granting you were delinquent in your payments and after due notice, the most I'd do is temporarily suspend your account and stating our TOS regarding late payments. Then I'd send you a cancellation notice after a grace period.

But that email is just downright rude.

OMG!

So how long will you be staying with them then?

That was uncalled for and should have been handled better!

I love your reply. :D

Although if it were me, I might be sorely tempted to punctuate with a few words my grandma won't want to hear me say ;)

I hope you packed up your things, and are in the process of moving; I won't think of even staying with them another minute.

Does RSHosting have a rep here? I'd like to have that email confirmed. If he really did send such an email, i'm lost for words.

I will forward the e-mail I received from Joe Painter anytime to whoever wants to confirm it....

JP

They have a rep on this board ..

A few points,

I have been with Rshosting several months now and they have been the most reliable, most responsive and most helpful host I have been with in over 5 years on the web.

If you are getting discounted rates then the least you can do is make an effort to pay on time, it does not matter how much it is $12 or $12,000 late is late and time wasted on people who will not pay on time means less time for real support issues.

And why post the guys name on here no need for that. If it was a private email to you it should remain private.

It sounds like RSHosting would be better off without you.

relajorock

I find it amazing that you say you were too busy to pay your account on time ... month after month and despite emails from rs trying to help you instead of simply suspending you, yet here you are, evidently with loads of time to waste on a malicious personal little mission. - I justify this statement by the fact that you have posted this in two seperate threads and are offering to post it to anyone else who may ask.

Not quite the mark of someone too busy to take 2 minutes to respond to an email requesting payment.

Question for the rest of you .... since when does someone who doesn't pay, doesn't respond when you try to help them .. and then ducks like a thief in the night ... qualify as a customer?

In my book a customer is someone who is actually paying for my services. Hell, at best they are *using* my services!

It's just about 12 dollars? - So then why couldn't you pay on time? Why couldn't you pay after you got reminders?

Let's step back for a moment:
If Joe did write that letter, who did he write it to? A customer? - Nope.
A potential customer? - Nope
Someone who may bring him good business? - Nope. Highly doubtful. (that's a lousy reason anyway. It makes customer service a purely economic and political farce, instead of a real concern for customer wellbeing).

No. He wrote it to someone he had bent over backwards to help (who clearly didn't deserve it) who abused the goodwill of rs and then has not even got the common decency to pay his final bill *before* removing his account (without so much as a word).

You guys sitting here in pious judgement amaze me. You've never lost it with someone on a bad day? - Forget the "customer" issue. This guy doesn't qualify. He is an ex, bad customer.

If you are wondering who I am and why I am posting this:

I am an rs customer and I find this extremely annoying. I find it offensive in fact that professional hosts have nothing better to do than sit here acting as if it is the ultimate sin to have a bad day and lose it with someone. - Just because you (wrongly) classify him as a customer? Would you act as shocked and stunned if he had written it to a guy who ripped him off at the corner store? What is the difference?

I reiterate. This man is *not* a customer. He deprived himself of that privelage when he removed his accounts - and especially in the manner that he did it.

Did this guy mention a single problem that he had with rs while he was in fact a customer? - Not once. In fact he begins his post by telling you how good they are. He was with them for a while by the looks of it and has no other complaint.

He does not deny that he got the same outstanding service that I personally know rs to give. He does not even imply that Joe or anyone else at rs has ever before been anything but polite and friendly and ultra helpful (also my consistent experience). He also does not deny that he was a lousy payer. Ironically, he seems to feel perfectly justified in this!

So some of you would simply have followed the process and suspended him. Good for you. Personally I think rs would have saved themselves a lot of aggravation if they had done just that.

Unfortunately they don't do that, because they really care and get involved with their customers, helping at every level and making it their personal mission to see their clients having a completely smooth road.

I have hounded Joe perpetually for all sorts of help since I have been with them and have been what most would consider a tough customer. He has *always* been polite, friendly and helpful. Responses come within minutes and are meaningful.

Just for the record, the assistance I needed was always due to my own ignorance or other issues not at all related to rs (like a registrar giving me a hard time). This did not for a moment influence the patient and quick assistance that I recieved every time. - I am talking multiple times a day for days on end!

I wouldn't swap that sort of caring for any one of the dozen or so hosts who would rather spare themselves the aggravation by simply following processes. - At my expense.

I'm not a kid. I've been around a long time. I don't get swept up in mass thinking nor do I jump on bandwagons. I've learned to keep perspective because that is what keeps the world sane.

Perspective check:
1. That email is way out of character for Joe. I cannot say that he didn't write it, just that it is so bizarre for something like that to come from him that there must have been serious dynamics at play. - Speak to any rs customer and this would be verified. (One who actually *is* a customer, by the way) - Please note this man got the email *after* he snuck out on rs without paying his bill ..... not while he was a customer. Read the original post again if you don't believe me.

2. True - customer service is critical and you don't "lose it" with a customer .... but we are human too and everyone has a breaking point. - You've never lost it when you perhaps shouldn't have? - No? I don't believe you.

3. All other info, posts and reviews about rs are outstanding.

4. Consider the credibility of the person posting.

Get real guys.
I personally hope that no rep from rs sinks to the level of coming here to defend against something like this. In my eyes that would make them reactionary, catering to the lowest common denominator. They are beyond that. Guess what, my opinion counts because I am a paying customer who has no problem paying.

Just for the record, I am a growing business. I will be buying many more reseller accounts in the future.
I will not be buying from any host who considers it better to keep quiet and cut me off at the knees because they are more concerned with keeping a detached stiff upper lip than they are with my well-being.
I will also not be buying from any host who thinks that it makes them look good to jump on a pious bandwagon in judgement of a peer. - It doesn't. It undermines them in my eyes. Why?

Because either they are still too young and inexperienced to understand the real world or, they are too arrogant to care. Neither bode well with me for a professional business relationship. It also sets them worlds apart from the guys whom they are judging .. and I don't mean that kindly.

I'm sorry. I am not trying to attack anyone here. I understand the nature of these forums, but it appalls me that, in this day and age, it is still so easy to sway intelligent people with a bit of malicious mud-slinging.

I only hope that any potential customers of rs have the intelligence to look beyond the sensationalism of this thread and actually investigate rs properly and think for themselves.

It is a pity that there are not more hosts like them.

Originally posted by cosmicwalk
relajorock

I find it amazing that you say you were too busy to pay your account on time ... ...huge snip...
It is a pity that there are not more hosts like them.

Wow, take a chill pill mate, you're gonna blow yer foo-foo valve!

It probably would have sufficed for you to say something like, "Doesn't sound like the guy I know, but if he did write then it was a bit rash, but you do seem to have brought it upon yourself to an extent.".

Originally posted by cosmicwalk
You guys sitting here in pious judgement amaze me. You've never lost it with someone on a bad day? - Forget the "customer" issue. This guy doesn't qualify. He is an ex, bad customer.

Ex or not. In the service industry, all clients are clients. They deserve some respect unless of course they are spammers. There is absolutely NO EXCUSE for the tone in that email.

What you are saying is that it's okay for someone whom you once did business with to insult you because you were a few days off in payment. If that's okay with you, fine, but i'm willing to bet it isn't okay to most people.

One thing that surprises me most is the how all these new posters come here to defend a host. Unless they have shares in it, what client will do so much for a host? Let alone just sign up to a forum just to reply.

Originally posted by net-trend
Ex or not. In the service industry, all clients are clients. They deserve some respect unless of course they are spammers.

...............

One thing that surprises me most is the how all these new posters come here to defend a host. Unless they have shares in it, what client will do so much for a host? Let alone just sign up to a forum just to reply.

I think you are speed reading the posts here and grossly underplaying the dynamics. I think you are also conveniently distorting things to suit your own purpose.

I think it's quite clear that we are not talking about being a few days off with payment. If we can be that liberal with the facts, then perhaps if someone only spams a hundred people at a time it's not really spam?

On that, it is interesting to note that you have such strong principles .... with limits. What makes a spammer so much worse? - Whatever your answer to that, it will be your opinion and no more. Every one will have their own "intolerable" issue. Spamming is yours. Abusive arrogant behaviour is mine.

People putting good people down for no reason other than to try to impress, is another.

I am also rather amazed that you do not understand how customers can actually feel that strongly that they would stand up for a service provider. That's kind of sad.

There are 90 posts in these forums that relate to rshosting. The implied averment that everyone who won't stand by and let a good host be slated is a shareholder is hard for me to logically comprehend. That would make for quite a business model.

It's actually a whole lot simpler than that. It's about *genuine* customer service and the resultant customer loyalty. Ironically, the one company that's getting it right is the one being attacked. Human nature. So typical.

Perhaps I should mention that I was with RS for about 3 (maybe 4)months....I owe them nothing, late or not I paid my dues with them. I had already changed providers and for the last month my accounts were pointing to other servers, while still having the account with RS. How come Joe did not see that and tried to contact me asking me what was happening? or why was I leaving? He e-mailed me several times with offers when he wanted my business. I am not a spammer, and by rs statistics, they can see I hardly ever used my allocated space/bandwith. Also when I first signed up with them, I remember I specifically mentioned that I was trying out providers, and I would choose the right vendor, when I'd felt I had found it.

The hosting provider I have now, setup up his billing software to take my payments automatically. I don't have to worry about lack of payment, because when it is time to pay, the money is already there. One more thing I don't have to worry about. That is called convenience.

I guess my point of this situation is that NO COSTUMER should get treated the way I did... even if providers have bad days.

again, if I owe RS something, let me know. The only reason I don't contact them directly, is because I don't think they even deserve my words. I rather make it public here, to keep it nice and clear, and for you to see their responses.

Originally posted by relajorock
....... The only reason I don't contact them directly, is because I don't think they even deserve my words. I rather make it public here, to keep it nice and clear, and for you to see their responses.


I rest my case.

What really amazes me here (and in many other posts) , is the speed that people are jumping on the side of the host or the client. In any story like this there is more than one point of view and we are not really in a position to judge either party without knowing all the facts, which will probably never be known publicly.

I would guess for a host to send an e-mail like this and for the client to post it here there must be some history leading up to this.

I have known Joe for some time and I would say that if he did send this mail then he was probably out of order but I also know that he is normally very polite and courteous, and has gained alot of respect from his clients because of great way he treats them.

As in other posts in the past, please do not be so quick to condemn either party if we are not in a position to learn all the facts and history of the story, it really does not help anyone at all.

The issue as I see it is not the money. The issue is the attitude of the host in question. As I said if the email is indeed accurate it is a cause for concern.

The silence from RShosting seems to indicate that the facts within are correct. If any provider communicated in such a manner I would be leaving them and making it public.

Originally posted by Deefer
What really amazes me here (and in many other posts) , is the speed that people are jumping on the side of the host or the client. In any story like this there is more than one point of view and we are not really in a position to judge either party without knowing all the facts, which will probably never be known publicly.


You're right. We shouldn't jump to the defense of either party too quickly without knowing the facts.

BUT.

As a businessman/woman/person, you are SERVING your customer. No matter how late they are with payment, how many million excuses they might have given you or whatever history you might have with them, I feel that it does not give you the right to be rude to them. Even if you are frustrated, irate or simply annoyed, it is standard professionalism to always remain polite and tactful. There are 101 ways of bringing your frustration across to the customer without being in the least bit rude.

I've been taught that the customer is always right, so sue me.

Of course, I understand from the provider point of view how frustrating it can be, especially if your livelihood depends on that few dollars. If many reminders had indeed been sent, the last resort could've been a lawyer's letter, or at least an email warning of a civil suit, rather than a plain rude email. It doesn't reflect very well on the provider at all.

I know this could've been a one-off case when Mr Painter has finally reached his limits. But don't you think that this one bad incident could tarnish his company's reputation for a long time? It's something that $12 will not cover, ever.