Just a topic for discussion as it seems there are support issues posted here constantly rather than through more appropriate channels. And, that isn't likely to stop. So, the question is...

should hosts respond to them here?

It seems when they do, more frequently than not it turns into a "he said", "he said" dizzying volley back and forth and the host is frequently in a no win situation. Many hosts say they will not respond here, but they feel driven to do so eventually.

What if a host would simply post as a response, "we do not respond to support issues in public forums." I imagine they would get crucified. Is there an answer? Is it just a lose, lose situation?

no.

I agree. In a word... no

In a paragraph...

No, but it certainly seems appropriate (fair?) that they can (should?) defend themselves. Seems that a simple defense should suffice, and support provided directly to the customer. Follow ups would more than likely ensue. If things get out of hand we could let the Chicken Death Squad take care of things.

Are you really a hosting provider? Or is this just a facade you like to replicate?

Unless the WHT domain is decieving us all, this is mayabe one of the more appropiate forums to use... when you do not get the answers (from your host or their forums), if you get one at all!

A lot of people use this forum to find a webhosting solution... so it would make sense if someone has bad experiences those would be made public info too.

The thread in which I created earlier, The name of the host was left off intentionally! Don't think for one minute, if my issues are not dealt with properly by my host, that I won't start spreading the news. (I am trying to give them the benefit of the doubt here

This is a price ALL host will have to pay if they do not tend to business in a timely, efficient, and professional manner.

Hypothetically, lets say you are a host/reseller! If you had someone spreading rumors, whether they be true or not, would you not try to address them and offer some form of rebuttle (professional like)?

This is the one that cracked me up most: What if a host would simply post as a response, "we do not respond to support issues in public forums." I imagine they would get crucified. Is there an answer? Is it just a lose, lose situation?

That alone would cause, a general concensus that you have something to hide. I hope you can guess what sort of impression that would leave to all those that read it.

Take for example, MCHOST, their name has splashed across this board in a negative manner of late. While I think it is good that someone from the company responded to the accusations, it does not seem that that individual is telling the whole story. If it were only one person with the same allegations, thats one thing... but when you get more adding to the topic, sort of makes you wonder, no?

MCHOST, has a very good name around here... generally speaking! I for one, wish them luck in their endeavors. This delimma they are facing now, may be nothing more than growing pains. What will make or break any company, is how you adapt to these things. If they are not thought of until it happens, is usually a bad omen.... which spells 'man the life raft, the ship is going down'


snoooky~

I think most of what you are claiming as support issues posted here, are not without dedicated effort on the customers part to recieve an answer... at their host.

Personally, I have stopped reading the support and 'xyz host sucks' posts. I don't think either has a place in this forum. IMO this forum should be about hosts sharing with other hosts methods and opinions on how to operate their business.

If a user cannot get support from a host then IMO the simple answer is to change hosts. If a user is compelled to bash a host here then I wonder what the motive and expected outcome is. It most often comes across as 'I think you screwed up and I am going to embarrass you in front of your peers because of it'.

I guess I am of the school that believes we all have the freedom to vote with our dollar. Vengence for vengences sake seems to tell me more about the person posting than whom they are posting about.

I also don't think that the argument of using this forum to warn others is a very valid one. There are several hosts represented here who have a less than stellar reputation. Yet, they continue to do business by maintaining a very expensive churn. The support/bashing posts do little (if anything) to impede them. So be it..... This business model is working for them. Although most of us wouldn't operate that way.

IMO a better method of getting support is to use the channels the host has implemented. If that fails then vote with your dollar. IMO if a visitor wants to find out about a hosts rep then doing a search here is the -least- objective way to go about it. As we all know people love to tell about, and jump on the bandwagon regarding bad experiences. A search on most visible hosts here will reveal more bashing than praise.

What is the answer? I don't know.... but I do feel strongly that this forum should not be the place for either type of posts. It just serves no purpose that I can see.

Be Well
Bill

I disagree.

The only reason I came to this forum originally was because I wanted feedback on which hosts were good. Let's face it, there isn't going to be *any* hosts which is going to say that they have bad support/frequent downtimes on their websites, even if it's true.

How else are people going to find out which hosts are genuinely good and which hosts are not? There are *many* hosts out there to choose from. Every one of them promises good things. How are you going to know which one of them keeps their promises?

True, this forum can be used for hosts sharing business help, but I also see this forum as a way for webmasters/webmistresses to find the most suitable host for a website. What's wrong with seeking the opinions of customers or ex-customers of an existing company to see if it has what you want?

*That* is the purpose of those posts. To inform (hopefully, to inform correctly), and to help out people trying to decide which host is best for them. Please keep in mind that not everyone who posts here is a hosting company. Some of us are just here to try & look for a suitable host.

Although I think that hosts do have a right to defend themselves, I would not like to see this forum turning into a general hosting support forum (some say it has already). I've actually seen some customers come here for support regarding a host BEFORE contacting the host directly, or at least not allowing a reasonable amount of time for them to respond before posting here.

I really believe this cuts both ways.

OMC

This site is a multi task site ranging from sharing ideals between host... to webies looking for a good host. (emphasis on the good)

Gee, maybe you should open your own site for webhost... so that you wont be tormented with having to decide whether you should read a post, or not!

Show me one post, where someone brought their support issue to this forum without first attempting to get resolution from their host. IF you can, I would agree that is wrong.

When one person elects to jump on the bandwagon and start making judgements of others character, that dont speak very highly of the one doing the judging... it is not like you pay our bills, or supply us with a platform to run a business

And FGS, If you were to go to Joe's Steakhouse and get a ill prepared steak, would you let your friends experience the same thing?


Aralanthir seems to have a proper grasp of the mission of this site, good luck to you sir/madaam !

snoooky~

[edited] As I was asking for proof that someone actually used this forum instead of going to their host, Avara was responding too. Thanks for the calrification Avara, you must be psychic... :D

The reason why I came (found) this site was because I was looking for a host... I had done web programming before but, this was my first time using a professional hosting service and I had no clue about what to look for... All I knew was that my site was xxx megs large and I needed xxx megs to fit it there...

I knew it smelled fishy but, unlimited hosted actually sounded like a feasible option b/c I wouldn't have to worry about how much space or bandwidth my site consumed.

It was only after reading the posts here that I was educated about the webhosting industry and if only as a customer this forum gives me a greater understanding of what hosts have to deal w/ which makes me a better customer.

Now should hosts answer questions here?...

Of course....

If hosts didn't respond to questions here one could simply post a flame (although the post may be ignored, I don't believe they should be moderated because they might be true) that comment would simply stand.

I chose HostRocket after reading through many many threads about shoddy this, slow that, etc (which usually were false claims).... and the reason why I chose HostRocket was because they actually cared enough to defend themselves and voice there side of the issues. Brandon has done an excellent job on the board... He always is very proffesional and polite when responding to dissatisfied customers and usually makes very good counter-points to what they feel is wrong about HostRocket and alot of the complaints were either without evidence or simply studpid (you suspended my account b/*****ed porn [ yeah it's in their TOS read it], or I went way over my bandwidth limit and they suspended me [ if I were a host I'd do the same, you're using a product you didn't pay for]...

I completely respect HostRocket and Brandon for their contributions to this board (as well as the other hosts here) because they care enough about their company to defend themselves in public instead of sitting there and counting their money.....

My 2 cents.... For what it's worth

I can specifically remember one post recently where a customer of a host came on here before actually trying to contact his host. But I was not talking about any of you here, and did not mean to offend. Sorry if I did. :)

The vast majority of the time people actually use this forum to get a response from their host when did not receive any reply from them directly. In such instances, I think using this forum is a good idea.

Well personally the reason why support issues should not be posted here is because of the proper tracking, that is the whole reason behind support desks and ticket systems to have some sort of account for events.

This forum is a public forum and I for one agree with Incognito's statement about "we do not respond to support issues in public forums." the host would get crucified. Does this statement mean they are trying to hide something?? To me it basically says if you want the support issue to be handled use the proper channels. If you have no faith in your host to resolve these issues without posting them publicly then you need to move on to another host.

Now for the case of you tried using the proper methods and have given ample time for a reply but have not received anything, my recommendation is to try one more time and if that fails it is obvious either the host is unable to provide the proper technical support you desire or there is some other problem or issue. In this situation I guess there is really no choice but to bring the issue out.

Originally posted by Incognito
Just a topic for discussion as it seems there are support issues posted here . . . . . . .

should hosts respond to them here?. . . . . .Yes.

None taken by me... at all.

I surely agree with your (more logical) thoughts on this.

snoooky~

snoooky,

Open up your own forum and let all the people start spamming in their support issues.

No one wants to see 50 messages say blah blah that host sucks. If you want to tell your friends, tell them, don't be posting public affairs here. How about you post all the embarrassing life moments in public? Do you go off on the streets and start screaming your had pissed in your pants?

If the user does not have the brains, or if the user is ignorant enough not to bother resolving the situation with the host first, then why should the host reply to a public forum for such user?

Do you honestly one message will ruin their business? LOL. Ye keep trying.

Originally posted by Incognito
should hosts respond to them here?



ONE WORD ---> NO!

Originally posted by OMC
IMO this forum should be about hosts sharing with other hosts methods and opinions on how to operate their business.
Bill, I realize that IMO means your opinion so I'm not saying you are wrong, but I will attempt to clarify this question in the only way I can.

We used to have an 'about us' page and while it isn't up now, this is what it said:
WebHostingTalk started as a forum for people to openly share their web hosting experiences and help others looking for advice and information on web hosting...
The forum isn't, and should not be used as, a support forum. What you do have is people posting their experience and a host responding to that post. We remove/lock direct support requests ("HostABC, this doesn't work, fix it or contact me!"). We will also remove/lock any thread which starts as, "This is my experience..." and then gradually turns into a support thread (which often happens).

In general, this forum is for people's questions about how to do things, or problems they've encountered (which includes problems with providers). Really it isn't all that far off from, "I can't get my DNS to work..." -just that DNS isn't a company and doesn't come here to respond.

If you have a support issue, we do ask that you contact your provider directly. If you have an experience you'd like to share (either positive or negative), then by all means feel free to share it. We do ask members to report (rather than respond to) direct support requests, and we will have a look.

I think a host should respond to a support request by pointing the user in the appropriate direction to obtain that support. I have seen FWS.net slowly turn into a support forum for a certain company and its really turned me off of going there as often as I once did.

Chicken-

Thank you for the clarification. I have gained a lot of insights here and continue to learn something just about everytime I visit.

Be Well
Bill

Shyne,

I have a serious question for you...

Do you know how to keep a Jackass, in suspense?


snoooky~

After reading this thread, I have some additional thoughts about this...

It's not so much a question of whether hosts should respond to support issues here, but rather whether customers should bring these issues up in the beginning. I don't want to hear from someone that their email hasn't been answered for a whole 12 hours. But, after attempting to get help, and it seems hopeless, then it's only reasonable to assume that help is needed from another source (WHT). It might help others make a decision concerning a host.

In any case, it seems to me that this issues isn't so clear cut.