I usually dont write reviews outside or make public comments in threads regards support issues. On the rare occassions that I have been forced to do so (approx 4) only 1 has been at DIY. The first was some months ago and since that time and have found DIY to be a very professional, reliant and excuse the bastardisation of the english language but 'noob centric' organisation. They were patient with me beyond that which I had previously experienced and I was comfortable in the the knowledge that I had made the right choice regards a host provider.

Unforetunately I am presently being forced to reconsider my views as I have been having what can only be described as very poor sales/service support since moving from Hsphere to Plesk here at DIY. Now I am as you might have guessed new to reseller services/management and one of the reasons I choose to remain with DIY, rather than move to a cheaper provider with adequate was DIY's level of support. I can only now question that decision in light of the facts that:

1. I put in a sales request to install cerberus on my account on the 25th Apil and it has not as yet been installed. Now I had assumed on first making my enquiry that it was to be installed in the root of one of my accounts. Simon or Callum I believe advised me in the ticket thread that this was not the case and and went on further to advise that they were in the process of negotiating the possibility of root installations. He then went on to write, if memory serves that installation would be completed in 1-2 days. That was weeks ago! Since that time I have left phone messages 2 (no replies) several update ticket messages and all I get it responses from Lynsey advising it is being investigated and I will be updated. The last such message was left by Lynsey 17th May. Well I am still awaiting an update: When will cerberus be installed??
2. In the write up on the site it advises that application vault comes preconfigured with X number of applications one of which is mambo. Now DIY set up Plesk account with only 3 applications and no mambo, which of itself is no major issue as I installed it myself. I was informed by support that the issue was with SWSoft and they would revert and again I would be updated. Again that was weeks ago and while I do understand that the matter may be in fact out of their hands directly it is important that a) as I advised support via the ticket system that they update their site accordingly to advise potential clients of the application vault issue otherwise they are misrepresenting the facts and b) update me periodically as to status of this ticket. Is this done..No! Instead when they are contacted after weeks of my recieving no updates I am informed in a patronising manner that I should not contact them and they will advise me when updates are available. When support, given the one months it has taken so far over cerberus, is it any wonder that I revert to gain information that should be provided without the asking. After all isnt that a critical aspect of support.
3. Sitebuilder on Plesk: I recently attempted to have a look at sitebuilder on one of my accounts only to find that I couldnt login. I sent in a support ticket which was responded too promptly. Cuting a long story short Sitebuilder had reset itself to default and I was informed that "I am taking a further look at this.. for some reason the sitebuilder seems to have reset to demo mode. I'll see what can be done tonight about it, and try and get it put back to live ASAP." 5 days ago. Now I called in to assess this and was told to be patient and informed that the issue was with SWSoft and I would be updated. Well as one might expect (given the lact of update procedures at DIY in the above 2 incidents) that I was not best pleased by this especially as I hadnt been informed that the issue had in fact been referred to SWSoft.


As I said I dont tend to post messages in public forums largely because I dont really have the time, and truth be told it is all a bit intimidating. As for this particular post I just wanted to put pen to paper and voice my experiences at the very least for others (noobs) like myself and with that in mind I would like to make my first testimonial:

I have had the misfortune of hosting with some real bottom feeders. I have also had the experience of hosting with the likes of Servint and DIY. In my view Servint run an tight ship and my experiences with them have been very good and can
not be faulted. Service and support via the NOC is good but a little imtimidating for a newbie like me. But their forum is great and even for someone like me with no technical knowledge simple posts are answered with clarity and encouragement. I got a lot of stuff/configs done just by reviewing and posting on their forums; an exceptional resource. DIY have up until a month ago for me also been good. True I didnt have any mission critical sites hosted with them but their support had been good. However most recent events have cast light on differences both in terms of support and server configurationof both providers with Powervps. Now in a nutshell in my opinion these guys are great. My VPS is lighting fast in comparison to a similar account held at Servint and as for support; tickets are answered in minutes and I mean in 'minutes'. If memory serves the longest support ticket response I have had to endure was little under 1 hour. My questions however minor are answered in a courteous, professional and helpful matter. If they can go the extra mile they will. They dont install configure 3rd party scripts like the others but they do help out where they can. I couldnt indeed wouldnt recommend Powervps if I didnt think they were worth it. Bottom line; I moved from Servint to Powervps and I noticed the differences; now I am just waiting for Powervps to sort out the windows vps's as once they do I will move my DIY accounts across as well.

I couldnt really say it better than that.

Sales requests are dealt with by sales agents. I already know your issue as you posted it on our own forum, and all I can say is if you wish to have done for you what you requested, you have to give us some time to actually build it.

We're working with the cerberus guys to be able to get you what you requested, which as you know, what is being done for you is above and beyond the offer on diyhosting.com

RE: Plesk for windows;
A bug in how the application pack/sitebuilder comes through simply can not take highest priority with sw-soft. I know this was posted to you on a number of occasions. The last being this weekend.

If you wish to discuss this further, please open a ticket, or post back to one of the tickets you opened on this issue.

R'gds
Dean

Hi Leslie,

I apologise for those issues.

I assure you, when we get a response back from sw-soft on it, we'll apply whatever is needed. One thing that may fix it is the soon to be applied 7.5.3 patch - if it doesn't, we'll continue to bug them about it.

With regards to cerberus I'm hoping we can get the new system live for new installs on wednesday. Drop me an email @ s.orourke(@)diyhosting.com if you have any questions.

Again, I apologise for the issues, and promise we'll keep hunting down sw-soft for the fix to the app's.

Simon

Dean,

indeed sales requests are dealt with by sales agents and if you note from my ticket history all told I have submitted 3 tickets on the cerberus issue. One was to the wrong dept and I was asked to resubmit the second; which is and remains the long standing active ticket and which if I remember correctly has 3-4 apologies from different support staff on the inadvertant delays suffered. And finally the last ticket a complaint of lack of support and resubmission of originating ticket. This last ticket was sent on the 17th May and replied to on the same day to wit "I am investigating this for you this afernoon, and will post back when we have an update for you." And still no reply.

My initial cerberus request was made as I was unaware as to the mode of installation. Once informed it was a different install I then asked for information that need to be provided by me to go ahead. I did not receive a reply to that message either. (Chronologically I may be wrong here as I am running from memory), but I then posted within the forum on a thread setup by Simon specific to cerberus setup. Again no replies.

Eventually I was informed of DIY's intent to install too root and I thanked you for this and asked that you update me as to timeframes. At no time was I made aware that this was down to my request alone. I am not telepathic and so I presumed it was now a DIY wide policy. I therefore do not see the relevance of your build comment or that of 'beyond the offer on diyhosting.com'. But be that as it may support still fails to advise me as to status and this is a major bugbear because after all I am willing to pay a little bit extra for that little bit extra in support.

The bug issue is one that a) should have been advised to me in advance (or am I the only one suffering this at DIY?) or b) should be updated via support. For while the application issue with sw-soft was identified in the support tickets the sitebuilder issue was not. And again it is odd that the ticket relating to the application vault issue was closed by support and labelled as 'resolved' when it clearly isnt; as I do not have the full configuration. But I assume that is a DIY policy

I have called twice and left messages and noone has called me back as per your policy; I have called and spoken to support staff, I have rung your numbers only to find that the messaging service seems to reroute me in an endless loop; I have support tickets backed up in the ticketing system and you ask me to submit another one. You are aware of my requirements, you already have my impressions and views on the issues too hand and so I cannot see the immediate value of sending in yet another ticket only to be patronised still further.

Regards,

Ony

as I do not have the full configuration. But I assume that is a DIY policy
The ticket being closed could be for numerous reasons, one of which could be numerous tickets. I know you've put in at least six new tickets on this, so that is a great possibility.


I know your tickets have a LOT of replies in them. If you wish to discuss this further, please update one of them, or send me an email to the address stated above.


This issue, as stated in the tickets, is beyond our control. As much as we'd like to, we can not force sw-soft to make a free app install top priority, unfortunately. If an issue was threatening the uptime of websites, then that would be no problem, but an app install not working is hard to sell as an emergency, as you can no doubt understand.


To answer your question on who is affected; Anyone who needs the app install as a top priority, can be moved to mach41. On mach42, there is no other users viewing this as an issue.


Simon

Simon,

Understood but:

1. I submit a ticket I get a reply: Fine
2. I am informed I will be updated on then I wait. I think 6 days is more than a sufficient wait time for a response if only to say "still pending". I have another account with another provider and if something is outstanding I am informed that it is still pending and not just left to my own devices.
3. Multiple tickets have been submitted largely as I get no replies and so my submissions tend to be of the type " please update me on this". Nothing more.
4. I cannot see where a simple query to assess the status of a ticket at least for my own peace of mind after 6 days can be deemed to be excessive.
5. I understand that issues may indeed be out of your control but is it not prudent to advise me of status of tickets, or even to categorically say this is of low priority due to.. rather than wait for me to resubmit and ultimately reach this point. this could and should have been nipped in the bud some time ago from your end.
6. I have posted this in the DIY forum and Dean has now closed the thread after leaving his response. What exactly is the purpose of a forum where clients are asked to air their opinions if the client discussion is terminated at your discretion. I have not been insulting, rude or I believe overexacting and so his actions are over-reactive.
7. the result is now that gives me little or no recourse save to submit yet another ticket which I am first berated for and now asked or forced to do yet again!

Ony