Hi Guys

As you all probably know, Hostpacket.net has experienced "issues" in the last two - three days.

Earlier today I posted a thread on Hostpacket's forums re why I have left hostpacket and how people should judge a webhost (either potential or existing) - This post was deleted from their forums. (once again nicely sums up their attitude to customers)

I guess I’d like to make a few comments on here (where they cant sensor it)

1 - Initially hostpacket.net were very good - the first 1.5 months were excellent, with great uptime and fantastic server speeds.
2 - I initially experienced issues in early August 2002 - Up until the DNS (and then the server being completely removed) I experienced approx 14 hours of downtime (well over the 99.9% "Guarantee" - The most recent downtime would add well over another 20 hours to that.
3 - Kevin has lied on numerous times regarding previous downtime and the reasons for it.
4 - Kevin has attempted to moderate or in some way limit people's ability to raise GENUINE concerns over Hostpacket's ability to deliver what's been promised and has proven unable to run a stable host.

These guys are unprofessional, uncooperative, uncaring and inattentive.

This one's best avoided.

Matt

This is going to sound like a bit of second-guessing, especially from someone who isn't a Hostpacket customer but the following comes from a whois lookup on the domain Hostpacket.net.

Registrant:
HostPacket LLC
106 Continental Blvd
Toronto, ON M5B 2P4
CA
+1 (650) 745-2496
Fax:+1 (650) 745-2496


Domain Name: HOSTPACKET.NET

Administrative Contact:
Fong, Kevin ceo@hostpacket.net
106 Continental Blvd
Toronto, ON M5B 2P4
CA
+1 (650) 745-2496
Fax:+1 (650) 745-2496

Technical Contact:
Fong, Kevin ceo@hostpacket.net
106 Continental Blvd
Toronto, ON M5B 2P4
CA
+1 (650) 745-2496
Fax:+1 (650) 745-2496

For those not from the Toronto area, the Toronto area codes are 416 and the newer ones for the west end of the city, 289 and 647. Neighbouring area codes can be either 905 or 619. 650 is not a Toronto area code.

The postal code provided, while it is a legitimate postal code, is for the downtown Toronto area (an area full of some rather interesting homeless people, might I add), and Continental Blvd. isn't a street on it. (There's a small side street called Continental Place toward the east end of the city but nothing called Continental Blvd.)

Again, I provide this merely to collaborate Matt's opinion that this gentleman is quite capable of providing false information to customers (he did it in his WHOIS) and should be avoided.

650 is an area code for San fransisco and surrounding areas, for those who don't know...

rofl so his phone is in SF yet he lives in Toronto? hows that work...this sounds alot like CW

SF is 415... 650 is south a bit... but anyway that is sort of odd. Though, with all of the tech companies located around the 650 area code, it wouldn't surprise me if HostPacket just used a call center or fax service etc that was located in the 650 area code

What suprises me the most is the fact that HP hasn't contacted any of their clients about what is going on? Or posted on this thread since a majority of their customers seem to be on WHT.

Any HP clients did you recieve any contact from a representative of HP? Or is everyone still kept in the dark as all these threads are saying?

If so my sympathy is with you and good luck in getting everything straightened out.

For more details that 650 phone number, is a cellphone in the San Mateo county. (SF bay area)

They contacted me early this morning through email. It was a reply to a email I sent them so I don't know if they would have contacted me otherwise. However, I was contacted.

As far as the contact info, that doesn't really mean to much to me. A lot of people put false info in there, including myself. I think the whole WHOIS is ridiculous. Why should people be able to find out where you live, and your phone #? The only thing I got from it was spam and a million and one advertisements and offers sent to my house (until I changed the info).

Originally posted by Big-Mike
They contacted me early this morning through email. It was a reply to a email I sent them so I don't know if they would have contacted me otherwise. However, I was contacted.

As far as the contact info, that doesn't really mean to much to me. A lot of people put false info in there, including myself. I think the whole WHOIS is ridiculous. Why should people be able to find out where you live, and your phone #? The only thing I got from it was spam and a million and one advertisements and offers sent to my house (until I changed the info).

Mike,

I think you may wanna know who you are doing business with, and who are you giving your credit card #. Will you feel comfortable giving CC# to anyone on street :rolleyes: ? Will you mike ? Just my opinion.

The 650 phone number it's not just in the WHOIS. It's also listed as the number for customer support here: http://www.hostpacket.net/contactus.php

:D

This is my favourite when I look up - About US - The Team :

The Chief Execution Officer and founder of HostPacket.net

Kevin Fong


:confused:


heh , EXECUTION <<-- bring on the chickens . :crap: :smash:

Maybe his Babel Fish died :D

Originally posted by fantasmic0
:D

This is my favourite when I look up - About US - The Team :

The Chief Execution Officer and founder of HostPacket.net

Kevin Fong


:confused:


heh , EXECUTION <<-- bring on the chickens . :crap: :smash:

Since when did Rackshack started doing co-location :confused:

From their website

"Server Co-Location

Our servers are co-located in a state-of-the-art carrier-class data center in Houston, Texas. "
:confused:

I personally used HostPacket as a host from June 10, 2002 until July 3, 2002. Kevin seemed like a nice person and I helped him with a few problems he had. Installing Mod_Gzip, some DNS problems (help him edit Zone Files), and IMAP setup on cPanel, thing like these.

Kevin was always trying to fulfill every request that a client made; setting up IMAP was on of them. While it is admiring that a host would want to carry out every request by a client, it may not always be wise. Since IMAP is not supported by cPanel I advised him not to try, if someone needs IMAP that bad they will have to go somewhere else. I explained that a cPanel server is configured a certain way for a reason and it not a good idea to just go adding unsupported software unless you really know what you are doing.

Well Kevin installed IMAP on the server and all POP3 mail stopped working, he wanted help. I again explained that he should not try to please one potential client or client at the detriment to his other clients. I do believe that it was Kevin’s feelings that he must satisfy everyone that may have been his downfall. I can just picture Kevin telling some not to SPAM again.

Hostpacket: - Please do not send unsolicited email.
Client: - OK we won’t.

I feel sorry for anyone that lost data, it happened to me a few years ago. It is a hard lesson for sure, but Backup your data every time you make a change. Keep your site on you HD at home and make any changes on it too.

I left Hostpacket because of a billing problem that even today I am not too sure of.

Originally posted by eHostPros


Mike,

I think you may wanna know who you are doing business with, and who are you giving your credit card #. Will you feel comfortable giving CC# to anyone on street :rolleyes: ? Will you mike ? Just my opinion.

Giving your CC# to someone on the street and online is two totally different situations but either way people have been ripped off in both cases.

Originally posted by Big-Mike
They contacted me early this morning through email. It was a reply to a email I sent them so I don't know if they would have contacted me otherwise. However, I was contacted.

As far as the contact info, that doesn't really mean to much to me. A lot of people put false info in there, including myself. I think the whole WHOIS is ridiculous. Why should people be able to find out where you live, and your phone #? The only thing I got from it was spam and a million and one advertisements and offers sent to my house (until I changed the info).

I do agree with this to a certain extent: publishing a home address and telephone number would likely be where I draw the line. However, publishing a business address isn't all that bad since it doesn't tie anyone personally to the company. Yes it leads to spam possibly, but what doesn't nowadays?

Having said that, if one does decide to publish false WHOIS and contact information, one should not include a phone number with an area code whose area drastically differs from that of the address. At least if the registrant put in a 416 area code, that would make the info believable.

The following is an excerpt from directNIC's terms of service:

4. Registration Data. As part of the registration process, you are required to provide us with certain information and to update this information to keep it current, complete and accurate. This information includes:

Your full name, postal address, e-mail address, voice telephone number, and fax number if available;
The name of an authorized person for contact purposes in the case of a registrant that is an organization, association, or corporation;

As of this moment, the information is not accurate, which means right now Hostpacket is violating directNIC's TOS.

And an extension of an earlier post (taken from the "Data Center page"):

Our network are connected with redundant DS-3 lines, the network graph is shown below

All your network are belong to hostpacket. Set up them the server. You have no chance to survive make your downtime. :D

Originally posted by TheGAME1264

As of this moment, the information is not accurate


Not to play Devil's Advocate or anything, but do you have any proof to back up that statement?

Originally posted by TheGAME1264


All your network are belong to hostpacket. Set up them the server. You have no chance to survive make your downtime. :D

:confused: :confused: :confused:

Originally posted by eyow
Maybe his Babel Fish died :D

That is one of the most ignorant replies posted here at WHT.
Feeling a little bit superior are we eyow? :angry:

To Kevin Fong, don't let the 'Fat Bastards' of the world get you down. :smokin:

Originally posted by ShagHost

That is one of the most ignorant replies posted here at WHT.
Feeling a little bit superior are we eyow? :angry:

To Kevin Fong, don't let the 'Fat Bastards' of the world get you down. :smokin:

What's wrong with that?

Isn't a bable fish from the book Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy? :D

Originally posted by ShagHost

That is one of the most ignorant replies posted here at WHT.
Feeling a little bit superior are we eyow? :angry:

To Kevin Fong, don't let the 'Fat Bastards' of the world get you down. :smokin:

So you complain his thread was ignorant, and then post "To Kevin Fong, don't let the 'Fat Bastards' of the world get you down."

What is that supose to mean ?

I would like to give Hostpacket the benefit of the doubt, and until I read this thread and did
a little home work I can no longer be patient with Hostpacket and Kevin Fong.

It is very serious to be giving credit card numbers to a company that has lied about everything!
Kevin Fong claims to live in Canada. When I signed with his service I had did a trace and
found his servers located in Texas at Rackshack. I asked Kevin where he was located, he
said Canada. With the evidence listed in the earlier posts in this thread, I also submit the following:

Kevin Fong is in Hong Kong!
do a search on this forum for dk2002 that is kevin’s aka for this forum
look at post, kevin’s Hong Kong email address:
“click for Kevin’s email addr” (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?threadid=44735) “netvigator.com” is located in Hong Kong.

In addition check out the time on Hostpacket’s forum (http://www.hostpacket.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=1). You will notice the time is not US time nor
is it Canadian time. The time difference is
7 hours advance. Either somewhere in Russia or Fiji. Actually I think it’s a mistake they overlooked.
Someone posted a question about the time in Hostpackets forum and that post was gone
within an hour.

Personally I am calling my credit card company tomorrow and requesting a new credit card
number. I don’t like the idea that my credit card number is floating around Asia with
someone who has lied about his address and phone numbers. I have tried to call the phone
numbers and only get a recording. Is anyone surprised.

Kevin if I’m wrong about you being located in Asia and not Canada. Start up your chat support
and I will join you in chat and provide me with your Canadian telephone number and I will
give you a call. I would be very happy to post a retraction, say I was wrong.

The potential for credit card fraud is real.

Originally posted by ShagHost

That is one of the most ignorant replies posted here at WHT.
Feeling a little bit superior are we eyow? :angry:

To Kevin Fong, don't let the 'Fat Bastards' of the world get you down. :smokin:

I am lost as well :confused: How is it ignorant someone pointed out an error and the Babel Fish is a reference to Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy which is used to help one translate different languages. No feeling of superiority don't know where "superiority" came into play but different people think different things.

I do not see the ignorance in the post, and frankly neither do some of the other people.

All your network are belong to hostpacket. Set up them the server. You have no chance to survive make your downtime.

:laugh: Thanks for that...that's the funniest thing I've seen all day! :laugh:

Originally posted by yocalif


Personally I am calling my credit card company tomorrow and requesting a new credit card
number. I don’t like the idea that my credit card number is floating around Asia with
someone who has lied about his address and phone numbers. I have tried to call the phone
numbers and only get a recording. Is anyone surprised.


The potential for credit card fraud is real.

CC fraud in some countries inc. those in Asia is very real in even normal transactions - let alone this where you can't see where or to whom you've given the details .... :( We all run this risk from time to time . :eek:

Originally posted by tribby


Not to play Devil's Advocate or anything, but do you have any proof to back up that statement?

Yes the area code 650 is located in Palo Alto California. Not Toronto. Although he may have a contact in California, who knows? Anyone tried calling???

Originally posted by fantasmic0


CC fraud in some countries inc. those in Asia is very real in even normal transactions - let alone this where you can't see where or to whom you've given the details .... :( We all run this risk from time to time . :eek:

Most likely they are using a 3rd party to process credit cards and nobody's credit card number is 'floating around' anywhere.

My CC statement lists it as:
HOSTPACKET RANCHO CUCAMO CA

Originally posted by lightnin


Most likely they are using a 3rd party to process credit cards and nobody's credit card number is 'floating around' anywhere.

:cool: https://www.hostpacket.net/signup/signup.php

I don't know a lot about these things ... but I can't see a 3rd party company there ... perhaps further down the ORDER chain ?!?!?!:cartman:

It doesn't matter where they billed your credit card from.
It doesn't matter which credit card processing company they used.
They would of course use a US or Canadian company.

The point is would you give your credit card number to a stranger on the street?
Why do you think PayPal is growing so fast…..

Hell NO! But that is exactly what we did. Companies are set up all the time, if
the company is making money fine. But if the company begins to lose money,
they cut their loses, close shop and sell the credit card #s to crooks.
If they were in the US or Canada we can go to the authorities and have them
tracked down and brought to justice. But if they are in Asia we have no way
of seeking justice or putting a stop to it.

I will agree that this may not be the intent of Kevin. But who the hell knows
the dude has lied about everything. The front end of their business looks
great, but back in the kitchen it’s crawling with bugs.

Hostpacket’s comparison sheet, show’s 3 times that daily backups are made.
Where the hell is the backup, why is my service down for 48 plus hours and
still no word on when it will be restored. On Hostpacket’s forum now they
say the only thing backed up is system files. That is ok if you told ,
clients are responsible for client files backups, in case of harddrive
failure. But that isn’t what is implied with the claim of daily backups.
Who the hell cares about Hostpacket’s system files, it is expected that HP
backup it’s files. The real concern is a clients files. Many sites have
months of work, customer info, hugh databases. They may have skipped
several days of a backup, thinking hey I can rely on HP’s backup. Read
HP’s forum that is exactly what happened.

You can’t tell anything about a company when everything is going right.
It’s when things start coming apart and crisis occur that you find out the
real character of people you do business with. The character shown so far,
Lies, excuses, won’t communicate, false addresses, phones that won’t
answer, no email response, no chat support, no info in the forums. These
are all things we paid for, they are not for fan clubs, but for problems.
The problem is there but where the hell is Kevin…..? All these tools
mean nothing if he doesn’t use them. They are a sales company, not a
hosting company. A hosting company would have us back online in a
couple of hours. How long was AOL down that time when everything
had to be changed, with 2 million users. 3 days. No Hostpacket looked
good going in but now the gig is up, they are a unprofessional, unethical,
and may be even worse. Only time will tell..

Originally posted by sitekeeper
My CC statement lists it as:
HOSTPACKET RANCHO CUCAMO CA

Rancho Cucamo, CA 91730 is near LA , just outside LA near San Bernardino, CA

Yep, short for Rancho Cucamonga (I have friends who live there). I've always wanted to live in a place called Cucamonga, just has a nutty sound to it :D

Regarding where Kevin lives (if that's an issue of any sort), nothing indicates Canada, though the company may be registered in Canada.

matt is the most picky customer to avoid :o

Thanks to you first mentioned the downtime, then all the downtime problems come and cause by you, frequency DOS attack at mid-night, made the server hangs out, then you mention the downtime again and again and again

and can't you see those bad guys post their annoying ads in our forum, you keep posting the negative comments then those bad guys come to post more, don't you know they're from outside and nasty?

you don't understand the real problem is so unprofessional, all problems happened in last 2 weeks together, if you think it's normal and our problem then I've nothing to say :cartman:

I migrated to Canada at November, my merchant account provider in CA, they're huge but service is bad :(

And they provide a US phone number service, that's good, so I can keep away those annoying calls

Sorry for the off topic :), but I worked on a night club called "Rancho Cucamonga", pretty nice place BTW :).

Kevin where is your bussines physically based in Canada, LA or HongKong ?

based in Canada, man :)

:rolleyes: :confused: :rolleyes:

Man, I'm glad I didn't go with Hostpacket for my hosting choice. I ended up going with another host because:

1. Hostpacket is a new company that hasn't proven itself (they've only been around for several months, right?)

2. They're too new to be able to honestly boast the 99.9% uptime guarantee.

3. For what you get, they're MUCH cheaper than the cheapest competitors that have gotten good reviews on this board. Like half the price. Something is being sacrificed, and it isn't immediately apparent what that is.

4. The previous downtime earlier this month that people posted about sounded like it already broke the 99.9% guarantee.

5. The web hosting plans page has been "down for re-arrangement" since I first visited the site. A couple of the "quick links" on the main page are bad links. What does it say about a hosting company who can't maintain their own site?

6. The Why Hostpacket? page says basically nothing. It's the kind of creative-writing salesman BS you see in spam.


It might well be a good host, and perhaps the problems people post about with them will never happen again. But I think the above reasons are worth taking into consideration. And this is from someone who is just getting a webhost for the first time... I'd be afraid of what things someone with a lot of experience could also point out.

Do people get their money back since the uptime guarantee hasn't come through?

Originally posted by Chicken
Yep, short for Rancho Cucamonga (I have friends who live there). I've always wanted to live in a place called Cucamonga, just has a nutty sound to it :D

Regarding where Kevin lives (if that's an issue of any sort), nothing indicates Canada, though the company may be registered in Canada.

Originally posted by dk2002
based in Canada, man :)

Something doesn't match :confused:

what do you mean? :confused:

So far we've got middle California, southern California, Texas, Canada, and Hong Kong. Any more?

This is all really looking seriously bad...

Kevin,
So you immigrated to Canada in Nov. 2001, and you establish a internet hosting company in US/Canada. But in April when you first start posting on this forum, you use an email address in Hong Kong? You manage to establish a internet hosting company but you can't use your ISP's email address in Canada?

Hmmm, for some reason this picture doesn't look right.

You haven't explained why it's taking so long for clients to get their web sites back up. And what country did you leave the daily backups? Why can’t you tell your customers when their sites will come back up?
Is it because of a lack of technical ability, that you are really depending on outside help, and that help is
expensive so you are only willing to pay for normal 8 hours. I don’t expect you t admit this. But there is
a post from a former client that helped you setup and configure Hostpacket servers and told you that you
were making mistakes, thus indicating a lack of some important knowledge. If not what is the reason it
is taking so long???????????

That is my only working email provided by old Hong Kong ISP at that time, how can I can get email without a working email address and my notebook? :cartman:

The DSL connections is shared by router to different rooms, I don't have my own email address from ISP :(

the part time salary is low already, I'm paying my full time tech the double salary (still low for full time)

and when setting up server# 2, J. use the method for enterprise, master name server and slave name servers for all servers, but later I found other hosts are using dependent name server for each server, so I realize the method don't work for hosting business :(

Dear Kevin,
If you are actually in Canada, you are logging onto the internet in Canada. Therefore why aren't you using your Canadian ISP's email?

Of course your not using your Canadian ISP email, because there is no Canadian ISP. Kevin in case you
forgot. You moved from Hong Kong in Nov. 2001. Your first post here at WHT was in April. If you
were in Canada you used a Canadian ISP, but you didn’t use a canadian isp email address.
Again this is now getting more fishy because you said you had no other way of getting email. But your
in Canada using a ISP in Canada?

The real question Kevin, is when will your customers get their service back 100%?

Put your chat support back online, I will contact you through that, give me your telephone number in
Canada, and I will verify, and post a public apology in this forum.

Hi Kevin. I know you're busy and attending to many things, but I have to ask when are you going to send the cancellation confirmation e-mails. I just need an ETA on that.

Thanks.

Kevin,
I am sorry for making statements based on very little information and putting you on the spot.

But the bottom line is, hundreds of your clients want to know when they will have their
service restored. Most could care less where you are located. You have done an excellent
job up until Thursday. But since Thursday, you have communicated very little and left us
in the dark.

So one last time Kevin when is your best guess
that server #2 will be on line 100%?
that server #3 will be online?
that server #1 will be online?

Again I apologize for anything that isn’t accurate about your location. I look forward to
when your chat will be restored and we all can get back to business as usual.

Yocalif,

Having been where Kevin is right now I can tell you that communication is not high on the priority list.

When one of my servers went totally fubar last march I discovered the limitations of a one man company as Kevin has probably discovered last week.

You see, all is fine and dandy on a normal day. You get a few signups, a few cancellations. Send out some mails because creditcards were declined, answer your support emails etc etc.

Life is good. Then after a long day work just when you are dying to go to bed you see the first signs of trouble. 10 Minutes later emails start pouring in and they WILL keep pouring in. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them over a couple of days. Each time. Each time your mail gets downloaded (10 mins) theres that friggin "You've got mail" message again. Frantically working to find a solution to the problem. Phoning, mailing, faxing you also have to deal ALL ALONE with a constant stream of email you have to answer. And even though most of them are nice "Hi, I know you are busy but just wondering when my site will be back up" emails at some point you've just totally had it. Especially since it's constantly the same people who are contacting you.

After 3 days and night straight without sleep, physically ill (headaches, stomacheaches) because of all the problems you see no solution to, hatemail, stressmail and whatnot mail you're about as done with it as you can be.

It is at times like these when the one man operation limitations really come to light. And it is also at times like these when you find out if you have selected the right host.

Many who did not count on this will pull the plug. Just turn of their site, their email so they can no longer be bothered with it and just disapper. Long live the anonymity of the internet.

If Kevin does his best to resolve it, does whatever it takes to get your sites back up mid next week then you know you have found a host who is serious about the business he is running and about his clients. Many will crumble and fold up under this kind of pressure.

Mid next week sound too long? Don't forget he probably also lost his nameservers so you are looking at a DNS change of 48 hours at least. Not to mention that he has to set up ALL accounts on ALL his servers again himself and manually. Amidst all the pressure that is on him now that is a daunting task. I don't think he's had much sleep for the last couple of days...

As for a whole thread discussing where he lives and demanding answers... I don't think he needs that right now. The guy has bigger problems!

Kevin is living in a nightmare these days. My support is with him.

As a Host and Not A Customer, I tend to agree with Pilgrim. What Kevin is going thru is something that any of us as webhost's could be going thru also.

LET ME SAY THIS THOUGH. I DO BLAME KEVIN for some things. Why promise backups if he is not doing backups? Why promise unrealistic uptime guarantee's?

Very few of us can honestly say we're giving 99.9% (or even 99.5%) uptime. I have never given an uptime guarantee, because in most cases it is just too unrealistic.

I currently have 4 RS servers. 3 have been "Up", since going online, except for an occasional reboot when installing some new software. For a while RS had a service monitoring thing, and I never could understand this, but it always showed around 92 to 97% uptime. But the servers never seemed to be down.

Occasionally I get an email from someone saying they cannot get to their site. Most of the time, by the time we look into it, the site is up....so if we depending on RS servers I guess we have to live with the occasional downtime here and there.

I'm just not comfortable promising an uptime guarantee, and I honestly feel that anyone who does, is really not going to meet those standards.

Now for the fourth server. It seemed to begin having a constant daily problem of going down....I would have to reboot it daily, and at times I could not even reboot it myself. I'd have to put in a TT.

Besides my own Systems Admin, I consult from time to time with a Systems Admin who is very knowledgeable about RS servers, etc. He suggested we do a restore, which we did. We backed everything up, emailed every client as to what was going to happen. Offered to move any of them who wanted to move so they would avoid the few hours of downtime that we'd have.

I sent out almost hourly updates as to the progress, even though it was done overnite, so most were not even awake.

When all was said and done, it ended up being bad RAM causing the problem.

We ended up going into the next day before getting the server back online.....BUT....

Because of the fact we were so upfront, and honest about what was going on, we actually received nothing but praise from our clients....(only about 50 on this server at the time)...

One even stated if she ever opened her own business, she wanted to hire our "public relations department".

I guess the bottom line is this....ALL HOSTS should stop promising their ridiculous uptime guarantee's. Most of the big, old hosting companies do not promise an uptime guarantee. Most who are offering guarantee's are people like me leasing a server, or reselling, etc.

Also you should do your best to inform your clients what is going on, and you'll be amazed at the goodwill that will come from it.

Originally posted by dk2002
The DSL connections is shared by router to different rooms, I don't have my own email address from ISP :(

the part time salary is low already, I'm paying my full time tech the double salary (still low for full time)

and when setting up server# 2, J. use the method for enterprise, master name server and slave name servers for all servers, but later I found other hosts are using dependent name server for each server, so I realize the method don't work for hosting business :(

Contact me for a backup solution that will help you in the future.

This is not a solicitation for business, this is to help in the event of another catastrophic failure.

aim - mbsdf

This thread just shows that people have too much time on their hands, IMO.

It takes no time to make a post on any board and adding that Richard is simply to bring everyone's point's down.

What is the point? Let them discuss what they need to, "Wasting their time" as you put it is the nature of doing anything anywhere anytime.

I would have sent this via pm or e-mail but you have those disabled.

Quit spamming to get your sig into a thread.

EzHost, you sound like you know what you’re doing, and you have a keen business acumen.

EzHost have you read the problem with Hostpacket and Rackshack?

Kevin claims he had to buy a new server from Rackshack and the drive from his original
server was formatted.

Question,
How long would it take you from scratch to setup new server with all the features he offers,
and restore service to approx. 400+ clients across 3 or 4 servers?

Why do you think he is waiting till Tuesday?

Kevin told everyone to change their “name servers” to ns4 and ns5. Most did that late Thursday and Friday. Within 24-48hrs the pointers should now point to the right server. Only a few on one server can access their web sites, most of us can’t.

Why is it taking so long, for everyone else?

If I switched my site to you’re hosting service would/could a similar scenario happen and getting
service restored, take 5 days or more? If you say no that it couldn’t happen, could you explain why?

Does Rackshack offer "mirroring"




Does Rackshack offer mirroring? Personally if I was in the business I would have backup plus mirror harddrive. You could have a service restored in a few minutes........ I don't know squat so ignore if this comment is not realistic.

Originally posted by dk2002
I migrated to Canada at November, my merchant account provider in CA, they're huge but service is bad :(

And they provide a US phone number service, that's good, so I can keep away those annoying calls

You mean annoying calls from customers who may want to ask questions about what's going on and if their site is going to be properly restored? Perish the thought!

And if that number is their number and not yours, why is it the contact number published in the WHOIS information for directNIC? What would they have to do with your domain registration (not that directNIC would likely have any reason to call it but if they did...)

And two notes from north of the border for those who may not be familiar with Canada:

1) LLCs don't actually exist here. One can incorporate or limit the liability of a company, but there are no LLCs in Canada (now he may have registered a US company but why wouldn't he stay there? Canada, with its heavy taxation and socialist policies, isn't exactly the easiest place to do business.)

2) All ISPs in Canada provide at least one email address as part of the service. (I'm sure most of you know or suspect this already but consider this an official confirmation from someone who lives here). Extra email addresses can be purchased as well, and can easily be set up across routers to be opened in different rooms. Who are you with, Kevin? I'm sure they'd provide you with extra emails and in the event that you needed it, help to get them set up.

I can understand the point that Pilgrim and EzHost make with regard to the struggles of being able to maintain a server and how anything can go wrong. However, yocalif raises the very valid point that many problems can be solved with a decent contingency plan (e.g. mirroring, daily backups, etc.) And while I'm not familiar with Rackshack as a company, I can't see them (or any other host) formatting a hard drive just because a few people spammed using Hostpacket's server. It's just not a logical course of action. I'm not even a host myself, but I download and back up all of my clients' sites on a weekly basis just to avoid a catastrophe.

Either there's a level of dishonesty or a level of incompetency involved in this situation, and in either case it's the responsibility of the host.

I don't see a problem with being based in Ontario and having a U.S. phone number(s). Perhaps he/they wanted calls from the U.S. to not incur international tolls. My company used to use (703) numbers (Northern Virginia) while we are based in the Richmond area (804). Further, we also have Ontario incorporation (as well as Delaware) yet still operate from Virginia. Is this so wrong?

P.S. Why is everyone so concerned about one mans immigration struggles. I'm sure he has enough problems dealing with our governments so responding to interrogations as to why he isnt using certain e-mail addresses at X date and time isnt exactally a priority?

P.S. Why is everyone so concerned about one mans immigration struggles. I'm sure he has enough problems dealing with our governments so responding to interrogations as to why he isnt using certain e-mail addresses at X date and time isnt exactally a priority?

Why is everyone concerned. Because 400 + clients haven't heard from the crook sinse Friday. The response in this forum about where is Kevin really locate, must have touched a nerve with Kevin. It's the only response we have gotten in 4 days. As customers our patience with Kevin is gone, he wore out any goodwill on our part after 3 days down time.

If Kevin wants our sympathy he can get it after he restores service to all his clients. Kevin has used false advertising to dupe potential customers into doing business with him. He is failing to honor his written guarantee's. The features of his Hosting service that he used to sell us the service, are all now shut off, his famous "chat" has been down for a week, there never has been a trouble ticket system, he hasn't responded to anyone emails. He hasn't made a update post in the support forum since Friday! He has written several users he will not honor the 30-day money back guarantee. Bottom line Kevin is a crook.

I can understand how those of you who represent or own Hosting companies may have some sympathy for kevin because several of you know it could be happening to you. You shouldn't have sympathy for anyone who creates a company offering services they know they can't deliver, who take their clients money and doesn't deliver. If Kevin was making a honest, he would not be hiding from his clients. Kevin now represents the dark-side of the Hosting industry. Kevin and
Hostpacket have become the prime example of what not to do in this business.

HOST PACKET REFUSES TO HONOR THEIR ADS
"30-Day Money-Back Guarantee" (http://www.hostpacket.net/comparisonchart.php)

Below post sums it very well!
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Post from Hostpacket Forum:
Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2002 10:07 am Post subject:

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Hostpackets policy:
++++Refund and Disputes over Charges +++++
1. HostPacket.net will provide instant refunds to account holders involving over-charging for any reason.
2. Advanced payment made by account holders whose accounts cannot be setup within 72 hours of the application will be refunded and the application marked as void.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Kevin is lying again... First, I'm sure Kevin intended to dupe customers into believing there was a 30 day money back guarantee, but his guarantee in his mind, has hidden terms or conditions.

But typical of Kevin he screws up left and right, the above policy says nothing about "30-Day Money Back Guarantee"... These are the descriptive terms used in his plan comparison. He has no definition of what 30 day money back guarantee means.
But he is wrong. You can not tell someone they are getting steak and give him or her hamburger. Well you can but you can be taken to court and you will lose every time. In addition, once word gets out that you are lying and short-changing customers you will lose any new or future business.

Hostpacket's policy is actually really clear about certain kinds of refunds. If someone prepaid and didn't get their account setup in 72 hours that person is entitled to a refund. That is very clear. Where does it mention 30 days? Where does it mention guarantee? Those words are not included in the above policy. Therefore, there is no way to interpret them as the Hostpacket's policy regarding a 30day money back guarantee.
Actually no where on Hostpacket's site can you find the definition of a 30-Day Money Back Guarantee. Therefore an interpretation would be based on business acumen and industry standards. We all know what that definition would be: "If you are not happy with the service of Hostpacket for any reason during the first 30 days of service, and you cancel your account prior to the end of the first 30 days, you will receive your money back." Every consumer receives dozens of these offers in the mail, on tv, in the newspaper.
Kevin can’t redefine what are common business terms and what is considered fair practice.

Well wait a minute, I forgot Kevin is Chinese, a recent immigrant from Hong Kong. It is very possible that certain Hong Kong Chinese consider it acceptable to lie, commit fraud, call red – blue, makeup things up, to simply do whatever suits them and take advantage of their customers. Well Kevin we have news for you. You’re living in Canada (so he says), and doing business in Canada/USA, and other countries too. But in N.America there are established business and consumer practices that require honesty between the seller and the buyer. Actually most of the Asian business people I have had the pleasure to do business with are extremely ethical and honest. Kevin should not be considered the typical Asian, unless you intend to call all Asians dishonest, willing to commit fraud, out right liars. Again I will say, most Asian do not resemble these negative examples, only Kevin does…..

Kevin is relying on the fact, most people will not take him to court for $6.95 or $14 or $50. The amount
would have to exceed $1000 before someone would hold Kevin’s feet to the fire. So Kevin will
continue to use false advertising. “99.9% Uptime guarantee”, is a perfect example of Hostpacket’s
false advertising. Now we know there is NO 30-day money back guarantee, another false advertisement.

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End of Post from Hostpacket forum
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Hostpacket Answers EMAIL from Possible New Customers But Not From Existing Accounts!!

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Post from Hostpacket (http://www.hostpacket.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=181)
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Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2002 3:40 pm Post subject: This is how I understand it

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Okay, I signed up for the basic package yesterday, and apparently my account was created on server 3. So this is how I see it:

If you were on server 1 (or 2?) then your site is down and you've likely lost everything. If you're on server 3, your site is fine, but you can't login or do anything since all of that is on server 1, right?

So that means that until this mess is straightened out, everyone is screwed, and once it is straightened out, everyone on servers 1 and 2 are screwed. Right?

Man, I really should've looked here before I decided to sign up. This is no way to be running a hosting company, no way at all. Can I get my money back should I decide to move on?

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Another post from same thread:

You mean Kevin, answers an email that sets up a new account.
But he won't answer emails from his exisiting clients.

What a joke.
The joke is on us clients......

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BUMP

2:00 PM PST
Hostpacket is down again.........!

just tried can't get their site or forum.

can't get on dsnreports either........

:rolleyes: :confused: :rolleyes:

<yawn> .. I'm sure there's a reason ... or there will be shortly </yawn>

:D

Bumping isn't permitted. At this point, it seems the issue is being dragged on... I think we all get the point.