About a week ago, a client signed up for 2 reseller packages with my hosting company. All was fine, he asked for his free private nameservers and they were given.

Then yesterday he submitted a ticket, it was resolved within 5 hours and I thought all was fine. Then he some how found my personal email, then sent me an email to my personal address relating to a new problem caused by the fix of the old problem. I don't read my personal email because it receives too much spam so I can't find the important emails. The client was unhappy with this so he decides to use domain whois to find my phone number.

I am only 17 but I am backed by an investor, so I am capable of running a web hosting business. But he rang my phone number and my mother was unlucky enough to answer it. He then went on as to how I scammed him of $70 when he was only paying $5/month for both accounts and had only paid for one month for both. My mother, not knowing anything about hosting was clueless, so he then began to abuse her.

Now I don't know if I am fit to run a hosting company after this client. He truely is the customer from hell and don't wish him upon any other host.

Thanks,
Luke

I would say you are very fit to run a company as you care, you seem to have your head screwed on the right way. If you are young, have an investor and do things legally then there is nothing wrong with a youngster running a company but in this industry you do have to sometimes develop a thick skin.

Perhaps its worth trying to work out why the customer called. Did he wait to long for a reply, did he expect 24x7 support, or was he just one of the crap people you sometimes run into?

I wouldn't worry overall just refund him and move on

About a week ago, a client signed up for 2 reseller packages with my hosting company. All was fine, he asked for his free private nameservers and they were given.

Then yesterday he submitted a ticket, it was resolved within 5 hours and I thought all was fine. Then he some how found my personal email, then sent me an email to my personal address relating to a new problem caused by the fix of the old problem. I don't read my personal email because it receives too much spam so I can't find the important emails. The client was unhappy with this so he decides to use domain whois to find my phone number.

I am only 17 but I am backed by an investor, so I am capable of running a web hosting business. But he rang my phone number and my mother was unlucky enough to answer it. He then went on as to how I scammed him of $70 when he was only paying $5/month for both accounts and had only paid for one month for both. My mother, not knowing anything about hosting was clueless, so he then began to abuse her.

Now I don't know if I am fit to run a hosting company after this client. He truely is the customer from hell and don't wish him upon any other host.

Thanks,
Luke

Luke,
Sorry to hear your experience. unfortunately its sometimes part of any business. Don't let these incidents get to you. There are some people who has very different value system than common people. Only wise ting to do is to say good bye to them and focus on other customers. Remember you do not have to do business with everybody who comes to you. Sometimes you have to choose.

By the way you might want to get a separate line for your business. Even if you don't provide telephone support you need a separate business line. Check vonage or MajicJack, they are very cost effective.

Now, shake it off and back to work you man. You would be fine. Good luck.

There's always at least one in any business. Brush it off and keep it up!

You run a business and you have your personal information on your domain name?

People << removed >> will do all kinds of nasty things when they are unhappy.. CHANGE YOUR INFO NOW!!

Get a PO Box, Get a forwarded number or something.. DO NOT Put your personal/home information out there for some disgruntled idiot to get hold of.

What I think happened is he mined the data from the whois record, and turned up your personal email and phone number using that. As such, Don't let these types of customers get to you. They're everywhere, and you can do two courses of action: 1) Bite the bullet and deal with them, or 2) Refund and drop them. Personally, I'd refund the customer if they come off as the type that is going to keep you on your toes 24/7, because honestly, they are not worth the time with how much people usually pay for reseller accounts these days. Otherwise, bite the bullet and see if the customer is happy once the initial problems are resolved.

Ha - yup, had one of them and sent them on their way...

Called my cell phone (which I make available to all our Resellers) and my wife answered the phone (24x7 support) as I was in the shower and went off on my wife for 5 minutes.

My wife appologized to him for the frustration he was having and told him I would return his call immediately after I investigated the problem - I did - only to find out that he had messed his DNS settings up and didn't know how to fix them.

When I was on the phone explaining to him about the error that "I found and was correcting" - he proceeded to question my experience and integrity in the business and called me a "16 year old piece of crap"...

I started to get my back up against the wall and explained to him that I was 33 and far more than capable of running this business and asked him whether or not he could see his sites again - he screamed at me "yes, it's about ----ing time, --hole!".

I said "Excellent, now do you see them?" He said, "What the ----, what happened, it says my account is suspended" to which I said "Yup, that's what happens when anyone talks to my wife or I like that, or questions my ability to run my business, have a good day!

He did owe us about $18.00 for his account - but we waived that months payment as he did refer 2 resellers to us. Needless to say, the resellers are still with us and he still, to do this day continues to threaten to sue me despite me giving him the name and number of our laywer's outfit asking him to correspond any future communications through our lawyer.

I've not lost a single wink of sleep over this whole instance and my wife and I laugh about it now.

Shrug it off - move on - your 17 and doing well, keep up the good work!

/bin/false

Dam Luke,, Ignore the git and move on Mate.. Your doing well and we know it. :D

Its a part of customer service. Some customers are gud n some are impatient. You need not to worry about all these. Out of 100 we get @least 2 to 3 such customers. Just focus on your basics, provide good support n move on with your business.

Every host has a handful of clients that make their technical support people cringe when they send in support requests. This is part of the day to day business that comes with our jobs. I've found though that, for the most part, when we continue to treat these troublesome or angry clients with the same respect that we treat the well-mannered folks, they turn around and become our best clients.

Now that being said, I can't say that I disagree with /bin/false's actions. There's a very wide line between providing customer service and knowing when the customer stops being "always right". The trick is knowing how to deal with really mean clients. In my case, I have the option of sending mean-spirited complaints to management so I don't have to be the "bad cop". I think I'm pretty good at turning bad situations into positive ones but there are times when it's best I hand some issues off.

I was deadly nervous with my first angry client! What if I say something that makes the situation worse? What if he quits because I can't make him happy? I found that it's a matter of easing into a frame of mind that allows me to take the punches and be a good public face for my employers.

In your case, I think that you did a fine job. You didn't really provide a lot of details as to how exactly you handled the client but that's okay. That you decided to seek guidance from other people who might be in the same situation shows a great deal of initiative and strength, where other people might have just given up and quit.

Don't lose faith in yourself or your business. Learn from this situation and do expect that it will happen again -- maybe not with the same clown you described in the initial post here but it will happen. This is normal and you will begin to feel more in control as you gain experience.

Luke,

sorry to hear about this happening to you. You are doing fine. Just try to shrug it off and continue on with your business.

Comes with the job. Brush it off, forget about it. Letting little things like this get to you is very demotivating and can put you off track. Consider it as a learning experience :agree:

Wow, that's unfortunate Luke. Your company is quite reputable here, so I would surmise that you are doing a good job. Keep it up and don't let this individual get to you.

As I have always said, wisdom does not come with age.

Good luck with your business.
Mike

Bad customers are everywhere. Some people will always try to go for the easy method instead of waiting for his/hers turn. If he managed to get your number and personal email something must be wrong? After all it is his own fault when he decides not to submit a new ticket. My mother would be terrified if she got a phone call like that too. I feel sorry for you... it must be annoying that someone behaves like that.

Stuff happens man.. Theres always going to be one of these customers.

I would recommend telling your mom about your business though. She may think you are more responsible and be supportive. Maybe she will even get you a second phone line or cell phone.

Dont sweat the small stuff. Between never have personal info available.

Well, i suggest putting in a mobile/cellphone number - a PO Box is a bit extreme, but if you want privacy, its pretty cheap, and the best solution to your problems.

Ahh, just keep hosting, there aren't that many customers from hell, so just keep hosting, and it'll just be a one off!

Yes, a cellphone or cheap VoIP number would do the trick nicely.

Its all about learning and getting back up. You will be fine. Some people will never be happy no matter how much time you spend with them or how many discounts you give them... Trust me, I learned this the hard way.

I keep the cheep customers at a good distance. . . they are never happy and will always find a reason on why they need to get a discount or free hosting. And in the end your time would have been better spend.. posting here on WHT... helping other people.

I have previously worked in a retail environment, where you have to deal with a lot more of these sort of people. Fortunately for you, you don't have to deal with them face to face and continue to be nice to them. It's your business, you can decide who your clients are.

Weigh it up, decide whether you're prepared to put up with someone for whatever it is they do, or are like, for the amount of revenue they generate for you.

If you can get them in Australia, you might consider a second number attached to the main number. Use that on your whois. While you have to give a legitimate number for your domain registration details, nothing says you have to actually answer the phone.

The thing about business is that some idiots think that they can do say whatever comes to their minds.

Some years ago, a cashier at a restaurant was being bullied by one of those types. Problem was, three or four neighbourhood teens who were regular customers were walking by. They took exception to this and bounced him outside, bounced him over a few cars, and then bounced him onto the pavement. The neighbourhood cops came along and told him to be more careful about tripping over curbs. Never did see him again. :)

In theory, most people are in business for themselves because of the freedom. Always feel free to fire the customer, but not at the expense of growing the business. Not all bad customers turn into good customers. Some of them are just not worth it. The third strike rule is pretty good. Two bites at the apple, and then out. No explanations, no appeals, just goodbye.

Many places that offer PO Boxes also allow you to use their street address, so instead of seeing PO box 1234 the user will see 1234 some street. At least that way you don't have some jackass coming to knock on your door.

As for the phone if you really want to do phone support then get a number that is portable and can be turned off at any time. Many 1800 lines are like this and will forward users to a voicemail box when you turn the phone off or after x number of rings.

There is a certain point where you need to tell the customer that their business is no longer wanted. Any abuse towards staff should never be tolerated. Build it into your terms of service and you have your end covered.

I could tell some stories. :)

Thank you all for your support, it does mean a lot when I am backed by professionals in this field. I have now bought domain privacy which only costs $0.50/year which should fix this problem in the future. I will be staying in this field and hopefully in a few months when I have finished school for good, I can put in more hours to advance my hosting company. Hopefully then I can think of myself as a professional and give advice to people that will experience the horrors that I did.

Thanks,
Luke

Luke, get a cell phone and divert all support calls there.

Even we had such issues in local market but those are mainly cause its impossible to explain why they "cant" use their email accounts via their cell phones!

Welcome to a learning experience. Mad props at starting when you were 17. I started when I was 14 and yes, I definitely was NOT ready for an angry customer, but eventually I had one and I felt like I was doing something wrong. You get over it and learn what NOT to do and what TO do.

Keep up the good work and please stay in school. It makes life easier.

Thank you all for your support, it does mean a lot when I am backed by professionals in this field. I have now bought domain privacy which only costs $0.50/year which should fix this problem in the future. I will be staying in this field and hopefully in a few months when I have finished school for good, I can put in more hours to advance my hosting company. Hopefully then I can think of myself as a professional and give advice to people that will experience the horrors that I did.

Thanks,
Luke

If you plan on trying to rank in search engines for any competitive terms, and you're not crazy ninja style with blackhat techniques, I'd turn off the domain privacy. The search engines then look at you as someone who has something to hide. Potential customers will also think the same.

Pick up the cheapest 800 number plan from www.ringcentral.com and use that in your whois.

You can get a cheap 800 number from kall8 for like $2 a month and that can be forwarded to another number. Or you can get a free local number at grandcentral.com and that will forward to another number or record a message on their system. Both solutions are better than private whois for a web host. And I could be wrong, but somewhere I read that web hosts couldn't be private, they had to publish their info. I could be wrong though.

My rule of thumb is to treat others the way you would like to be treated. I would of dropped your client instantly and told him that he could take his few dollars somewhere else! I have had a few clients like this in the past and their not worth the headache. Just make sure you don't refer them to me.... lol

Kall8 can get expensive depending on the number of calls you are receiving and what sort of settings you choose for voice mail.

You'd be best off using a dedicated cell phone # for the business. That way you can receive important calls even if you are out, especially if there is an emergency.

About a week ago, a client signed up for 2 reseller packages with my hosting company. All was fine, he asked for his free private nameservers and they were given.

Then yesterday he submitted a ticket, it was resolved within 5 hours and I thought all was fine. Then he some how found my personal email, then sent me an email to my personal address relating to a new problem caused by the fix of the old problem. I don't read my personal email because it receives too much spam so I can't find the important emails. The client was unhappy with this so he decides to use domain whois to find my phone number.

I am only 17 but I am backed by an investor, so I am capable of running a web hosting business. But he rang my phone number and my mother was unlucky enough to answer it. He then went on as to how I scammed him of $70 when he was only paying $5/month for both accounts and had only paid for one month for both. My mother, not knowing anything about hosting was clueless, so he then began to abuse her.

Now I don't know if I am fit to run a hosting company after this client. He truely is the customer from hell and don't wish him upon any other host.

Thanks,
Luke

you need to acquire a phone no for yourself and use it for the registrant no and support no and any other number for all things related to business.

and noone but you should be able to answer it.

Not to make fun of,

but normally when a Pre 18 year old says 'I have an investor'...the first thing that comes to mind is 'Moms credit card'.


Sucks to hear about your situation, I ran a business to where someone drove 2 1/2 hours to my house after telling my secretary that we are long lost friends and he wanted to suprise me....only to talk to my wife and threaten to kick my and her rear. Only for me to come to the door and overtower this fella. Cops were called, harrassment charges were filed.

....yet he still hosts with me.

The investor is from an Australian BattleField 2 clan I am in, knowing I am a good businessman he was very keen to be an investor.

I have now refunded the customer, closed his account and told him that I don't like liabilities. He has not bothered me since. But I thank you all for your support, it helps me power on :)

Happens all the time.

The investor is from an Australian BattleField 2 clan I am in . . .
Folks are still playing that? :D

Looks like you got WHOIS Privacy. That should keep bad people from bothering you. They can yell at your registar instead;)

All the best,

Folks are still playing that? :D

Of course :)

The investor is from an Australian BattleField 2 clan I am in, knowing I am a good businessman he was very keen to be an investor.

I have now refunded the customer, closed his account and told him that I don't like liabilities. He has not bothered me since. But I thank you all for your support, it helps me power on :)

I meant no disrespect, was just stating that when I hear the average Pre 18 year old say they have an investor, or investor...i automatically think of parents.

I meant no disrespect, was just stating that when I hear the average Pre 18 year old say they have an investor, or investor...i automatically think of parents.

I know you didn't mean disrespect, just thought I would state that my investor wasn't my parents and that he is real :)

But now, on top of everything else that has gone wrong this week, my template has been ripped. Have a look at http://www.whitewaterit.com/ and have a look on the shared, reseller or VPS page. Then search for SpeedySparrow and you will see that they ripped even the information off me.

People seem to just want me to fail this week :(

Since your probably going to be wearing many, many hats during your growth please keep in mind a few basic principles:

1. Focus on the situation, issue, or behavior, not on the person.

In the case of the clients situation you mentioned. Forget about him he will be here one day and possibly gone the next however that situation will always arise through all of this so experience it learn how to deal with that situation as it works best for you and grow from that experience.

2. Maintain the self-confidence and self-esteem of others.

Never put yourself in a superior role when dealing with these types of situations, put yourself in that persons shoes how would you want to be treated? If you were in that position what do you think would be fair?

3. Maintain constructive relationships with your employees, peers, and managers.

Going back to number 1 I think these play hand in hand in business sense. You must always keep the lines of communication, relationships open you never know when you will need to go to them for advise, help or support. I have turned some of the worst flamers you can think of into allies by following these principles. Someone like that customer I would work my hardest to make that guy "my friend" just to have that sense of personal achievement.


4. Take initiative to make things better.

You should always do this in everything you do in life, a great suggestion to you is read this book (The Present by Spencer Johnson) it's not that long but a big eye opener especially for someone your age with your mindset.

5. Always, Always, Always … Lead by example!

Cannot stress this enough, many people in this industry have chosen to pave the way of how a hosting provider should be then these are those you should not be like. I honestly think the only way to gauge how you should be or not be really depends on your target audience or the market your going after. However you should always lead by example.


Just my dos cents :D

But now, on top of everything else that has gone wrong this week, my template has been ripped. Have a look at http://www.whitewaterit.com/ and have a look on the shared, reseller or VPS page. Then search for SpeedySparrow and you will see that they ripped even the information off me.

People seem to just want me to fail this week :(

Looks like they've taken it down (Always post a link to a screenshot and google cache in such cases!)Here's the Google Cache (http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache:afL21H42d9AJ:www.whitewaterit.com/vpshosting.html+http://www.whitewaterit.com/vpshosting.html&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=in&client=firefox-a).

When people copy you, it just means you are doing something right!

Don't let the negative stuff get you down or waste too much of your time/energy on it. You can only get so much productive work done in a day. You are better of channeling your energies into creating something positive!

We've had to "fire" maybe 6 or 7 customers in all the years I've been in the hosting industry.

- If customer's abuse my staff (verbally or emotionally), they get fired.

- If customer's threaten ANY mention of lawsuit, they get fired.

That's pretty much it. Being "fired" as a cusotmer means having their account suspended, payment refunded in full, and a recommendation to contact mchost.com for their future hosting needs. After they are fired, all communication ceases. There is no "but" or "sorry" or "let me back" or anything else.

Be sure to have a good TOS clause so that you can do this, otherwise you might be breaking a contract without valid grounds.

:)

BTW - I admire your level head and business wisdom. For such a young age, it is good to see!

I would first tell your mother the whole situation or whatever is needed in order for her to get over it. Family comes first.

Secondly, as everyone has stated this happens often. You will find some bad seeds from time to time. Remember, you do have the right to refuse business, harasses you, etc...

Make sure your information is not on your website and use whois privacy protection until you can find a way to protect your information like seperate phone number and or P.O. box.

You can also not deal with customer service or areas where this can arise. What I mean is let other people answer and talk to these guys. Be a true boss! :)

I can recall my first customer from hell. A teenager bought a hosting acct from me and I registered his domain name for him. Well he could not wait for the domain name to resolve and after 2 hrs (you know some take up to 48 hrs) he was irate with me. His Mom even called cussing me. She said something to the effect that since he had the hosting acct (and he had made several attempts to log in my system blocked him after several failed attempts) that they could not go to a web site that a friend of theirs owned. They keep getting page not found. I am like lady, I have nothing to do with that. No matter how much I tried to explain to them they just kept on. Finally I just gave him his money back. LOL...he had only been a customer for 3hrs. :mad: The guys Mom said "well I was going to buy a hosting acct from you, but now I am not". I responded " I will be happy to give you some names of reputable companies who would love to have you as a client". LOL...and I did. I provided her a whole list of places.:D

It is hard to do, but the best thing to do is get a thick skin and know when it is time to move on. I had to learn to do just that. Good luck with your company. I myself think you got a good head on your shoulders to be doing this at 17 years old.

I liked SWR's newsletter this month highlighting bad customers. You do get them everywhere, the shop clerk might well feel the same way you do now SpeedySparrow.

It would appear the owner of the site that ripped you off has adjusted their site to reflect this. Quite silly if they have your companies name there as well.

Mike

Thank you all for your kind words and for your guidance. It means a lot when reputable hosts take their time to post such kind words and words of wisdom. SpeedySparrow has been going exceptionally well so it doesn't seem like I will be quitting any time soon.

Go ahead Luke. forget that guy.

You get some customers like this just keep going on. And remember to remove your contact info . Put only business numbers in place dont let them demoralize you.

We all have the "hell" clients. I have run my business since I was 17 and I just hit year 11. It had its headaches. A PO Box cost me $70 a year when I started, that helps. You can get a 800 number online for $2 to $5 per month that is an online voicemail system. Put that on your whois record. Put private registration on your domain, that also helps. If you don't do private registration, setup an email called donotreply@yourname.com and have it go nowhere.