What has happened to the HostRockets bulletin board. It seems to have been replaced by a knowledgebase. Where are users meant to post general questions for dicussion now ???

I found the old format very friendly and helpful. I hope that they haven't decided to remove it.

Allen

Why don't you ask Hostrocket?

I have put is a ticket with that very question, but no reply yet. I know that Brendan comes on this forum, so I was hoping he could help.

Allen

They've always used vBulletin for their "knowledgebase", and they are just tweaking it now and it should be back soon...

Hi,

We will be re-opening up the discussion boards soon, they will just be more streamlined towards discussion instead of having the knowledgebase integrated with them. The main purpose of it was to serve as a knowledgebase/faq and it had gotten rather jumbled over the past few months with information provided by our customers that wasn't always correct etc. There will be a link on the control panels to the discussion forum.

-Brendan

Hi,

Also just another note, the FAQ isnt done, its being integrated into our trouble ticket system today and will hopefully be done by the end of the night. It should be cool when its done.

-Brendan

Thanks for the reply Brendan. I look forward to the discussion forum coming back online.

Allen
Mavis Crafts (http://www.mavis-crafts.com)

Originally posted by hostrocket
Hi,

... The main purpose of it was to serve as a knowledgebase/faq and it had gotten rather jumbled over the past few months with information provided by our customers that wasn't always correct etc...

Thats one way too say that you dont have time to remove all complaints...

I though I was referring to the 4000+ posts on the board, I must have been mistaken. Thanks for reminding me what I was thinking though.

-Brendan

Originally posted by Epir
[QUOTE]Originally posted by hostrocket


Thats one way too say that you dont have time to remove all complaints...
Charming. And rude...

.. and true. The board at Hostrocket is back. This time they just dont delete threads. Separate posts are removed too.

Are you a customer of theirs? Do you have a complaint about the services they are providing you? If so, maybe you should email Brendan so it can be addressed.

To be honest, I don't care if they do or do not remove threads or posts from *their* board (I don't think it is meant to be an objective forum about their services).

By definition I'm still a customer yes, if I'm not automatically deleted? I've discussed my issues with Brendan but he don't care. Maybe you dont care about their forum being censored, but I do. One of the major reasons for my choice of host is a forum where you can share experiences and so on with other customers. In my opinion a forum where all complaints and problems are removed (without rebooot-down 2 minutes etc.) is even worse then not providing that service at all. If (like HR) the support also forget that the problems even existed they should definitely save those threads. As long as things run smooth at hostrocket I've got nothing to complain about but when there are problems - every promise is just empty words.

Hi,

I try and leave up all the constructive criticism that people post, as it helps us grow and get better. If you honestly think we remove all complaints you haven't looked to closely at our board. When people post things that are not true I do take them down. Im not sure who you are really to address this particular situation though.

-Brendan

If you hadn't stopped answering my mails I wouldn't post anything here in the first place. I've been following your board very closely and posted any kind of messages there, both to help other users and to ask if anyone is experiencing the same problems as myself or if its just me. If you can't confess that there have been serious problems with cgi-scripts and blank pages there is no room for you in this business at all... :)

Hi,

I know there was a problem with that, it was related to the servers running out of file descriptors. We quadrupled the file descriptors on the machines that were having the problems, and it went away on them. Have you sent us trouble tickets or just emails? If you send a ticket make sure you send it from an off network email address.

-Brendan

Nothing to add, although I do like the new setup of HR's VB in terms of the layout but have to add that Epir spells Ripe backwards.

That is all...

Very true. Ripe just happens to be banned from the HR forum...

Yes you managed to be the first person we have ever banned from our board. You signed up for an account knowing very well about our return policy of 14 days if you were not happy, as you said before. You stayed on our servers for 2 months, and now want your money back. I am crediting you back. Not because you deserve it the slightest, but because I am sick of reading you spam this and other boards about how you didnt get your money back from us after using our services for months.

-Brendan

Thanks Brendan, your'e doing the right thing. By the way this is the only place I spammed(?) except for a few "Me too" earlier and the post yesterday in your own board.

Please continue this via email.

Rather than call it a 'forum' call it a 'bulletin board system.'

Forum implies almost complete freedom of speech. Thus, complaints, are kept on the board, just the same as someone saying how great your services are. Personally, I think both should be kept, because when I was a customer, I liked the HTTP, FTP, etc services very well, but I thought anything to do with email royally sucked (note: my understanding is that they have corrected this). Thus, the complaints (or majority of them) are toward the services that are lacking, and if someone is looking for a host and wants specific services, it is good to know before he signs up that there will be a problem with the service.

Yes, the HR support can be limited at some times, buy you have to give it to them, they stay awake several days in a row to fix problems, now that's what I call dedicated server admins.

A forum does not mean complete freedome of speech, like if someone goes out and flames the system, then HR has the right to remove the discussion thread calling it inappropriate.

I don't know exactly what defines a bulletin board, in all technical aspects, it pretty much implies the same thing, but I don't know about freedom of speech limitations and thread deletion rights.

Anyone who has looked at our boards knows there are lots of complaints on them. Basically they get removed if: They are related to a certain problem someone had which has been resolved, If they are someone posting just because they are pissed at us for some reason, or if someone spams/cross posts on the board.

-Brendan

Come on gnorthey, regardless of what they call it, they have a right to do whatever they want on it! Its their board, plain and simple, no ifs, ands, or buts about it!!

If they want to remove posts, they will and can.

So until you get your own forum and manage it yourself, you have no right to tell HR or any other company that manages a forum what to do.

Just a couple of points. First, I don't think a forum implies 'almost complete freedom of speech' (not that I'm sure what that means). I'm speaking in general terms, about forums in general.

I've seen (in my moderation travels), many a member who is surprised that they can't say anything they want to. They moan and bitch when their posts are edited/deleted claiming that their rights have been violated.

Second, boards on hosting compnaies sites... now maybe it is just me, but I kinda expect hosts to edit/delete posts that aren't favorable. It isn't the best advertising, and if you want a 'more honest' view of their services, it is best to check around the net for other comments.

Not just here, or there, but as many places as you can find.

Actually, I didn't know that fact which brendan pointed out. In that case, (under technicality) they would be considered a forum. Some journalism teach explained the difference between forum and other publication.

B.B.S was the original version of an internet forum, correct? I've used both and have yet to find the difference.

Originally posted by hostrocket
Yes you managed to be the first person we have ever banned from our board. You signed up for an account knowing very well about our return policy of 14 days if you were not happy, as you said before. You stayed on our servers for 2 months, and now want your money back. I am crediting you back. Not because you deserve it the slightest, but because I am sick of reading you spam this and other boards about how you didnt get your money back from us after using our services for months.

-Brendan

Hi Brendan

Can I have a refund too, I have deleted all my files and databases and had to move to a new server a few days ago. I could not put up with all the errors and down time any longer, I was loosing customers. My account username is Trafficg.

If you want to deduct the money for the 7 weeks I was with you then thats ok.

Pete Kelly

Scratch Host Rocket off my list. When will some of these hosts learn that the image you present in public really makes a difference? Most of what I've seen from HR and VO would make me stay away.

I don't think Brendan said anything offbeat here. And if a host says you get ## days money back then that's the time period you have to decide. It's like other services... If you buy a cellphone and service for 2 months, use it, and decide you don't like it (2 months down the line), do you think you're about to receive a refund? More than likely no.

And by showing that they'll give one person a refund for this, they've already opened themselves up for more people requesting refunds. "They got one, so why can't I?" I'm hoping no one is turning red in the face over this, I'd just like to see more people stop abusing hosts like that.

Additionally, this thread should probably be closed (and if it does just remove this post so I don't have the last word in which really irritates people), because the problem was solved and done with. If anyone needs to talk about refunds, etc. they can e-mail the host.

Originally posted by JustinK
I don't think Brendan said anything offbeat here. And if a host says you get ## days money back then that's the time period you have to decide. It's like other services... If you buy a cellphone and service for 2 months, use it, and decide you don't like it (2 months down the line), do you think you're about to receive a refund? More than likely no.

And by showing that they'll give one person a refund for this, they've already opened themselves up for more people requesting refunds. "They got one, so why can't I?" I'm hoping no one is turning red in the face over this, I'd just like to see more people stop abusing hosts like that.

Additionally, this thread should probably be closed (and if it does just remove this post so I don't have the last word in which really irritates people), because the problem was solved and done with. If anyone needs to talk about refunds, etc. they can e-mail the host.


All my problems started just after the two week refund period was up, If they had offered a 30 day refund like every other hosting company in the world I would have asked for a refund. I stuck it out thinking things might get better but they didn't.

Pete

Yes, that does tend to be a problem. But the thing is you stuck with them. You chose to stay, but it's still costing them money. Partial refunds I can understand, but for 2 months that's going a bit far.

There's a reason some hosting companies switch over to the smaller money-back guarantees. Many people would use things up then skip onto the next host. With 15 days it's not worth it for many people to try and pull that off and it's still (usually) enough time for someone to figure out if the service is right for them or not. If you had doubts you really should have just contacted them immediately and gotten it taken care of.

Sounds similar to all the warranties on my stuff. It seems the month after the warranty expires so does the product. (sidenote: I'm not saying the host is dead or anything, just that the situation sounds like all the warranties)

The thing is, I cannot afford to just swap from one web host to another, I was forced to stay. The only reason I am not still there is a friend offered me some space on his reseller account for free.

IMO HostRocket broke the contract, the site says 99% uptime 200Mb disk space and fast servers. I uploaded around 25Mb-30Mb of data and received "Disk quota exceeded messages" The server was down for long periods each month. The server was very slow for long periods each day, and the MySql server also caused lots of problems on multiple occasions.

HostRocket did not deliver the goods and the services it promised and this alone should justify a refund.

Pete