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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Posts
    72

    Thumbs down [REVIEW] SpecHosting - Good, if you don't need cPanel

    I decided to go with SpecHosting, because of a couple of things. Firstly, they were the only VPS provider I contacted (Out of 4) which replied within the day (Yes it was a weekend if I recall, but still). Secondly, the offer. I was on a recurring discount offer, for their SH 3 plan, giving me 100GB Disk Space, 1.5GB RAM, and included both a free cPanel licence and a free HostBill licence (Which I wanted).

    Now, I ordered and my VPS was set up on April 14 2011, at 9:20PM (UK). Everything was fine, I requested the HostBill licence, they gave me the link for it, I requested the cPanel was set up, it was set up. On entering WHM, I saw the big free trial in the top left corner. I didn’t think anything of it. I just assumed it would take some time to set up.

    However, days past, and nothing changed. So on the 20th, I contacted them, opening a ticket reporting that cPanel was still in a trial mode.

    Here is the ticket. The only edits I've made is take out my name and theirs, my IP address and a link.


    Me
    Client 04/20/2011 17:57
    Hi there,

    WHM is still saying it's in trial mode. Can you help please.

    Me

    ----------------------------

    SpecHosting
    Staff 04/20/2011 18:09
    Hey [Me],

    I am investigating this now!

    Cheers,

    -------------------------
    SpecHosting | SpecHosting.com - We're Just Up To Spec!




    Me
    Client 04/21/2011 15:44
    Hi there,

    Has there been any update?

    Thanks,

    Me

    SpecHosting
    Staff 04/21/2011 17:19
    Hello [Me],

    Run the script below through SSH and it will not give you the trial license in your WHM!

    /usr/local/cpanel/cpkeyclt

    Cheers,

    -------------------------
    SpecHosting | SpecHosting.com - We're Just Up To Spec!




    Me
    Client 04/22/2011 07:03
    Hi,

    I've tried that, but I'm still getting the problem.I went on http://www.cpanel.net/apps/verify/ to get help, and that says the IP address has only got a 45 day trial.

    I've taken a screenshot and below is the link, just in case it helps.

    [LINK]

    Thanks,

    Me

    Me
    Client 04/22/2011 07:04
    I also followed the instructions from this webpage:
    http://www.thewebhostingdir.com/web-...nse-error.html

    SpecHosting
    Staff 04/22/2011 10:27
    Hey [Me],

    Hmm, your IP does have a full VPS version of cPanel/WHM. I am going to contact cPanel now and have them fix this.

    Cheers,

    -------------------------
    SpecHosting | SpecHosting.com - We're Just Up To Spec!




    Me
    Client 04/25/2011 15:27
    Hi there,

    Has there been any update? Shall I run that command again?

    From,

    Me

    SpecHosting
    Staff 04/25/2011 15:44
    Hey [Me],

    No worries, we are fixing it for you. Run the script I sent you after 30 minutes and it will work fine!

    Cheers,

    -------------------------
    SpecHosting | SpecHosting.com - We're Just Up To Spec!




    Me
    Client 04/26/2011 07:45
    Hi there,

    I've ran the script but it's still saying trial. I've checked on the cPanel website as well and it's still saying 45 day trial.

    Thanks,

    Me

    SpecHosting
    Staff 04/26/2011 11:48
    [Me],

    I have a contact over at cPanel, and I am going to have him look at this. I happen to know for a fact that your license is valid, I personally registered it. I will get this fixed for you!

    Cheers,

    -------------------------
    SpecHosting | SpecHosting.com - We're Just Up To Spec!




    Me
    Client 04/27/2011 13:09
    Hi there,

    Any update? It's still showing me the message.

    Also, if you need to do any work on my server, the WHM login in the other ticket I have is still correct.

    Thanks,

    Me

    SpecHosting
    Staff 04/27/2011 14:04
    Hey [Me],

    Thanks, I am sshing into your server now to see if we can't get this fixed!

    Cheers,

    -------------------------
    SpecHosting | SpecHosting.com - We're Just Up To Spec!




    Me
    Client 04/27/2011 16:41
    Hi,

    Has there been any update? Sorry to be a pest.

    Me

    SpecHosting
    Staff 04/27/2011 18:20
    Hey [Me],

    Your not being a pest at all. We have had to submit a ticket with cPanel for them to look into.

    Cheers,

    -------------------------
    SpecHosting | SpecHosting.com - We're Just Up To Spec!




    Me
    Client 04/28/2011 16:39
    Hi there,

    Has there been any update? The trial banner is still showing in both WHM and cPanel.

    Me

    SpecHosting
    Staff 04/28/2011 19:10
    Hey [Me],

    Working on an update now...

    Cheers,

    -------------------------
    SpecHosting | SpecHosting.com - We're Just Up To Spec!




    Me
    Client 04/29/2011 08:38
    Hi again,

    Has there been any update?

    From,

    Me

    SpecHosting
    Staff 04/29/2011 11:29
    Hey [Me],

    It's in cPanel's hands now, I will let you know what I hear back from them!

    Cheers,

    -------------------------
    SpecHosting | SpecHosting.com - We're Just Up To Spec!




    Me
    Client 04/30/2011 12:14
    Hi there,

    Has there been any update?
    Me
    As you can see, 10 days passed and still nothing. I asked on here and was told that they most likely hadn't purchased it. So, I moved to a different provider.

    While this was happening, I only had a problem with the VPS being down. I got told it was just the UK, however... as Pingdom had quite a few servers in USA, and was still reporting it down, I guessed it wasn't a networking problem in the UK.

    Here is the ticket below:
    [Me]
    Client 04/25/2011 18:05
    Hi there,

    Is the node I'm on down? I was trying to log into whm for my server and couldn't, and cannot log into the VPS control panel either.

    Thanks,

    [Me]

    ----------------------------
    [Me]
    Client 04/25/2011 18:06
    Also Pingdom is now reporting the server is down.

    SpecHosting
    Staff 04/25/2011 18:17
    Hey [Me],

    It looks like there is a ISP issue in the UK that routes traffic to the Chicago area. I have been watching the live reports and they said it should be accessible within the next 15 minutes.

    Cheers,

    -------------------------
    SpecHosting | SpecHosting.com - We're Just Up To Spec!



    [Me]
    Client 04/25/2011 18:20
    Hi,

    Are you sure it's only the UK affected by these issues? I've had both Pingdom and BinaryCanary (Both in UK and USA) reporting it as offline. I did a check on downornot.com (http://www.downornot.com/[LINK]) and that's also reporting the same.

    SpecHosting
    Staff 04/25/2011 18:42
    Hey [Me],

    I just checked the server again, it is online and apparently the service in that area has been restored. Odd that BinaryCanary and Pingdom was showing it offline, would you check and see if it is working now?

    Cheers,

    -------------------------
    SpecHosting | SpecHosting.com - We're Just Up To Spec!

    [Me]
    Client 04/25/2011 19:13
    They have alerted me that they're up again now. Strange USA was also showing them offline.

    SpecHosting
    Staff 04/25/2011 19:59
    Hey [Me],

    That's really weird, we use PingDom as well just as a reference but it shows it was never down for us. I am going to investigate this to see if it might of been something more then a ISP issue.

    Cheers,

    -------------------------
    SpecHosting | SpecHosting.com - We're Just Up To Spec!




    [Me]
    Client 04/25/2011 20:04
    Ok then. I have exported a report from Pindom showing the outage from different locations. I set it to report from the 23rd for any down and down/unconfirmed issues. As you can see, they were all showing timeout issues.

    I have attached the CSV file in hope to help you with the issue so it doesn't happen again (Even though no one can help network problems). :-)

    I have had to upload the CSV file to another site as WHMCS doesn't allow it. Below is the link.

    [Link]
    [Me]

    SpecHosting
    Staff 04/25/2011 20:11
    Hey [Me],

    Wow, thanks so much, I will definitely look into this and see what might of caused something like this.

    Cheers,

    -------------------------
    SpecHosting | SpecHosting.com - We're Just Up To Spec!
    However, this was only my experience. I'm sure they have customers who find them great. Maybe I just had a stroke of bad luck, I don't know. Apart from them two issues, I was quite happy with them. They seemed quite a good host. Their offer was great as well. I'm now on another host and I'm quite happy, even if I am paying more for a smaller spec VPS.

    Also, for the moderators, I opened a ticket a few days ago under Experience Information with proof in advance for this review. The ticket ID is FPL-291831.

    So, I hope this review helps people decide on their VPS provider. Like I said, maybe I was just having some bad luck, maybe the cPanel licence was purchased and they had just been waiting, I don't know.. But I do know the VPS host I'm on now, their cPanel licence I'm on was verified the first time I logged in to WHM myself.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    928
    I'm sorry to hear that you weren't satisfied with SpecHosting, glad to hear you have found a new host that you are happy with. It is quite odd that it took over 10 days and the cPanel/WHM trial version hasn't been fixed.

  3. #3
    Unlucky! Agreed 10 days is a long time. Very strange.
    HostXNow - Shared Web Hosting | Semi Dedicated Hosting | Enterprise Reseller Hosting | VPS Hosting

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    351
    Nothing personal against the company, but I wouldn't tolerate any of that.
    cPanel is issued instantly even from resellers.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Maryville Tennessee
    Posts
    1,904
    First off, let me explain why it took longer then expected.

    This was an extenuating circumstance, this was not something that is normal by any means. We had an issue with this VPS and this VPS alone where no matter what we attempted to do the cPanel Trial License header would not dismiss. Upon talking with an engineer at cPanel we were able to fix the issue, but not until after this has had left.

    Dan, if I was you, I would be much more upset then you are. This is extremely circumstantial and not something that we as a provider tolerate AT ALL. I sincerely apologize about this issue, and would like to offer you the next 6 months of service absolutely free to show you just how amazing we really are!

    Again, I sincerely apologize for this issue, and if you would like to take us up on the next six months free please do not hesitate to let me know!

    Cheers

  6. #6
    Might be a bit too late now Bradley. Very good offer to make up for the trouble he had though. Fair play.
    HostXNow - Shared Web Hosting | Semi Dedicated Hosting | Enterprise Reseller Hosting | VPS Hosting

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    74
    I don't understand why the client was not moved immediately and he had to wait all that time. In any case the offer from TBradley is good, although maybe comes too late.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    351
    I respect TBradley for the response...
    OP should really take up the offer.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Posts
    72
    Thanks for the replies everyone. I didn't come on this forum to post this review to try and get something out of them. The only reason I posted this review was to tell everyone my experience and to warn others.

    TBradley, it was you who was speaking to me in these tickets. Could you please tell me why you ended up not even replying to my ticket, even after you sorted this out? I sent the last message on the 30th asking for an update on the cPanel problem, and your post on here is the first I've heard about it being a problem with the VPS.

    I know I'm not very knowledgeable in buying cPanel licences, but I don't understand why it was a problem with the server when even on the cPanel verify site, it was showing that the licence activate was a 45 day trial set up by cPanel direct.

    I had shut down the VPS as I had no plans in using it. But as an active customer, I cannot understand why even when I requested it cancelled and shut my VPS down, you didn't inform me about this problem and offer to move me to another VPS in the first place.

    I'm not trying to make you give me a better offer or anything, I'm just trying to express my feelings on this matter. I didn't really want to bring it in to the publics view to begin with, if you see my other thread, I wouldn't say the company in matter. I'm just a little frustrated that the first glimpse of an update I get is on here after posting a review when I asked in the support ticket over a week ago, without a response.

    The offer you have given me is quite acceptable, however, from the experience I've had with the company, and that I've lost quite a lot of trust in the company. I'll have to think about it and get back to you in the morning.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Maryville Tennessee
    Posts
    1,904
    It's entirely possible that the offer might be too late, although who could pass up six months free on a good quality higher end VPS?

    I don't understand why the client was not moved immediately and he had to wait all that time. In any case the offer from TBradley is good, although maybe comes too late.
    If we knew it was going to take so long to fix the issue, we definitely would of moved the client over to another node, but we kept being told by cPanel to just standby and that it would be fixed momentarily. It turns out in the end that his cPanel (which we installed) was not calling out correctly to verify the license, and therefore could not validate the license type of authenticity.

    Again, I sincerely apologize to the OP and can only hope that he does decide to take us up on the offer, I guarantee you will not be disappointed again!

    Thanks for the replies everyone. I didn't come on this forum to post this review to try and get something out of them. The only reason I posted this review was to tell everyone my experience and to warn others.

    TBradley, it was you who was speaking to me in these tickets. Could you please tell me why you ended up not even replying to my ticket, even after you sorted this out? I sent the last message on the 30th asking for an update on the cPanel problem, and your post on here is the first I've heard about it being a problem with the VPS.

    I know I'm not very knowledgeable in buying cPanel licences, but I don't understand why it was a problem with the server when even on the cPanel verify site, it was showing that the licence activate was a 45 day trial set up by cPanel direct.

    I had shut down the VPS as I had no plans in using it. But as an active customer, I cannot understand why even when I requested it cancelled and shut my VPS down, you didn't inform me about this problem and offer to move me to another VPS in the first place.

    I'm not trying to make you give me a better offer or anything, I'm just trying to express my feelings on this matter. I didn't really want to bring it in to the publics view to begin with, if you see my other thread, I wouldn't say the company in matter. I'm just a little frustrated that the first glimpse of an update I get is on here after posting a review when I asked in the support ticket over a week ago, without a response.

    The offer you have given me is quite acceptable, however, from the experience I've had with the company, and that I've lost quite a lot of trust in the company. I'll have to think about it and get back to you in the morning.
    The issue was that the cPanel install we did was not correctly calling out to verify a license (a fluke of an issue that I have never personally seen, and cPanel had even said it was extremely rare, which I assume is why it took so long for them to figure out what was wrong.

    Your ticket looks to of been closed on the same day you sent the cancellation request. We should of reopened the ticket and responded within it, that is a management lapse on my part, and I apologize.
    Last edited by TBradley; 05-08-2011 at 07:14 PM.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Posts
    72
    Quote Originally Posted by TBradley View Post
    First off, let me explain why it took longer then expected.

    This was an extenuating circumstance, this was not something that is normal by any means. We had an issue with this VPS and this VPS alone where no matter what we attempted to do the cPanel Trial License header would not dismiss. Upon talking with an engineer at cPanel we were able to fix the issue, but not until after this has had left.

    Dan, if I was you, I would be much more upset then you are. This is extremely circumstantial and not something that we as a provider tolerate AT ALL. I sincerely apologize about this issue, and would like to offer you the next 6 months of service absolutely free to show you just how amazing we really are!

    Again, I sincerely apologize for this issue, and if you would like to take us up on the next six months free please do not hesitate to let me know!

    Cheers
    Also, you say you were able to fix the problem. However, I have just booted the server up, logged in to WHM as root, and see this.

    http://d.pr/HtDQ

    The problem is not fixed.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Posts
    72
    Also, if you go on the cPanel validate website, you'll find the IP address for the VPS shows it's still on a trial. Here is a screenshot TBradley.

    http://d.pr/Qfks

    From my point of view, nothing has changed. Sorry if I'm not understanding, I'm just confused now as I don't understand what's going on.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Maryville Tennessee
    Posts
    1,904
    The license was valid, I just ran ./cpkeyclt in usr/local/cpanel/ and it updated perfectly! Look at it now Dan, it is working, I checked from our end and from cPanel.net/apps/verify/

    Did you want me to go ahead and credit you $191.76 so you can take advantage of your six months free?

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    477
    Wow Tanner has been a great guy and understands the true value of clients. He's never played any BS when I had a service with there, but I can't speak here as pictures say 1,000 words.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Posts
    72
    Quote Originally Posted by TBradley View Post
    The license was valid, I just ran ./cpkeyclt in usr/local/cpanel/ and it updated perfectly! Look at it now Dan, it is working, I checked from our end and from cPanel.net/apps/verify/

    Did you want me to go ahead and credit you $191.76 so you can take advantage of your six months free?
    Hi,

    Yes please. I suppose I can try the services out again. It isn't going to cost me any money. Could you cancel the cancellation request please.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Maryville Tennessee
    Posts
    1,904
    Quote Originally Posted by danisgood View Post
    Hi,

    Yes please. I suppose I can try the services out again. It isn't going to cost me any money. Could you cancel the cancellation request please.
    No, it is not going to cost you anything for the next six months! I went ahead and made a note on your account and credited you six months of service totaling $191.76.

    Welcome back Dan, I promise round 2 with us is going to be exceptional!

  17. #17

    I had the same issue.

    Thanks for posting this review. I had the same issue with SpecHosting and I thought it might be unique to me.

    I ordered the SH-4 VPS Plan on 4/22/11 and opened a ticket with support later that day to ask about the Cpanel trial license warning. It wasn't resolved until 05/05/11 (I contacted support 5 more times in the meantime)

    The VPS has been up and steady since day one... until their system suspended it due to non-payment! Even though I paid the invoice prior to the due date, I even set up recurring payments. I received an invoice overdue notice and thought maybe the recurring payment didn't go through so I paid the invoice again, this time a single payment. Thought all was good. Wake up the next morning to find a second overdue notice and a suspension notice. My VPS is down. I contacted support stating that I had paid the invoice and they mark the invoice as paid and unsuspend the VPS. I'm told by support to "please be sure to pay your invoices on time." Now enough time has passed to see that both payments posted to my credit card. So I emailed support to ask what went wrong. I've had interesting email exchanges with support and have had to ask them manually add the payments I made and give me credit for the overpayment.

    Support has always responded to me in a reasonable time frame (at all times of the day). Although I've found its best to be persistent and ask for updates on tickets to keep things moving along.

    As of now, I'm going to be staying with SpecHosting (well, I am paid up for the next two months.) I haven't found anyone that can compete on price. And the performance of the VPS has been solid.

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