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  1. #101
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Central FL
    Posts
    79
    I still stand by my business ethics that bills should be paid on time.
    I absolutely agree. I believe it's standard practice to put clients first, above your credit issues. For example: In the past we've had a situation similar, although not nearly as bad as this... Contrary to my credit/financial situation at the time, I took the initiative to use my personal credit card to get a new server up and running so my clients wouldn't have to deal with the issues any longer. I'm filing this one in education, as this is an issue we can/will all learn from.
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  2. #102
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Posts
    449
    Originally posted by kristiiii
    Here is a summary of the email:
    It begins by asking for it to not be posted as she wants to keep this internal. (But now that it is effecting people massively oh well. )

    She goes on to say over a month ago she has 5000 something servers, but due to people inside her company who worked out deals with these clients only 500-600 or so remain. She then says she has fired 80%+ of all the staff and now lost $350,000-500,000 K. She then says they have more than enough credit to continue but something must change. She then goes on to say that she is pausing all buy one get one free deals, and in addition everyone should pay for at least one months payment everything should be alright. That means that even if you have paid for a year up front, she wants more money. In addition it says that she wants you to continue to pay for the next few months, no matter how much you have already paid for. It also talks about how they had payment problems with cpanel. It closes saying they are not going under, just trying to be ready for the future.

    I have 4+ servers with them, and prepair for quite while. This is just trash. The planet says they can't do anyhting and going through a reseller of a reselller (her reseller being tailormadeservers) isn't the best idea.

    So even if the datacenter is good you cant count on your resellers not sucking.
    All I can say is her email has been quoted out of context. She didn't demand everyone to pay. She just mentioned that if people (whoever wants to do it) can pay one month in advance, it will help her tide over the problem. It was a request and nothing was forced on people.
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  3. #103
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Posts
    449
    Originally posted by newpoint
    Out of 5000 30 days ago there are only about 600 left.

    This is what I find so hard to swallow, how could anyone loose that many server contracts in 30 days, and not have a clue that something was amiss. And also out of all of those clients not even one of them went to AN, and said someone is trying to get us to switch management companys, possible, but I do not believe it.

    Jim
    It is not server contracts. It was supposed to be server management contracts.
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  4. #104
    Originally posted by rishidude
    All I can say is her email has been quoted out of context. She didn't demand everyone to pay. She just mentioned that if people (whoever wants to do it) can pay one month in advance, it will help her tide over the problem. It was a request and nothing was forced on people.
    It basically says that she needs to pause all month to month contracts for awhile, and that if everyone can pay a month it will help to avoid problems. It then goes on to say if people pay for the next few months on time she will then start honoring the previous buy one month get one month free contracts people signed up with.
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  5. #105
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Orange County, CA
    Posts
    338
    Originally posted by rishidude
    All I can say is her email has been quoted out of context. She didn't demand everyone to pay. She just mentioned that if people (whoever wants to do it) can pay one month in advance, it will help her tide over the problem. It was a request and nothing was forced on people.
    Many clients have already paid for future month(s). The money collected from them should be enough to deal with situation like this. If ANz can't pay $4900 to TMS now, then how can it pay next month and the month after that? The math doesn't add up.
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  6. #106
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    262
    Well we do not want anyone to quote her out of context, so here is the email, I think all of AN's client should see this, and judge for themselves, and then do what they see fit. Since most of what was in the email has been posted, then here is the email in its origanal form. I suspect that my box with AN will be promptly unplugged, but I have been waiting for that to happen every day since I recieved the email below.



    I'll try to make this short, but I figured you all should know what's been
    going on lately. I will stress this is to be kept off the forums, I don't
    want this discussed publicy so I hope you will all respect my wishes.

    A little over a month ago we started losing some of our management clients.
    Wasn't a big deal as sometimes some go and more sign up. We had 5000 servers
    we were managing for people so it wasn't expected to be a problem. But it
    seems some staff members have been working overtime, in the last month
    someone or some people in this company have been working out deals with
    management clients to get them to leave us and go to other companies (yes we
    know which companies). When it came time for renewal most people never
    bothered to pay their bills or respond, others cancelled. Out of 5000
    servers we were managing 30 days ago there are only about 600 left.

    With no way to find out who has been doing this I've been forced to fire 90%
    of the local staff, only the long time friends and trusted core staff remain
    at this time. This is the reason for a lot of the delays around here and for
    this you have my sincerest apologies.

    Unfortunately this has also created another problem. Due to the sudden loss
    of about $400,000 income from these clients that decided to go elsewhere to
    save a few bucks and others still with overdue payments it's creating a
    financial bind. Luckily we have credit etc but I obviously cannot use it all
    up and let things slide. I've covered most expenses already however there
    are a few other things that need to be taken care of. Since the management
    clients have been reduced and so has the staff that saves a lot of our
    future expenses but I want to make sure we can still cover everything.

    Here's where you all can help.

    For the next few months I'll need to suspend all buy one get one free
    contracts. At this time if you could all make one months payment we can
    avoid any problems. Continueing to pay monthly for the next 2-3 months will
    also allow us to build up a decent profit margin where we can then honour
    the buy one get one free contracts while avoiding any financial issues. All
    accounts will be credited with the extra time, plus a bit more for your help
    in resolving this matter. I've worked hard the last 2 years to build this
    company and I'd hate to see it come crashing down on my head just when we
    were finally starting to get somewhere.

    I'd also like to hire a few more new staff and get responses and resolutions
    to problems back to the lightening fast speed they used to be.

    At this point we need at least a few thousand tonight to avoid any service
    issues and to resolve the cpanel issues on some servers (my apologies to
    those with cpanel license problems as well, I thought I'd paid all those
    bills but it seems a few were buried a half dozen pages back and I wasn't
    aware of it). After that we have a little time but will still need funds
    coming in to make sure we stay within the lines of our financing. If even
    half of you can pay one month on your servers this will not only cover these
    needs but pay off all outstanding bills completely and build up a decent
    profit margin in short order for us to keep going and improve things. It
    will also allow us to take care of all upgrades etc that are outstanding,
    although we initially paid for them to the suppliers it seems nobody there
    has a record of it so we'll need to pay for them again for now to get them
    taken care of quickly. We can look up the old paypal receipts for that
    later.

    Thank you all for your time and understanding and I look forward to hearing
    from you all. For those that don't have it my email is
    http://FireStormHost.com
    Low Cost Reseller Hosting
    http://5under5.com
    Low Cost Shared Web Hosting
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  7. #107
    Someone just post the damn thing.

    It will probably be as interesting as other claims made by Donna. Like this.

    #1 I never went to business school. I'm an ex air force pilot with a degree in Electronics Engineering and a decade of experience working for IBM designing computers. My business savvy comes from real world experience, not a text book. I'm not the most polished business woman out there but my skills work for me, no matter how "unprofessional" they may seem.
    In the same thread.

    And for the record I'm 31
    angelnetworkz.net was registered in 2003, which means Donna would be 30 at that time, correct? Stay with me, it's time for another maths lesson.

    30 years old - 10 years at IBM "designing computers" (riii-ght, strangely enough there's not a single mention of a Donna Mercer anywhere in IBM's searchable archives right on their site) = 20 years old.

    Are we to believe that between 18, which is the usual age that most people get out of secondary school, and 20, Donna was both a college student who got an advanced degree and completed a military service stint that included flying planes?

    But still, let's not forget the lessons of the hosting world, direct from Donna's own keyboard.

    azizny you have a very skewed perception of what a "good" hosting company is. It's not how many servers you have, nor is it how much money you spend, nor how many locations.

    Three things matter:

    1) Keep the servers and network online

    2) fix the damn thing fast when it does break

    3) Keep the client happy.
    If those things are the measure of success versus failure, looks like a failure by AN's own standards.

    Where are my waders? Need them more and more as we dig into this one.
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  8. #108
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Central FL
    Posts
    79

    Talking

    /me claps hands

    Kudos for posting...

    LOL, I didn't even see this

    Where are my waders? Need them more and more as we dig into this one.
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  9. #109
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    72
    My God, this is better than the best soap opera. Real life drama - wow!! I am quite simply stunned. Stunned how inventively people try to wriggle out of taking responsibility for what they do - I mean it's genius in its own way - and stunned how badly people can run a company. Thanks to newpoint for posting it all for us, and to twidnet for the fascinating information on AN's past!!

    Now I know why they made such a fuss about not refunding the $25 we think they owed us. They need that $25.

    I can't wait until the Special Edition DVD comes out!
    Last edited by mil22; 08-28-2004 at 11:58 PM.
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  10. #110
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Central Long Island, NY
    Posts
    657
    Emailing your customers with personal information about your financial status and reminding them how bad your organization skills are and then begging for money to top it off.

    5000 down to 600 and by tommorrow it will be ZERO.

    Unbelievable is all I can say!
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  11. #111
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Chicago, IL
    Posts
    6,957
    No matter what it sounds like AN has some serious problems. After all these evets I really can't see why anyone would still chose to be with AN.
    Karl Zimmerman - Founder & CEO of Steadfast
    VMware Virtual Data Center Platform

    karl @ steadfast.net - Sales/Support: 312-602-2689
    Cloud Hosting, Managed Dedicated Servers, Chicago Colocation, and New Jersey Colocation
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  12. #112
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    252
    Hey the support staff SEEM NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!


    Me : wtf is my server pulled
    xAngelx Jon : I DONT KNOW!


    And my server is down. This could be the end. I think im moving.
    ... ... [dd@s]
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  13. #113
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Central FL
    Posts
    79
    I think it's past thinking about moving... I just want a current backup, I don't even give a **** about my money back...
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  14. #114
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Posts
    72
    Their site down for anyone else?
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  15. #115
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    72
    Originally posted by KarlZimmer
    No matter what it sounds like AN has some serious problems. After all these evets I really can't see why anyone would still chose to be with AN.
    Agreed, nobody who reads WHT will do business with them again, not for a while at least. I'm sitting with bated breath. What on earth are they going to do now? Changing their name seems the only option. Oh wait a minute... don't I remember something about them changing their name a year or two ago... I wonder if history is repeating itself?
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  16. #116
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    252
    Originally posted by Techark
    Let me get this straight some customers didn't pay AN so they did not pay their supplier and the customers that did pay got thier servers uplugged?

    Wow....


    yes, i paid and i got unplugged!! Could this be? This i think is the end for AN, this could be a black eye they could NEVER recover from....
    ... ... [dd@s]
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  17. #117
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Central FL
    Posts
    79
    Yea... We wouldn't be so angry if we didn't pay and our sites got shut down...

    I hear funeral music playing somewhere...
    Last edited by broots; 08-29-2004 at 12:16 AM.
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  18. #118
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    262
    Originally posted by jerry12304
    yes, i paid and i got unplugged!! Could this be? This i think is the end for AN, this could be a black eye they could NEVER recover from....
    Well they had a similar situation with BurstNet less than a year ago, they got shutdown, and somehow they are still here.

    Jim
    http://FireStormHost.com
    Low Cost Reseller Hosting
    http://5under5.com
    Low Cost Shared Web Hosting
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  19. #119
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    252
    I am so SO pissed rite noW! i am loosing $50/day! This is UNREAL! And this was the people i choose to defend all this weekk?? .. ya this should happen to me!
    ... ... [dd@s]
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  20. #120
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Central FL
    Posts
    79
    Are you serious? Where's the BBB (Better Business Bureau) in this equation?
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  21. #121
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Groton, Connecticut
    Posts
    926
    I've been in the same situation before, but good thing my server was back online in the next 2 days.
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  22. #122
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    252
    I knew this was going to happen. Starting with the e-mail i got about they having problems with there staff and they claim they loost $400,000..

    ya, rite. I should have been smart and just moved. I should have bought directly..And i though i would never say this. But TOMSYER is better than this!
    ... ... [dd@s]
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  23. #123
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    252
    Originally posted by pxtek.com
    I've been in the same situation before, but good thing my server was back online in the next 2 days.
    I cannot have downtime what so ever... i will losse $100 from my site if i am down for 2 days.

    I do everything rite. I am so carefull as to only use 5% of theserver space and bandwidth. But something like this i am helpless aganist. And lits keep this thread going shall we?
    ... ... [dd@s]
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  24. #124
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    252
    Originally posted by Anjay
    Crikey, well now I'm sure Jerry now feels embarrassed.

    But that is shocking. Hopefully Donna will explain though; she usually does and I'm sure she'll be able to tell you what exactly happened rather than giving you the run-about.

    Hope it gets sorted out as soon as possible.

    Yes, yes i do feel stupid for defending them. I should have know Anjay. Sad but true, i was wrong about them.
    ... ... [dd@s]
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  25. #125
    mil22, you're absolutely right. A little research, and some revision of our AN-inspired maths.

    xangelx.com was the previous domain name they used. It was registered in 2002. A post here at WHT from Donna in May 2004:

    If we went out of business you'd get a refund of course (although we've been around nearly two years already and are not going anywhere any time soon, business has never been better )

    If managed.com went under we'd buy out the servers and move arrange to move them somewhere in the same building.

    But managed.com isn't going anywhere anytime soon, it's a quite profitable company and if the owners did ever decide to sell chances are we'd buy them out and keep the location and servers that are there etc.
    So, if she's 31 now, two years ago that would be 29. A decade of work at IBM puts her in IBM's doors at 19. And somewhere between leaving secondary school and arriving at IBM, she flew planes for the military, even though it takes quite awhile to train people to fly equipment that costs millions of dollars and military organizations typically require a certain number of years of service from people after spending all that money training them. Truly she must be a prodigy to have accomplished so much in that short time!



    For those who don't get it, that's sarcasm. Look it up.
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