Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : VPS Hosting : VPSLatch - thumbs down! 5 days and site is still not up

[sharkyJay]

After spending a couple of weeks researching VPSs I finally decided to go with VPSLatch because of all the rave reviews here and the price was competitive. I have 4 hosting servers with other companies and have tested quite a few more so I'm experienced dealing with many hosts.

Basically it's been 5 days since I sign up and have been dealing with support tickets several times a day and my site is still not up.

Here are my issues with the service:
#1 Cannot log into my cpanel because of DB error, they just told me to check my password
#2 After 2 days of back and forth they finally fix the problem, had to request a second time for cpanel license.
#3 Had to request 3 times before they got me the Softaculous install
#4 After Softaculous was installed I had issues with installing wordpress. They kept telling me that they "will check and update" me and that "it's fine now"
#5 After Wordpress was fixed, I had server loading issues. Several times going back and forth they told me it's fix but the server was not loading. So we had to do the "will check and update you" and "it's fine now"

The whole point is that 1) I had to keep reminding them 2) keep telling me that it's fix but still not working, and 3) wouldn't tell me what the issue was.

While this was happening I asked them to install Mindtouch and they were having issues with the DB, I wasn't happy with it but I can understand. I asked them couple of times if the issue was related to the DB problem from Softaculous/Wordpress issue and they wouldn't address it.

I really lost my trust, the whole idea behind getting a VPS is to have reliability and quick responses. I don't quite mind if it's a new software (e.g. Mindtouch) and they have a little technical problem with installing it, but cpanel/Softaculous/server connections are basic things that they need to install on every server.

Not sure if I want to continue with them and give them a try or look elsewhere.

[VL-Adam]

Hey there Jay,

I hope that everything is going fine on your end so far today.

I want you to know that our fully managed service does not support nor cover 3rd party support (Which includes things such as fixing Wordpress related issues), however we always try our best on 3rd party issues.

Since we don't specialize in Wordpress and our management doesn't cover it, we're still working on your request. Most managed hosts would of already charged you for this, but as a courtesy we try our best and do it free of charge as an effort to go above and beyond all expectations.

I do see that you are frustrated about this but I want you to know that I am personally watching your ticket. We have a few technicians on it at this time. We will get something done about it. I promise.

We always strive to fly above and beyond to meet our customer's expectations. However, there is only so far to a point where a managed service can go. I wouldn't be expecting guaranteed and fast 3rd party support (e.g. support on Wordpress problems itself), but I guess everyone has different expectations.

Still, this is not something that we are proud of, so I promise you that this issue will be resolved.

You can email me personally to address any of your concerns at adam.j@vpslatch.net or feel free to drop me a phone line and I can give you a call.

Have a safe weekend!

[sharkyJay]

Hey Adam,

The issue is that even for Cpanel and Softaculous, it was not installed, I had to ask several times.

More importantly I was never told what the issues were, so I don't know if it's third party or the server or if the mistake and error was a one time thing or if even the tech staff did anything. All I get is "should be fixed, check now" which is not reassuring especially that I check and it still wasn't fixed.

I'm a reasonable guy, if you told me it was a third party issue then that would be fine.

Anyways, I will see what happens and I (and other customers) would appreciate it if the staff responded with more info in their tickets.

[VL-Adam]

Well if that is the case I do apologize for the delay and inconvenience, I will take a look at your account with a few other directors to ensure things like that will not occur to other customers.

[Deroba]

I don't understand why people have problems, it's just opening an inital ticket, requesting cPanel installation and license. Waiting a few hours and done.

Now, being the server fully functional, you can't expect that your software(wordpress) gets fixed by your host.

[Aaronn]

#1 Cannot log into my cpanel because of DB error, they just told me to check my password

What else would they be able to do? This dont seem like them to tell you just to check your password, even if it was, they would tell you more issue, but if it wasnt something they can do, asin 3rd party software they don't have to provide the 'dedication' to support but they still try to help where they can. It just seems odd, that the reply would of been "Check my password".
From your next couple issues it seems, it maybe was your password?

#2 After 2 days of back and forth they finally fix the problem, had to request a second time for cpanel license.

They tell you in the e-mail, for people with the cPanel/WHM install they provide it free, after you get your VPS online, and setup they ask you to open a ticket in Adminstration to get it registered for you. It's not really a trial, they just do it this way to have it on log, and register it correctly, I actually like the idea, and they usually have it done within 1-5 hours, is what they told me and mine was fixed within 1hour of submitting the ticket.

#3

Had to request 3 times before they got me the Softaculous install

Opening mutli. tickets any where, or 'keep' replying to the ticket to get attention doesn't get you no where with any host provider, VPSlatch already makes you feel like your there only client, and do everything to help you! I had an issue because I ordered both, Fantastico and Softaculous, Softaculous to me, isnt really a well-based add on, as the features it carrys is still buggy to me as doing research on them, they have a 25 minute response time, and i had the same issue, after opening a ticket I got a reply within 10minutes saying, "Please hold, while we do this", they performed it, and it was done. Waiting for something gets it done correctly, by you rushing, it could cause issues with the set up times! They have great support, and great response times, they would do anything you ask without a question!

#4 After Softaculous was installed I had issues with installing wordpress. They kept telling me that they "will check and update" me and that "it's fine now"

Well, that's great that they even fixed it for you with the time they did, as wordpress isnt a 'provided product' from a VPS hosting provider, thats a 3rd party software, they don't have to do much for that as there Managed Solutions are for the VPS, and the 'services', and 'add-ons' you purchase from them. So that's good to know they still helped you to get it fixed!


#5

After Wordpress was fixed, I had server loading issues. Several times going back and forth they told me it's fix but the server was not loading. So we had to do the "will check and update you" and "it's fine now"

Maybe it's the wordpress? I actually have seen it before with my friends site, he runs a Security Blog, named HackTalk to inform people about the latest 'Hack Talk', and security news and he was running wordpress, and the wordpress was giving him high usage, and server loading issues, slow rates, but it was just a setting, and remember a vps is a virtual private server that you share resources among others, I have also contacted them about how many servers they place on per node, they told me depending on plan, it went from (8-6-4) i believe ( i know its right around those numbers, not 100% if thats correct )


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Overall, It dont seem as they where a bad host in your post, or that they didn't provide what you needed, or what they have advertised, Just seems you had some setup issues and Adam's reply back to you seems that they have been working on it. I have delt with adam three times in a discussion and he is one of the nicest sales/support people to ever chat to, He's always about helping you, and getting you the best solution for your needs, and budget, I had a budget, and he even gave me something above my requirements for less then my budget, then helped me each step with about what I exactly needed about going through with everything, VPSLatch is ontop of things, and I even recommend them to anyone, even though I also sell Virtual Private Servers, I'd still recomend them for managed, top support, and dedication to there clients with low prices for managed & cpanel vps's.

[sharkyJay]

The problem is fix now. I will give them a chance and see what happens in the next little while before putting any of my clients on the server.

Originally Posted by Deroba

I don't understand why people have problems, it's just opening an inital ticket, requesting cPanel installation and license. Waiting a few hours and done.

Now, being the server fully functional, you can't expect that your software(wordpress) gets fixed by your host.

The problem is that it took several requests (over 3 days) to get cpanel and Softaculous on the server. And when problems arise they tell me it's fix but it's not when it was fixed I'm not sure if it was the server or 3rd party software or how to avoid the problem in the future. If they said it's the 3rd party software (which they did for Mindtouch) then I would accept it and have my programmer look into it.

[Scientist]

Originally Posted by SolidVPS

even though I also sell Virtual Private Servers, I'd still recomend them for managed, top support, and dedication to there clients with low prices for managed & cpanel vps's.

You have been with them for... 3 weeks? That's a LOT of trust you put on a new host you barely know. If only more people are like that I personally won't go all out recommending any host unless I've trialed them for at least 6 months or unless they have a long history (years) of solid service.

Anyhow, you're obviously a satisfied customer, but imposing your happy thoughts on others having legitimate issues with your host isn't going to fix anything.

@ OP, have you asked them to explain what they did to resolve the problems you have? Its annoying indeed to get "its fixed now" responses.

[sharkyJay]

It doesn't seems productive for me to go into each issue but I'll say that I've been hosting sites for over 7 years for clients now with services from 3 other hosting companies at the moment so I have a good understanding of what's happening behind the scenes and what's reasonable. So I'm not a newbie expecting the world with a $20 monthly plan.

But I hope you are right, when I signed with VPSLatch I really want to feel like I made a good decision and stay with them for a very long time. Hate transferring sites. 2 of the 3 hosting companies I'm with, I've been with them for 5 and 7 years now.

I'll post an updated review after several months, maybe this is just a one time thing.

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Overall, It dont seem as they where a bad host in your post, or that they didn't provide what you needed, or what they have advertised, Just seems you had some setup issues and Adam's reply back to you seems that they have been working on it. I have delt with adam three times in a discussion and he is one of the nicest sales/support people to ever chat to, He's always about helping you, and getting you the best solution for your needs, and budget, I had a budget, and he even gave me something above my requirements for less then my budget, then helped me each step with about what I exactly needed about going through with everything, VPSLatch is ontop of things, and I even recommend them to anyone, even though I also sell Virtual Private Servers, I'd still recomend them for managed, top support, and dedication to there clients with low prices for managed & cpanel vps's.

[sharkyJay]

They finally told me it was some abusive customers on the server. This might explain the server connection issue but not sure it explains the db error issue.

Despite the technical issues what I'm really concern about is the "it's fix now" ticket responses. Those are really annoying, because if I did something wrong or something I could fix on my own I want to know and avoid and fix it in the future. I really hope management sets better guidelines for responses to tickets.

Originally Posted by Scientist

@ OP, have you asked them to explain what they did to resolve the problems you have? Its annoying indeed to get "its fixed now" responses.

[Deroba]

Originally Posted by sharkyJay

They finally told me it was some abusive customers on the server. This might explain the server connection issue but not sure it explains the db error issue.

Despite the technical issues what I'm really concern about is the "it's fix now" ticket responses. Those are really annoying, because if I did something wrong or something I could fix on my own I want to know and avoid and fix it in the future. I really hope management sets better guidelines for responses to tickets.

You need to monitor your load more often and the current connections.

Also good luck, they are a good company and Adam is a great person.

I'll expect a review in the next month from you.

[JMX Networks]

I think it is worth giving them another try. I have seen many good reviews about VPSLatch, and maybe only 1 or 2 bad reviews.

[vasho]

Originally Posted by sharkyJay

After spending a couple of weeks researching VPSs I finally decided to go with VPSLatch because of all the rave reviews here and the price was competitive. I have 4 hosting servers with other companies and have tested quite a few more so I'm experienced dealing with many hosts.

Basically it's been 5 days since I sign up and have been dealing with support tickets several times a day and my site is still not up.

Here are my issues with the service:
#1 Cannot log into my cpanel because of DB error, they just told me to check my password

#2 After 2 days of back and forth they finally fix the problem, had to request a second time for cpanel license.

I purchased VPS a 15 days ago .I got the same problem at that time and the cpanel started working after 3 days .

Originally Posted by sharkyJay

#3 Had to request 3 times before they got me the Softaculous install

I had to wait for 5 days and asked many times to install softaculous .

Originally Posted by sharkyJay

The whole point is that 1) I had to keep reminding them 2) keep telling me that it's fix but still not working, and 3) wouldn't tell me what the issue was.

Same for me .Regarding other issues they used to reply only if I keep reminding them .So every ticket got lengthy with multiple replies .

Originally Posted by sharkyJay

While this was happening I asked them to install Mindtouch and they were having issues with the DB, I wasn't happy with it but I can understand. I asked them couple of times if the issue was related to the DB problem from Softaculous/Wordpress issue and they wouldn't address it.

I have asked to install two scripts and the tickets got very lengthy . << removed by request >>

I am not intended to complain about the silly issues of installation as they are third party scripts and we should not blame the host's executives.We should wait or try to get help from developers .

Originally Posted by sharkyJay

I really lost my trust, the whole idea behind getting a VPS is to have reliability and quick responses. I don't quite mind if it's a new software (e.g. Mindtouch) and they have a little technical problem with installing it, but cpanel/Softaculous/server connections are basic things that they need to install on every server.

Not sure if I want to continue with them and give them a try or look elsewhere.

I would still wait as they are not the issues to worry .