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  1. #1

    Unfortunate UltraHosting Event

    Greetings!

    First, I'd like to say that I've had no bad experiences with UltraHosting on technical grounds. I've been with them for a few years with a VPS, and they've been pretty available (a few downtime incidents), and have hit the reset button on request.

    But the last couple of days have sent me elsewhere.

    On Aug 17, I got an email saying that they couldn't bill my credit card. Would I update it?

    Sure! On the 18th, I went to their site and updated my credit card info (BofA has been *way* paranoid about fraud, and in this last month I've had *4* credit card numbers, even though *my* card has never been involved in fraud!). I also sent an email to Deirdre ("The Billing Department").

    On Aug 19, they shut off my server. I sent email, and I left a message on "The Billing Department's" voice mail. I heard nothing.

    On the 20th (Saturday), I left a ticket for Billing, but heard nothing, so after a few hours I called for Technical Support.

    I talked to "Eric" who came on the phone with a "customers suck" attitude. No, the Billing Department is not available on weekends, No, there was nothing that he could do. No, two days of non-payment was all the proof that he needed that my server should remain disconnected. No, there was nothing that I could do until Monday.

    So, as far as UltraHosting is concerned, I'm offline for 72 hours.

    I will not do business with a company that has such a low opinion of the people that it does business with.

    Why do they give us just two days from:
    "When trying to process a payment for your UltraHosting order, your credit card was declined."
    to disconnecting the server?

    Why do they change the demands in the middle of this foreshortened time, from:
    "Please update your credit card" on the 17th, which I did, to:
    "We have been unable to contact you to receive payment", which I didn't until the next day, because they didn't ask me to!

    Why don't they have some understanding that a 1-hour outage is akin to the end of the world for their customers? In a field that talks about "5-nines", it's going to take me, I figure, over 800 years of uptime to make up for this 72 hour outage.

    Why do they have an "apply this card to this invoice" button if it doesn't do anything?

    Why do they have a punitive support department (Eric)? Many years ago, I was a customer of MCI cell service. Every contact with their customer service department was painful: long waits and a nasty attitude. I am now a customer of Verizon Wireless. Every contact, and I mean *every* contact, has been pleasant. They haven't always been able to help me out, but they've usually been successful, and they've always been helpful. From Deidre's emails (since she never returned my call), and my conversation with Eric, I get nothing but a customer-hating attitude.

    I believe completely that the attitude that I've gotten from these two is *not* two individuals, it comes from the top.

    So, I'm headed over to fsckvps.com, any relevant opinions about them?

    Also, I'm sending this along to Deirdre. If she'd like me to post her response, I will.

    Thumbs Up!
    Gene Knight

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    3,662
    You have been with them for a few years and they would not give you some lee way? That is a bit... wrong. If they are going to be so strict with their credit card requirements, they should extend the suspension period from two days to a week (if you come up as a fraud order on renewal).
    SiFuQi.net - Affordable Dedicated Servers in Los Angeles, California
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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    50
    I guess every company's way of dealing with payments vary, a lot. We've had customers who were late 3 weeks, some late 2 months, and for hosting customers on smaller plans, even up to a few months. End of the day, if they had a valid reason, and their usage does not appear to be taking advantage of our kindness, we'd like to give them the benefit of trust.
    If a customer is responsive via emails, there shouldn't be any reason to take measures like that. Even if there is a need to take the server offline, there is absolutely no need to do it over the weekend, especially when they can't get anything done even if the customer takes action.
    Roy Lee
    ConceptLane Pte Ltd
    Singapore Hosting, VPS, Colo, Dedi, Web Apps

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    ~/
    Posts
    1,382
    Thats horrible service, sadly it is becoming more normal these days. look at volumedrive 3 weeks+ to set up services and no support at all yet people are stiill flooding in because its cheap so why would they want to be bettter?

    I agree cutting you off on a weekend with no notice is not acceptable

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Northern Ireland
    Posts
    45
    I'm with Linode and they give you a week to sort it out. If the customer sorts it in that time then it is no cost to them. Worst is they lose a weeks money = peanuts.

    Terrible attitude. Took me a long time to find my provider, and they are the opposite of what yours seem to be.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Belgrade
    Posts
    182
    Sorry to hear about your current issues.

    If you ever want to give us a try (as mentioned in your initial post) - I encourage you to get in touch and we will happily have you around. Feel free to email us or drop me a PM and I will get in touch promptly.

    Take care.

  7. #7
    Since I'm in the market for a hosting company, perhaps one of you folks can point me in the right direction? With Ultrahosting, and also with Codero, I have servers that behave like dedicated servers, for example, I can update the OS (FreeBSD), I can reboot it, Uptime shows just my activity, etc.

    UltraHosting refers to my account as "VPS". Can a VPS act like that? The hosting services that I've contacted can not do VPS where I can update the OS. I'm only paying $50 a month for each account, for, admittedly, pretty low-powered machines.

    So, what kind of accounts do I *really* have now, and where can I find similar service at a similar price?

    Thanks!

    Finally, would one of you old-timers be kind enough to post a link to my UltraHostingSucks.info? Being a newbie, the system will not allow me to.

    Thumbs Up!
    Gene Knight

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    The Not So Deep South
    Posts
    931
    Quote Originally Posted by gknight4 View Post
    Finally, would one of you old-timers be kind enough to post a link to my UltraHostingSucks.info? Being a newbie, the system will not allow me to.
    http://ultrahostingsucks.info/

    Done, and you're welcome.
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  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    50
    Quote Originally Posted by gknight4 View Post
    Since I'm in the market for a hosting company, perhaps one of you folks can point me in the right direction? With Ultrahosting, and also with Codero, I have servers that behave like dedicated servers, for example, I can update the OS (FreeBSD), I can reboot it, Uptime shows just my activity, etc.

    UltraHosting refers to my account as "VPS". Can a VPS act like that? The hosting services that I've contacted can not do VPS where I can update the OS. I'm only paying $50 a month for each account, for, admittedly, pretty low-powered machines.

    So, what kind of accounts do I *really* have now, and where can I find similar service at a similar price?

    Thanks!

    Finally, would one of you old-timers be kind enough to post a link to my UltraHostingSucks.info? Being a newbie, the system will not allow me to.

    Thumbs Up!
    Gene Knight
    Just look for hosts that provide you with Xen or KVM VPSes. Those should allow you to (re)install OSes on the virtual harddisk anyhow and anytime you choose to.

    Chances are the VPSes you have the moment are based on the Virtuozzo/OpenVZ models. You can also choose/request to reinit, but only to limited OS templates depending on what the host provides.
    Roy Lee
    ConceptLane Pte Ltd
    Singapore Hosting, VPS, Colo, Dedi, Web Apps

  10. #10
    I've ended up with Hostigation, about which I can't say enough good things. They're very responsive on the weekend, when I needed to get setup, and the KVM VPS is just awesome! I could actually watch the uninitialized machine boot up to a CD ISO image that I'd put into the virtual drive. And their rates are very fair and competitive.

    Never again will I have to fear that some misconfiguration on my part will put the machine back in "single user" mode where only a Keyboard-Video-Mouse over IP setup or (Heaven Forbid!) a minimum-wage-earning tech could fix it.

    I *highly* recommend Hostigation, and can hardly believe that there's a better value out there.

  11. #11
    As a wise man pointed out, it's not over till it's over. On Saturday, I discovered that if I paid the *balance*, rather than paying the *invoice*, I could pay my bill. To absolutely no effect:

    Hello,
    Billing will be back in tomorrow morning. Once they confirm payment has been made we will be able to turn the server back on. Unfortunately we cannot turn it on until billing has approved payment.

    By this time, my free time is spent getting the server on Hostigation set up. I didn't get around to asking for my money *back* until Friday:

    Dear Sir or Mdm,

    We are proceeding with your request to discontinue service. As per our Terms of Service you are not entitled to a refund. Your last day will be the 7th Nov, 2011.

    I press my case:

    Dear Billing,

    On Wednesday, you contacted me to say that my credit card could not be billed.
    On Thursday, I updated the credit card information, as requested.
    On Friday, you terminated my service, without making any attempt to bill the new card.
    Only on Monday was the service was finally restored, after many fruitless contacts over the weekend.

    Despite all that your policies have put me through, (a 72 hour outage is unconscionable), you're refusing to return my payment?!

    I asked before, and I'm asking again, for the email address of your superior. I would like to complain.

    Gene Knight

    I'm not getting that rung up the response ladder:

    Dear Sir or Mdm,

    Thank you for your reply. Your concerns have been reveiwed by my supervisor who has determined that company policy has been followed and therefore a refund will not be issued.

    Your last day of service will be the 7th Nov, 2011.

    So, I've sent emails to president, CEO, and a board member. Will anyone care? Probably not, but I'll have a clear conscience in telling this story wherever I can.

    Thumbs Up!
    Gene Knight

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