Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Running a Web Hosting Business : Do you limit your tickets? If not when do you draw the line?

[ZKuJoe]

So right now we offer semi-managed VPSs which to us means we'll handle pretty much anything if we have time for it, but only critical stuff is guaranteed. We mostly focus on critical OS issues but we've been known to install and configure Apache, KDE with VNC, CSF, and other 3rd party scripts before when the ticket volume was low. We don't explicitly state what we will and will not handle but we expect our clients to at least search Google or our Knowledge Base before opening a ticket with us. I've read that some companies will limit their clients to X tickets a month, after that they are billed on a per ticket basis, do you do this? If not when do you draw the line for a client?

We have a few clients who signed up with no intention of ever using SSH or SolusVM (we've gotten more tickets for OS reloads and reboots more times than we should have) and expect for us to do everything for them, while sometimes it is as simple as securing SSH, some of them are asking us to run their whole web hosting company for them.

We have one client in particular who gets angry when we do not perform specific tasks for him and has even reminded us on multiple occasions that it has been 30 minutes and his script is not working yet. We've been nice enough to provide him with links to tutorials and even provided an OS Template for him, but he also wants us to log into his control panel and manage his domains, FTP, and DNS. We tell him we are not a fully managed service but this just angers him to the point of typing in all caps. We tried to offer him a refund to find a fully managed service but he won't take it. In the first 12 hours of service he had more support tickets than any of our other clients have had since we opened.

We maintain our cool and professionalism while dealing with him but we fear it will only get worse if we continue to keep him as a client and know that he'll be the first negative review for us posted online if we don't try to keep him happy (which being a new company is a big deal for us right now).

I don't mean to make this sound like a rant, I know when we charge so little that we can expect users like this but I want some ideas from the seasoned providers out there. Thanks for your suggestions.

Also, we've been meaning to outline in our Knowledge Base exactly what semi-managed means but we don't want to limit ourselves or scare away a potential client if they need something simple but is not listed within the scope of what our Knowledge Base states.

[quantumphysics]

invoice them and it will stop

[tacgrp]

Yes, invoice them for every single ticket they open so you don't have to pay it!

[cd/home]

Originally Posted by ZKuJoe

Also, we've been meaning to outline in our Knowledge Base exactly what semi-managed means but we don't want to limit ourselves or scare away a potential client if they need something simple but is not listed within the scope of what our Knowledge Base states.

Sadly if you do not outline clear to the point state on your website or within your TOS what is covered under "Semi-Mangement" then yes you will get alsorts of requests and you actually have no where to draw the line as its not actually stated anywhere...

I find the terms "Basic Management" and "Full Management" helps better in the VPS market.

Basic Management covers simple tasks like making sure the VPS is up and responing to ping requests, etc

Full Management is the whole hog...

Having "Semi" or somewhere in between just isnt feesble as clients will expect this time and time again thus bring more problems because you fix their last problem... Sounds like you need to up your pricing or go "Full Mangement"

[ZKuJoe]

Thanks for the advice. I will change the wording and write up an article in our Knowledge Base along with a basic entry in our TOS.

We originally offered the option for fully managed services for a fee prior to going live, but the amount of orders we now get was well beyond what we could have imagined and the additional support staff is no longer with us which now makes it unrealistic for us to offer fully managed services.

[net]

If you can't offer fully managed services, then better specify in your order form that it is unmanaged. Simple as that.

[ZKuJoe]

I thought that was clear enough...

[Coryvmcs1]

This is often an issue as well with clients being uneducated on the different types of hosting solutions available as well as over buying on their needs. You should also offer a clear picture as to what semi managed means because the average Joe just want's his stuff to work end of story. The moral of the story is poop happens and you just have to clean it up :-)

[ZKuJoe]

I've updated our web page and TOS (I also changed the wording from Semi-Managed to Basic Management). I think our TOS is clear enough (including the $25/hour billing for support) but I will add a more detailed article to our Knowledge Base as well as a new check box to our help desk.

[cd/home]

Originally Posted by ZKuJoe

I've updated our web page and TOS (I also changed the wording from Semi-Managed to Basic Management). I think our TOS is clear enough (including the $25/hour billing for support) but I will add a more detailed article to our Knowledge Base as well as a new check box to our help desk.

Have you considered purchasing DemoWolf tutorials?

[ZKuJoe]

No I haven't, I just took a look and it doesn't look like they would have anything we could use though.

[dazmanultra]

I think the problem here is you just need to make sure that your clients know exactly what is included with their hosting package, and what isn't included.

Some hosting providers even go as far as to include a list or a table of types of issues that they'll support/resolve, and types of issues that they won't support (or won't support without charging for the time incurred).

[cd/home]

Originally Posted by ZKuJoe

No I haven't, I just took a look and it doesn't look like they would have anything we could use though.

The cPanel tutorials and the PuTTY tutorials could be a start

[HostColor]

You can create a Terms on support ticket opening or to refer to the terms of the semi-managed VPS, so the customers could see them before asking for anything that they are supposed to do themselves.

[xnpu]

This is your own fault really. By being "nice" to customers you raise the bar and create higher expectations. If you then don't consistently deliver on these expectations people get upset.

Don't limit the number of tickets you accept - that doesn't really make sense. Instead, clearly define what support is included in your service and what isn't.