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04-26-2004, 09:47 AM #1Newbie
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Dumping Hostmatix - This industry needs change!
After having dumped Bravidio for absolutely no response on numerous requests, I am going to have to do the same with Hostmatx.
First the good: Hostmatix had me set up instantly. I had my we site up and running, and was quite happy. The ordering process was a snap.
The bad thing now: I was trying to figure out how to add another domain to my accound (I am allowed to have three, though it was never clarified if these would be add-on domains or how to do this.)
I went into their forum section, and it told me that that only customers could see the technical section of their forums.
So then I requested an ID for the forums, and the request, several days later, is still sitting there, in public view, without anyone having responded.
So then I decided I should maybe issue a trouble ticket, or try their chat system. The chat system did not work, thought I was trying it within the hours of operation. The trouble tickets did not work, because they did not take my user ID or my password. It seems to me that besides the client id and the domain id I was issued, I was also supposed to have been issues a seperate customer ID and password, which I never got.
So somehow I was able to email service, and I got a friendly email back saying they would send me my requested "password reset". I was a bit ticked - I did not ask for a password reset, and I knew now that their system was totally screwed because it did not recognize my email address when I was trying myslef to have a password sent to me. But I was glad they responded quickly, and because of that, decided to hit the button on their email service indicating that their message was helpful.
The button did not work!!! Repeatedly, after trying! OK, so that's not serious, except it shows again that there is a shoddy commitment to quality. And I was trying to be nice!
But I replied a bit irritated (though not in any way flaming) wanting to know what was up with my login, and that I also wanted access to the techincal forums, because there was another issue I wanted to figure out without having to bother them.
No reply.
Well, it turns out they have stopped responding alltogether.
This industry needs a change. I have been in IT, a hard core developer, for over 10 years. I have left the industry for many reasons, one of which is the overall shoddy quality of product, and the shoddyness it has introduced in our day-to-day lives. But this goes even beyond this - this is the second well-known service provider that has not even been able to set me up correctly, not to mention the phantom 24-hour support. This is beyond shoddy - it's crooked.
Hostmatix - you're fired!
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04-26-2004, 10:18 AM #2WHT Addict
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- Apr 2004
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Every industry has good and bad elements in it. It is quite normal. You just need to find a good host and stay with it. Try the hosts that other people have good experiences with
Solid-Hosting.net - affordable multiple domain hosting solutions
Reliability and Customer Service are our focus!
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04-26-2004, 10:39 AM #3Newbie
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- Apr 2004
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On you industry comment: actually, no. Most industries are cleaner - far, far cleaner, than this junk. The IT industry has become the propegator of the biggest junk. I sometime laughlingly joke that scalability is the ability to propagate buggyness over an entire culture.
How many magazines have you subscribed to that don't get delivered to you? How many times does your car break down, even if it's not a late model? How many bridges have you stood on that have collapsed? How many TV's have you thrown out because they broke all the time? How many times have you crashed in an airliner?
How many times have you been screwed by bad IT?
I left the industry earning a solid six figures a year because I got tired of the junkiness of it all.
But that's beyond the point. The issue is with HostMatix right now. The problem is that I researched them on this board before I went for them, and they seemed to look all right. I guess I was not thorough enough.
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04-26-2004, 10:43 AM #4WHT Addict
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- Oct 2003
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Don't confuse IT with Dot Com.
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04-26-2004, 11:02 AM #5Web Hosting Master
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- Mar 2001
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If you were or are making 6 figures a year in income, why choose hosts that charge less then $7 per month? (ok, not fair, but you opened the door with the income comment.)
Go with a proven host such as pair.com, futurequest, httpme, etc... who has been around for years, and has a proven track record. Might cost a bit more, but you'll get the service you desire.
The industry doesn't need change everywhere, but some low cost hosts are just too low cost to provide the service they state on their website.
- John C.
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04-26-2004, 11:03 AM #6Newbie
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Slack - excellent point.
I haven't.
I was in corporate IT - database systems mainly. Large international financial institutions. (They don't tolerate failure much). Managment consulting. Traveled all over the country and Canada.
However, note that the .bomb actually did hurt the reputation of all of IT. To the outsider, it does not matter if the application that's messed up just now is in the browser or sitting in C:\Program Files.
Also, to clarify, most of what I say refers to sofware and the human interaction with software, business, and services. Hardware really has gotten incredibly better and more reliable. However, we have bred a culture of shoddy quality that goes beyond just bad software to also bad customer support in pretty much all arenas. And it's most concentrated in IT.
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04-26-2004, 11:07 AM #7Newbie
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JohnC - went cheap because I am doing this for a non-profit just getting started. I am beginning to see the errors of my ways, though ;-)
But now that you point it out, there is an issue of false advertising there. They shouldn't get away with it.
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04-26-2004, 11:18 AM #8Web Hosting Master
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- Aug 2002
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- 2,631
There are times when good hosts just turn bad. On the bright side, there are plenty good ones around. Sure, there's some trash to weed out, but thats the same with everything (magazines,cars,music,etc..).
YourCheapHost.com - Low cost multi domain hosting solutions. [Legal adult content friendly]
Reliable web site hosting is our motto. We have Alertra stats to back that up.
Proven provider of high quality shared and reseller accounts since 2002.
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04-26-2004, 11:38 AM #9WHT Addict
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Originally posted by hbofinger
Slack - excellent point.
I haven't.
I was in corporate IT - database systems mainly. Large international financial institutions. (They don't tolerate failure much). Managment consulting. Traveled all over the country and Canada.
However, note that the .bomb actually did hurt the reputation of all of IT. To the outsider, it does not matter if the application that's messed up just now is in the browser or sitting in C:\Program Files.
Also, to clarify, most of what I say refers to sofware and the human interaction with software, business, and services. Hardware really has gotten incredibly better and more reliable. However, we have bred a culture of shoddy quality that goes beyond just bad software to also bad customer support in pretty much all arenas. And it's most concentrated in IT.
These crappy webhosts are still buying into the Dot Com craze. Back in the day you could start up any old internet business and potentially make a fortune off it, or at least waste a few million dollars of smith barney's money
As far as customer service goes, I see it lacking in all industries. I don't think it's the fault of IT as much as it is the attitudes towards customer service. Many companies only see it as overhead, and try to find ways to reduce it. Hence we get these great "trouble ticket" systems that never work. Or you get some "technician" who's sitting in India somewhere with a manual of questions and answers. This is the real price we pay for cheap goods.
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04-26-2004, 11:39 AM #10Junior Guru
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- Aug 2002
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- 183
I remember , this time around last year, HostMatix grew quite a lot. They had a lot of good reviews and now they've gone down. The changing face of webhosting eh.
Guess the best thing to do is move on and find your new host and hope they stick around for longer
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04-26-2004, 11:51 AM #11Junior Guru Wannabe
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- Apr 2004
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- Kansas City, MO
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Originally posted by slack
Many companies only see it as overhead, and try to find ways to reduce it. Hence we get these great "trouble ticket" systems that never work. Or you get some "technician" who's sitting in India somewhere with a manual of questions and answers. This is the real price we pay for cheap goods.Take care,
Brad Birmingham
http://www.bluevirtual.com
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04-26-2004, 12:08 PM #12Newbie
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Slack - we pretty much agree. In terms of bad customer service, though, it really is also the fault of the new consumer IT culture. I don't want to dominate this thread with this conversation too much - I'm glad people are willing to discuss it. Maybe we should move this to another thread.
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04-26-2004, 11:15 PM #13Web Hosting Master
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- Jan 2004
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I would suggest finding a host with an active support forum. Forums are the best to get help now-a-days.
Check out my new Chrome Extension - Server Admin Tool
frustratedtech.com - Helpful Server Tech Advice
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04-26-2004, 11:18 PM #14Temporarily Suspended
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- Nov 2003
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- Ohio
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Originally posted by Vertica1Host
I would suggest finding a host with an active support forum. Forums are the best to get help now-a-days.
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04-26-2004, 11:24 PM #15Web Hosting Master
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Cuts down on our support tickets by 50%+
Clustered Hosting With Continuous Data Protection (CDP)
http://www.solidinternet.com
8 Years of hosting excellence!
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04-26-2004, 11:29 PM #16Web Hosting Master
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Originally posted by Allwin A
I remember , this time around last year, HostMatix grew quite a lot. They had a lot of good reviews and now they've gone down. The changing face of webhosting eh.
Guess the best thing to do is move on and find your new host and hope they stick around for longer
But since the company was sold and its management started a new venture, HM has been losing it quickly.
I'm just extremely happy I moved with the new management as the number of complaints at HM are still growing.
Best,
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04-27-2004, 08:22 AM #17Newbie
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- Apr 2004
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The saga continues.
But first - yes, I think support forums are the answer. That's why I chose Hostmatix - they have one. Trouble is I can't get access to it, which is where this whole mess started. Their forums are limited to their clients, and their client system is so screwed that it can't identify me. And additional requests to get access to the forum is still in the open thread requesting access - unaswered!!!
But now to what happened: I got two more emails from support at HostMatix this morning. They did not quite get what my problem was, and I replied that it was all moot because I was moving away from them anyhow. I also mentioned that I slammed them here at WHT.
What a waste of time!!! I should have know that though I they wanted me to answer a question or two, their service would SO ABSOLUTELY INCOMPETENT that their own email system was not set up correctly - my reply messages bounced! I wasted precious calories typing away at answers!
I don't know what they used to be like, but now they are terrible. Stay away!
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04-27-2004, 08:52 AM #18WHT Addict
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- Feb 2004
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Hi HBOFinger,
HostMatix.com has been offering reliable hosting a few years now. It could be that at the moment, everybody in the company is quite busy. Give them a few days, otherwise call them.
CristianoLast edited by XTStrike; 04-27-2004 at 04:06 PM.
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04-27-2004, 09:00 AM #19
From a post earlier, it appears they have changed hands.
Maybe Amir could address this?
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04-27-2004, 09:40 AM #20Newbie
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- Apr 2004
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25hosts,
Have you read the entire thread? They are not busy, they are f*cked. To me, this is damage beyond repair. I can't believe the bounced replies this morning! THEY ARE INCOMPENT!!!
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04-27-2004, 11:11 AM #21Junior Guru Wannabe
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- Jan 2003
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- Alabama
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- 54
Yeah HostMatix.Com has changed owners and there Head Server Administrator has left the company in fear his own reputation would ruined because of the way he knew the company would be ran.
Sorry to hear of your bad process with them, HM use too be a great company, but since the change of management things of had took a turn for the worse. Hopefully they will be able too turn things around and make it right again.~Jeff Vreeland
President, VM Technologies
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04-27-2004, 11:18 AM #22WHT Addict
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- Apr 2004
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- 110
no management
The loss of the IT manager should be a sure sign of problems in the immediate future. I would be worried, if we used them for hosting.
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04-27-2004, 11:25 AM #23Junior Guru Wannabe
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- Mar 2004
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- 82
Sorry you have had bad experiences. Not all hosts are like that. However, before I started my company 3 years ago I had hosting with 2 of the larger more well known companies and dang it, I'm still waiting on a reply......
Talk some other people that have sites and find out who their hosts are and how satisfied they are. As the old saying goes "word of mouth".
<<Signature to be setup in your profile>>Last edited by anon-e-mouse; 05-11-2004 at 10:04 PM.
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04-27-2004, 11:49 AM #24Web Hosting Master
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Cristiano, I don't think that person would appreciate you publishing his personal e-mail on a public forum like that. I would have asked for his permission first.
I suggest asking a mod to edit it out.
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04-27-2004, 12:05 PM #25Newbie
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In the meantime, I just realized I got so excited about this whole issue now that I was incompetent at spelling "INCOMPETENT" above.
This site has been very helpful, I must say. I now have done some more research into other hosts. I realize now that this is the Wild West, were ANYTHING goes! False advertising is the norm! Any agency like the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) would be completely overwhelmed if they tried to enforce fair trade standards! 90% of the industry would be prosecuted, and 65% would end in juvenile detention!
In fact, it's a free for all!!!!
Yeah, I am right now, right here, starting my own web hosting service!! I've got my old trusty Linux box sitting next to me, with excess capacity, on my DSL line!
Here’s my first package
FreeForAll web hosting plan A:
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80 gig/mo transfer
25/8 technical support
123.7834624% uptime GUARANTEED!!!
unlimited email
unlimited databases
$3.06 /mo
FREE TELEPHONE SUPPORT at 1-888-IAM-IDIOT
Contact sales at 1-888-IAM-IDIOT-TOO.
Any takers?
(good grief!….)