Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : FluidHosting Linux VPS - a negative comment

[BigBison]

I set up the entry-level Red Hat Linux VPS account on May 20th. I have had nothing but trouble. I'm trying to take Dave up on the 30-day money back guarantee. I'm being ignored. I'm locked out of my control panel for the fourth time, and am unable to self-cancel.

Anyone else notice the toll-free number FH publishes with one's bill (and has posted here on WHT) doesn't work - it rings once and does nothing. Every day for at least 3 weeks, I've been checking.

My saga:

I started off by setting up the account with a .us domain. I was charged for the domain registration. My account wouldn't work at all. I started sending email to tech support. They told me there was a problem with SWSoft. I checked whois on Tucows and after a week, gave up and registered my domain at GoDaddy. FH didn't get around to discovering that they weren't set up for .us with OpenSRS until later.

The only support request I made which didn't concern problems with my account was to request a second IP address. I asked, if I was to need six, could they be sequential? I was told my account would only support two. Frustrated, I waited a few days to re-phrase my question, "Assuming I upgrade my account, can I get sequential IPs?" Learn how to upsell.

Twice, when locked out of my Control Panel, I was told that I must have forgotten my password. Long story short, I hadn't.

Many of my outgoing emails to FH were forwards of bizarre messages generated, apparently, by the VPS software. Dave, you're probably not aware I've received upwards of 100 emails from FH. This increases my frustration level because instead of mass deletion, I went through each of them and found I had been double-billed, then triple-billed. That last billing error I sent you when, Friday? Anyone home?

Previously, you had apologized about the problem I'm about to relate, and credited $20 to my account. Oh, don't forget the $19.95 you shouldn't have charged me for the .us domain. Where do these show up on my multiple, incomprehensible and incorrect statements? When a customer has this problem, don't ignore him. He may stop lurking and start posting.

The major problem was the second IP address. When it was assigned, I used it in DNS records, affecting FTP, SSH, CP, etc. No, I hadn't forgotten my password, that IP address had disappeared. The next response I got then was, they could tell my server was up and everything was OK. Then Dave got involved and escalated the problem to SWSoft.

Dave, like I told you when the IP address was gone and you called me, it is NOT enough to fix a problem like that. You MUST tell me 1) what happened 2) what was done to correct it 3) what has been done to keep the problem from recurring. I'm still waiting for those answers. In the meantime, I ask, how would anyone feel if an IP address just disappeared for a day with no explanation?

Despite the problems I had, my impression was that most of my problems were SWSoft-related. Until today, I was still considering FH for my Windows hosting needs. Having been ignored, well, forget it.

If you want to brag about lack of negative comments on forums like WHT you can't ignore your customers when they get upset about continual problems with their service. These have certainly been beyond my control, I never even used the account.

Dave, you need to acknowledge my cancellation request. And how about that 30-day guarantee? I want my refund.

[IGobyTerry]

This truly shocks me as FluidHosting has upheld an excellent reputation as a hosting provider for a long period of time. I know Dave is a member here (as I'm sure you are aware of as well) and has quite a good reputation. I hope these problems get sorted out.

[essexguy]

i do not post much on these forums anymore but prefer to read (lurk).

I'm currently hosting with FH and I am nothing but pleased with their service.

But even a excellent host such as FH are unable to keep every customer happy like BigBison.

BigBison - I'm very sorry you have experienced so many problems with your account, I'm sure you will get your refund.

[AdH]

Hi,

In FH's defence, i know that IP addresses being 'unassigned' from accounts is not necessarily their fault - the current version of Virtuozzo (2.5.1) has a known bug, which can occassionally cause IPs to be unassigned.

SW Soft tell us that the problem is addressed in the production release of Virtuozzo 2.6, due in early July.

Just to clarify - we have nothing whatsoever to do with FH, but i believe we use the same VPS software, made by SW Soft, so i felt it only fair to point this out from an independant viewpoint.

Thanks

[BigBison]

I was about to start another thread seeking feedback on Virtuozzo, given the issues there. I've not been with FH long, but the lack of response to my problem and nonfunctional phone bode not well, I can only see it from my viewpoint.

Thanks for your answer. That's the response I didn't get from FH in time to keep my business.

[AdH]

I was about to start another thread seeking feedback on Virtuozzo, given the issues there. I've not been with FH long, but the lack of response to my problem and nonfunctional phone bode not well, I can only see it from my viewpoint.

Virtuozzo is by far the leading VPS software (IMHO), but i don't know of any software that is without bugs.

I can't comment on the other stuff, just the software

[BigBison]

Do you have to pay for that upgrade, to keep your customers' IPs from up and disappearing?

I seem to have run into several Virtuozzo issues right off the bat. But I've been with JohnCompanies since October, with zero shenanigans. They're not running Virtuozzo (I don't know any more than that.)

I was hoping to run the two VPS services head-to-head for performance comparisons. Right now, I don't think I'll be signing up for anyone's Virtuozzo VPS anytime soon.

[essexguy]

Originally posted by AdH
Virtuozzo is by far the leading VPS software (IMHO), but i don't know of any software that is without bugs.

windows has never been released with any bugs

[JTY]

Eric,

It's sad to see this happen. We've generally had good luck with Virtuozzo/HSPComplete.

I hope you'll find a host which can serve your needs, and best of luck to you.

[AdH]

Do you have to pay for that upgrade, to keep your customers' IPs from up and disappearing?

As long as you have a valid support contract with SW Soft, it should be free... i can't imagine that anyone wouldn't have one unless they are really _really_ confident on the Virtuozzo / HSPc system (and i'm not sure that it is possible to be, as there always seem to be issues cropping up).

Having said that, most issues that crop up are not too serious.

[BigBison]

Please understand, I've been locked out of my account since Friday. This is the first response I've gotten. One of my complaints here, is has FH known about an impending patch for this many days, and waited until just before to notify customers? Couldn't they have let me know they were aware of a problem and were working on it? There's more that I'm not saying, but my issue with FH isn't just SWSoft.

My concern as a consumer is that when shopping for a VPS, I'll now have to ask which version of Virtuozzo a host is running.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. Eric J. Bowman,

In the next one hour, the control panel will be upgraded to the latest patch. The control panel will not be available for a duration of around 10-15 minutes. Only your VPS control panel will be affected. Please accept our sincerest apology for the unscheduled work.

Should you have any questions/concerns regarding this unscheduled maintenance, please contact us at support@fluidhosting.com

Sincerely,
Administrator
Fluid Hosting, LLC

[FHDave]

Originally posted by BigBison
Dave, you need to acknowledge my cancellation request. And how about that 30-day guarantee? I want my refund.

Hi Eric,

I am sorry that we have not met your expectation. To request for refund, you will need to contact billing@fluidhosting.com. This way your ticket will be assigned a ticket number and attended properly. If you request the money back within your 30 day period, then we will certainly more than willing to issue you a refund, less any setup fees.

Regarding the control panel lock out, I am surprise to hear about it since none of our customers have this problem yet. The only one I heard from you about this problem (our phone conversation) was that you have tried to log in from a wrong address (our old VPS control panel, instead of the new one). I hope this is not another bug from SW-Soft.

I am sorry about the toll free number. Some people have reported that the toll free number did not work. We will check into that. In case you want to contact us again, our direct phone line is listed at http://www.fluidhosting.com/support/.

I wish you the best with your new VPS host.

Best wishes!

[BigBison]

Then you're having trouble with your ticket system as well, if this is the first you've become aware of my problem.

Also, when I set up the account I set up a bookmark to a working control panel. It isn't my fault you have two identical-looking control panels. At some point my account no longer worked on the original CP. You guided me to the different CP and that worked. For about 5 days.

[FHDave]

Originally posted by BigBison
Please understand, I've been locked out of my account since Friday. This is the first response I've gotten. One of my complaints here, is has FH known about an impending patch for this many days, and waited until just before to notify customers? Couldn't they have let me know they were aware of a problem and were working on it? There's more that I'm not saying, but my issue with FH isn't just SWSoft.

My concern as a consumer is that when shopping for a VPS, I'll now have to ask which version of Virtuozzo a host is running.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. Eric J. Bowman,

In the next one hour, the control panel will be upgraded to the latest patch. The control panel will not be available for a duration of around 10-15 minutes. Only your VPS control panel will be affected. Please accept our sincerest apology for the unscheduled work.

Should you have any questions/concerns regarding this unscheduled maintenance, please contact us at support@fluidhosting.com

Sincerely,
Administrator
Fluid Hosting, LLC

Eric,

That patch has nothing to do with the lock-out problem you have. None of our customers have reported us about this problem. The patch applied was for the problem with .name domain, which was discovered recently. We have been running the last patch.

Sometimes, we can arrange a unscheduled maintenance. Customer can calculate any unscheduled maintenance against our uptime guarantee (http://www.fluidhosting.com/sla.php). Of course, if the maintenance is affecting any important services, then we will schedule it ahead of time. However, in this case, we know that the chance clients will login to control panel is slim, and thus we scheduled the maintenance nevertheless. If the maintenance has interrupted you or cause any inconvenience to you, please accept our sincerest apology.

[BigBison]

I've gone back over my support emails. When a customer cannot log in to their CP, the only recourse is emailing support.

Sometimes this generates a confirmation message and a response is forthcoming.

Sometimes apparently the email is lost. This is the second time that's happened in the past month.

Are you sure none of your other customers are affected, or are they having trouble contacting you as well?