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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Oklahoma
    Posts
    825

    * ThePlanet sucks.. STILL!

    I know everyone is tired of hearing horrors storries about ThePlanet/ServerMatrix or whatever you want to call them, but I have to add my two cents in attempt to steer future clients away from the same problems..

    I purchased a Super Celeron from SM on 3-22. The service was setup (slowly) sometime that week, my credit card was billed and everything was fine... for awhile..

    I originally requested cPanel to be installed on my server (which was not), and then after installing it myself and setting up a temporary key, I was told that in order to "upgrade" to a server w/ cpanel that a full re-image would be necessary. I didn't see how this was necessary as I had a working cPanel installation already up and running, and only need a simlpe key.. After a few tickets back and forth I gave in and paid the $25 to have the server re-imaged with cPanel installed. Even though I originally requested this when I purchased the server!!!

    Anyhow, moving on while giving them the benefit of the doubt because of their reputation, I continued to use the server and then.. 8 hour downtime with no SLA credit mentioned ANYWHERE on their site.. They continued to operate as if nothing was wrong, which is what really upset me, but nevertheless I didn't care because I found a faster, cheaper server in Dallas anyways..

    So.. Today I go and check my credit card bill.. There is a $109 charge from TP after I requested to cancel the server almost a week before my billing date! Their lame billing department continously sent me e-mails asking me to call them so we could "discuss this." I clearly and consistently told them I was no longer interested in the server and that they could go ahead and cancel it..

    To this day, the server is still online, and there is a charge(back) on my credit card.

    What is up with these people? They seemed as if they used to have it all together when they first started, but now have gone to total dismay.

    </rant>
    Devon Dunham (Owner, Sharpnet/DDoS Host)
    Advanced DDoS Mitigation and Server Management Solutions

    Protecting your online infrastructure.

    Est. 1998.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Posts
    1,443
    I'm sorry to hear that. It seems like TP/SM management is going down the drains.
    Synergy Blue LLC
    SonataWeb.net | SynergyBlue.com
    USA should so something about: http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Posts
    2,203
    With the amount of customers they have, you can expect them not to give a crap about some of their customers. They need to change their big ego. The dude that works for TP have yet to explain on the recent threads..... something's not right.

  4. #4
    If you ordered Cpanel with your order initially, you should not be made to pay for the OS Reload. You should alert to them the fact that it was included in the initial order. In my experience, they would make good that. If it is not listed in the initial order then it is a different thing altogether.

    As for the SLA downtime, you need to explicitly submit a SLA Credit Ticket which would include details like the hostname and IP of the server affected and if possible the timeframe in which you suffer the downtime. Once they have that information, they will investigate and provide the credits. This is something which you need to explicitly request for.

    As for the cancellation, you need to do that in Orbit using the cancellation form. On the form, it will indicate the effective date of the cancellation. This will need to be approved. I am not sure what the effective cancellation time frame for those on the new billing cycle so I cannot comment on that. As for reclaiming the server, it would not be done instantly but as and when the reclaim team gets to do it. Typically that is the 1st week of the month.

    If there is a mistake in charging your account, a simple ticket to accounting should resolve it. I've been in that shoes before and they gladly refunded my money when I provided evidences of the charge.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Oklahoma
    Posts
    825
    I did request it through Orbit, and you shouldn't have to submit a f*cking ticket for an SLA credit. Is it stated as such in the contract or implied that it will be given if the services fail? Either way I don't care. A multi-million dollar company shouldn't go down for eight hours! I still don't believe a pair of redudant pdu's failing was the issue.

    Not to mention, n with the estranged accounting/billing problems that happened TWICE after I properly communicated my intentions to 1. install cpanel and 2. cancel the server.

    I'm still not even crying over the SLA credit. I don't care about it. It's embarassing to land a few new accounts, then have interrupted service for long periods of time.

    I honestly believe TP is a good company. They should maybe just stop accepting orders for awhile and work with what they have and go back to the more personal company they once used to be.
    Last edited by DD-SNC; 04-27-2005 at 04:32 AM.
    Devon Dunham (Owner, Sharpnet/DDoS Host)
    Advanced DDoS Mitigation and Server Management Solutions

    Protecting your online infrastructure.

    Est. 1998.

  6. #6
    It was just unfortunate that you came at the wrong time. We have been enjoying 100% uptime for a very long time before that.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    India
    Posts
    505
    It seems that you had a real bad time DD-SNC. We are sorry to hear the experience that you had.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Posts
    1,210
    Originally posted by DD-SNC
    I know everyone is tired of hearing horrors storries about ThePlanet/ServerMatrix or whatever you want to call them
    Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. Not just about the planet, but about everyone, particularly when they start out with "<insert company name here> SUCKS!", and other overly dramatic, overly emotional rant-like topic headings..

    I wonder at what point the WHT folks will consider moving all the complaints to their own forum and giving the rest of us a break? Enough is enough already.

    -B

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    New York, NY
    Posts
    10,710
    They continued to operate as if nothing was wrong, which is what really upset me, but nevertheless I didn't care because I found a faster, cheaper server in Dallas anyways..
    I would be interested to hear what company you found as an alternative.

    Cheers
    MediaLayer, LLC - www.medialayer.com Learn how we can make your website load faster, translating to better conversion rates for your business!
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  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Toronto, ON
    Posts
    3,446
    I can't really say I'm surprised, you're getting what you payed for here nothing less. I hope you're not building a serious hosting business off the low cost dedicateds at EV1, ThePlanet, etc.. no physical access, no substantial guarantees (won't go beyond the monthly fee you're paying) just to name a few of the problems you'll encounter.
    Jean-Pierre Abboud / I'm the TekGURU
    www.Gotekky.com / Managed hosting solutions / AS63447
    Web Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Servers

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Posts
    3,374
    do you know what? theplanet/servermatrix does suck now than before. it seem like their DC5 bring good sales but at the same time f'ckup a lot of people, from misconfig server, billing problem,...etc.

    even on their own forum people are complaing about server setup time and getting double billed. just look at pre-sale section.

    i don't know if they sell too fast and some new customers got caught up in this crazy DC5 sales or whatnot. TP/SM does seem to have problem now more than before.

    do any of you feel the same way that since DC5 open there is nothing but problem with TP/SM?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Posts
    3,374
    Originally posted by J-P
    I can't really say I'm surprised, you're getting what you payed for here nothing less. I hope you're not building a serious hosting business off the low cost dedicateds at EV1, ThePlanet, etc.. no physical access, no substantial guarantees (won't go beyond the monthly fee you're paying) just to name a few of the problems you'll encounter.
    you have to start somewhere, not everyone have the money to build a DC or colo when they start.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    New York, NY
    Posts
    10,710
    Originally posted by jt2377
    do you know what? theplanet/servermatrix does suck now than before. it seem like their DC5 bring good sales but at the same time f'ckup a lot of people, from misconfig server, billing problem,...etc.

    even on their own forum people are complaing about server setup time and getting double billed. just look at pre-sale section.

    i don't know if they sell too fast and some new customers got caught up in this crazy DC5 sales or whatnot. TP/SM does seem to have problem now more than before.

    do any of you feel the same way that since DC5 open there is nothing but problem with TP/SM?
    Complete ditto.

    Cheers
    MediaLayer, LLC - www.medialayer.com Learn how we can make your website load faster, translating to better conversion rates for your business!
    The pioneers of optimized web hosting, featuring LiteSpeed Web Server & SSD Storage - Celebrating 10 Years in Business

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    North Yorkshire, UK
    Posts
    4,164
    Originally posted by TMX
    Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. Not just about the planet, but about everyone, particularly when they start out with "<insert company name here> SUCKS!", and other overly dramatic, overly emotional rant-like topic headings..

    I wonder at what point the WHT folks will consider moving all the complaints to their own forum and giving the rest of us a break? Enough is enough already.

    -B
    Uhmm unless i'm mistaken this is a web hosting forum, where people discuss web hosting, whether it be good or bad things about a provider, or where people look for hosts. That's what it's all about.
    █ Dan Kitchen | Technical Director | Razorblue
    █ ddi: (+44) (0)1748 900 680 | e: dkitchen@razorblue.com
    █ UK Intensive Managed Hosting, Clusters and Colocation.
    █ HP Servers, Cisco/Juniper Powered BGP Network (AS15692).

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Fort Worth, TX
    Posts
    2,586
    Originally posted by J-P
    I can't really say I'm surprised, you're getting what you payed for here nothing less. I hope you're not building a serious hosting business off the low cost dedicateds at EV1, ThePlanet, etc.. no physical access, no substantial guarantees (won't go beyond the monthly fee you're paying) just to name a few of the problems you'll encounter.
    Although I agree with some points form DD-SNC, c-mon J-P that is way out of line. There are thousands of very successful web hosting providers that directly use EV1 and ThePlanet. Just because you don't, I don't see that gives you the right to flame another company. Seems like quite an ignorant statement to me... mind you.. "statement" ignorant... not you

    Seems like last month or so TP Support/Billing is a major "hit or miss". Sometimes I have a problem and TP will go way out of their way to help me, other times its the usual "$75/hr admin fee". I've been extremly lucky to have the same tech keep replying to my support tickets recently, who is awesome! So I guess... its who you get.
    Last edited by JGRoboMarketing; 04-27-2005 at 03:44 PM.
    www.JGRoboMarketing.com / "Automate. Grow. Repeat"
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  16. #16
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Toronto, ON
    Posts
    3,446
    Originally posted by RealtorHost
    Although I agree with some points form DD-SNC, c-mon J-P that is way out of line. There are thousands of very successful web hosting providers that directly use EV1 and ThePlanet. Just because you don't, I don't see that gives you the right to flame another company. Seems like quite an ignorant statement to me... mind you.. "statement" ignorant... not you
    I'm not flaming, just stating facts. Indeed a lot of successful web hosting provider use EV1 and ThePlanet only that's more because of the financial advantages for example ($0.15/GB price for bandwidth), not having to invest in a server and while it may be working fine for some, the moment something doesn't how much control do they have over their servers to fix any issues that may arise ?

    I understand not everyone has the money to colocate their own servers but this is exactly why kiddie hosts are around, they get a cheap $99 box and they start selling hosting and then the moment a data centre monkey makes a mistake (installs bad ram, reboots wrong server, disconnects wrong server) they head to the dedicated servers forum and whine about it.

    Just my $0.02.
    Jean-Pierre Abboud / I'm the TekGURU
    www.Gotekky.com / Managed hosting solutions / AS63447
    Web Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Servers

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Posts
    1,053
    Originally posted by DD-SNC
    I did request it through Orbit, and you shouldn't have to submit a f*cking ticket for an SLA credit. Is it stated as such in the contract or implied that it will be given if the services fail? Either way I don't care. A multi-million dollar company shouldn't go down for eight hours! I still don't believe a pair of redudant pdu's failing was the issue.

    Not to mention, n with the estranged accounting/billing problems that happened TWICE after I properly communicated my intentions to 1. install cpanel and 2. cancel the server.

    I'm still not even crying over the SLA credit. I don't care about it. It's embarassing to land a few new accounts, then have interrupted service for long periods of time.

    I honestly believe TP is a good company. They should maybe just stop accepting orders for awhile and work with what they have and go back to the more personal company they once used to be.
    A few things...

    First, as with almost all providers, you do have to submit a ticket for a SLA credit to be considered. Second, the company never went down for eight hours. If you had an outage that does not mean that everyone else was down like you. Lastly, you need to submit an official cancellation request at least seven days prior to the end of the month IIRC.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Southern NYS
    Posts
    535
    The Planet has been sucking for the past year at least...it's unfortunate. Sorry for your grief.

  19. #19
    Two things.

    1) "Cancellation. You may cancel your account at any time by sending an e-mail to Support@ theplanet.com. Once The Planet has finished processing the cancellation, The Planet will delete all your Registration Data from its database." - http://www.theplanet.com/legal/privacy.html Did you e-mail that e-mail address? If not, shut the hell up!

    2) J-P: While I hate kiddie-hosts (who buy WHM, WHM Auto-Pilot, and cPanel and put up a for sale sign), your allegations are absolutely abserd. You're bashing ev1 and TP/SM for the simple fact that kiddie-hosts are attracted to them. This is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.
    Sometimes, just sometimes...someone gets a $99/month server w/ a celeron because it makes sense for them. Some people who know what they're doing when they sell hosting may (if money dictates so) get a $99/month server w/ a celeron and start selling only to later upgrade or purchase another server before it becomes overloaded. FYI, there is nothing wrong with this.
    .

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Fort Worth, TX
    Posts
    2,586
    Originally posted by J-P
    I'm not flaming, just stating facts. Indeed a lot of successful web hosting provider use EV1 and ThePlanet only that's more because of the financial advantages for example ($0.15/GB price for bandwidth), not having to invest in a server and while it may be working fine for some, the moment something doesn't how much control do they have over their servers to fix any issues that may arise ?

    I understand not everyone has the money to colocate their own servers but this is exactly why kiddie hosts are around, they get a cheap $99 box and they start selling hosting and then the moment a data centre monkey makes a mistake (installs bad ram, reboots wrong server, disconnects wrong server) they head to the dedicated servers forum and whine about it.

    Just my $0.02.
    But on the other hand.. a lot of people also prefer to have dedicated servers over colocation. Maybe a few choose this for financial reasons.. but saying just because people don't have the money they choose dedicated servers... in my opinion this is a tad of a generalization. I guess if a web hosting provider uses colocation and dedicated servers ( like I do..) then that provider isn't successful nor successful.. [* they're] just in a VOID. Welcome to the Twilight Zone.. do do do do do

    * - for the hens...
    www.JGRoboMarketing.com / "Automate. Grow. Repeat"
    █ Office: (800) 959-0182 / A KEAP Certified Developer (KCD)

  21. #21
    Servers are pretty cheap now and I believe if we want to, we could always own the server and colo but I chose dedicated servers over colo for practical reasons.

    I am not from the US and if I colo in a datacenter in the US, I would need to be physically near the datacenter to go in and do hardware replacement and all that. Also there is the issue of hardware commitment. I cannot find a good datacenter in my country to Colo in.

    When I get dedicated servers, I know that I do not need to worry about hardware replacement because it becomes their responsibility. It frees me from having to worry about ailing hardware. I could replace servers every few years and even move datacenter without worrying about the hardware.

    No colo is not better than dedicated server hosting. Each has its advantage and you just need to weigh out the cost benefits and pick the one which suits your needs.

    By the way, I like Celeron and they suit what I need. I don't offer web hosting services and I host my own sites and the Celeron is more than powerful for my needs. With it, I hardly see CPU resources going close to 10%.

    I would think that if The Planet like any big organization would have their ups and downs. I know it is unfortunate that some people faced issues with them, some started on the wrong foot and probably misinterpreted what they provide.

    I think like religion, it all boils down to one's personal experience which counts. I have been treated kindly in the last 2 years that I've been with them and still treated that same way and I don't see any reasons to move.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Posts
    1,210
    Originally posted by RazorBlue - Dan
    Uhmm unless i'm mistaken this is a web hosting forum, where people discuss web hosting
    Thanks for clearing that up for me, Dan.

    That's what it's all about.
    WHT used to be about considerably more than it is now. These days you can't through a full page of topics without tripping over half a dozen people whining about how badly so-and-so host sucks/ruined their life/kicked their dog/etc.... It's become clutter, and frankly, I think many people are beyond the point of caring anymore. All i'm suggesting is that the complaints get their own forum, just as the incessant play-by-play outage reports finally got their own.

    -B

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Posts
    3,374
    Originally posted by mp3LM
    2) J-P: While I hate kiddie-hosts (who buy WHM, WHM Auto-Pilot, and cPanel and put up a for sale sign), your allegations are absolutely abserd. You're bashing ev1 and TP/SM for the simple fact that kiddie-hosts are attracted to them. This is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.
    Sometimes, just sometimes...someone gets a $99/month server w/ a celeron because it makes sense for them. Some people who know what they're doing when they sell hosting may (if money dictates so) get a $99/month server w/ a celeron and start selling only to later upgrade or purchase another server before it becomes overloaded. FYI, there is nothing wrong with this.
    agree. Papa John started his pizza chain with nothing but borrow money from his father to buy a second hand pizza oven and a little retail space.

    everyone started from somewhere. not all of us can colo or build a DC. if it mean for a kiddies to use cheap server to screw other, that's just the side effect. a lot more legit companies/people started with cheap server and work their way up to colo, build a DC...etc.

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Posts
    1,053
    Its not like all dedicated servers are cheap.

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Oklahoma
    Posts
    825
    Peoples ignorance never seizes to amaze me? What part of what I explained do you not understand? I submitted my cancellation request well in advanced before my bill was due. ThePlanet responded, trying to salvage me as a client, which I refused, not once, but twice and then still got billed for services I did not use.

    I am positive the cancellation was noted and received by their billing/accounting department because they responded!
    Devon Dunham (Owner, Sharpnet/DDoS Host)
    Advanced DDoS Mitigation and Server Management Solutions

    Protecting your online infrastructure.

    Est. 1998.

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