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  1. #1

    Fastest Hosting, but not dedicated...yet...need 24/7 cust service

    Hi,

    I have been having very bad luck with hosting services. I have now used Dreamhost and Powerstorm, because my developer recommended it. Well, from my perspective, these services are sub standard customer service wise. Anyone who doesn't give you thier phone number is a non contender.

    My site has a lot of data. I have lots of images and am doing something new with Google maps that will have layers of places in different catagories. Bottom line my pages are heavy and I want something fast. I also want 24/7 customer service.

    I also have video, but that is hosted by Brightcove.

    I need a fast server, but I can't afford a dedicated one until I get some real traffic on the site.

    Any suggestions?

  2. #2
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    Try the offers forums, although it's hard to find top quality hosting, it's mostly budget.

    One thing, why is phone support so important, many hosts don't offer it, but still have excellent ticket/else support. Sometimes hosts don't offer it because it's actually easier with tickets, because the information is down on hard copy, so it's there for reference, unlike phone.
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  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by zeninfinity View Post
    Anyone who doesn't give you thier phone number is a non contender.
    I disagree, there are tons of hosts here that provide excellent service without a phone number. Remember, just because there's a # listed, doesn't mean the company actually picks up their phone -- that's been the situation with many hosting firms.

    I wish you the best of luck with your search. Be sure to do research on any hosting company you choose.
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  4. #4

    Phone Numbers

    They would be non contenders with me. IM is the minumum I would require.

    I just waited way too long to hear back from Dreamhost about a problem that coud have been addressed in 5 minutes. I ahd challenges over the weekend too. Response time 12 hours.

    While the folks over at Dreamhost seem nice and maybe even their hosting is good; I don't know can't get it to work ; )

    But let's assume it's great. WHen something goes down you need quick response time. So basically whne you need customer service, you need it right away. Waiting for someone to return an email is weak at best, in this day and age.

    So no one has any suggestions?

  5. #5
    Is that because you are a host.... and you refuse to give out a phone contact number? Or do you give out a number, and are just defending those hosts that do not?

    I would never do business with a host that will not provide a phone number. Period. If it hits the fan at 2 am, I want somebody awake and out of bed working on the issue.... rather than getting a good nights sleep for school in the morning.

    Hosting is a business, not a hobby.


    Quote Originally Posted by RSNET-John View Post
    I disagree, there are tons of hosts here that provide excellent service without a phone number. Remember, just because there's a # listed, doesn't mean the company actually picks up their phone -- that's been the situation with many hosting firms.

    I wish you the best of luck with your search. Be sure to do research on any hosting company you choose.
    Don't you walk thru my words
    You got to show some respect
    Don't you walk thru my words
    'Cause you ain't heard me out yet

  6. #6

    Fair Dinkum - Thank you!

    Finally, someone who tells it like it is!

    Yes, my site is not a hobby and nor do I expect service from someone who is hosting "for a little extra $$".

    Obviously I do not want to overspend, but am willing to pay the price for a superior server and customer service.

    C'mon, there has to be some suggestions out there?

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    space requirements ...bandwidth requirements ....Budget??

  8. #8
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    Email is not necessarily slow and there are companies that respond within minutes or at the very least a few hours for non-urgent issues (what you're experiencing at Dreamhost with 12 hours likely wouldn't occur at a more quality oriented company).

    I would never do business with a host that will not provide a phone number. Period. If it hits the fan at 2 am, I want somebody awake and out of bed working on the issue.... rather than getting a good nights sleep for school in the morning.
    The fact that you've been given a phone number is no guarantee that it'll be answered at 2 am.

    A serious company would ideally be aware of the issue already and working on it. There should be no need for the customer to alert the company, and if you do have a very isolated issue where you do in fact need to "grab" the host's attention, that's where 24x7 support should come in. A quality hosting company that advertises 24x7 support shouldn't take long to answer an email, regardless of the time it's sent.

    A phone number doesn't guarantee better service; you should be looking for a serious company with true 24x7 support and effective monitoring.

  9. #9
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    Bottom line my pages are heavy and I want something fast.
    Do you mean in size? or resources? how much space and bandwidth are you actually using in your DreamHost account?
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  10. #10
    Hi Chris, thanks for asking!

    I am not a developer or programmer.....just a lowly "client". ; )

    So please pardon my limited grasp of terminolgy.

    The site is not up yet...building. It was orignally a very tricked out Wordpress site. But we went os crazt with features that we decided to go with Joomla.

    At the start there will be 3 blogs, updated bi weekly.
    400 10 megapixel pictures - that of course will be rescalled
    1500 listings of businesses, wineries, restaurants etc.
    A interactive google map that is very heavy
    400 + videos...but that willbe hosted on Brightcove, so I think it is a non issue.

    I wisjh I could tell you more. I could start at $50 - 70 a month. But would like a place that offers dedicated servers for the future.

  11. #11
    From my developer to Dreamhost: My memory problem still persists. I installed custom php.ini file. Was trying different memory_limit values, up to 256. Some pictures are resized successfully but some not. I enhanced images resize script so it sets memory_limit automatically depending on images file size, so i think images size is not the reason.
    After moving to php5 i found that exception is thrown when imagecreatefromjpeg is called.
    Don't know what to do next.
    Have to mention that the same script is working without any problems on our other hosting server..

    Dreamhost response: You are on a shared hosting server, you have to share the resources;
    consuming 256mb of ram is unacceptable in this kind of environment. I
    have noticed 45 instances in the systemcrash logs where your user
    "sonomauncorked" has overstepped their resources because of this script.
    If there is no way around this then you may have to look into our private
    server offering:

    It's probably us. Any ideas what the problem is? Still, I have heard a lot of good things about Dreamhost..but not being able to get an instant response in my time of need is unacceptable.

    Thank god my site isn't officially up! Because this would be a major disaster!

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by zeninfinity View Post
    I just waited way too long to hear back from Dreamhost about a problem that coud have been addressed in 5 minutes. I ahd challenges over the weekend too. Response time 12 hours.
    Quote Originally Posted by Fair Dinkum View Post
    I would never do business with a host that will not provide a phone number. Period. If it hits the fan at 2 am, I want somebody awake and out of bed working on the issue.... rather than getting a good nights sleep for school in the morning.
    You're both missing John's point. You want good service, sure, but that doesn't necessarily correlate with a published phone number. If the host is good they'll respond to an emergency ticket within 5 minutes, and fix the problem within that time also if it's at all possible. If the host is bad, when you phone them at 2am it will ring out or go to message service - and you can still wait 12 hours!
    Chris

    "Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them." - Laurence J. Peter

  13. #13
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    I would Recommend a Semi-Dedicated or Virtual private server at the very least......

    I'm with Medialayer currently and the service is great maybe contact them and see what they can do... kayer0 is a good guy

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by layer0 View Post
    Email is not necessarily slow and there are companies that respond within minutes or at the very least a few hours for non-urgent issues (what you're experiencing at Dreamhost with 12 hours likely wouldn't occur at a more quality oriented company).


    The fact that you've been given a phone number is no guarantee that it'll be answered at 2 am.

    A serious company would ideally be aware of the issue already and working on it. There should be no need for the customer to alert the company, and if you do have a very isolated issue where you do in fact need to "grab" the host's attention, that's where 24x7 support should come in. A quality hosting company that advertises 24x7 support shouldn't take long to answer an email, regardless of the time it's sent.

    A phone number doesn't guarantee better service; you should be looking for a serious company with true 24x7 support and effective monitoring.
    I couldn't have said it better myself.
    ReliableSite.Net LLC - Offering Enterprise Grade Dedicated Servers Since 2006 [New York City metro / Miami, FL / Los Angeles, CA]
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  15. #15

    Agree

    Quote Originally Posted by RSNET-John View Post
    I couldn't have said it better myself.
    I totally see and agree with your point. But....

    a company that does not post a phone number is a bad sign. C'mon, we have all been through it with other goods and services. You have a problem and you want to resolve it by making a phone call. But you can't because nothing is listed. All other options take more time and is perceived as a hassle for the customer. This all in the name of the business not wanting to invest in real support. Sure it works and there are plenty of businesses that run on the "customer avoidance" model. I don't know, I would want to be as close to my customers as possible and exceed their expectations. But , I fear the world we live in is getting less and less customer service oriented and is all about maximizing return.

    From a customers point of view it is an avoidance tactic. I am not sure if I have ever run into the situation that is mentioned above. Not having a phone number tells me that there is not enough man power to answer the phones and the general attitude is that customers can "bug" you on the phone.

    IM is a minium for anyone serious about customer service. Maybe email was acceptable 2 years ago...but things progress and customer expectations rise.
    Last edited by zeninfinity; 12-10-2007 at 09:07 PM.

  16. #16
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    What would you rather have (both isn't an option):

    1). a tech answering the phone; wasting his time, not fixing the issue
    2). a a tech fixing the problem, and updating on announcements feed as he progresses, which is publicly viewable (or email updates to all customers etc)
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  17. #17
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    the company im currently with has outstanding ticketsupport...

    so no i dont agree with you on any count

    and check my previous post as i gave advice in it

  18. #18
    try go to the offer forum!there you can find the host that you need!you site has video files ,i think you'll need large space!mybe you need the Dedicated Hosting to host your site!

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by zeninfinity View Post
    I totally see and agree with your point. But....

    a company that does not post a phone number is a bad sign. C'mon, we have all been through it with other goods and services. You have a problem and you want to resolve it by making a phone call. But you can't because nothing is listed. All other options take more time and is perceived as a hassle for the customer. This all in the name of the business not wanting to invest in real support. Sure it works and there are plenty of businesses that run on the "customer avoidance" model. I don't know, I would want to be as close to my customers as possible and exceed their expectations. But , I fear the world we live in is getting less and less customer service oriented and is all about maximizing return.

    From a customers point of view it is an avoidance tactic. I am not sure if I have ever run into the situation that is mentioned above. Not having a phone number tells me that there is not enough man power to answer the phones and the general attitude is that customers can "bug" you on the phone.

    IM is a minium for anyone serious about customer service. Maybe email was acceptable 2 years ago...but things progress and customer expectations rise.
    There are companies that will respond to tickets in a matter of minutes. Thus, by your logic they are running on the 'customer avoidance model' simply because they don't offer phone support?

    Not to mention, email-based support is simply much more efficient. Not only does it allow employees to multi-task but when you are involved in a technical discussion where you need to provide information about a problem (i.e. logs, error output) it becomes just that much easier for both parties. Let's take a look at the issue you're having right now with Dreamhost for instance. Do you think your issue is going to be resolved faster if you call them and tell them that you're having trouble with generating thumbnails using PHP and then the representative asks you to provide them with specific error output, etc. steps to replicate the problem (with the URLs, which could be fairly long and tough to interpret over the phone - adding even more delay) OR is it going to be faster if you spend the <10 minutes, document all the steps to replicate the problem and provide any relevant information in an email?

    What this means is that if a provider is able to offer quick email support, your problems are resolved faster due to the increase in efficiency and the provider also has lower operating costs.

    With regards to 'not having enough man power', do you think it's economical to hire additional staff with the primary purpose of answering phone calls when the money could be invested towards other things or the staff could be assigned other work (such as improving the product in general, perhaps)?
    Last edited by layer0; 12-10-2007 at 10:06 PM.

  20. #20
    Phone support is overhead. I'm not sure you understand that. You have to have techs answer it real time, frequently listening and noting what the customer is saying (before it is properly codified into coherent thought, e.g. typing out an email), and then try to resolve the issue. Anyone who has ever had experience in the customer service field will tell you that it's a hugely inefficient system.

    If your server is down, and you're with a reputable, quality-oriented company, chances are, their monitoring (usually at 1 minute intervals) will already have alerted them to the issue and they're already working to fix it. As mentioned, just because a company publishes a phone support number does not mean that they are quality and support oriented. Most of the massive oversellers have published phone numbers, does that mean their support is top notch?

  21. #21

    Whoa!

    Guys, sorry to have ruffled any feathers here. I basically posted on the wrong forum and then got a discussion about customer service.

    First off, I am obviously not in the industry and therefore am totally clueless of it's challenges. I am simply speaking from a potential customers perspective. I would consider myself a very small company that wants high end service, both technically and customer service wise. I am totally willing to pay more for it!

    So everything said here is from that perspective. This is what "I" want. This is from "my" perspective. This is indeed "my" level of expectations.

    I am not thinking about the challenges a hosting company faces. I am a clueless consumer that has expectations. I want fast everything. ; ) And I was just wondering if anyone out there knew of a place that could that.

  22. #22
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    a company that does not post a phone number is a bad sign.
    I do prefer for a company to have a phone number listed. I find it is a courtesy thing, a business thing. It doesn't have to be used for support purposes though and the phone number does not guarantee anything.

    IM is a minium for anyone serious about customer service.
    Again, this doesn't ensure you'll get proper service, or even a response. When things go seriously bad, they may be overwhelmed or stay disconnected on purpose. Plenty of IM/live chat/phone systems are manned by level 1 staff, that once taken off the beaten path don't know left from right, and you'll find yourself having to contact their level2/3 techs, via tickets/emails. If the tickets system is bad, that's usually when the company is bad.

    In the end the problem is not that you can't possibly find a good host with IM or phone support, it is that you may be unnecessarily limiting your search, and reduce your chances to find that gem you're after.

    EDIT: sorry, I saw your reply after hitting submit.

  23. #23

    Phones aren't the answer ; )

    ldcdc is exactly right, it's a business thing, it's a courtesy thing. I just gave a company $400 for a few years of hosting. I don't deserve to talk to them because it's inconvenient to them? That's ridiculous!

    We're talking common courtesy.

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by zeninfinity View Post
    ldcdc is exactly right, it's a business thing, it's a courtesy thing. I just gave a company $400 for a few years of hosting. I don't deserve to talk to them because it's inconvenient to them? That's ridiculous!

    We're talking common courtesy.
    That's not the point, but judging from your posts, you don't seem to want [try] to understand the point, so I'll leave it at that.

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