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Thread: Any way to reach layeredtech?
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01-06-2008, 06:47 PM #1Junior Guru Wannabe
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Any way to reach layeredtech?
My server has been down for more than 24 hours.
I've asked for an update many, many times, but they stopped responding about 12 hours ago.
I had the same problem a few months ago, guess that makes me the fool.
If anyone can offer some alternative contact info it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
-Eric
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01-06-2008, 06:54 PM #2Web Hosting Master
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All the contacts are on their website > http://www.layeredtech.com/about/contact.php
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01-06-2008, 07:03 PM #3relax, im a professional
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Hi, as a previous LT client the only method they provide to contact them is using the customer portal. We also had our server down for hours on a weekend. We made several attempts to contact them using telephone numbers we dug up but they all went to voicemail. This company is not known for support. We learned ourselves that when our server was down (due to an accidental reclaim) we were at their mercy.
Good luck with finding a new providerJames Paul Woods
Operations Manager
HostKitty Internet Services
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01-06-2008, 07:30 PM #4Web Hosting Master
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Eric,
I am not sure why you are stating this when I see a reply from our staff less then 20 mins ago and you have had numerous updates from our staff throughout the day. The staff are looking into the networking issue with your Virtuzzo server and it is not an issue we see every day so it is taking some time to resolve and awaiting replies from SW-Soft.
Please use our support portal for all requests. We do not provide phone based support or support via WHT.
Regards,
Jeremy
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01-06-2008, 09:07 PM #5Disabled
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01-06-2008, 09:32 PM #6Invented the Internet
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01-06-2008, 09:36 PM #7Disabled
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01-06-2008, 09:45 PM #8Newbie
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Yeap .... We Left Too
We also left because of sup-par and poorly trained customer service reps. In fact, their senior tech support admitted that the techs I dealt with were "not properly trained" on the issue we had. Oh well.
Oops.
--
Anthony
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01-07-2008, 12:00 AM #9relax, im a professional
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When we used to host with LT and submitted reverse dns updates they always came back at us with nslookups proving that the reverse works. However the ns requests showed residential cable modem ip's. Sort of said to me they either had people working from home or something. Not that working from home is a bad thing, it's not, however I wouldn't and haven't seen much from them personally. I think the reason they chose to use only the portal is to appear bigger then they actually are. You never get to see e-mail headers or anything, all you see is a different tech each time that very well could be the same tech using a different name. We noticed trends in our support tickets, they all only appeared to be updated at around the same time each day, which may shine a little light on how they operate. In any event they are un-managed but when you need thing such as rdns issues, have a technical issue with hardware on the server, expect to wait at least 12 hours.
James Paul Woods
Operations Manager
HostKitty Internet Services
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01-07-2008, 12:27 AM #10Web Hosting Master
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Yes the person who does our rDNS happens to be my wife and she works from home for us and takes care of the DNS two times a day in the early morning and late evening. And yes the resolution lookups will show the local resolvers of our cable modem. I really do not see what the problem is with that as it shows the requested changes have already propagated beyond the LT DNS servers and out to the rest the internet. She also uses direct lookups against the LT DNS pools when requested or for larger blocks.
We are by no means a 1 or 2 man shop. We employ over 150 people in the local Dallas Fort Worth area and have 2 data centers manned 24/7 along with our sales staff which is manned pretty much 5/24 or more. We also state in the tickets for 'rDNS' for example that they will be resolved in 24-72 hours or less and I know for a fact the people who do them get them all done in under 48 hours and typically under 24 hours. Please do not assume that all tickets will be acted on instantly and be resolved in a matter of hours. That should not be expected for all types of support issues which do not require immediate resolution on a un-managed host that does not charge for best effort support.
As for the support portal that is used to track tickets and allow us to move them between departments if needed. Also allows us to keep a full audit log of all events of that ticket if it needs to be later reviewed or passed onto another group. None of which you can do easily using simple email as a support method or IM.
Regards,
Jeremy
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01-07-2008, 01:49 AM #11Web Hosting Guru
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You cannot at all rely on email for support. There is too much of a chance that stuff gets caught in spam filters and it is also an extremely disorganized way of trying to keep track of issues. You just cannot do it effectively when you are more than a one man show. By keeping all support within a real helpdesk system, you greatly enhance productivity and coordination between departments and support people. Phone support is even worse. Nothing is more unproductive than having a tech hanging on the phone for 20 minutes geting a detailed explanation and jotting down numbers and URLs when he could be working on something while the customer is writing all that up in a ticket. It is also a very poor way of keeping track of things. So really, a helpdesk/CRM system is the only feasible way to go in a more than one person organization.
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01-07-2008, 02:10 AM #12Too smart for her own good.
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01-07-2008, 02:20 AM #13Too smart for her own good.
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As unhappy as I am with LT, I have to say, I don't think this is a fair or even valid point. Who cares if the lookups come from a residential IP?
... Just about every host on the planet uses work-from-home techs for at least some of their operations.
... Every host on the planet has managers who will diagnose stuff at home during off hours.
... Did you miss the week-long feature pieces on Good Morning America about finding solid jobs online that are work-from-home, via the internet?
Working from home doesn't have the stigma it had even 2 or 3 years ago. Working from home is now a norm that companies large and small use every day, as a matter of course. Telecommuting is nothing special anymore. Some of the finest work done in America today, this very day!, was done by people toiling away in their home office (or in their La-Z-Boy with their laptop). There is no shame, nor is there any need to suggest lesser quality, just because a work-at-homer might be in the mix.
Jeremy, IMO there is no need to explain that your wife does the rDNS and she works from home. Good for her, I say!! -- but it's nobody's business. It is sufficient to say you "use remote techs," end of story.
Bailey
James, I can assure you, you clearly have no idea how big they actually are, nor the actual size of their staff. They have quite a few staff members, and yes, they are different people. I know this because I have emailed with a number of them privately outside of their company over the past couple of years. They all had vastly different private email addresses and very much unique home IPs.
Your comments about their business size and staffing are uninformed, incorrect, and out of line.
Bailey
Ugh, amen to that.
So many people seem to want phone support... we just won't go there... people call and give cagey trouble reports, leave out 80% of the information, trying to get the info you need is like pulling teeth. Then they sit on the phone expecting an immediate answer, when it takes time to check all the possibilities from square one. Now the tech is agitated and feeling "under the gun" because he has a client in his ear who wants an immediate answer to a totally unknown problem. ??? It is stressful for the tech, which is also going to cause the tech to make mistakes, which is going to slow him down.
Ticket support forces the client to actually map out their problem step-wise, which for some reason people seem to be able to do much better in writing than they can verbally.
Aside from the fact, the ticket does not interrupt the tech as he is working on another client's issue, unlike the phone. When the tech is interrupted, you're adding at least another 20 minutes to resolution time for the other client! Once again we are creating slower technical support.
And, it's a whole lot easier and faster to copy/paste the file names and IP addresses, in the course of doing tech work, than it is to verbally transcribe them from over the phone and then type them in... assuming the client spelled them all out right (and they often do not)...
My conclusion: If you want faster and better-quality support, use a ticketing system.
Of course, this assumes that you are with a host that is putting forth a 100% effort 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Not even the best helpdesk in the world can do the customer support. You still need competent, compassionate people for that. No computer or helpdesk can do it for you. Without great people, you will still have sucky support.
(Sucky support on a shiny, fancy helpdesk ... but sucky support nonetheless. )
BaileyLast edited by anon-e-mouse; 01-08-2008 at 05:13 AM. Reason: merged posts
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01-08-2008, 02:54 AM #14Web Hosting Master
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I'm pretty concerned with how LayeredTech views their business relationship with their customers... its pretty much a no guarantee, their business comes first, wait until it's a good time for us ole' boy attitude that I've experienced thus far and that's not something I'm willing to put up with.
Not to mention the brick wall that I've run into with their Sales Representatives when asking for simple things, like VPS CP licensing fees, which I still haven't received via e-mail... even though I was told it would be e-mailed on Thursday of last week... are they just trying to end all new business before it starts?
They will need to get their act together or they'll go the way of the tumbling weeds with me. Their needs to be a systematic attitude change with an emphasis on supporting your most valuable assets (those pesky little customers that pay you money) over there, starting at the top and funneling down. Where are the Robert Marsh's of the industry any more?Last edited by Jay H; 01-08-2008 at 02:59 AM.
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01-08-2008, 03:23 AM #15Retired Moderator
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LT like many other of the larger companies on this board have many satisfied customers. They do make mistakes and it would appear in this case that the OP wasn't exactly accurate about lack of responses.
There is no question that they could improve but who among us can't?CloudNexus Technology Services
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01-08-2008, 03:36 AM #16Web Hosting Master
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LT is responsive in the sense that they'll update your ticket quickly every time you submit one, but it's the actionable requests (you know, those darn tickets that make you accountable and have to work for the money you receive monthly from a customer) that have concerned me.
We're not talking out of this world requests - a total of three requests to purchase service and then another request asking them to justify why it's taking them 5 days to setup a standard Virtuozzo server. Two of those sales tickets were deleted before they attempted to answer them (which their live tech stated was "ridiculous" and apologized for - I'd tend to agree) and another sales ticket was never followed up on, by the same tech on live chat... They haven't managed to try and earn my business, yet I gave them some anyways... at which point I get smoke and mirrors when it comes to a rather simple server setup that keeps growing in setup time every time the wind blows outside.
They can't improve without feedback, voiced opinions of concern and the occasional rant post on WHT... now can they?* GeekStorage.com - Offering awesome website hosting for over 13 years!
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01-08-2008, 06:04 AM #17Too smart for her own good.
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Jay, that attitude and sense of "urgency" (ha ha) has been there for a year-plus now, I've pointed it out many times on this board as well as in tickets... you are preaching to deaf ears. My advice is to get the hell out now, early, before you are invested and your clients' data is at risk. It's not going to get any better. What you are seeing is the way things are done.
Kudos to you for noticing the above ... I am finding that most people just don't get it ... and they don't recognize how these are the red flags to much bigger, systemic problems that degrade performance at every layer of service.
BaileyLet's Connect on Twitter! @thatsmsgeek2u || Fighting mediocrity one thread at a time.
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01-08-2008, 09:20 AM #18ex. *** *****
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01-08-2008, 01:37 PM #19Web Hosting Master
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I'd most certainly take that under advisement if I thought it would do any good. If WHT didn't contain provider feedback (basically reviews) than it wouldn't be the invaluable resource that it currently is.
Perhaps I've been doing this long enough to know which avenues of communication to use.* GeekStorage.com - Offering awesome website hosting for over 13 years!
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01-08-2008, 01:39 PM #20Invented the Internet
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01-08-2008, 02:47 PM #21Web Hosting Master
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Tina,
Your posts have not been deleted they are still viewable by the public and you where anything but respectful to our staff via our forums or ticket systems. As for anyone else with comments or concerns please contact us directly at our sales @layeredtech.com or feel free to post in our forums.
Regards,
Jeremy
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01-08-2008, 02:56 PM #22Invented the Internet
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Jeremy,
Your continued outright lies about our experience with LT is getting old. Honestly, I've had bad experiences with other companies in the past - but I've never dealt with any company that outright lies and covers things up. Its shameful. Yes, my posts were deleted and I was banned - and my posts were removed.
I've been a member @ WHT for many, many years and although I am very opinionated, which may rub some people the wrong way, I can't remember ever having a post removed or had problems with anyone thinking I was being disrespectful. You, on the other hand, have been accused by others (not just me) @ WHT of being dishonest.
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01-08-2008, 03:03 PM #23Web Hosting Master
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Again your posts have not been removed and your account is not 'banned'. Do you see a 'banned' message when you visit our forums? No that is because your account is set to 'Guest'. You have also been spinning your horror stories with our company now for over 2 years and every time you post them they get more skewed and change up to make us look like the evil DC that steals babies and feeds them to dingo's.
Even know we tried to work with you in the past and where hung up by your staff when trying to reach you by phone. Where called everything under the sun by you and your staff on here and our forums and ticket system and you continue to bash us every chance you get. Why would we want to work with someone that only way of getting things done is to yell, shout, scream and try to shame people into doing things there way?
Regards,
Jeremy
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01-08-2008, 03:07 PM #24Invented the Internet
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You know what's hilarious? You claim you were hung up on by our staff. We never had an office phone that 'staff' had access to.
We don't do any technical support via phone and our 'staff' has no phone contact with anyone. The only number you ever had was my cell phone number and possibly my personal office phone...in my home, in a room that only I use. Jeremy, you're a liar. Liar, liar, liar. Stop while you still have some dignity.
I never said that ALL of my posts were deleted. Only the ones that asked for some real answers, instead of this "blaming the customer" routine that you think you do so well. I was banned from accessing your forums via IP block. When I changed IPs, I could access it again, until I logged into my forum account and posted again - then that IP was blocked. Rinse and repeat 4 times.
--Tina||| 99.999% Uptime SLA!!!
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01-08-2008, 03:12 PM #25Web Hosting Master
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So the number that was provided by you and your staff via our ticket system during the issue with the bad chassis and I personally called and was hung up on by your admin never existed?
And yes I did ban your IP one day because you where doing nothing but arguing with other clients on our forums and internal staff. Why should I not temporarily ban an abusive account from our site? Did I remove the posts or the thread? No.
I am done with this. You keep spreading your FUD and lies on here and have fun with it as this is going no where.
Regards,
Jeremy