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Thread: VPSland.com

  1. #1
    Hello,
    I've been with VPS Land for 6 months now and even tough their service was ok (I had no downtimes during this period), their support is total crap.
    From the beggining I asked them if I could choose to have Ubuntu Server 8.04 installed and if they are running XEN (in the hopes that I could install my own, individual, kernel)
    The answer was YES to all my questions (running XEN and choosing ubuntu 8.04).
    Upon receiving their answer, I ordered their XL-384 plan, from their XL series (http://vpsland.com/xlseries.html). When going trough their OS selection list, ofcourse that Ubuntu 8.04 wasn't present. I just ignored it for the moment, thinking that it's not such a big deal and I will manually upgrade to 8.04 using aptitude.
    After the VPS was ready, I went trough a hell upgrading manually the OS version because of their XEN setup didn't really work with /lib/tls enabled, something they weren't able to help me with (not sure if it was their job to do that, anyway).
    Now, everything was ok untill a few days ago, when out of the blue my VPS was shut down because the GRACE period expired.
    My boss was on vacation and he didn't really check his email too much during the holidays. Apparently the VPS worked untill 26-27th of December without problems, even if the grace period expired on 15. We didn't get the email warning us about the payment being late, we only got the email with the grace period being expired that we only saw after the VPS was shut down.
    I say OK, no biggie, we'll just pay the guys and get our VPS back online with the data.
    I mail them back, asking what happened and how do we get our VPS back, I get bounced around trough support and billing, then I get back this email:
    Your VPS (xxx) subscription grace period has expired on 14-Dec-2008. The grace period is a period of time that starts after a service subscription expires, you are granted a grace period to prolong your subscription. Since the grace period has expired, your subscription has been deleted.
    To have VPS you need to place a new order. Once your new order is processed, you will receive a blank new VPS with new IP address.
    Wish you very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
    I tought I didn't see well, BLANK VPS?
    I asked them _3_ times then if I was going to retrieve my data back, the same scripted answer was given, untill I finally received confirmation that I wouldn't get my data back, (Hello support in India!) and that I would have to get a new blank VPS.
    So how the **** do you think I will get back at your company if you can't even get my data back?
    Needless to say that my main email is down these days and my websites and online store just went *poof*.
    So, my advice, just stay away from them. They might have decent prices, but it's not worth it.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Posts
    1,071
    Sounds like you were tolerant and gave them a chance to correct the issue. I suppose the problem is that they removed everything at once, not allowing any points of return on the VPS?

  3. #3
    Yup, that is the issue.
    I can assume the blame because we simply forgot to pay and most of us (including my boss) were on vacation - you know, xmas and stuff like that... But deleting the data straight away just sounds stupid.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    In your server
    Posts
    2,945
    Yup, that is the issue.
    I can assume the blame because we simply forgot to pay and most of us (including my boss) were on vacation - you know, xmas and stuff like that... But deleting the data straight away just sounds stupid.
    another happy customer with VPSland, have posted many times here of problems that i have had with them, hope more people will see this thread

  5. #5
    You should always know when your bills are due, as you can't really rely on the company sometimes; an example of this would be in real life, if you do not receive your phone bill due to a mail mixup, you'll have your phone disconnected, unless you go pay.
    I hope they'll fix the mail warnings, but you should be a bit more careful to make offsite backups in the future, no matter what hosting company you choose.

  6. #6
    Cristi: from what I know, personal experience, the phone company bothers calling me before they disconnect my phone. Also, if they disconnect my phone, I am able to get my phone number back after I pay.
    The payment was recurring, but the Visa used for the payment was out of funds during that period.

  7. #7
    That's crazy that your data was deleted immediately after the grace period. I used to offer HSPComplete/Virtuozzo VPS's and I know all about the auto-grace-period emails, but it would never delete anyone's data (and because of a bug SW-Soft never fixed, sometimes people who never paid would just get a free VPS
    I love it how obvious the "India tech-support" is. Outsourced support drives me crazy.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Albany, NY
    Posts
    3,956
    Znuff,
    Sorry to see you lose your data like that. But didn't you say that your VPS was online until the 26th-27th even though the grace period expired on the 15th? So, according to that, your VPS was severely overdue. What was the renewal date of your service with them? I would assume it was before the 15th even, right?
    If that is the case, I would have to say that your boss is at fault here. It's one thing if your account was maybe a day or 2 overdue and they completely terminated it, but it sounds like it was overdue by more than a week.
    Did you or your boss have backups of your data from that VPS that you can just use to recreate the accounts?

  9. #9
    ayksolutions: I'm not saying that we don't have any blame on this, but it doesn't sound right to terminate AND delete all the data right away.
    The renewal date was around 6~9th of the month (can't remember exactly), and the grace period was 'till 15. I didn't realise we were overdue and that the payment didn't go trough, same for my boss.
    We only realised something happened on around 27th when the website was shutdown and received a call from a customer.
    At first we tought there was a short downtime and just waited untill 28th, I tried to log in the control panel for the vps and it worked. My boss sent an email the next morning, but he never got a reply (the vps was the master dns server... so *poof* no MX pointer for that domain), after I mailed them I got the answer I posted above.
    Like I said, I repeat: I don't blame them for shutting down the services, it's a normal thing to do when customer doesn't pay, but it's stupid to delete the data straight away.
    What if the customer just can't answer in that period?
    And about the backups... I just hope the guy who designed and manages the websites has backups, if not...

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Athens, Greece
    Posts
    209
    According to the story that you have shared with us, it looks like both sides have almost mutual responsibility on this case.
    Client's responsibilities:
    Should knew his expiration date and pay on time
    Should backup data off-site (whoever manages the server, not just the designer)
    Provider's responsibilities:
    Should e-mail client before suspension (unless you missed the email somehow)
    Should suspend server (maybe earlier, no need to wait 12 days) and give you at least 1-2 days before termination, not suspend & terminate at once
    It would be interesting of course to hear provider's side story as well.
    PS: The real world example of VPS and phone bill doesn't really match. Even if the phone company gives you the same phone number that would be like giving you a blank vps with the same IPs. I don't see any good similarity for the "data" part.

  11. #11
    psy: unless they need to give you a new SIM card, I guess?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Atlanta, Jawja
    Posts
    3,074
    Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the default behavior of Parallels Business Automation to invoice X days advance and grace a system for X days after a bill is due, then suspend (not delete) a system after the grace period is up?
    The only way a VPS gets deleted is if someone manually works through the termination queue to physically destroy a VPS (It's a safeguard that's built into PBA).
    I do agree that both parties share the blame equally.

  13. #13
    ejoker Guest
    From my knowledge of owning a company, I leave the VPS suspended till 7days and thereafter i delete. I just feel sorry for you and good luck looking for a new provider.

  14. #14
    ejoker: but I bet by suspention you mean shut down?

  15. #15
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Toronto, Canada
    Posts
    5,105
    VPSland is not to blame on this. I am not following why people are saying they are.
    The OP's boss has a service that expires somewhere between the 6-9th of December. The grace period is until the 15th. The 26 or 27th almost a full month from the due date they re turned off finally and the vps destroyed.
    Why is that strange?
    There is no requirement for a grace period, they gave you one. The card was obviously repeatedly tried and failed to make the payment. So at this point you are just on a free vps for 20 days right? People are saying that it should be left suspended then destroyed but they did better than that, they gave a grace period with the server online for the customer to pay for 20 days. Your way would have had it down for 7 days then deleted. In my opinion VPSLand did nothing wrong and are being slammed for actually continuing to provide service without payment.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    New Jersey
    Posts
    851
    I completely agree with Coolraul. It seems like they are blamed for giving 20days of free service.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Atlanta, Jawja
    Posts
    3,074
    Actually, I read it as the invoice bill due date is the 15th. Customers get an invoice notification between the 6th and 9th about their bill being due on the 15th.
    Parallels Business Automation (by default) gives people a 10 day window (after their bill is due date) to pay the invoice. After that time, PBA then auto suspends the system, putting it into "Expired" status.
    The only way that a VPS gets deleted is if someone logs into PBA and physically deletes it from the Expired or Terminating queue.
    I'm only slightly pointing my finger at the VPS provider for being a bit quick on the deletion process (as a responsible provider, it would make sense to leave a VPS suspended for 7-10 days after it was initially suspended) and THEN delete on/around Jan 5th if someone hasn't contacted the provider.
    Yes, the customer should have paid. Even they have said "Yes, we know we messed up" on this thread a couple times.
    The provider and the customer share culpability equally in this situation, in my (not so) humble opinion.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Albany, NY
    Posts
    3,956
    Raul said it exactly right. That's what I was hinting at with my post. Perhaps the title of this thread needs to be changed as VPSland is not at fault here.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    519
    I agree that the title of the thread should be changed. I visited this thread expecting to see negative comments about the provider.
    Indeed there are negative comments, and if you do not continue to read then a person will walk away thinking the company is bad, when indeed it appears that while they may have been quick to delete files, they definately gave the OP and his boss ample time to pay their bills, while still allowing them to be online.
    just my opinion....

  20. #20
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Toronto, Canada
    Posts
    5,105
    Actually, I read it as the invoice bill due date is the 15th. Customers get an invoice notification between the 6th and 9th about their bill being due on the 15th.
    Parallels Business Automation (by default) gives people a 10 day window (after their bill is due date) to pay the invoice. After that time, PBA then auto suspends the system, putting it into "Expired" status.
    The only way that a VPS gets deleted is if someone logs into PBA and physically deletes it from the Expired or Terminating queue.
    I'm only slightly pointing my finger at the VPS provider for being a bit quick on the deletion process (as a responsible provider, it would make sense to leave a VPS suspended for 7-10 days after it was initially suspended) and THEN delete on/around Jan 5th if someone hasn't contacted the provider.
    Yes, the customer should have paid. Even they have said "Yes, we know we messed up" on this thread a couple times.
    The provider and the customer share culpability equally in this situation, in my (not so) humble opinion.
    Ah I get what you mean. Because the OP is not sure about the times, I assumed one way and you assumed the other. I still think it unfair to blame the provider at all though

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Posts
    61
    in my opinion it is not VPSLand fault , why should they keep your data when you have not paid them for 20 days !? I dont think they are a free hosting provider !

  22. #22
    I agree with Coolraul here.
    OP neglected his VPS, by not paying it on time, and by not making backups. It's not the provider's job to figure out when clients are on vacation and mold the dead lines accordingly, nor to keep their data indefinitely without any assurance of payment.
    Also the title of this thread is rather inflammatory given the circumstances.

  23. #23
    Coolraul: I would have appreciated if they'd just shut down the VPS and then delete after 7 days or whatever. Not having access to my boss email, I didn't really knew something was wrong. If I would have had the VPS shut down when there was something wrong with the payment, I could have acted to do something about it and I would still have service with them.
    To have a simple analogy, it's like the phone company shut down my phone at 12:00 and at 13:00 they already give my number to someone else with a new subscription...

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Taiwan
    Posts
    1,103
    nothing wrong with VPSLand, they already kept OP data within 10++ days after grace periode. ITS 10++ DAYS not 1-3 days
    But I think VPSLand should shutdown OP VPS(without delete data) on 15th at let the data there in 7days or so instead of let OP use it until 26-27 dec.
    but still all we read right now is just one side review. I hopes to see VPSLand respond here.

  25. #25
    Coolraul: I would have appreciated if they'd just shut down the VPS and then delete after 7 days or whatever. Not having access to my boss email, I didn't really knew something was wrong. If I would have had the VPS shut down when there was something wrong with the payment, I could have acted to do something about it and I would still have service with them.
    If they shut the site down a few days from now we'd have people just like you complaining their site was shutdown by VPSLand when they could have just emailed the client a warning, that way preventing any business owners from losing traffic/clients/money.
    To have a simple analogy, it's like the phone company shut down my phone at 12:00 and at 13:00 they already give my number to someone else with a new subscription...
    Znuff you can't expect that from a VPS provider.
    A phone company doesn't have any expenses associated with reserving a phone number for a client. VPS providers lose money when the space they are storing you're data in isn't being sold to someone else.

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