My web host is www.theplanet.com. They bought Everyone’s Internet, which bought my previous host provider, RackSpace. They were awesome. Now they suck.
Well, they don’t completely suck. The internet service is great, really. The speed, the uptime, the reliability. But they really piss me off with their billing & customer service policies. About once a year, I miss a payment on my credit card or go over the limit. I’m irresponsible that way. And when the bill is missed, my card declines; ThePlanet sends me a warning via email; 3-5 days later they send a disconnect email and turn off my servers. If I miss the warning in my flood of emails, I lose. If I don’t check my email (and lately I don’t), I lose. I don’t find out until a customer calls to ask if there’s a problem with the server.
Now, I wouldn’t have too much of a problem with this normally. That’s the price I pay for having ADD. I’m used to it. But their customer service is sooo bad and sooo archaic. I guess they must deal with a lot of deadbeats on a daily basis.
So I’ve been with this host for about 8 years now at about $5k per year. $40 grand. Missed my billing on Wednesday; lost my service on Monday. Fixed my billing. Answered the trouble ticket. Waited for the server to come back. It didn’t. Called on the phone to see when things would be copacetic again. “Oh, did you want us to go ahead and bill this card ending in 0542?” What a stupid question. “Be advised there will be a $50 reconnect charge.”
Enough of this shit. “How much is the ‘call me before you turn off my service’ charge?”
[Updated]: Current lookers:
www.LimestoneNetworks.com
www.coreNetworks.net
www.iWeb.com
www.serverBeach.com — I want to like them, but they’re not price-competitive
www.leapFrog.com — Nice monitoring, but +$50/month
[Updated]: Went with Limestone. Great deal, more space, more server, more memory, etc. Their billing seems better than ThePlanet’s. But it turns out they don’t take my Amex. They do take PayPal, though. And they’ll let me pay in advance. But they have the same quick-cutoff policy that everyone else seems to have. Must be a lot of scammers out there.
Hi Phil,
I’m sorry that it sounds like we will be losing you as a customer. I typically follow up with issues like this that could use a little escalation to resolve, but it’s clear that you are unhappy with the situation even after working extensively with the accounting department. With a history dating back to the days of RackShack and EV1Servers, it’s unfortunate that these recurring billing problems have turned an otherwise great experience into such a negative one.
Understanding that it’s relatively common to keep server bills on the back burner (as they are kind of “out of sight, out of mind”), what would be a better way to approach these kinds of situations? In the past, we’ve made exceptions, waived fees and worked to resolve these kinds of issues as fairly as possible on all sides, so the fact that the concessions weren’t made in this case compounds the frustration, I’m sure.
Was any of the correspondence you received inconsistent with our Terms of Service? I can see where you’re coming from, and I’m also looking at the flip-side of the coin where our reps act in accordance with the terms of service, and it’s surprising to you at best and enraging at worst.
If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know. My email address is khazard AT theplanet.com
Best regards,
-Kevin