Unacceptable 'lack of service'

[rsleventhal]

Hi,

I'm a new dedicated server customer (elite). This past weekend I'd asked for some help with domain/site transfers from my prior platform (Ensim). This post will review the answers, lack thereof and simply unacceptable service from what purports to be a world class service provider.

Let me start by saying that I've been in the hosting business for over a decade, both in my own ISP in south florida where we had our own circuit and servers within a storefront, and more recently utilizing a phenomenal colocation facility, also in south florida. When I decided to go the dedicated server route, I did my homework and, consistently, it showed that hostgator.com was a great place to bring my business.

This, sadly, has not been my personal experience.

The transfers dept staff, while nice enough folks, are not at all familiar with the process of moving sites from Ensim to cPanel. I was given instructions and information which directly contradicts what I was told by the nice and helpful folks at cpanel.net. That was frustrating enough, but with the help of cpanel's staff, I was able to begin the migration process.

The really frustrating experience was, this past weekend, receiving an email timestamped roughly 4a (central time) that the transfer technician had attempted to transfer a domain from my old server to the new, but that he couldn't because my server was down (the new, hostgator.com cpanel server, that is).

I didn't retrieve that email until over 9 hours later. Guess what? The server was *still* down. You'd think that if someone at hostgator.com had noticed that my dedicated server was down, they'd have issued a reboot ticket or at least told someone; the only notification was that post in my trouble ticket.

I read that, checked that I could not log in via ssh or WHM/web, and called. I was told that I could have issued a reboot ticket request. Needless to say that I was not happy with that reply and while the gentleman (he truly is a gentleman and handled this irate client with kidd gloves and tact) did get the server rebooted, I am left with a far less than 'warm and fuzzy' feeling about where I am planning to place my business. After all, if I have to monitor my 'managed dedicated server' 24/7, why should I pay hostgator for this service?

I've asked for an explanation several times, but nobody has replied. I've had it go over 10 hours between my comment on a ticket and any hostgator reply.

All I can say is 'Whisky Tango Foxtrot!!!' All I am asking for is for someone other than a Level I technician to explain where the ball got dropped and to give me *something * to hold onto...some grain of confidence that when I do start to rely on this service I'm not going to be getting constant calls that systems are down.

Is Anyone Home?

Hi,

I can understand your frustration - can you PM or post a ticket number for me please? I'll look into this. Thanks.

[rsleventhal]

Gladly. Start with this one:
QDC-2723977

There are others, if you want, I'll provide them.

I'll get this checked and get you updated; thanks for the ticket #. Sorry for the trouble; this is certainly not normal.

[rsleventhal]

Thank you. It's nice to see that response times here are *far* better than the ticket system.

I eagerly await your reply.

Regards,
-Ray

Hi Ray,

I'm having the transfers department supervisor look into this. I do apologize for your initial experience; I'm sure we'll get this fixed up. Thank you.

[rsleventhal]

Thank you for having the transfers dept look into this. It appears the ticket was picked up over night as this morning I received an update that over 50 sites had been transferred.

Then, inexplicably, my server went down again. So, I issued an email to reboots@hostgator.com. Followed up with a call to the toll free number to be told that there might be a 2 hr response time. I asked how that was possible for a reboot request for a dedicated server and was told that the ticket (KIS-2734443) didn't appear to be a reboot request. I asked how that was possible since I emailed the so-called 'Dedicated Reboot Triage Team'.

I've just been told by phone that a reboot request has been sent to the colo facility at the planet. Still, no joy.

I can't believe how bad this is getting. Please have someone there contact me about a full refund and cancellation of my account. I cannot have servers going down without explanation and I certainly can't have my business based where it can't be up for 10 days.

Furthermore, when I ask for a reply from someone in authority, I'm told 'send an email'. Since emails/tickets/phone calls aren't giving me any satisfaction whatsoever, I'm lost and stuck. Seems this forum gets noticed and I hope that this post does too.

I'm running an old FC1 server that's up more than this. Again I say, WTF?

I am NOT AT ALL SATISFIED that anything is being done.

[rsleventhal]

I've had it. Server is still down. I've issued a cancellation request and based upon my experience and the complete and total failure of hostgator to meet the terms of their SLA, I have requested a full refund.

AFter all, my account is less than 10 days old and the server's been down 2x. It's still down...*expletive* unbelievable!

Perhaps this was a great place to conduct business in the past, but I, for one, will never again working with consider nor will I recommend hostgator.com.

[rsleventhal]

Will *someone* please see to it that my cancellation request, ticket# ABK-2734535 is handled promptly?

Not that I should expect it, given the horrible service here.

[GatorWesley]

Your server has been canceled as requested.