Learning Experience?

[DesertSage]

I recently signed up for hosting with a company that seems to be pretty well respected, from what I have gathered.

In any case, shortly after I put up a temp. home page, I discovered that someone with the same domain name (w/a different ending) had changed their domain to an "Over 18 Only" site. :eek:

Wary of nice people (friends, little old ladies and the like) punching in ".com" instead of ".org" and going to the OTHER site by accident, or typing only the main body of my domain name in a search engine (as a lot of people seem to do) and again, going to the OTHER site (a bit of confusion/embarrassment I don't need!) I asked my hosting company to change me over to another domain name I own. (I had already changed the nameserver info at my registrar, BTW, and the new nameserver was already showing up on a WHOIS.) The company's response was, no problem.

Anyway, that was Thurs. afternoon, PST, and it's now Sat. evening PST, and the hosting company has shown no sign of doing anything whatsoever. When I FTP in, it's still the old domain name, and there's no sign of the new domain. If I type the new domain in a browser (while I understand it takes a while to propagate across the web) again, nothing. I've dealt with other hosts and have had to make changes like this before, and it never took this long.

So I'm on the cheapo budget plan and shouldn't gripe, perhaps... :confused:

I don't think I should have to email them again to get them to do what they already said they'd do, over 48 hours ago. I believe I am being reasonable. I don't believe I should have to "nudge" them to follow through. Am I being fair?

I was looking forward to being able to tell everyone tomorrow at a large function to "Look me up at http://www.my-domain.org", but now...

Thanks for any constructive feedback, and have a good weekend. :)




[Edited by DesertSage on 04-15-2001 at 12:21 AM]

[Martie]

Welcome to the forums DesertSage!
Heres a few suggestions, I hope they help.
What I would do if go ahead and drop them another note?
Maybe they just simply forgot?
It seems the company would be sending out new account info for you, on the other domain name?
Every hosting company has different policies on this sort of thing.I would think though if you are changing the domain name, that you should be getting new acct. info for the change?
I would definitely drop them another note about it!!
No, it shouldnt matter one bit that you are on the budget plan.
Keep us posted please.

[DesertSage]

Actually, I had to give them a "nudge" when I first joined, too. I signed up online, and didn't get my login/password info until I actually wrote to ask for it. Is that unusual? Seems so to me, because when I've hosted elsewhere, all of that info was in place and emailed to me within minutes.

I've gotten prompt replies to a couple of emails, but my growing feeling is just to get away from there. Either I've been lost in the shuffle, or nobody gives a ****.

I'm trying to be patient...will email them on Monday, as tomorrow I'll be away most of the day.

Thanks. :)

[akashik]

Desert Sage,

It's a fact of the industry that on the odd occasion things do get lost, or take a while. Dealing in the written word and numbers all day can end up a blur at times for some. It is up to the hosting company to figure out a way to make sure all incoming is clear and easy to sort though.

One of the priorities of any host is to make their customers feel at home, and comfortable with their choice. If you don't get this feeling maybe they aren't for you? If it gets to a point where you have to fight with them everytime you want something done it's going to make you a very grumpy person I think :) You have over 16000 places to choose from considering a recent guess at the industries size. I believe James said a while ago there is 3500 listed at this site alone. The boom in companies doing hosting is great for comsumers. You have a greater choice than ever to find the one that's right for you. Might be worth doing a little window shopping :)

Greg Moore

[DesertSage]

Good choice of word there... I haven't been feeling comfortable the last few days, especially since getting the impression that I have to go after them to remind them to do things. I mean, they've been in business a few years, and it just doesn't seem like normal practice for an efficient company.

Now, maybe they're just a huge operation and understaffed, who knows. I had a couple sites for over two years with a company that went from a small outfit with a tiny staff, to a huge (one of the largest, I believe) hosting companies, and their customer service and a few other things started to suffer accordingly. With them, I never had trouble with my domains being up, but my presence as a customer didn't seem to matter to them one way or another anymore.

I already feel that way with this company I'm with now. :(

Anyway, I just woke up and have to leave town for the day. Thank you, too, for your thoughts. I'm just a little bit disappointed that I can't tell the friends and associates I'll be with today that they can go home and check out my website...because at the moment, I don't have one. (Not whining, just...*shrug*) :rolleyes:

By the way, isn't "akashik" usually spelled "akashic" or did you have something else in mind? ;)

[Edited by DesertSage on 04-15-2001 at 10:30 AM]

[Jaiem]

You shouldn't have to wait so long just to get a response from them. At the very least they should acknowledge receiving your request.

As to the domain name, unfortunately that's not uncommon. There are many sites where one letter more or less brings the visitor to an adult site instead.

[akashik]

no actually you're right on the money. akashic is the 'correct' spelling. I took a little liberty with it though as I felt it looked better with a k :)

Companies do experience explosive growth at times and it does affect their support ability. A good host should be pretty nimble on their feet at the best of times though. It's an industry where Murphy's Law reigns *grin* When you get down to brass tacks, most of the logistics of hosting are the same for everyone. What separates the good guys from the bad is how they handle a problem when it jumps up and bites them.

Greg Moore

[akashik]

Originally posted by Jaiem
As to the domain name, unfortunately that's not uncommon. There are many sites where one letter more or less brings the visitor to an adult site instead.


And no doubt a few school kids studying government have been a little suprised thinking the whitehouse had a dom com instead of a dot gov :)

Greg Moore

[DesertSage]

Originally posted by Jaiem
You shouldn't have to wait so long just to get a response from them. At the very least they should acknowledge receiving your request.


Hello and thanks! And thank you all for your helpful feedback.

Originally, they acknowledged my request, said they would take care of it for me, and that's the last I heard, Thursday afternoon. Nothing was changed.

I just kinda resent having to pester them for everything. When I've had to make similar changes to hosting accounts in the past, at another company, I'd get an email acknowledgement, and by the time of the next server update (hourly or whenever) the changes were in effect.

And as expected, today a few people asked about my website (they had heard I had one) and I had to tell them, "It'll be up sometime later in the week, not sure when..." etc. Not too pleased about that, because if it's not online for them to view when they arrive home, check their email, etc., then they likely won't bother to look it up later on.

The most important thing I believe is for a hosting company not only to acknowledge customers promptly but to follow through. Without prodding. Twice this company has dragged its feet. I am not at all "comfortable" there any longer, to use akashik's choice of word.

Oh well, tomorrow I cancel my account there. That's my decision. I'm tired. And yeah, like I said when I started this rant, it's been a learning experience. :rolleyes:

Thanks everyone, and have a pleasant, peaceful week.



[Edited by DesertSage on 04-16-2001 at 03:07 AM]

[DesertSage]

I got a profuse apology for the delay and an offer of credit, so I'm gonna give it another chance. I hope I am not being an idiot, but I'm a forgiving, laid-back guy by nature...we shall see. :cool:

[akashik]

DesertSage,

Maybe it was an Easter thing :) At least they seem to be paying attention now. Good luck this time round...

Greg

[DesertSage]

I'll admit I'm feeling a bit wary, but will try not to let that color my perceptions. Yep, maybe it's an Easter thing. I know I was a busy guy myself yesterday. Even mellow guys like me have only so much patience, tho. ;)