Serious problems with Velcom

Young Holly · 04-13-2008, 09:12 PM

I began to have problems with Velcom last week which have been getting progressively worse, and the customer service has been appalling. I am looking for a new host starting today.

I would like some recommendations, please. And I'd also like to share my experience with others so that they can avoid Velcom.

So, I just launched my own website. I bought hosting from Velcom. About a couple of weeks ago, the site went live, and I had a few customers sign up.

Then about a week later, the site went down for about an hour. I don't know why, and since it was only an hour, I let it go. Then it happened again a few days later, this time for over 3 hours.

I had emailed a bunch of people I knew that I thought would be interested in signing up. One person emailed me back, and said, "I'd love to see your site, but it's not loading."

The site was down for several hours. I don't know how long exactly. More than 3 hours, and less than 10. I never received a message from Velcom informing me that there was a problem, so I didn't even know until my friend emailed me back to say it wasn't working. I submitted a tech support ticket to ask why my site was down and when it would be up.

I got a message back saying that it there was a temporary problem with the server and that it was now fixed. I replied saying thank you for fixing the problem, but I want to know why there was a problem in the first place, why I wasn't informed when the problem happened, and I asked how often does this happen.

I received a message back saying: "There was a temporary problem on the server which is fixed now. We apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused."

Umm..that's great, but that didn't answer any of the questions I asked. So again, I sent a message with those questions. I got this message back:

"We do apologize for the inconvenience caused to you once more. Please believe that in case of any problems we do our best to resolve them as quickly as possible. If we had any information regarding the estimated time when the issue would would be fixed we would notify you about that.

We value you as our customer and we do apologize for the inconvenience caused to you once more."

You know what? Sending apologies when what I want is answers is not the way to show me that you "value me as a customer."

So I started looking for a new host, since I could see that the customer service sucks. I wouldn't want to deal with them if a more serious problem came up. Well guess what? A more serious problem DID come up, and the customer service was EVEN WORSE this time.

Today, I went to look at my site, and my site's not there. Instead, there's a page that says "This site has been disabled. Please contact your service provider for more information."

Ok. So this is a pretty big deal. I have no idea what's going on. So instead of submitting an email complaint ticket, I decided to call them instead, thinking that this would be a faster way to solve the problem.

I call the support number. An automatic message tells me to press 1 if I require technical support. So I do. I get someone on the other end pretty much right away. "Yay, a human being!" I thought to myself. Well the human being turned out to be a customer service person. When I said that my site was not working and I didn't know why, he asked for the site address, and I gave it to him. Then he said that I would need to submit a tech support ticket online.

I said "I called this number for tech support because I didn't want to submit a complaint online. Aren't you tech support?" He said that he was customer support, and that he was not a technician and that he didn't know what the problem was or how to help me.

So at this point I'm wondering why the automatic message told me to press 1 for tech support if they don't even offer phone tech support. Apparently they only offer customer support who tells you to send an email.

So then again, I said "I called this number because the website says I will get tech support. I want to speak to tech support." And the guy I'm talking to says he can't help me.

Then I ask to speak to a manager. I get the predictable "I'm sorry, a manager isn't available right now." I said, "If you can't help me or at least let me speak to anyone else, any supervisor or manager, I'm going to take my business elsewhere."

He said he was sorry, but that there was no one else available. I told him he had lost me as a customer.

Either he was lying, and there was a manager available, or he was telling the truth and there was no superior person available. Either way is unacceptable.

Maybe some people put up with this, and maybe there are a lot of hosting companies that are like this, but frankly, when I pay someone for a service, I want to receive the service I pay for. If they say they offer something and then they can't provide it, they are lying and engaging in false advertising.

I want a hosting company that can keep my site up, and one that can provide me with satisfactory support if a problem does come up. So far, Velcom has failed me in both respects.

So now I'm looking for a new host, one that has servers in Canada or perhaps Europe, and one that ACTUALLY HAS PHONE TECH SUPPORT, or at least has good email tech support and doesn't lie about having phone tech support.

Cheers.

pam · 04-13-2008, 09:27 PM

Very few hosting companies offer telephone support, I'm sorry to say. One of the big hosts just recently said virtual accounts can no longer call and have to use a help desk.

I use Phatservers and a1websolutions, the latter has a phone number.

As far as your site being disabled, maybe you went over the allotted bandwidth? A lot of hosts will simply disable your site.

Young Holly · 04-13-2008, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pam

Very few hosting companies offer telephone support, I'm sorry to say. One of the big hosts just recently said virtual accounts can no longer call and have to use a help desk.

I use Phatservers and a1websolutions, the latter has a phone number.

As far as your site being disabled, maybe you went over the allotted bandwidth? A lot of hosts will simply disable your site.

The problem is not that they don't offer phone tech support. The problem is that they say they do, and then when I call, I get someone who has no idea what is going on and says they can't help me.

The other problem is that there is no communication when something goes wrong. Another problem is that the site keeps going down.

I did not go over my allotted bandwidth. I just recently checked that (today), and I'm using about 1% of what I am allowed to use.

Regardless of why it went down, there should be someone available to tell me why it's down and when it will be up.

Thanks for your host suggestions. I will look into those.

Compdoctor · 04-13-2008, 10:16 PM

way3.com is in the states, and he offers live, phone and icq support

Young Holly · 04-13-2008, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Compdoctor

way3.com is in the states, and he offers live, phone and icq support

Thanks for the recommendation, however I don't want my site to be hosted on servers that are located in the US.

docputer · 04-14-2008, 12:04 AM

Is there a reason you don't want your site hosted in the US? A1websolutions and Varzi.net both have phone support and solid hosting, but their servers are in the US.

Varzi Network · 04-14-2008, 01:54 AM

Varzi is currently not accepting any new adult customers at this time. I have no plans of dumping current shared customers but Varzi will also no longer offer shared hosting plans to new customers. I may decide to offer a semi-dedicated service for those with smaller needs and or smaller budgets.

Hentaikid · 04-14-2008, 08:31 AM

Yeah I was with velcom until 2005 when the server was hacked and hundreds of sites ended up with indexes talking about child porn (No photos, thank god). Velcom didn't say a peep about it, which is when I decided to jump ship.

Say what you like about dreamhost, they do tell you when what and why things are not working.

Redhotca · 04-14-2008, 11:13 AM

I use Velcom and have had similar problems these last few weeks, so I will be changing host as well. It has gotten progressively worse all the time and its one thing after another that goes wrong on their end. (last thing was stats were not updating) All The Best To you

Redhotca

Georgie · 04-14-2008, 01:31 PM

Though I have had mixed results with them, Webair offers phone support but only for dedicated. Depending on the issue, the phone support may not be any better than online chat or e-mail. They have a dedicated box starting at about $150, and they have boxes in Amsterdam and Canada. I don't recommend their virtual servers.

I really doubt you're going to find a virtual solution that has phone support, so it's a matter of getting what you pay for. I would recommend the same hosts that Pam does, but I don't know if they have non-US servers. For the most part, the location of the server is irrelevent when it comes to following the laws of your country. If you're concerned about US 2257 laws, for example, your host may or may not care if you're not in compliance (as long as the content is not obviously <18). It's best to check.

alexv · 04-14-2008, 01:38 PM

Hi everybody.

First off, I’d like to apologize for all the inconveniences you have guys have been having.

What it all comes down to is recently we changed from cPanel WHM control panel to Interworx control panel and it’s been the worst nightmare any host could imagine. There are endless problems on this platform. We will be moving back to cPanel within the next 2 months, but of course we are fixing the current problems. We should have these problems fixed within the next day or so. Also why it seems we have no phone support, when we do is because of the abundant of calls we are receiving lately due to the new control panel headaches. It’s been putting a hamper on our customer support while we try to minimize the issues. Our call center is 24/7. Our call center cannot handle technical related issues they need to pass it down to our technical guys. Customer support can handle web related issues but not at server level which is what’s happening at this point.

I again apologize for all these problems and would like to keep you aboard. If you reach me via ICQ: 371085907 I will do my best to help getting you migrated to our new cluster of servers. We’ve been growing pretty rapidly lately so that also contributes to our servers being hammered at the same time.

Again, anyone needing some assistance please reach me here:

Email: alexv@velcom.com
ICQ: 371085907

Also, you can contact our CEO:
Email: rob(at)Velcom.com
MSN: rob(at)rcp.net
ICQ: 159709

flip · 04-14-2008, 01:45 PM

First host I ever had ( 4 or 5 years ago lol) - I was a complete noob...

Didn't know what the hell I was doing - however they were always very gratious/helpful towards me - sadly back then my babelog my bandwidth and Velcom parted company fairly quickly...

Just had another look and I just worry their big bandwidth would get the likes of me and other noobs in trouble quickly with overloading ( or whatever the technical term is) their server on a virtual...

I'm ready for a managed box I think - however Velcom seem particularly expensive...

Plus I have a serious Wordpress issue at the mo' and could do with a host that knows that script inside out and er stuff

And with that Flip shuffles off to google managed servers

VirtuMike · 04-14-2008, 02:23 PM

What? You're upset at Adult Bouncer? And it has nothing to do with massive copyright theft?

alexv · 04-14-2008, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VirtuMike

What? You're upset at Adult Bouncer? And it has nothing to do with massive copyright theft?

Hmm, sorry, I'm not sure what you are referring to

VirtuMike · 04-14-2008, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexv

Hmm, sorry, I'm not sure what you are referring to

You must be new and know nothing about the history of your company. Or are trying to cover it up. There's no way you could forget this:

On December 8, 2003, Jules Jordan Video, Inc., a premier adult
entertainment company that creates and distributes high-end adult content
for DVD/video sales and for its website, Jules Jordan Official Website, and its sole
principal, Ashley Gasper, filed a complaint for injunctive relief and
damages in the United States District Court for the Central District of
California, against 1433965 Ontario, Inc. (doing business on the internet as
AdultBouncer.com and AdultBouncer), an adult access verification service,
and its President, Roberto Contaldi, for violation of 17 U.S.C. §§ 501 et
seq. (copyright infringement, vicarious liability and contributory
infringement), violation of unfair business practices (unfair competition -
common law, California Business & Professions Code § 17200 et seq. and false
advertising - Lanham Act § 43(a)), false and misleading advertising (common
law and California Business & Professions Code § 17500 et seq.), violation
of right of publicity (California Civil Code § 3344), and tortious
interference with prospective economic advantage.

Didn't Jules win this one?

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Young Holly · 04-15-2008, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexv

Hi everybody.

First off, I’d like to apologize for all the inconveniences you have guys have been having.

What it all comes down to is recently we changed from cPanel WHM control panel to Interworx control panel and it’s been the worst nightmare any host could imagine. There are endless problems on this platform. We will be moving back to cPanel within the next 2 months, but of course we are fixing the current problems. We should have these problems fixed within the next day or so.

None of that is my problem. I'm a paying customer, and I want to receive what I pay for. If you are having a problem, you should have emailed every single customer to explain the problem and let them know what you are doing about the problem.

We shouldn't have to complain and rant and rave to get some sort of explanation. It should have been given upfront. This poor quality of service is one of the main reasons I am looking for a new host.

Quote:

Also why it seems we have no phone support, when we do is because of the abundant of calls we are receiving lately due to the new control panel headaches. It’s been putting a hamper on our customer support while we try to minimize the issues. Our call center is 24/7. Our call center cannot handle technical related issues they need to pass it down to our technical guys. Customer support can handle web related issues but not at server level which is what’s happening at this point.

If you do not actually have phone tech support, then you need to change your automated message. When I called, the message told me to press 1 for tech support. I did not receive tech support. I received some poor clueless guy who had absolutely no idea what was going on. Also, he was totally on his own- there was no manager or supervisor available to talk to me. That's just a crappy working environment for an employee, when they don't even have a manager there to rely on for help when things get over their heads.

Quote:

I again apologize for all these problems and would like to keep you aboard. If you reach me via ICQ: 371085907 I will do my best to help getting you migrated to our new cluster of servers.

You're offering help now that I've publicly complained about all these problems? Why didn't I get an offer of help when the problems arose? No explanation, no help, not a word- until, that is, I made a public post about it. If you're so worried about public relations and the company's image, then you should build up a strong company in the first place. Then you wouldn't need to worry about public image, because there wouldn't be such major complaints.

Quote:

We’ve been growing pretty rapidly lately so that also contributes to our servers being hammered at the same time.

So what you're saying is, in order to "grow rapidly" (aka: get more customers and more money), you sacrificed attention and service to your existing customers. Gee, thanks.

If you couldn't handle the growth while being attentive to your existing customers, you should not have taken on new customers.

pam · 04-15-2008, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VirtuMike

You must be new and know nothing about the history of your company. Or are trying to cover it up. There's no way you could forget this:

Holy shit. I've been in the industry 14 years and didn't know about that, but I also don't deal in mainstream or pornstars.

Got more info? I like to know the history of companies I promote ...

Hentaikid · 04-15-2008, 08:34 PM

Well I do know adultbouncer used to process and host huge pirate hentai video sites, they all got closed down a few years ago when the copyright owners started to complain

Varzi Network · 04-15-2008, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Young Holly

So what you're saying is, in order to "grow rapidly" (aka: get more customers and more money), you sacrificed attention and service to your existing customers. Gee, thanks.

Yet those who refuse to oversell and have to charge more by not doing so are considered a ripoff by most around these parts.

teentime · 04-15-2008, 11:08 PM

Setting up a paysite on a virtual hosting plan (shared host) is asking to fail.
Don't waste your time with any shared hosting.
It will never be able to meet the demands of even a modestly successful paysite.
You want 24x7 up time and 24x7 control for your paysite?
Then you have to own the box, period.
If you're on a really tight budget go semi-dedicated and get your own box as soon as you can afford it.
However if your budget is so tight that you cannot commit to a years worth of dedicated hosting you then have to ask your self if your business plan is correct.

Just my 2 cents.

04-13-2008, 09:12 PM	#1 (permalink)
Young Holly I am a Netpond Virgin Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 8 Points: 40	Serious problems with Velcom I began to have problems with Velcom last week which have been getting progressively worse, and the customer service has been appalling. I am looking for a new host starting today. I would like some recommendations, please. And I'd also like to share my experience with others so that they can avoid Velcom. So, I just launched my own website. I bought hosting from Velcom. About a couple of weeks ago, the site went live, and I had a few customers sign up. Then about a week later, the site went down for about an hour. I don't know why, and since it was only an hour, I let it go. Then it happened again a few days later, this time for over 3 hours. I had emailed a bunch of people I knew that I thought would be interested in signing up. One person emailed me back, and said, "I'd love to see your site, but it's not loading." The site was down for several hours. I don't know how long exactly. More than 3 hours, and less than 10. I never received a message from Velcom informing me that there was a problem, so I didn't even know until my friend emailed me back to say it wasn't working. I submitted a tech support ticket to ask why my site was down and when it would be up. I got a message back saying that it there was a temporary problem with the server and that it was now fixed. I replied saying thank you for fixing the problem, but I want to know why there was a problem in the first place, why I wasn't informed when the problem happened, and I asked how often does this happen. I received a message back saying: "There was a temporary problem on the server which is fixed now. We apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused." Umm..that's great, but that didn't answer any of the questions I asked. So again, I sent a message with those questions. I got this message back: "We do apologize for the inconvenience caused to you once more. Please believe that in case of any problems we do our best to resolve them as quickly as possible. If we had any information regarding the estimated time when the issue would would be fixed we would notify you about that. We value you as our customer and we do apologize for the inconvenience caused to you once more." You know what? Sending apologies when what I want is answers is not the way to show me that you "value me as a customer." So I started looking for a new host, since I could see that the customer service sucks. I wouldn't want to deal with them if a more serious problem came up. Well guess what? A more serious problem DID come up, and the customer service was EVEN WORSE this time. Today, I went to look at my site, and my site's not there. Instead, there's a page that says "This site has been disabled. Please contact your service provider for more information." Ok. So this is a pretty big deal. I have no idea what's going on. So instead of submitting an email complaint ticket, I decided to call them instead, thinking that this would be a faster way to solve the problem. I call the support number. An automatic message tells me to press 1 if I require technical support. So I do. I get someone on the other end pretty much right away. "Yay, a human being!" I thought to myself. Well the human being turned out to be a customer service person. When I said that my site was not working and I didn't know why, he asked for the site address, and I gave it to him. Then he said that I would need to submit a tech support ticket online. I said "I called this number for tech support because I didn't want to submit a complaint online. Aren't you tech support?" He said that he was customer support, and that he was not a technician and that he didn't know what the problem was or how to help me. So at this point I'm wondering why the automatic message told me to press 1 for tech support if they don't even offer phone tech support. Apparently they only offer customer support who tells you to send an email. So then again, I said "I called this number because the website says I will get tech support. I want to speak to tech support." And the guy I'm talking to says he can't help me. Then I ask to speak to a manager. I get the predictable "I'm sorry, a manager isn't available right now." I said, "If you can't help me or at least let me speak to anyone else, any supervisor or manager, I'm going to take my business elsewhere." He said he was sorry, but that there was no one else available. I told him he had lost me as a customer. Either he was lying, and there was a manager available, or he was telling the truth and there was no superior person available. Either way is unacceptable. Maybe some people put up with this, and maybe there are a lot of hosting companies that are like this, but frankly, when I pay someone for a service, I want to receive the service I pay for. If they say they offer something and then they can't provide it, they are lying and engaging in false advertising. I want a hosting company that can keep my site up, and one that can provide me with satisfactory support if a problem does come up. So far, Velcom has failed me in both respects. So now I'm looking for a new host, one that has servers in Canada or perhaps Europe, and one that ACTUALLY HAS PHONE TECH SUPPORT, or at least has good email tech support and doesn't lie about having phone tech support. Cheers. Last edited by Young Holly : 04-13-2008 at 09:24 PM. Reason: spelling

04-13-2008, 10:16 PM	#4 (permalink)
Compdoctor So Say We All Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 156 Points: 305	way3.com is in the states, and he offers live, phone and icq support __________________ Amateur - Cartoon Domain Names For Sale Anime Resource Accepting Toon/Hentai Links

04-14-2008, 01:38 PM	#11 (permalink)
alexv say what you mean and mean what you say Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 179 Points: 915	Hi everybody. First off, I’d like to apologize for all the inconveniences you have guys have been having. What it all comes down to is recently we changed from cPanel WHM control panel to Interworx control panel and it’s been the worst nightmare any host could imagine. There are endless problems on this platform. We will be moving back to cPanel within the next 2 months, but of course we are fixing the current problems. We should have these problems fixed within the next day or so. Also why it seems we have no phone support, when we do is because of the abundant of calls we are receiving lately due to the new control panel headaches. It’s been putting a hamper on our customer support while we try to minimize the issues. Our call center is 24/7. Our call center cannot handle technical related issues they need to pass it down to our technical guys. Customer support can handle web related issues but not at server level which is what’s happening at this point. I again apologize for all these problems and would like to keep you aboard. If you reach me via ICQ: 371085907 I will do my best to help getting you migrated to our new cluster of servers. We’ve been growing pretty rapidly lately so that also contributes to our servers being hammered at the same time. Again, anyone needing some assistance please reach me here: Email: alexv@velcom.com ICQ: 371085907 Also, you can contact our CEO: Email: rob(at)Velcom.com MSN: rob(at)rcp.net ICQ: 159709 __________________ Adultbouncer.com, promote the biggest AEN on the planet!

04-14-2008, 01:45 PM	#12 (permalink)
flip ...babe bloggin'... Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: ...around... Posts: 3,362 Points: 1,627	First host I ever had ( 4 or 5 years ago lol) - I was a complete noob... Didn't know what the hell I was doing - however they were always very gratious/helpful towards me - sadly back then my babelog my bandwidth and Velcom parted company fairly quickly... Just had another look and I just worry their big bandwidth would get the likes of me and other noobs in trouble quickly with overloading ( or whatever the technical term is) their server on a virtual... I'm ready for a managed box I think - however Velcom seem particularly expensive... Plus I have a serious Wordpress issue at the mo' and could do with a host that knows that script inside out and er stuff And with that Flip shuffles off to google managed servers __________________ Safe Blog Hosting\|Twisty's Babes\|Watch 4 Beauty\|Rage Cash\|Amour Angels\|Huge Bandwidth Hosting Submit Your Blogs - Porn Planet \| Fresh Porn Last edited by flip : 04-14-2008 at 01:46 PM. Reason: bad speeeeeeling :)

04-14-2008, 02:23 PM	#13 (permalink)
VirtuMike BUY MY CONTENT! Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Your girlfriend's apartment Posts: 598 Points: 1,585	What? You're upset at Adult Bouncer? And it has nothing to do with massive copyright theft? __________________ BUY MY CONTENT - Got Jizz, Porn in Public, Handsluts. Click You - $32 per signup, NATS tracked, exclusive HD video sites. Eurotivity Hosting Amsterdam - Host your sites in Amsterdam on a nine backbone multihomed BGP network, or just back up your sites and store everything safely in Amsterdam. mike (AT) virtucon D-izzle net

04-14-2008, 12:04 AM	#6 (permalink)
docputer Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: Midwest USA Posts: 3,787 Points: 360	Is there a reason you don't want your site hosted in the US? A1websolutions and Varzi.net both have phone support and solid hosting, but their servers are in the US.

04-14-2008, 01:54 AM	#7 (permalink)
Varzi Network Nigerian Overlord Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Florida Posts: 2,289 Points: 3,595	Varzi is currently not accepting any new adult customers at this time. I have no plans of dumping current shared customers but Varzi will also no longer offer shared hosting plans to new customers. I may decide to offer a semi-dedicated service for those with smaller needs and or smaller budgets.

04-14-2008, 08:31 AM	#8 (permalink)
Hentaikid Yep, I made this animation myself Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,896 Points: 5	Yeah I was with velcom until 2005 when the server was hacked and hundreds of sites ended up with indexes talking about child porn (No photos, thank god). Velcom didn't say a peep about it, which is when I decided to jump ship. Say what you like about dreamhost, they do tell you when what and why things are not working.

04-14-2008, 11:13 AM	#9 (permalink)
Redhotca _ Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 131 Points: 80	I use Velcom and have had similar problems these last few weeks, so I will be changing host as well. It has gotten progressively worse all the time and its one thing after another that goes wrong on their end. (last thing was stats were not updating) All The Best To you Redhotca

04-14-2008, 01:31 PM	#10 (permalink)
Georgie Nothing special to say here Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 302 Points: 1,585	Though I have had mixed results with them, Webair offers phone support but only for dedicated. Depending on the issue, the phone support may not be any better than online chat or e-mail. They have a dedicated box starting at about $150, and they have boxes in Amsterdam and Canada. I don't recommend their virtual servers. I really doubt you're going to find a virtual solution that has phone support, so it's a matter of getting what you pay for. I would recommend the same hosts that Pam does, but I don't know if they have non-US servers. For the most part, the location of the server is irrelevent when it comes to following the laws of your country. If you're concerned about US 2257 laws, for example, your host may or may not care if you're not in compliance (as long as the content is not obviously <18). It's best to check.

04-15-2008, 08:34 PM	#18 (permalink)
Hentaikid Yep, I made this animation myself Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,896 Points: 5	Well I do know adultbouncer used to process and host huge pirate hentai video sites, they all got closed down a few years ago when the copyright owners started to complain

04-15-2008, 11:08 PM	#20 (permalink)
teentime Mars Lander Is Video'd in a Warehouse Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Cardboard Box Posts: 70 Points: 350	Setting up a paysite on a virtual hosting plan (shared host) is asking to fail. Don't waste your time with any shared hosting. It will never be able to meet the demands of even a modestly successful paysite. You want 24x7 up time and 24x7 control for your paysite? Then you have to own the box, period. If you're on a really tight budget go semi-dedicated and get your own box as soon as you can afford it. However if your budget is so tight that you cannot commit to a years worth of dedicated hosting you then have to ask your self if your business plan is correct. Just my 2 cents.