Dissatisfied New Customer

[SammyD]

I signed up for an account on the 3rd May, I chose the basic plan as I thought it was all I required. After my account was set up and web site up and running I immeadiately I had issues with customer downloads and timeouts. I lodged a ticket 13th May #WGU-919210 - Support were great, I explained that I had a Digital Scrapbooking Store, all product being downloadable and I need a good transfer rate. We investigated all possibilities and I ended up being transfered to a different server - issue resolved and ticket closed 28th May. My Site ran with no problems for two weeks.

5th June Thursday - I lodge another ticket #KPO-927048 as I could not access my account or see the site. My account had been suspended due to a AUP violation - Disk Usage Provision. NO I DID NOT READ WHB TERMS PROPERLY, MY MISTAKE. My account can be unsuspended if I agree to remove files (a complete list was given).

I immediately apologised for MY mistake, stated that I did not fully understand what the policy was saying, obviously I am on the wrong plan - please help me.

6th June Friday - I am advised to contact Billing Support - 12pm Ticket #ZTY-813742 lodged asking Billing Support for an upgrade to something suitable. WHB plan offers are confusing and I don't want to be suspended again.

7th June Saturday 12.08am - I reply to Support that a ticket had been lodged with Billing for a plan upgrade but no reply had been received, how long would I have to wait for a reply. I am told 24hrs.

At 11.31am - I asked if I could have access to the server and control panel while I wait for Billing to get back to me - NO REPLY.

At 9.25pm - I asked if the issue could be escalated - NO REPLY.

As my account is still suspended I can't even remove the files as requested.

Q.1 Why did Billing Support not mention I was maybe on the wrong plan when I lodged the first ticket #WGU-919210, that would have avoided the current situation.
Q.2 Surely for new clients a warning that they are violating a disk usage policy and a chance to rectify the situation would be a better way to handle things.
Q.3 When an account can be set up within a matter of minutes, why is it taking so long to get a plan upgrade.
Q.4 Having apologised for MY MISTAKE and I am trying to recitfy the issue why then is my account still suspended. I CAN NOT COMPLY WITH WHB POLICY WHEN I HAVE NO ACCESS.

This situation is extremely frustrating and I don't understand why it is taking so long to resolve??? I have tried to rectify the problem as quickly as I can, unfortunately for me the hold up seems to be with WHB service.

It is now 8th June Saturday 8am (GMT) - still no server or account access and I know I will not get a reply from Billing until Monday now. I know I am only a little person but this really is an appalling way to be treated.

[SammyD]

8th June 10.57am - Hooray I have been contacted by Billing Support and my plan will be upgraded. Fingers crossed this won't take 3-4 days like the last move.

Again I have requested Support unsuspended my account.

[Matt R.]

I am checking on your issue, however, we have terms of service and an acceptable usage policy for a reason. It is imperative you understand these before using the account, to prevent situations like this.

[SammyD]

Thank you Matt any help at this stage is very much appreciated.

I understand there are terms and policies for a reason and as I said it was my mistake that I did not read them fully, I accept that.

Once having discovered I made a mistake, what has been so frustrating and what I am most disgruntled about is the length of time it has taken WHB to help me fix it. I am at their mercy with my hands tied.

If I had of just asked for my account to be unsuspended in the first place and removed the offending files, I would have a functioning site so I could let customers know what was going on. Then I could have sorted out plan options. Instead I did what I thought was the correct thing and tried to sort out what plan I should be on first.

Last missive from Support was 3/4 hr ago -
Your account will be unsuspended after transferring to VPS or Dedicated sever. Also please take into account that our AUP applies to all packages except VPS and Dedicated servers. I am assuming I will now be on the right plan.

So I can't take my site offline or post a down for maintanence message or backup data in case something goes wrong with the transfer and I have no idea of when the transfer will be complete (yes I have asked for a guestimate).

I am in Australia so time differences matter.

[SammyD]

And the Drama continues.....

9th June 8.42am - I have just been informed that even if I move to a Business Plan my site will still violate the AUP policy, the only solution is to move to a dedicated server. Having looked at the plans, I find the cost prohibitive at 299/month for a dedicated server.

Once again I have requested that my account be unsuspended so I can remove the offending content.

[Elena O.]

Hello Sammy,

I have checked your ticket. And let me try to answer your questions:

Q.1 Why did Billing Support not mention I was maybe on the wrong plan when I lodged the first ticket #WGU-919210, that would have avoided the current situation.

We do apologize for that, but the thing is that billing department is not always aware of the content of the users hosted on our servers and that is why you were not suspended when the request came to billing.

Q.2 Surely for new clients a warning that they are violating a disk usage policy and a chance to rectify the situation would be a better way to handle things.

The thing is that we do not monitor accounts when they are created on the server. but we do notice the violation of our polisy during the specific audit procedures and then inform our customers. You have been provided with the explanations in the ticket KPO-927048.

Q.3 When an account can be set up within a matter of minutes, why is it taking so long to get a plan upgrade.

The delay with the upgrade was caused by the fact that unfortunately our billing department does not work on weekends.

Q.4 Having apologised for MY MISTAKE and I am trying to recitfy the issue why then is my account still suspended. I CAN NOT COMPLY WITH WHB POLICY WHEN I HAVE NO ACCESS.

Your site is accessible currently and if you can please remove those files, if not then we would advise you to move on of our VPS plans. They are not that expensive as dedicated servers, the price for the smallest plan is approximately $30-$40 per month.
Hope this helps but if there is something else we can assist you with do not hesitate to get back to us.

[omniuni]

May I ask what the disk usage problem was? I would like to make sure I don't violate it myself!

[Elena O.]

May I ask what the disk usage problem was? I would like to make sure I don't violate it myself!

Here is the extract from our Acceptable Use Policy regarding the disk space usage:
'10. Disk Usage Provision. 90% or more of your content on your website must be linked from an HTML or similarly coded web page where all content is freely available to the public. Your website consists of web pages of a standard design, essentially HTML based text and graphics. Downloadable files, media, streaming content or any file which consumes more than 500kb of space must not exceed 10% of your total used disk quota.'

Hope this helps.

[dsx724]

It basically says if you upload one HTML page and one large picture, you are exceeding their AUP since the a 500KB picture would account for 99% of your used space. I'm having the same problem with this term which I think is just ridicules for any hosting service to have and even more ridicules for them to enforce for non-abusive clients.

[franz]

6th June Friday - I am advised to contact Billing Support - 12pm Ticket #ZTY-813742 lodged asking Billing Support for an upgrade to something suitable. WHB plan offers are confusing and I don't want to be suspended again.

7th June Saturday 12.08am - I reply to Support that a ticket had been lodged with Billing for a plan upgrade but no reply had been received, how long would I have to wait for a reply. I am told 24hrs.

At 11.31am - I asked if I could have access to the server and control panel while I wait for Billing to get back to me - NO REPLY.

At 9.25pm - I asked if the issue could be escalated - NO REPLY.
.

exactly sames probleme for me
http://www.webhostingbuzz.com/forum/...ead.php?t=2975

i waiting reply from 9 days , soon 10 , 11 , 12
maybe they wait my count is finnish in october

[Matt R.]

It basically says if you upload one HTML page and one large picture, you are exceeding their AUP since the a 500KB picture would account for 99% of your used space. I'm having the same problem with this term which I think is just ridicules for any hosting service to have and even more ridicules for them to enforce for non-abusive clients.

We're talking web-related content. Images if linked to a website is fine.

[dsx724]

Matt R,

I am merely reading the AUP as is and stating an example of its flaws.

Webhosting is a tough business with all the hosts overselling their servers. I agree some of clients' costs can exceed their payment. However, you offer no middle ground for users with medium consumption. Its either the cheap plans or the dedicated plans. I'm sure plenty of people are willing to pay $20 - $100 a month for solid hosting that guarantees full space and bandwidth. Asking someone who is paying $5 a month to suddenly pay $400 a month is totally inconsiderate and will often result in complaints.

Often I want to purchase a higher priced plan because I feel I am using more resources than my payment amount but the other plans cost more and offer just as much insecurity as the cheapest plan. If you get rid of that vague AUP clause and bring your offers to sane levels, I'm sure no one here would be complaining. You'd also have a higher average selling point and near perfect feedback.

I haven't lost hope in WHB because I've used it long enough to see that things do change for the better. This is one of the changes that I would recommend for WHB from a client's perspective.

[omniuni]

I honestly suspect that the websites I designed for a company is in violation. They have been having trouble uploading additional images to their image galleries. Do you think it is possible that this is the cause?

I understand taking action against people using WHB for simply backing crap up, but for a serious website, this could be a problem!

[Alan B]

They have been having trouble uploading additional images to their image galleries. Do you think it is possible that this is the cause?

No. An account is either suspended or it is not. If the account is not suspended, then their uploading trouble has a different cause.