Less than impressed with Marina S.

[ralth]

I've had multiple occasions where I try to get information from Marina S. via chat, and just about every time the response is less than satisfactory. Why is it so hard to get actual information about server status?

Here is the most notable example, from earlier today (12:10 PM, EST):

Marina S: Hello, how can I help you today?
[me]: rs7 looks like it's about to crash or something ...
[me]: Sites aren't loading, and the server load has been over 100
[me]: (normally it's less than 10)
[me]: Everything on rs7 is very, very sluggish
Marina S: wait a sec i'll check
[me]: ok
Marina S: can you give your domain name
[me]: www.[ourdomain].com (main domain)
[me]: We're a reseller with about 30 accounts on rs7
[me]: Ok, now sites seem to be loading, but it's still sluggish.
Marina S: sorry but it's a temporary problem
Marina S: it'll be fixed very soon
[me]: What's the problem?
Marina S: nothing serious
[me]: I'm not saying it's serious, I'm simply asking what went wrong. I'm responsible on my end for making sure everything stays up and running, and I like to know what's going on with the servers I pay for.
Marina S: sir wait a sec please
[me]: ok
Marina S: We're rebooting the server due to maintainance, it will be back online in 5 minutes

"Due to maintainance" does not qualify as a reason when the server has been nearly unresponsive. Glitches occur, I understand - it's a part of working with computers. But it would be nice to know what's actually going on.

[nickn]

Hello,

Please note live chat support is for basic level support only. They are not system admins and are not able to go into detail on server issues. If you want detailed answers, you will need to open a support ticket and one of our system admins will answer it

Chat Support is meant for basic level questions only.

Given the intentions of chat support, this session was handled appropriately

[ralth]

Why are there no system admins in chat support? The response time on a support ticket is at least several hours (in my expreience), which is too long to be of any use regarding unresponsive servers.

[Wayne R.]

The best solution, as Nick said, is to submit a ticket to tech support along with the info that you need. Even though you may have not gotten an immediate response, tickets are worked on quickly, internal notes made, proper teams notified, etc. I can assure you that tickets are worked on quickly.

To have a sys admin available in chat is usually not feasible for the few times it is required as compared to the amount of basic support that needs attention and IS able to be handled through live chat.

I hope that helps ease your concerns.

[stephenb]

For the record, every ticket I've submitted have been initially responded to in under 3 hours, the majority in under 2, and all have been resolved in less than 2 days, the majority taking less than a day. But I know that CP 11 was being installed, I just wish there was notification somewhere. I don't mind an occasion email saying that work is being done. I know that sometimes things take longer than expected.

[Matt R.]

And unfortunately in a shared environment, servers can crash. Other users can run a script or similar and cause load problems.

Our live chat is manned by primarily sales orientated people. They'll happily assist you on minor technical issues where they can but as it has been said already, a ticket is the best way to get a response.