My experience with a2b2 / vaserv

[James Trotta]

I had a dedicated server with A2B2 / VASERV for about 10 months. During that time my site was down for extended periods of time (like days at a time) on several occasions.

With no phone support, the errors always took a long time to correct and VASERV never explained what the problem was. In other words they couldn't manage my server and their support was slow.

So in early April I told them I was moving to a new server, which I did.


Then at the end of April I get billed for May. I told them to cancel the account. They refused and said we can't cancel the account because you didn't notify us 10 days in advance as requireed in the TOS. I did notify them and I told them so.

Their response was to threaten to continue billing me (pay us $225 for May or we will never cancel your account, we will bill you for June, July, etc. and take legal action if you don't pay).

So avoid A2B2 / VASERV. The hosting is low quality and the support is low quality. And if you do have a server with them, good luck canceling your account.

[damien_ls]

Useful insight. Was your server supposed to be managed or unmanaged? Do you know if the problems were server or infrastucture (e.g. network) related? Did you get the billing issue resolved in the end?

Which provider did you move to?

[James Trotta]

I was paying for a managed server but this caused all kinds of problems. When we started off, they said they wouldn't give me the root password since they would be managing the server. Then every time I contacted support (and I did frequently because they couldn't keep my site online) they asked me for my root pasword. I always had to reply that they had it. Sometimes they found it, sometimes they had to reset my root password because they didn't know it. Since support was via email, it would be 24 hours or so before we even sorted out the root password stuff and they started looking at the server.

I think the problems were both infrastructure and human stupididty on their end but it's hard to say for sure - I almost never received explanations for the downtime.

As for the billing issue, I paid them to avoid the risk that they would carry through with their threat to keep charging me and take legal action. I figured I could pay $225 now or they would keep billing me forever, hire collection agencies, destroy my credit, maybe even force me to hire lawyers, etc. I hate caving in, but fighting could have been very expensive.

Originally Posted by damien_ls

Useful insight. Was your server supposed to be managed or unmanaged? Do you know if the problems were server or infrastucture (e.g. network) related? Did you get the billing issue resolved in the end?

Which provider did you move to?

[vaserv]

I'm sorry you weren't happy with your hosting expiernce with us as we do aim to give the best possible support/performance. If I remember you hired your own admin to work on the server who seemed to routinely change the root password we had on file making it difficult to get in even when our monitoring did pick up issues. Looking over your ticket history I do however agree there were some things which weren't handled well and a lot of those issues have been addressed internally so I feel that part of your review is fair. With the cancellation our TOS clearly state that you need to give 10 days notice. You sent an email on the 28th April saying you would like to cancel as you moved to serverbeach to which it was replied "You need to pay this invoice before we can cancel". Your billing date is the 24th of the month and so you asked 4 days AFTER the invoice was raised so I'm sorry but in this case I feel that we acted totally within our rights as we had already paid out for the server

You did put in a ticket asking us to update DNS entries etc where you said you were moving the site but for myself I don't count that as a cancellation as it was support and its more than possible you would keep other sites on the server. I wish you luck with your new hosting company

[gammaRascal]

Thanks for swinging by vaserv and giving us your side of the issue.

It's great when we can get both sides of an issue as it allows future users to make an objective decision with facts from both sides.

I'm not saying anyone was in the wrong or taking sides in any way, here. I'm just saying...

[James Trotta]

It's a little late to say "I'm sorry you weren't happy with your hosting expiernce".

Why was there no apology after these "things which weren't handled well" :confused:

I guess that would include the time my site was down for several days while VASERV support said everything was fine? I spent hundreds of dollars on consulant fees to find that VASERV had the wrong IP for my server (I know it sounds unbelievable).

So after an incredibly long downtime I'm trying to get my consultant root access (VASERV had forgotten the root password again) I get the following email:

Just want to confirm if you want to reset the password for the server having IP address : xx.x.xxx.xxx ?

I respond that this hasn't been my IP since April 2007 when VASERV moved my server to a new location and changed the IP. I give them the IP that they gave me 8 months ago or so when they made the change and asked them to set the DNS correctly.

The next day my site was back online. No apology or explanation from VASERV.

Seriously, if the host doesn't know my server's IP there is really something wrong. I wish that had been the only serious downtime I experienced but it was not. I think it's fair to say that many things were not handled well.

Have these issues been addressed internally? Who knows? I certainly can't recommend that any V7N members here experiement with a host that's still figuring out how to keep a server online.

[vaserv]

Originally Posted by James Trotta

Seriously, if the host doesn't know my server's IP there is really something wrong. I wish that had been the only serious downtime I experienced but it was not. I think it's fair to say that many things

As I said we had internal issues and it was fixed by firing the person responsible at that time and since then things have improved greatly with some decent admin and support staff. Again I'm sorry for the issues however you would of been more than entitled to contact us via phone to discuss this or similar. We have many 1000's of happy clients and in this case we put our hands up and say yes me made a mistake and changes have been made internally and processes fixed to make sure similar things don't happen again

[James Trotta]

I still think it's too late for sorry. Where was the apology when it would have counted? I lost a ton of site revenue, spent lots on consulting fees since VASERV support was useless, and still paid $225 for the month to VASERV despite the ridiculous downtime. Traffic to my site still hasn't completely recovered. People see my site down for a week and it screams amateur - some won't come back. Plus I lost way more hair than normal that week.

So why am I not surprised that when I cancel my account (and yes I followed the TOS) VASERV wants another $225 for the next month in which I won't be using the server? Then when I don't want to pay for a crappy service I won't even be using, VASERV threatens to continue billing me for the server I no longer use and take legal action? Wasn't shutting my dedicated server down for a week and costing me a bunch of money stressful enough?

Probably a clever business move since most people like myself can't afford and/or don't want the stress of a legal battle with a big company. Nice way for a big company to make a little extra profit I guess.

Anyway, VASERV won. They got as much money from me as possible.

Good at collecting money, not so good at providing the service people are paying for. Good server choice if you can't get enough anxiety and early hair loss I suppose. Otherwise try a web host that doesn't have a history of screwing people and then threatening them with legal action.

Originally Posted by vaserv

As I said we had internal issues and it was fixed by firing the person responsible at that time and since then things have improved greatly with some decent admin and support staff. Again I'm sorry for the issues however you would of been more than entitled to contact us via phone to discuss this or similar. We have many 1000's of happy clients and in this case we put our hands up and say yes me made a mistake and changes have been made internally and processes fixed to make sure similar things don't happen again

[vaserv]

All we asked was you to pay the last invoice on which we got charges from already paying the datacenter. All we ask from customer wanting to cancel is to email our billing dept 10 days before cancellation. In your case you didn't do this so as such we very politely to pay the bill. Our exact response was

"Would you be please able to let us know ticket reference ID(s) in which you requested server to be terminated? It can be that we are overseeing something and in such case we will be happy to terminate your account and server without questions asked.

However, by going through your emails I can see that you requested a domain name server change on 24th April but never confirmed to our technician's question so the ticket was closed. You also opened another ticket on 28th regarding server cancellation, in which Rus informed you that we ask you to first take care of pending invoice before we can accept termination request. Unfortunately we did not receive your response to it, nor was invoice paid so that ticket went closed as well.

You are welcome to provide anything you have on this, and as said if you indeed followed our terms and posted valid termination request on time with all dues cleared prior to it, we will cancel your server without questions asked. However since we already paid all our expenses regarding your server, and the service was provided to you we will need to pass this last invoice and again we can work it out so that you do not pay for upcoming period, which you should pay according to our terms, if the payment is received by the end of the day today.

We are looking forward to your reply. Thank you for taking time to read this email."

From your point of view I believe you feel that when you sent a SUPPORT ticket in that said

" Is there a way for me to edite DNS entries for <your site>? I need
to transfer the site soon (moving to a different server) and at that time
will want the TTL down to 900 for all DNS entries related to
<your site>"

That would count as a cancellation request which I strongly believe most people on here wouldn't. All I saw you asking was that you wanted to relocate a single site to a new server. Our terms are at http://a2b2.com/terms and they state (in plain english)

"Should you wish to cancel this service we must receive notice 10 days before you billing date in an email to billing@a2b2.com. Cancellation will be processed immediately unless otherwise requested. No other forms of cancellation will be accepted"

We didn't get that to the billing dept of the company so it wasn't processed. As for downtime etc you would of been more than welcome to make a claim under the SLA, again which is documented in the TOS. Beyond again offering my apologies I don't see what further comment we can really make on this thread.

Also we aren't "big" business as you can ring myself, the owner, on the phone at any time. We have a total of 10 staff within the company so I would say we are a small business (medium at best) and we are just following a contract we have with our clients. The bottom line is that if you had followed our simple procedure to cancel then there would be none of these issues. You didn't follow the procedure so we asked for you to pay funds that were due.

[~ServerPoint~]

It seems that sometimes forums are the best place where we met or customers.

[James Trotta]

I don't feel like reliving this painful argument all over again. But for the record I did notify billing that I would be canceling my account. I did follow the TOS.

And if you call threatening to sue someone being polite, no wonder I wasn't happy with the customer service.

Originally Posted by vaserv

All we asked was you to pay the last invoice on which we got charges from already paying the datacenter. All we ask from customer wanting to cancel is to email our billing dept 10 days before cancellation. In your case you didn't do this so as such we very politely to pay the bill. Our exact response was



From your point of view I believe you feel that when you sent a SUPPORT ticket in that said


That would count as a cancellation request which I strongly believe most people on here wouldn't. All I saw you asking was that you wanted to relocate a single site to a new server. Our terms are at http://a2b2.com/terms and they state (in plain english)



We didn't get that to the billing dept of the company so it wasn't processed. As for downtime etc you would of been more than welcome to make a claim under the SLA, again which is documented in the TOS. Beyond again offering my apologies I don't see what further comment we can really make on this thread.

Also we aren't "big" business as you can ring myself, the owner, on the phone at any time. We have a total of 10 staff within the company so I would say we are a small business (medium at best) and we are just following a contract we have with our clients. The bottom line is that if you had followed our simple procedure to cancel then there would be none of these issues. You didn't follow the procedure so we asked for you to pay funds that were due.

[Natural Elements]

I agree with James,

Some hosting companies are trying to charge you fees, or in this case put a TOS so you are not free to leave when you want if they provide poor services. Because whatever services they provide YOU MUST PAY.

Quick and easy money made from webmasters, that's a shame.

[davidcognite]

Hi James, thanks for posting your review - it's really useful to hear how other people have got on with a company I've had problems with - especially since they're so restrictive on what they allow on their own forums. (I put a bad, but truthful, review up there and they deleted it)

I can't say that I've had problems canceling my account & Rus has always been honest in admitting they've provided me awful service and have been very prompt in issuing refunds where refunds are due. However my positive experiences over the past 6 months stop there. I had a VPS hosted with them that is now being moved elsewhere.

Here's a review I've posted elsewhere:
Hi all,

Just thought I'd pass on my experiences with A2B2/VAServ to avoid anyone having similar experiences.

I've been a customer of theirs for several years now and the past 6 months have been awful. It started with them canceling a DNS hosting service they offered with out notification, leaving all my sites inaccessible for two weeks. Since then I've lost track of the number of times that my DNS records have been inaccessible. There have also been problems with their firewall denying access to my box, causing another day of downtime.

In fixing these issues, the support staff have continually shown lack of knowledge of the tools they're working with (from not knowing how to send out important announcements to people on their mailing list, to pressing the wrong button and overwriting my zone file with the default). Speaking to Rus has usually resulted in the source of the problem being located, but then it can take days for his support team to then understand what needs doing. The worst support was when Rus and team ignored requests for access to my zone files for months and then demanded I paid them an extra month's worth of hosting or they would switch of my site instantly. I have tried to find out if this was an isolated case or if others were having similar problems, but Rus refuses to allow me to discuss this issue on their own forums - presumably he know how many people have been affected and doesn't want that many people complaining publicly.

It's a real shame - it was a great company when I started hosting with them, however I think it's now grown too big for it's boots and can't provide the same level of service and reliability it used to.

[James Trotta]

In many ways our experiences seem similar David - support was beyond useless. Downtime was extreme. I mean truly pathetic. And asking for an extra month's pay seems par for the course as well.

[John Scott]

Originally Posted by James Trotta

I still think it's too late for sorry. Where was the apology when it would have counted?

+1

Easy for a host to apologize when the dirt goes public.

[Parminder]

James Trotta Thanks for posting your experience here. registered here just to say thanks.

I saw a thread on webhostingtalk.com saying good things about a2b2.com as I am looking for a box in UK to host a UK targeted site and I did like what was on offer at a2b2.com and then I did a search on google "a2b2" and this thread is at NO2 here in India.

All I wanted to say is that had I been in place of a2b2.com I would have cancelled the last invoice without a question given the fact that the service has been pathatic.

Reading your post alone didint change my mind for not going with a2b2.com for a nex box.. it was a2b2.com's response and as the guy is still stuck up with his decision to keep your money which a2b2.com doesnt really deserve... It was an instant put off.

Thanks to v7n.com for providing such an excelent platform and working on SEO and getting good ranks on google and helping to spread the word.

All in all... Keeping you $225 has cost a2b2.com thousands of $$$$ worth of business from me alone.

I have taken a box from another hosting company in UK who actually know how to deal with their customers and dont get greedy for a mere $225.

Thanks
Parminder

[James Trotta]

You're welcome - I am glad that you won't make the same mistake I did.

Originally Posted by Parminder

James Trotta Thanks for posting your experience here. registered here just to say thanks.

I saw a thread on webhostingtalk.com saying good things about a2b2.com as I am looking for a box in UK to host a UK targeted site and I did like what was on offer at a2b2.com and then I did a search on google "a2b2" and this thread is at NO2 here in India.

All I wanted to say is that had I been in place of a2b2.com I would have cancelled the last invoice without a question given the fact that the service has been pathatic.

Reading your post alone didint change my mind for not going with a2b2.com for a nex box.. it was a2b2.com's response and as the guy is still stuck up with his decision to keep your money which a2b2.com doesnt really deserve... It was an instant put off.

Thanks to v7n.com for providing such an excelent platform and working on SEO and getting good ranks on google and helping to spread the word.

All in all... Keeping you $225 has cost a2b2.com thousands of $$$$ worth of business from me alone.

I have taken a box from another hosting company in UK who actually know how to deal with their customers and dont get greedy for a mere $225.

Thanks
Parminder

[pontarae]

A really informative thread here. I do wish more people would speak up about bad support from vendors, and, that vendors would respond as appropriate.

This kind of dialog can only be productive for the online community.