Server Status

[crocman]

I completely agree with risdevs post word for word as this isnt the first time Ive been left completely frustrated and unsatisfied with support.I apreciate todays a bad day for support but 3-4 days without resolution. Sometimes(most times) I think vortechs support is great, but when its bad its horrid.

[dvanburen]

Originally Posted by Brangwyn

I'm not having your exact issue, but starting to get complaints in from Unix customers now on servers that are also listed as "ok" but they're now getting 403 errors on their sites.
Presumably it's related to either the new vhosts issue, or the earlier reported apache & permissions issue so for now i'll just plan to sit it out and let people get on with fixing it.

Should be all fixed as of a few hours ago. If not please send in a ticket.

[dvanburen]

Originally Posted by crocman

I completely agree with risdevs post word for word as this isnt the first time Ive been left completely frustrated and unsatisfied with support.I apreciate todays a bad day for support but 3-4 days without resolution. Sometimes(most times) I think vortechs support is great, but when its bad its horrid.

Try less than 24 hours. His ticket was nowhere near 4 days old.

[dvanburen]

Originally Posted by risedev

David,
Thank you for the reply. That is much more helpful. At least I know that you guys are aware of multiple problems. Again - being told to "refer to the forums for updates" where I go and see that my problem server is "up and running, no issues" is:
1) Not helpful
2) Irritating
So I know now that you are not simply in "upgrade" mode, but actually in "fire-drill" mode. The problem that I now have is: how long do I wait until I know whether or not you are actually aware of my problem and going to fix it?
You stated that you haven't looked at a trouble ticket in 2 days. The problem that I have is that people ARE looking at my trouble ticket and CLOSING the ticket with ABSOLUTELY NO RESOLUTION. Yet the forums don't mention my problem at all.
So while I can appreciate VORTECH's issues with this MAJOR upgrade. I don't think VORTECH is appreciating MY PORSITION that I have a problem that needs to be addressed at some point in time and by closing my ticket and telling me to refer to the forums that do NOT show my problem does not give me the least amount of confidence that my issue will be addressed at some point.
So I have to tell my client to be patient and pick some arbitrary amount of time before I "hit" Vortech with my problem again. What if I don't nag? With my ticket closed will you ever know I have a problem? I could not bother Vortech for days and get a worse and worse reputation with my client, and potentially lose the client when, in fact, Vortech "thought" they had all the problems resolved.
So again - I understand that you want me to be patient, but how an I to be assured that my problem is "in the list" of things to be fixed and, more importantly, how will I know when it IS fixed so that I can tell my client that their site is working again.
Sorry to slam again David, but I just want to be counted and assured that Vortech cares about ME and MY PROBLEM as well as your MAJOR upgrade. I wil cut you guys some slack when I feel there is a real concern for MY business as well as yours.

I fixed your problem as soon as I fixed the 27 servers worth of unix users that were down.

[Brangwyn]

Originally Posted by dvanburen

Should be all fixed as of a few hours ago. If not please send in a ticket.

All is fine currently, I posted a page back saying things looked ok, many thanks

[risedev]

Originally Posted by dvanburen

I fixed your problem as soon as I fixed the 27 servers worth of unix users that were down.

Do I deserve the attitude? Last time I checked, I was paying VORTECH... Hmmm...

---

OK - so the problem was resolved. The resolution (for anyone that might have the same problem - or simply curious about the thread) was that my FTP user that I originally setup for the account and the protected directory user that I setup had the same name, but different passwords. Now, this is something new because it's been this way for over 2 years. Normally, I would have changed the FTP user's password to match the password my client uses to access the back-end, but the FTP user needs to have stronger passwords (upper/lower case + numeric), so I had to change the protected directory user's password to match the FTP user and now all is well. I sent an email to my clinet and we should be good to go.

I apprecaite the quick work from support, but not the attitude, which leads me to one final point...

---

I want to be very clear about what my issues were over this incident because I think they are very valid and should still be addressed.

I ABSOLUTELY understand the duress that Vortech support was under for the upgrade and I would have cut them ALL the slack they needed IF I was assured that my issue would be dealt with at some point in the future.

When I put in a "trouble ticket", I do not want that ticket closed until the issue is RESOLVED. Simply telling me to "check the forums" is not sufficient when the forums do not list my problem as being worked on. In fact, the forums stated the EXACT OPPOSITE (that my server was running with no issues).

So, had my ticket been left OPEN and I was told to "sit tight - we're working on all the problems and we'll get to yours in due time", I would have been fine.

Or, if the forums had a list of known problems and my problem was listed with a status, then I would have been fine with checking the forums on my own to see when the resolution to my problem was found.

---

So I suppose my biggest problem with this is how the ticketing system is used. It seems that ticket are closed AUTOMATICALLY and the techs at Vortech don't bother to keep the TRUE status of the ticket alive. So when I am given flippant responses to MY real issues and the ticket is automatically closed when there is no resolution, I panic and get upset.

At 1:48am, I got a response from Jef telling me that my problem would get addressed when they had a chance, but other issues were taking priority. That would have been a PERFECT FIRST REPONSE to my ticket (it was the third response). BUT - the problem with Jef's response is that at the bottom of his response, it says that the ticket status is CLOSED. But wait! my problem is not resolved - how can my ticket be closed?!

At 2:18am, David sent me the response that actually FIXED the problem and his response ALSO said the ticket was closed.

---

OK, so I know some are going to say that it's better to automatically close the tickets - otherwise you'll have a TON of open tickets.

I have no problem with tickets automatically CLOSING when tech support actually THINKS they resolved the problem. I will go and test their resolution and I'll reopen the problem if it's not fixed. Fine.

But, when the ticket is closed and NO RESOLUTION has even been attempted, how do I know if Vortech really knows that I still have an issue if I don't keep nagging?

---

It's like we at Burger King and we place our order for food. They have those monitors where the clocks starts ticketing to show how quickly our order is served. Once the order is filled, they stop the clock and the order goes away.

Well, what if they stopped the clock before I got my food? How would I know that they were still filling my order? How would they know there was an order to fill?

---

Most of my problems with Vortech support over the past year has been with this automatic closing of my tickets with no real response to the problem.

Two years ago, I used to simply call Vortech with my problems and they were resolved OVER THE PHONE! I used to rave about the support I got. But then (as with other companies in the past), I would call, and I was consistently being told "put in a ticket". OK... so now I don't call. Now, I go to the forums first and see if my issue has been posted and is being worked on. If I don't find my issue, I put in a ticket.

That's fine, but let keep the status of the ticket TRUE - otherwise the system is just frustrating and unworkable for me.

---

I'm a small hosting provider. I only host those customers that I know by name and by sight. So I don't force my customer's to put in a ticket for support. They call me, I verify the problem, then they know - I am not going to stop until their issue is resolved and they are going to get a phone call or email from me with a resolution to their problem.

I don't mind waiting some reasonable amount of time for Vortech to get to my problem(s). And I don't mind puting in a ticket to get the problem resolved. But what FRUSTRATES the heck out of me is to NOT get a resolution, but se that my ticket is CLOSED.

---

OK, did I make my point?

If VORTECH is going to make ME use the ticket system, then shouldn't I expect VORTECH to use the ticket system properly so that I can TRACK my issue without al of the nagging and flaming?

[Danl]

Originally Posted by risedev

Do I deserve the attitude? Last time I checked, I was paying VORTECH... Hmmm...
---
OK - so the problem was resolved. The resolution (for anyone that might have the same problem - or simply curious about the thread) was that my FTP user that I originally setup for the account and the protected directory user that I setup had the same name, but different passwords. Now, this is something new because it's been this way for over 2 years. Normally, I would have changed the FTP user's password to match the password my client uses to access the back-end, but the FTP user needs to have stronger passwords (upper/lower case + numeric), so I had to change the protected directory user's password to match the FTP user and now all is well. I sent an email to my clinet and we should be good to go.
I apprecaite the quick work from support, but not the attitude, which leads me to one final point...
---
I want to be very clear about what my issues were over this incident because I think they are very valid and should still be addressed.
I ABSOLUTELY understand the duress that Vortech support was under for the upgrade and I would have cut them ALL the slack they needed IF I was assured that my issue would be dealt with at some point in the future.
When I put in a "trouble ticket", I do not want that ticket closed until the issue is RESOLVED. Simply telling me to "check the forums" is not sufficient when the forums do not list my problem as being worked on. In fact, the forums stated the EXACT OPPOSITE (that my server was running with no issues).
So, had my ticket been left OPEN and I was told to "sit tight - we're working on all the problems and we'll get to yours in due time", I would have been fine.
Or, if the forums had a list of known problems and my problem was listed with a status, then I would have been fine with checking the forums on my own to see when the resolution to my problem was found.
---
So I suppose my biggest problem with this is how the ticketing system is used. It seems that ticket are closed AUTOMATICALLY and the techs at Vortech don't bother to keep the TRUE status of the ticket alive. So when I am given flippant responses to MY real issues and the ticket is automatically closed when there is no resolution, I panic and get upset.
At 1:48am, I got a response from Jef telling me that my problem would get addressed when they had a chance, but other issues were taking priority. That would have been a PERFECT FIRST REPONSE to my ticket (it was the third response). BUT - the problem with Jef's response is that at the bottom of his response, it says that the ticket status is CLOSED. But wait! my problem is not resolved - how can my ticket be closed?!
At 2:18am, David sent me the response that actually FIXED the problem and his response ALSO said the ticket was closed.
---
OK, so I know some are going to say that it's better to automatically close the tickets - otherwise you'll have a TON of open tickets.
I have no problem with tickets automatically CLOSING when tech support actually THINKS they resolved the problem. I will go and test their resolution and I'll reopen the problem if it's not fixed. Fine.
But, when the ticket is closed and NO RESOLUTION has even been attempted, how do I know if Vortech really knows that I still have an issue if I don't keep nagging?
---
It's like we at Burger King and we place our order for food. They have those monitors where the clocks starts ticketing to show how quickly our order is served. Once the order is filled, they stop the clock and the order goes away.
Well, what if they stopped the clock before I got my food? How would I know that they were still filling my order? How would they know there was an order to fill?
---
Most of my problems with Vortech support over the past year has been with this automatic closing of my tickets with no real response to the problem.
Two years ago, I used to simply call Vortech with my problems and they were resolved OVER THE PHONE! I used to rave about the support I got. But then (as with other companies in the past), I would call, and I was consistently being told "put in a ticket". OK... so now I don't call. Now, I go to the forums first and see if my issue has been posted and is being worked on. If I don't find my issue, I put in a ticket.
That's fine, but let keep the status of the ticket TRUE - otherwise the system is just frustrating and unworkable for me.
---
I'm a small hosting provider. I only host those customers that I know by name and by sight. So I don't force my customer's to put in a ticket for support. They call me, I verify the problem, then they know - I am not going to stop until their issue is resolved and they are going to get a phone call or email from me with a resolution to their problem.
I don't mind waiting some reasonable amount of time for Vortech to get to my problem(s). And I don't mind puting in a ticket to get the problem resolved. But what FRUSTRATES the heck out of me is to NOT get a resolution, but se that my ticket is CLOSED.
---
OK, did I make my point?
If VORTECH is going to make ME use the ticket system, then shouldn't I expect VORTECH to use the ticket system properly so that I can TRACK my issue without al of the nagging and flaming?

Wow nice RESPONSE, how about next TIME, you don't put that in the wrong category, this was strictly a thread for the server update, if you have a complaint, please direct it to the correct place, otherwise, thank you for your concern and we will address those issues today.

[Clayton]

Do I deserve the attitude? Last time I checked, I was paying VORTECH... Hmmm...

I believe you took that the wrong way, but on the other hand, the hundreds of users on our 27 unix servers pay just as much, if not more than you do.

So I suppose my biggest problem with this is how the ticketing system is used. It seems that ticket are closed AUTOMATICALLY and the techs at Vortech don't bother to keep the TRUE status of the ticket alive. So when I am given flippant responses to MY real issues and the ticket is automatically closed when there is no resolution, I panic and get upset.

Due to the large amount of tickets we receive, the tickets are automatically closed after we respond, yet are immediately reopened once the customer responds.

So I suppose my biggest problem with this is how the ticketing system is used. It seems that ticket are closed AUTOMATICALLY and the techs at Vortech don't bother to keep the TRUE status of the ticket alive. So when I am given flippant responses to MY real issues and the ticket is automatically closed when there is no resolution, I panic and get upset.

At 1:48am, I got a response from Jef telling me that my problem would get addressed when they had a chance, but other issues were taking priority. That would have been a PERFECT FIRST REPONSE to my ticket (it was the third response). BUT - the problem with Jef's response is that at the bottom of his response, it says that the ticket status is CLOSED. But wait! my problem is not resolved - how can my ticket be closed?!

At 2:18am, David sent me the response that actually FIXED the problem and his response ALSO said the ticket was closed.

Last night we still had a few servers to update, and had permissions problems on our unix servers and a few of the NT servers. Our primary goal was to finish the upgrade, so that we could then fix everyones site without a hitch.

If VORTECH is going to make ME use the ticket system, then shouldn't I expect VORTECH to use the ticket system properly so that I can TRACK my issue without al of the nagging and flaming?

We do use the ticket system properly. If you had a very large hosting company such as us, you would understand. We get a very large amount of tickets throughout the day. Just imagine, if we left all the tickets open after we responded to them, we would would have hundreds of tickets OPEN in the support section.

I'm sorry that you look at our support so badly, but in my honest opinion we did a damn good job, especially with all the problems we had faced.

[4uweb]

and how about it? is it solve?

[Clayton]

The problem on NT35 has been resolved.

[Daz]

There are still problems on NT35. I'm going to re-open the ticket.

[Ballyhoo]

Originally Posted by dvanburen

I fixed your problem as soon as I fixed the 27 servers worth of unix users that were down.

I guess I have a different take on these responses.

I expect techs to be curt, grammatically incorrect and to the point communicators. It makes them better techs in my opinion. It is nice to have a tech with real good communication skills but this does take more time and energy when it can be better directed to solving the current crisis. In all honesty they really are communicating in at least two different languages.

I have found the sales and marketing functions of a company to be where the warm fussies reside.
Just my $.02

[crocman]

Originally Posted by dvanburen

Try less than 24 hours. His ticket was nowhere near 4 days old.

No you closed a ticket that wasnt resolved in 24 hours. In fact vortech did that twice. Never resolved the issue, ignored numerous tickets. Sent the ticket to the billing support.I was then informed by billing that the ssl was stuffed on 2 layers because I didnt click submit, why would I need to click submit when the ssl layers and certs were installed and working perfectly prior to the ticket being lodged.
The ticket was first lodged on the 4th feb. Like I said vortech can be really good but this time they let me down 100% and acted in a most unprofessional manner.
I could post the entire ticket history here if you like, but theres no point because Ive resolved the whole thing myself. Had to repurchase a new cert and reinstall a backup of the private key and ssl cert something vortech said was causing errors and then just ignored the whole issue.
I was extremely fortunate no to lose this customer

[haha]

Hey, you guys said all mssql servers are up and running, but I have a customer who cannot connect to mssql6. I'm telnetting to it fine, but for some reason it won't connect through PHP. Any ideas? Thanks.

[Clayton]

Originally Posted by crocman

No you closed a ticket that wasnt resolved in 24 hours. In fact vortech did that twice. Never resolved the issue, ignored numerous tickets. Sent the ticket to the billing support.I was then informed by billing that the ssl was stuffed on 2 layers because I didnt click submit, why would I need to click submit when the ssl layers and certs were installed and working perfectly prior to the ticket being lodged.
The ticket was first lodged on the 4th feb. Like I said vortech can be really good but this time they let me down 100% and acted in a most unprofessional manner.
I could post the entire ticket history here if you like, but theres no point because Ive resolved the whole thing myself. Had to repurchase a new cert and reinstall a backup of the private key and ssl cert something vortech said was causing errors and then just ignored the whole issue.
I was extremely fortunate no to lose this customer

Pull your ticket ID for me please.