New M3Server support urgently

[Ms Naughty]

Hi
I'm feeling a bit stressed. My site BrightDesire.com is down, it's hosted at M3Server and I've had no reply to my urgent support ticket for over 2 hours. Don't they have 24 hour support? I realize it's the middle of the night there but I REALLY need someone to look at this.

I started using M3Server because of this board and they still advertise here so I'm hoping to get their attention somehow.

[dantheman]

Originally Posted by Ms Naughty

Hi
I'm feeling a bit stressed. My site BrightDesire.com is down, it's hosted at M3Server and I've had no reply to my urgent support ticket for over 2 hours. Don't they have 24 hour support? I realize it's the middle of the night there but I REALLY need someone to look at this.

I started using M3Server because of this board and they still advertise here so I'm hoping to get their attention somehow.

ms naughty, I Haven't seen a support ticket come though for this. are you still having issues?

Also, add me on ICQ if you use it, I'll help everyway I can. M3 cares about you and your sites

[Useless]

You have some sweet VPS deals there. http://www.m3server.com/vps/index.html

[ecchi]

Originally Posted by Useless Warrior

You have some sweet VPS deals there.

Yeah, but price isn't everything. A cheap server is no good if no one is there when you need them. If you run a business online you need as near as humanly possible to a 100% uptime. However cheap, if you don't have staff on call, or you have a ticket system that doesn't work, or whatever the problem that caused this is, then you don't got a workable business plan.

[Useless]

Originally Posted by ecchi

Yeah, but price isn't everything. A cheap server is no good if no one is there when you need them. If you run a business online you need as near as humanly possible to a 100% uptime. However cheap, if you don't have staff on call, or you have a ticket system that doesn't work, or whatever the problem that caused this is, then you don't got a workable business plan.

I agree, but a single unverified complaint does not make them a bad host. I have had the worst possible hosts and the best (colo-cation). A couple of hours downtime no longer bothers me. I have had my sites down for days, without exaggeration, while an old host was busy sniffing the thumb he had pulled out of his ass.

[dantheman]

Originally Posted by ecchi

Yeah, but price isn't everything. A cheap server is no good if no one is there when you need them. If you run a business online you need as near as humanly possible to a 100% uptime. However cheap, if you don't have staff on call, or you have a ticket system that doesn't work, or whatever the problem that caused this is, then you don't got a workable business plan.

We do work hard to make sure all sites are working properly. There's a reason why no one in the hosting biz has a 100% uptime. it's not possible, as anything that involves humans and machines

but having said that, M3 has been hosting adult and non adult for almost 18 years, great retention, good prices, and always tying to make our product better for our current clients and new ones

Thank you Useless Warrior for the kind remarks

[HC-Majick]

I was with M3 before I shut down all my adult stuff, and they were easily the best host I had been with in the past 10+ years.

[ecchi]

Originally Posted by Useless Warrior

but a single unverified complaint does not make them a bad host.

I agree, but what does that have to do with the price of beef ("price isn't everything. A cheap server is no good if......").

Originally Posted by dantheman

There's a reason why no one in the hosting biz has a 100% uptime. it's not possible

I did not say it was. I said "you need as near as humanly possible to a 100% uptime".

Incidentally, PR wise, in a case like this you should not be relying on people like Useless Warrior and HC-Majick to post "unsolicited" testimonials (particularly since the fact that one of them has not posted since last year, makes the post look decidedly "solicited"). What you should have done, as soon as you had fixed Ms Naughty's problem, was look into why you never received her support ticket, fix that problem then come back here and post, saying what the fault was, how you have fixed it, how you have insured that it will never happen again, and be very contrite and apologetic. (NB "how and what", don't just say "it is fixed it won't happen again" otherwise many people won't believe you).

Simple rule of PR: Even if you are at fault, a genuine mea culpa*, apology and evidence of a fix will usually gain you more customers than the original fault lost you. But whatever the cause of the initial problem, however unavoidable, a simple "no one's perfect, we do our best, so there" with no mea culpa, or worse, with no apology will loose you clients. And being backed up by a testimonial from someone who has left the board and appears to have returned only because you poked them into giving a testimonial makes things worse.

There are reasons why, whatever business you are in, whatever skills you need for that business, the first course you take if you want to succeed is a course in "PR", and the second is a course on "how to be humble".

* mea culpa - admitting to being at fault as a preface to an apology

[dantheman]

I'm still not sure what the original issue was, I haven't heard from Ms naughty and still have no idea what the problem was. Site worked for me and we're still looking into any issues that might have come up and that might come up in the future.
When I do learn what caused this issue, I'll let you and everyone know.

Also, I haven't asked anyone to come into the thread for any reason. I've been doing this since 1998 and have never asked someone to do that. If they come good, if they don't it's cool. I do appreciate it though

I'm online and available for anyone at any time.

[Useless]

Originally Posted by ecchi

Incidentally, PR wise, in a case like this you should not be relying on people like Useless Warrior and HC-Majick to post "unsolicited" testimonials (particularly since the fact that one of them has not posted since last year, makes the post look decidedly "solicited"). What you should have done, as soon as you had fixed Ms Naughty's problem, was look into why you never received her support ticket, fix that problem then come back here and post, saying what the fault was, how you have fixed it, how you have insured that it will never happen again, and be very contrite and apologetic. (NB "how and what", don't just say "it is fixed it won't happen again" otherwise many people won't believe you).

Ecchi, dude, what the hell is your deal? Why this tangent? From a PR point of view, you're coming off as a real dick.

Read what Dan has posted. He didn't fix any issue because he hasn't been made aware of any. When I saw this thread the other night, I clicked through to Ms. Naughty's site and it was up and running. Why does he need to post a mea culpa? He expressed his concern and caring - quite literally. Why was this not enough for you?

Also, add me on ICQ if you use it, I'll help everyway I can. M3 cares about you and your sites

As far as unsolicited testimonials (I have no idea why you chose to put unsolicited in quotes), what the hell is your point? I wasn't even aware of M3 until I saw this thread, so I checked them out. And, since I am going to need space to grow in the coming months, I checked out their VPS plans. They look good, so I said so. No one asked me to post that. I wouldn't go out of my way to bash a board sponsor, as you appear to be doing, nor would I compliment them in a genuine way unless I had experience with them. If Greenie had asked me to post an "unsolicited" testimonial, which he wouldn't do, it would have been something much more substantial than a thumbs up to M3's VPS plans.

And why does it matter that HC-Majick hasn't posted in more than a year? You can be so weird sometimes. A LOT of people lurk the board, yet never post because they feel as if they have nothing to offer to the discussion. They aren't like you and I. We'll give our opinions about anything, no matter how little we may know.

I have no horse in this race, but I feel like you are attacking me for commenting their hosting plans, and now HC because he complimented the services they had provided him in the past. Sometimes, I just don't get you.

[Useless]

I'd like to add that the Ms. Naughty is my friend on Facebook and Twitter.

[ecchi]

Originally Posted by Useless Warrior

but I feel like you are attacking me....

Sorry, that was not intended as an attack on you, no offence meant to you (or anyone).

Actually I was being a bit Machiavellian on M3Server's behalf. Unfortunately dantheman did not pick up the baton I was trying to hand him even after my second post (which I thought was too explicit), apparently it was not explicit enough.

Normally I would not be able to explain as it would kill the point (might have PMed you though), but as dantheman missed the point by a mile (then kept on running) there is no need to hide my intentions, as they are fucked and useless now.

This is an open board, and plenty of casual browsers would have seen this thread. Possibly even some people may have come here from a SE search for hosting. A lot of people would have read Ms Naughty's post and assumed M3 are no good because of it. Although dantheman replied, it was simply to ask Ms Naughty to ICQ him, his post would not have put anyone's mind at rest. Your post, although I'm sure was well meaning, really just looks like a spam post to a casual surfer (actually not just to a casual surfer, it looks spammy period) so will give an even worse opinion of M3 to the casual surfer. So I posted my first post, trying to troll dantheman into posting to defend himself and clear the company's good name.

Sadly it went over dantheman's head, and to make matter's worse HC-Majick threw in his "once a year" post, making the whole thing look like a cover up spamfiest. So I posted my second post. I tried to make it look like a snide side swipe while giving the idiot a road map. Sadly, even when you dangle something in front of dantheman's nose and hit him over the head with a baseball bat to attract his attention, he still runs to the left of salvation.

Since D has dug himself about as deep in the hole as humanly possible, and only stopping world poverty while simultaneously finding a cure for cancer will save him now - there is no point in me continuing to play the bad guy to give him a chance. Hence this post to explain my actions.

[ecchi]

PS: WRT:

Originally Posted by Useless Warrior

Sometimes, I just don't get you.

Until my last post, you weren't supposed to. If you had it would have fucked everything up (as it was, I was wasting my time anyway, so don't know why I bothered).

Goes off muttering.

[HC-Majick]

....Maybe I should have been more clear to help your lack of understanding.
My post was meant more for Useless in his comments about M3 and his experiences with previous hosts.

*and I didn't realize I had to keep up with a specific number of posts to be able to join in a thread while I happened to be browsing a forum I've been a member of for 10 years.

[ecchi]

Originally Posted by HC-Majick

....Maybe I should have been more clear to help your lack of understanding.

It was not my lack of understanding that mattered, but the way your post looked to the casual surfer who knows neither you nor D.

[ecchi]

Originally Posted by HC-Majick

and I didn't realize I had to keep up with a specific number of posts to be able to join in a thread while I happened to be browsing a forum I've been a member of for 10 years.

Sorry, after posting my reply to you, I realised that this line probably means you did not bother to read my previous post before replying to it, did you!

[HC-Majick]

Again, I should have clarified for you, that line was in reference to Useless's pointing ou I hadn't posted in over a year....

[ecchi]

Originally Posted by HC-Majick

Again, I should have clarified for you, that line was in reference to Useless's pointing ou I hadn't posted in over a year....

?????????????????
I'm sorry, I really don't know what you are talking about. I can understand you having a go at me about what I said. But UW was defending your post!

[HC-Majick]

I'm not attacking you or Useless, just throwing a little sarcasm into that post, which obviously got lost in the delivery.

*and now if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to lurking for the next year or so

[dantheman]

well I'm not real sure of what "hole" I dug myself into, I'll say it again!

I haven't heard,seen, know what the original problem was/is. I saw this post and I reacted on it. I'm trying/wanting to help to solve it and make sure it's fix.

as for "surfers" go, I guess you mean webmasters, they are the ones I concern myself about

[dantheman]

Originally Posted by ecchi

Yeah, but price isn't everything. A cheap server is no good if no one is there when you need them. If you run a business online you need as near as humanly possible to a 100% uptime. However cheap, if you don't have staff on call, or you have a ticket system that doesn't work, or whatever the problem that caused this is, then you don't got a workable business plan.

here is your first post on this issue!
The ticket system works, been working for more than a decade, the prices are noway near the cheapest,but we've been doing longer than most and have over 20k sites online.

not sure why you went down this road without knowing m3 or what we do

[ecchi]

Originally Posted by dantheman

not sure why you went down this road without knowing m3 or what we do

Because I is a nice guy.

[ecchi]

Originally Posted by dantheman

as for "surfers" go, I guess you mean webmasters, they are the ones I concern myself about

I meant "surfers to this board" (and more particularly to this thread), most of whom I assume are webmasters.