13 days of downtime, courtesy of ipowerweb.com
No one cares about these kinda sob stories, but I want to share how deeply I hate the incompetent morons who run ipowerweb.com.
Starting back in 2003, I began hosting several domains with ipowerweb, this site included. Uptime was spotty but tolerable, service sucked, and their implementation of cpanel was buggy, but what do you expect for $7.95/month, right? The sites are relatively low traffic, so it didn’t really matter.
What follows is a chronicle of chats I had with the ipowerweb support staff during 13 days of downtime between May 4th and May 17th, 2007.
May 4 2007– I started having problems with all of the subdomains hosted at lurid. I let it sit for about a day or two, thinking ipowerweb was just being ipowerweb and sucking, but would resolve the issue eventually.
May 7 2007– 3 days of downtime. I contact IPW via their online support chat, and am told to wait 24 hours.
Mack P.: Thank you for contacting IPOWER Live Chat. How can I help you?
Mack P.: Hello Christopher.
Christopher: one of my sites, www.lurid.org is not responding.
Mack P.: I’ll be happy to assist you.
Christopher: i’m trying to get to http://www.lurid.org/mt.cgi, it times out
Christopher: also trying to log into the control panel just hangs
Christopher: i’m on host17
Mack P.: The issue that you are reporting is a known issue as we are currently migrating accounts to new servers. Our System Admins are working on this issue trying to get it resolved ASAP. Please another 24 hours to resolve the issue.
May 10 2007– 6 days of downtime. 72 hours later, still can’t connect to my site and my subdomains are hosed. I contact them again. I’m told the issues would be resolved in 6-12 hours.
Shawn S.: Thank you for contacting IPOWER Live Chat. How can I help you?
Christopher: hi
Shawn S.: I’ll be happy to assist you.
Christopher: i’m having trouble with a domain of mine not redirecting to the new server
Shawn S.: Ok
Christopher: i was just moved from host17 to a new site
Shawn S.: ok
Christopher: the two domains in question are lurid.org and [removed].com
Christopher: if you ping lurid.org it resolves to 66.235.222.16
Shawn S.: Are you facing problem with your addon domain names
Christopher: [removed].com resolves to 66.235.219.117
Christopher: [removed].com is not resolving to the new host
Christopher: it’s still pointing to host17
Shawn S.: Ok , let me check it
Christopher: k
Shawn S.: Thank you for waiting. I’ll be with you in just a moment.
Christopher: k
Shawn S.: I will be right with you.
Christopher: k
Shawn S.: Can you please provide me the new vdeck login URL ?
Christopher: lurid doesn’t use vdeck, it uses cpanel.
Shawn S.: Thank you for waiting. I’ll be with you in just a moment.
Shawn S.: We need to investigate your issue, can you please provide me your contact email address we will investigate it and will get it resolved.
Christopher: [email omitted]
Christopher: do you have any ETA for [removed].com getting redirected to the appropriate host?
Shawn S.: I’m really sorry for the inconvenience this has caused. It should get resolved within next 6-12 hour at the most.
Christopher: perfect, thank you
May 11 2007– 7 days of downtime, starting to get pissed and am losing patience with these wingnuts. At this point, I’m looking at pair.com for hosting, and thinking about canceling my account. I’m told it will be another 24 hours.
Ralph R.: Thank you for contacting IPOWER Live Chat. How can I help you?
Christopher: hi.. i’m having a problem with a site of mine
Christopher: recently, i was transferred from host17 to a new site
Ralph R.: Hello Christopher
Ralph R.: I’ll be happy to assist you.
Christopher: now, my main site www.lurid.org resolves to IP 66.235.222.16
Christopher: another domain hosted on the same package ([removed].com) resolves to IP 66.235.219.117 which i believe is the old server
Christopher: the result is when i make changes to [removed].com, they are not visible b/c it is still resolving to the old hostname
Ralph R.: So as I understand you are having problem with your site when you upload your files
Christopher: wtf?
Christopher: the edits i make to [removed] are not visible bc it is resolving to the old IP of host17, not the new IP where lurid.org is hosted now
Christopher: the problems started a week ago when you guys moved me to a new server
Christopher: go to http://www.[removed].com
Christopher: then go to http://www.lurid.org/[omitted]/index.html
Christopher: http://www.[removed].com SHOULD be pointing to the same host at lurid.org is, but it’s not
Christopher: it seems to be a DNS issue
Ralph R.: Let me check
Christopher: k
Ralph R.: OK Chirstopher i have checked your issue and the problem seems to be that the migrations of the server have not yet been fully completed
Christopher: [removed].com has been down for a week now
Christopher: how much longer will this take?
Ralph R.: For quality’s sake, our admin’s tend to spend a slightly longer time investigating the root cause of an issue to completely fix it, rather than merely applying a temporary/unsafe fix.
Christopher: i generate revenue based on getting [removed].com updated, and it has been down for a week now
Christopher: i was told on Sunday that it would be done in 24 hours
Christopher: yesterday i was told it would be fixed in 6-12 hours
Ralph R.: Our apologies for the downtime, we’ve taken every possible step to ensure that this does not happen again
Christopher: happen again?? it hasn’t even been FIXED yet
Christopher: can you please break out of “cut and paste” mode and give me a real answer?
Ralph R.: Yes Christopher i apologize for the inconvenience but as your server is being migrated to a new server,
Christopher: Do you think it is a reasonable for you to tell me “Your site has been down for a week and I have no idea how much longer it will be down.” Is that acceptable?
Ralph R.: The migration process is currently worked on and will be resolved fully, but i assure that once the process is completed you would not face the problem that you have had in the future
Christopher: I need to know how long this will take. If it’s going to take another week, I’m dumping you people for pair.com.
Christopher: this is freaking ridiculous.
Ralph R.: No Christopher I am very sure that you will not have to wait too long for this
Ralph R.: Once the migration is completed you will not have such problems
Christopher: How much longer should I wait before giving up?
Christopher: It has been a week already.
Christopher: Just give me a number. Another week? 2 weeks?
Ralph R.: Please allow us another 24 hours to resolve the issue.
Christopher: great. Thank you.
Ralph R.: I am sure that the issue will be resolved as early as possible
May 13 2007– 9 days of downtime. Nothing has changed. I’m pissed at these bitches now. They evidently don’t appreciate being cursed at. lol
Jason R.: Thank you for contacting IPOWER Live Chat. How can I help you?
Christopher: hi
Christopher: one of my sites is down
Christopher: www.[removed].com
Christopher: hello?
Christopher: hello??!
Jason R.: Thank you for waiting. I’ll be with you in just a moment.
Jason R.: Hi
Jason R.: I’ll be happy to assist you.
Jason R.: So you are having problem accessing the site : http://[removed].com
Christopher: yes
Jason R.: Let me check it
Christopher: k
Jason R.: Thank you for holding. I appreciate your patience.
Jason R.: We have checked your account and The server on which you are hosted is having some issues and the system admins are working on the server to get it resolved.
Christopher: this site has been down for 7 days
Christopher: i was told last sunday that it would be up in 24 hours
Christopher: i was told tuesday that it would be up in 6-12 hours
Christopher: i wsa told Thursday that i would be up in 24 hours
Christopher: with all due respect, go fuck yourself
Christopher: tell me when my fucking site will be fixed please
Jason R.: Please be sure it will be resolved within next 12 hours from now
Jason R.: We are sorry for the inconvenience faced by you regarding this matter.
Christopher: break out of cut and paste mode please, i need to talk to a real person
Christopher: listen to me.. This site has been down for NINE DAYS
Christopher: I have been told THREE DIFFERENT TIMES that the problem will be fixed
Christopher: I need to know what is going on with this site. Or I’m canceling this account.
Jason R.: The issue that you are reporting is a known issue as we are currently migrating accounts to new servers. Our System Admins are working on this issue trying to get it resolved as soon as possible, Please be assured that it will be resolved very soon from now.
Christopher: Fuck you
Christopher: let me talk to your manager
Jason R.: You can contact our admins at
Jason R.: Toll free: 1-888-511-4678 option 3
Jason R.: Outside USA: 1-602-716-5398 option 3
Jason R.: I apologize for the inconvenience; however, I will now be ending this chat. Please join us when you are ready to keep the conversation free of that type of language.
May 14 2007– 10 days of downtime. Another “give us 24 hours” conversation.
Rocky T.: Thank you for contacting IPOWER Live Chat. How can I help you?
Christopher: I am trying to manage subdomains and domain pointers from cpanel, but I don’t have a “Domain Admin” icon to click on
Rocky T.: Hi
Rocky T.: I’ll be happy to assist you.
Rocky T.: The server on which your website is hosted - is currently under migration old Vdeck to new Vdeck.
Rocky T.: Due to this process, the site is not online. Once the migration process is done with, the website will
Rocky T.: be back online with a better resolving speed. The server administrator will also be performing a few
Rocky T.: tasks on the web-server in order to achieve this.
Rocky T.: Your patience during this whole time is appreciated immensely.
Christopher: How long will this process take? The site has been down for 8 days now.
Christopher: specifically [removed].com and tipblog.com
Rocky T.: We have an ETA of 24 hours which will resume all the services.
Christopher: Not to be a pain, but I’ve been told my site will be up in 24 hours *four* times now.
Christopher: It has been 8 days.
Christopher: And every time, you tell me it will be up in 24 hours.
Christopher: is there anyone in managment I can talk to about this?
Rocky T.: You can talk to our level two tech in this regards
Rocky T.: Our technical support department is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Rocky T.: Toll free: 1-888-511-4678 option 3
Rocky T.: Outside USA: 1-602-716-5398 option 3
Christopher: alrighty, thank you.
Rocky T.: Thank you for your co-operation.
Rocky T.: Thank you for contacting IPOWER Live Chat.
Rocky T.: Good-bye.
May 15 2007– 11 days of downtime. I’m done with these fuckers now and beginning to wish they all come down with a dread disease of some sort.
Samuel P.: Thank you for contacting IPOWER Live Chat. How can I help you?
Christopher: hi
Christopher: my sites have been down for 8 days and i’m ready to cancel my account
Christopher: unfortunately i just renewed for 3 years
Christopher: can i get my money back if i cancel?
Christopher: it was charged to a credit card, i can contest the charge if i have to.. i’m just wondering what’s the best way to not get charged for a service that doesn’t work
Samuel P.: Christopher In this matter I would suggest you to contact the billing department.
Samuel P.: You can contact our billing department via email or phone.
Samuel P.: Toll free : 1-888-511-4678 option 4
Samuel P.: Outside USA : 602-716-5398 option 4
Samuel P.: E-mail : billing@ipowerweb.com
Samuel P.: Fax number :
Samuel P.: 1-602-307-5438 (Inside USA)
Samuel P.: 011-1-602-3075438 (Outside USA)
Samuel P.: Hours of operation :
Samuel P.: Mon - Fri : 7am - 10pm PST
Samuel P.: Sat - Sun : 7 am - 7 pm PST
Christopher: will the billing department be able to facilitate transferring my domain to a different host?
Samuel P.: Do you want to change your hosting acount?
Christopher: how do i transfer my domain to a new host
Christopher: banannas, pineapple, blue pie quantum mechanics
Christopher: scooby do de da
Christopher: oh sorry, did that interfere with your lame-o AI?
Samuel P.: Please hold on for a sec .
Christopher: maybe now i’ll get transferred to a real person?
Samuel P.: You can transfer your acount.
Christopher: are you a real person, or a bot?
Samuel P.: You need to unlock your domain by logging to the url http://manage.opensrs.net
Samuel P.: And then change the name servers.
Christopher: can you tell me the status of www.[removed].com ?
Christopher: it has been down for like 3 and a half months
Christopher: i’ve been told 4 different times that it would be up in 24 hours
Christopher: should i just give up and cancel my account ?
Samuel P.: The issue has been resolved to a certain amount but still some problem is prevailing . Our Admins are taking utmost care to get it resolved in a perfect way, so that you do not loose any of your data, and also get all the relevant informations restored.
Samuel P.: Please note that we are level 1 techs for Support section here and the Issue is at server end taken care off by our Server Admins. So as such we do not have an estimated time frame but we have been informed that it should be resolved within 24 hours .
Christopher: the relevant informations.. well that’s good. the informations are important
Samuel P.: But I would suggest you to please check it before that as they are on the verge og getting it solved.
Samuel P.: Once the upgradation will get over you will get better speed as well as stable server.
Christopher: so 24 more hours! well cool!
Christopher: *this* 24 hour estimate will be the one that is correct, I bet huh?
Samuel P.: I do understand your concern and apologize for any kind of inconvenience faced by you in this matter.
Christopher: fdf sfa fafsdeefsae
Samuel P.: I understand that I may not have been able to satisfy you to the fullest of your needs.I hope you understand the limitations of the Live Chat and are not too disappointed.
Samuel P.: Please be assured that it will be resolved at the earliest.
Christopher: thanks, have a great night.
A conversation with their billing department, requesting info about canceling my account…..
Rigo R.:Hi, my name is Rigo R.. How may I help you?
You: hi there.. my websites have been down for 11 days and your tech support department is clueless about when they will be restored.
You: as such, i’m in the process of arranging another host for my sites. unfortunately i just renewed my hosting with you for 3 more years.
You: if I cancel, will i be able to get a refund? I am within the 30 day window.
***** Rigo R. Has Disconnected
May 16 2007– 12 days of downtime. I’m incredulous at this point.
Alan K.: Thank you for contacting IPOWER Live Chat. How can I help you?
Christopher: hi.. when i attempt to access my site, www.lurid.org, i get the message “You don’t have permission to access / on this server.”
Alan K.: Hello,
Alan K.: I’ll be happy to assist you.
Christopher: I also get the message “Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request. ”
Alan K.: I’m sorry for the delay. I’ll be right with you.
Christopher: This started happening about 24 hours ago, I don’t think it is related to the cpanel migration errors.
Alan K.: I have checked the website http://lurid.org/
Alan K.: We are facing the problem on the server so that you are facing this problem.
Alan K.: I do understand your concern and apologize for any kind of inconvenience faced by you in this matter.
Christopher: Wait, wait.. let me guess.
Christopher: “We have an ETA of 24 hours which will resume all the services.”
Christopher: Or maybe “Jason R.: Please be sure it will be resolved within next 12 hours from now”
Christopher: Or maybe “Shawn S.: I’m really sorry for the inconvenience this has caused. It should get resolved within next 6-12 hour at the most. ”
Alan K.: We have come across a few criticial server issues during the process of migration due to which the server administrators have had to divert their attention towards resolving those issues. The migration process has not yet been completed. We expect this to be done in the next 24 hours depending on the size of the data of each website.
Christopher: Brilliant. Well “give us 24 hours” take 7 isn’t good enough.
Christopher: Just get my freaking site up long enough so I can migrate to a new hosting service. You people are a joke and make me want to vomit.
Alan K.: Yes, i can understand you have allow too much time to resolve this issue.But at this time we want some time more to resolve it completely.
May 17 2007– Finally, after 13 days of downtime, lurid comes up long enough for me to download backups of everything. I migrate all of my sites to pair.com in one afternoon with no problems whatsoever. Their support staff are incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. Yes, I’m paying more than double what I paid at ipowerweb, but it is worth every penny.
September 8th, 2007 at 3:26 am
it will all work out for you just give it time and it will all fall in to place