What is the best way to deal with a dedicated server provider gone M.I.A.?

May 11, 2006 9:13 AM

What is the best way to deal with a dedicated server provider gone M.I.A.?

I have been hosting two dedicated unmanaged servers with Managed.com for about two years, without any sort of trouble. This past Friday, both servers were "moved" from their NOC in California to a new company, Webhostingplus.com in New Jersey. Apparently Webhostingplus is notorious for pulling such stunts.

I realize there is very little chance of ever seeing my two servers back online. At this point, what should I do? Just call it a day, and move to a new provider?

posted by jackofsaxons to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

I am unaware if you are asking for technical or business advice, but personally, I would:

1) Document this online for later Google-fu (done!)
2) Start disputing/revoking your credit card payment for this ASAP
3) Fire off a BBB complaint and CC the company

Reputation and cash flow are often the best attack vectors for wronged clients. But beyond that, yeah, get a new provider. (* <--mine)
posted by bhance at 9:22 AM on May 11, 2006

If this is a businesss operation where downtime = lost money, I'd start setting up your sites with another more reputable hosting provider that isn't likely to go away. I like Pair.com, SeverMatrix (a division of The Planet or vice versa) and have heard good things about RackSpace.

Was your Managed.com account a special case for Managed.com? Meaning are most or all managed.com accounts off line now? I can think of no sane business reason for Webhostingplus to buy another hosting company and then cut off all their clients.

Have you received any communications from either company informing you of a change in service? Have you tried calling both their tech support #'s? (During times of trouble, phone calls can get answered faster than emails).

Good luck!
posted by justkevin at 10:38 AM on May 11, 2006

i don't have any advice for you, but you may want to keep an eye on this thread and see what other people are doing...


.//chris
posted by hummercash at 10:39 AM on May 11, 2006

Response by poster: My tickets were, at first being answered. Now, nothing. I contacted Webhostplus, attempted to talking to their billing department and was told "your server will be up in five minutes". Numerous people have been getting the run around, but unfortunately I don't think the normal means of resolving a problem with a business will work.

Most of managed.com's customers are still down I believe, some as long as 7 days. There are rumors of a class action lawsuit, but I highly doubt anything will come of it.
posted by jackofsaxons at 11:09 AM on May 11, 2006

Chris: did you read the post? That's the first link in it.

Managed.com has been posting semi-daily updates to their news page. But multi-day downtime is ridiculous. I fly off the handle if one of my or my clients' servers is down for more than 30 minutes.

I'm assuming these servers aren't mission critical for your business, but even so you should be looking into alternative hosting arrangements.

Did you prepay for these servers by check? If so, you may be SOL. If you paid by credit card, you can probably dispute some of the charges.
posted by justkevin at 12:43 PM on May 11, 2006