Comments on: Dealing with WebCity support http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/ ...or .NET and other stuff that wouldn't fit into Mike's day job. Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:24:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 By: Darren B http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-53026 Darren B Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:19:03 +0000 http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-53026 I had my hosting with WebCity for 3 years (June 2006 to June 2009) and only two weeks ago changed hosts due to the cost getting slightly dearer each renewal. I never noticed any problems with WebCity, but my site is very, very basic. I changed to SmartyHost to save money - wortst thin I ever did! Try 5 days!! (and still waiting) to get an answer for a problem I have with my email. Emails can take 45 minutes to arrive, or even longer! NOT HAPPY! I don't think SmartyHost have a money back period either. I had my hosting with WebCity for 3 years (June 2006 to June 2009) and only two weeks ago changed hosts due to the cost getting slightly dearer each renewal. I never noticed any problems with WebCity, but my site is very, very basic. I changed to SmartyHost to save money - wortst thin I ever did! Try 5 days!! (and still waiting) to get an answer for a problem I have with my email. Emails can take 45 minutes to arrive, or even longer! NOT HAPPY! I don’t think SmartyHost have a money back period either.

]]> By: FONoddy http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-48392 FONoddy Sat, 02 May 2009 10:17:55 +0000 http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-48392 Well, I can tell you that if webcity did review their policy of suspending sites without notice, they certainly haven't changed anything. Our site was suspended twice this week without notice, and no explanation about what the problem was other than "php abuse", which apparently means our site was using up too much cpu. We have no issue with suspenstion of our site if there is an issue with it - all we ask is that we are notified. And we are given assistance in identifying what in our site is overloading their server. Only they know what is affecting their server, but they provide no details. Without support, attempting to identify what (in a fairly vanilla joomla site, using the latest versions of everything) is overloading their server is like hunting in the dark. We moved to webcity with an established site and a good reputation - that reputation is being shot - and we simply can't afford to remain with this mob knowing that our site can be suspended at any time without warning or notification. It is intolerable and extremely unprofessional and their attitude toward their users demonstrates complete contempt. Yes, they are cheap but you definitely get what you pay for. Biggest mistake we made with our site was moving to webcity and I'd recommend looking elsewhere for a host. Well, I can tell you that if webcity did review their policy of suspending sites without notice, they certainly haven’t changed anything. Our site was suspended twice this week without notice, and no explanation about what the problem was other than “php abuse”, which apparently means our site was using up too much cpu. We have no issue with suspenstion of our site if there is an issue with it - all we ask is that we are notified. And we are given assistance in identifying what in our site is overloading their server. Only they know what is affecting their server, but they provide no details. Without support, attempting to identify what (in a fairly vanilla joomla site, using the latest versions of everything) is overloading their server is like hunting in the dark.

We moved to webcity with an established site and a good reputation - that reputation is being shot - and we simply can’t afford to remain with this mob knowing that our site can be suspended at any time without warning or notification. It is intolerable and extremely unprofessional and their attitude toward their users demonstrates complete contempt. Yes, they are cheap but you definitely get what you pay for.

Biggest mistake we made with our site was moving to webcity and I’d recommend looking elsewhere for a host.

]]> By: Jai http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-38201 Jai Sun, 19 Oct 2008 05:07:21 +0000 http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-38201 We operate a small online store via webcity and recently received an email telling us our cpu usage is too high and that they will terminate our account if we dont upgrade our account to a package that is 10 times the price. We have the Pro1 package which includes 15gb space, 100gb of traffic, 100 mailboxes, 50sql db's ect. Now we use 300mb of space, 15gb of traffic, 5 mailboxes, 1 x 4mb SQL database... Some one please explain to me how we are overloading their server? ... We operate a small online store via webcity and recently received an email telling us our cpu usage is too high and that they will terminate our account if we dont upgrade our account to a package that is 10 times the price.

We have the Pro1 package which includes 15gb space, 100gb of traffic, 100 mailboxes, 50sql db’s ect.

Now we use 300mb of space, 15gb of traffic, 5 mailboxes, 1 x 4mb SQL database…

Some one please explain to me how we are overloading their server? …

]]> By: Andy http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-36906 Andy Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:05:38 +0000 http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-36906 Before taking out hosting with Webcity, I would strongly recommend reading their <a href="http://hosting.webcity.com.au/terms_hosting.php" rel="nofollow">Terms and Conditions</a> which they take very seriously and implement very literally. For example: <blockquote>Webcity Australia reserves the right to refuse or discontinue service to anyone at our sole discretion without notice. Your access to all or part of our services may be denied without notice if Webcity believes any of the terms and conditions have been violated. </blockquote> This has happened to me, while hosting a very basic site, and no reason has been given. I suppose, ultimately, it all comes down to "you get what you pay for". With Webcity you get basic online storage and web hosting but no customer service. Their technical staff are unskilled and incompetent and you risk your website being brought offline, with no reason and without notice. If you're happy to take this risk then Webcity are appropriate for your needs. Otherwise, I would recommend you review Mike and others' recommendations for other hosts. Before taking out hosting with Webcity, I would strongly recommend reading their Terms and Conditions which they take very seriously and implement very literally.

For example:

Webcity Australia reserves the right to refuse or discontinue service to anyone at our sole discretion without notice. Your access to all or part of our services may be denied without notice if Webcity believes any of the terms and conditions have been violated.

This has happened to me, while hosting a very basic site, and no reason has been given.

I suppose, ultimately, it all comes down to “you get what you pay for”. With Webcity you get basic online storage and web hosting but no customer service. Their technical staff are unskilled and incompetent and you risk your website being brought offline, with no reason and without notice. If you’re happy to take this risk then Webcity are appropriate for your needs. Otherwise, I would recommend you review Mike and others’ recommendations for other hosts.

]]> By: IanT http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-34712 IanT Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:19:43 +0000 http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-34712 I am also having poblems with Webcity, I signed up with them many months ago and had problems getting access to sites up to 4 days after delegation. On contacting them eventually by phone as emails did not work, was told there must have been problems with the dns entries and could I send an email with all my domain names and they would manually add them for me. I did this and all worked great but when I tried to add subdomains I had the same problems. I did not want to continue to do this so I arranged an account with Servage, although a lot slower acces than Webcity at least I was able to set up my domains, add subdomains and was normally on line within 12 hours. As I still kept my Webcity account for one site that only directs people to my other sites I decided I would try again to add a domain that I recently aquired, but it looks again that I cannot add a domain without sending them an email and getting them to do it as it has now been over 48 hours since delegation to them and over 24 hours since sending the first email to them and of course I have not received any reply other than the automated reply with my ticket number, so I would also say that Webcity is not a great hosting company. Unfortunatley in Australia there are no "cheap" hosting companies that give you a good service, even Servage at least reply to emails very quickly and resolve problems much much quicker that Webcity. Well thats my say on the subject. Ian I am also having poblems with Webcity, I signed up with them many months ago and had problems getting access to sites up to 4 days after delegation. On contacting them eventually by phone as emails did not work, was told there must have been problems with the dns entries and could I send an email with all my domain names and they would manually add them for me. I did this and all worked great but when I tried to add subdomains I had the same problems. I did not want to continue to do this so I arranged an account with Servage, although a lot slower acces than Webcity at least I was able to set up my domains, add subdomains and was normally on line within 12 hours. As I still kept my Webcity account for one site that only directs people to my other sites I decided I would try again to add a domain that I recently aquired, but it looks again that I cannot add a domain without sending them an email and getting them to do it as it has now been over 48 hours since delegation to them and over 24 hours since sending the first email to them and of course I have not received any reply other than the automated reply with my ticket number, so I would also say that Webcity is not a great hosting company. Unfortunatley in Australia there are no “cheap” hosting companies that give you a good service, even Servage at least reply to emails very quickly and resolve problems much much quicker that Webcity.
Well thats my say on the subject.
Ian

]]> By: Jason http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-34092 Jason Mon, 14 Jul 2008 02:03:22 +0000 http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-34092 I have also run into problems with Webcity support. Once again my experience is that they are fine until something goes wrong, then nothing is their fault. I have had an error dealing with MYSQL timeouts that every piece of documentation on the web (even MYSQL themselves) says is a hosting issue and needs the timeouts to be increased. Webcity however is intimating that it is not their problem and that it is mine - somehow. I have had 2 other problems that did not get fixed (as their support told me it was nothing to do with them) but magically went away after I contacted support. If my current problem is not fixed quickly I will be looking elsewhere and I would recommend that anyone reading this not go with Webcity. They just lack integrity and in a field where many of their uses know little of the internal workings, this is completely unacceptable. I have also run into problems with Webcity support. Once again my experience is that they are fine until something goes wrong, then nothing is their fault.

I have had an error dealing with MYSQL timeouts that every piece of documentation on the web (even MYSQL themselves) says is a hosting issue and needs the timeouts to be increased.

Webcity however is intimating that it is not their problem and that it is mine - somehow.

I have had 2 other problems that did not get fixed (as their support told me it was nothing to do with them) but magically went away after I contacted support.

If my current problem is not fixed quickly I will be looking elsewhere and I would recommend that anyone reading this not go with Webcity. They just lack integrity and in a field where many of their uses know little of the internal workings, this is completely unacceptable.

]]> By: MikeFitz http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-33466 MikeFitz Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:02:56 +0000 http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-33466 Hi Chris, It appears they have recently increased their support hours. They would have noticed their customers leaving in droves. Back in March 07, their support hours were 8:30am to 6pm Mon-Fri. My website was taken down some time on a Friday. I noticed this at 19:00 on a Friday evening. I immediately filled out both their online support form and their “Urgent” form. After six hours of no response, I sent a fax to their fax number. My first response from them was on Sunday about 48 hours after the original "take-down". And even then, it wasn't actually a help, just a threat! (see post above) Hi Chris, It appears they have recently increased their support hours. They would have noticed their customers leaving in droves.

Back in March 07, their support hours were 8:30am to 6pm Mon-Fri. My website was taken down some time on a Friday. I noticed this at 19:00 on a Friday evening. I immediately filled out both their online support form and their “Urgent” form. After six hours of no response, I sent a fax to their fax number. My first response from them was on Sunday about 48 hours after the original “take-down”.

And even then, it wasn’t actually a help, just a threat! (see post above)

]]> By: chris http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-33465 chris Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:57:38 +0000 http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-33465 They offer NO telephone support at all outside 8:30am to 6pm Mon-Fri. you say they offer no support out side of them hours but they are open till 10:00 pm and they have email support on sat and sunday??? tell me that??? They offer NO telephone support at all outside 8:30am to 6pm Mon-Fri. you say they offer no support out side of them hours but they are open till 10:00 pm and they have email support on sat and sunday???

tell me that???

]]> By: chris http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-27538 chris Wed, 19 Mar 2008 03:55:43 +0000 http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-27538 webcity SUCKS! TZook them 2 days to respond to the first email I sent them, and then once I repied to the questions they askes has (So far) taken them over 3 days (and counting) to respond back. Do not use them!!!! I will be taking (or at least trying to take) advantage of the money back policy asap. Will see if that works (although I'm wondering now after reading other's issues with this 'company'). webcity SUCKS! TZook them 2 days to respond to the first email I sent them, and then once I repied to the questions they askes has (So far) taken them over 3 days (and counting) to respond back. Do not use them!!!! I will be taking (or at least trying to take) advantage of the money back policy asap. Will see if that works (although I’m wondering now after reading other’s issues with this ‘company’).

]]> By: Andy http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-22383 Andy Sat, 17 Nov 2007 12:42:08 +0000 http://mike.brisgeek.com/2007/03/25/dealing-with-webcity-support/#comment-22383 Nothing changes with these guys. I've had more problems over the year (since my barrage of e-mails at the top) and e-mails are simply ignored. Trying to contact their customer support from London is pointless, I'd spend more in one phone call than hosting for a year. Thanks for the suggestions RE which other hosts are good. My renewal is coming up soon and I'll be leaving Webcity. If you're hosting anything of importance, I would <strong>STRONGLY</strong> recommend you do not host with Webcity. Nothing will turn your clients away faster than an 'ACCOUNT SUSPENDED' notice on your website! Nothing changes with these guys. I’ve had more problems over the year (since my barrage of e-mails at the top) and e-mails are simply ignored. Trying to contact their customer support from London is pointless, I’d spend more in one phone call than hosting for a year.

Thanks for the suggestions RE which other hosts are good. My renewal is coming up soon and I’ll be leaving Webcity.

If you’re hosting anything of importance, I would STRONGLY recommend you do not host with Webcity. Nothing will turn your clients away faster than an ‘ACCOUNT SUSPENDED’ notice on your website!

]]>