# Poor experience with ServerHub



## Virtovo (Jan 10, 2014)

This isn't a name and shame as I have no interest in calling out any providers on their service until I've checked that I am not being unreasonable. It's very easy when you know your own timelines to forget other peoples. I am however looking for some advice if I am being taken for a ride here:  

Opened a sales enquiry with ServerHub on December 20th regarding a server. During the sales chat had asked which RAID card would be delivered with the server as was told the company used LSI 9261s.  

Was told on the 23rd with regards to delivery that "Typically with custom configuration it takes 2 to 3 business days.".  

Payment was made on December 24th for the server.  

Opened a ticket on the 27th to add a few notes to the order regarding OS installation as OS installation was selected during the order. Was told that the server was still a few days away.

Opened a ticket on the 31st to ask for an expected turn up date on the server as wanted to allocate some time setting it up. I made it clear I understood it was the holidays so slippages in delivery could occur. Was told the parts were due in on the day and the server would be delivered either that day or the next.  

The server was delivered two days later on the 2nd without an OS installed. Upon inspecting the configuration it was noted the server had a re-flashed IBM M5014 which differs in specs to the 9261 (half the cache). I opened a ticket on the 3rd informing that this was the case. Was told that they get these cards in bulk and it was the first card they pulled; however they could get the correct card installed.  

I confirmed I was happy for the card to be replaced as the server was not yet usable as they had not allocated an IP range to the server that was requested during the order process. The ticket was updated a few hours later to say that the RAID card was not in stock and they would have to order it in. I was informed they could increase the bandwidth allocation and offer a credit on my next bill if I took the server as is.  

I informed them that I would take the current RAID card as I was not really prepared to wait as the server setup had already extended past the time I anticipated.

Two later the IP ranges were routed to the server (4th Jan) so I started to set it up. Upon configuring the server I performed a number of post config checks and benchmarks to ensure everything was in order. I noticed that sequential writes were about half of what they should have been for the setup ordered.  

I then tried a few various things:  

Configuring my own RAID array (as it had been delivered with RAID 10 configured on the card) Checking the BBU was present, healthy and not on a learning cycle Adjusting write-back to write-through and making other changes in terms of block size and FS alignment.  

All results led to the same poor sequential write performance.  

Opened a ticket on the same day (4th Jan) informing of the poor write performance. Support asked me for expected write speeds. I agreed to re-check configurations via IPMI however in doing so the server became stuck at the RAID BIOS. Upon rebooting the server the IPMI then decided to lock out and I did not have permission to reset the IKVM unit under my user so informed them via ticket. I said I believed the RAID card to be faulty and would leave the server for them to diagnose and would like them to install the originally specified RAID card as I suspected the current card to be faulty.  

They replied the same day (4th Jan) that they would look into it.  

I replied on the ticket two days later (6th Jan) Asking where I stood with this as there had been no reply.  

I received a reply asking if I could chat via Skype. I spoke with them via Skype and they agreed to order the requested RAID card and it would be arriving in a few days. They added this note to the ticket itself.  

I opened a ticket on the 9th to check if the card had been delivered to which there was no reply.  

24 hours later (today) I added to the ticket again asking for an update. We are now approaching 8 hours past that point (during their normal business hours) and still no reply.


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## dcdan (Jan 10, 2014)

I would not continue doing business with them, but that's me. But... imagine RAID card failing later on when you are in production, would you be willing to wait for weeks for a replacement card?


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## Hxxx (Jan 11, 2014)

Who's the company?


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## Virtovo (Jan 11, 2014)

Thanks for the opinions.  It pretty much confirms what I was thinking.  Not going to name the company as I am still in discussions with them (albeit very one sided at the moment, no reply in 48 hours).


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## wlanboy (Jan 11, 2014)

Virtovo said:


> at the moment, no reply in 48 hours).


No-go. Get a refund.

If they don't value your investment (I think it was more than the 40$ a month) and they do not response fast after a quite big mistake - then they just don't care.


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## MannDude (Jan 11, 2014)

Regardless of who the company is, whether their reputation is good or bad... dump them. Take your business to one of the countless of other providers. You have many options. Request a refund, and if the request is not met in a timely manner... then do what you need to do to ensure your money is rightfully returned to you.


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## Virtovo (Jan 11, 2014)

Thanks for all the feedback.  I've now formally requested a refund.  We'll see how that plays out.


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## Virtovo (Jan 13, 2014)

Well it seems like another day will tick by with no response.  Looks like I'll be heading to a Paypal claim/chargeback.  It's a shame it had to come to this.


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## MannDude (Jan 13, 2014)

Virtovo said:


> Well it seems like another day will tick by with no response.  Looks like I'll be heading to a Paypal claim/chargeback.  It's a shame it had to come to this.


I wasn't going to push this before, but at this point I am very curious who the provider is so this thread can serve as a potential warning to those who may wish to order from them in the future. Everything you have mentioned is horrible and not a indicator of a stable business at all.

Please update us.


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## Virtovo (Jan 13, 2014)

MannDude said:


> I wasn't going to push this before, but at this point I am very curious who the provider is so this thread can serve as a potential warning to those who may wish to order from them in the future. Everything you have mentioned is horrible and not a indicator of a stable business at all.
> 
> Please update us.


The company is Serverhub.  I didn't want to publicly call them out as they appeared to be working with me to resolve the issues; however I've now been ignored since Thursday.  Combined with the earlier delivery problems it doesn't leave a lot of confidence for what these guys will be like in production.  Even if we discount the 24 hour 365 day support they boast on their website this is still pretty poor.

Not that it matters; however the server in question is $440/mo


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## drmike (Jan 13, 2014)

$440 a month?!?!?

What exactly were you ordering?  Hefty monthly there and not a billable amount where you wait multiple days in silence.


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## Virtovo (Jan 13, 2014)

drmike said:


> $440 a month?!?!?
> 
> What exactly were you ordering?  Hefty monthly there and not a billable amount where you wait multiple days in silence.


Dual E5, 8 Disks.  I've reached out to Paypal to help me make contact with the company.


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## drmike (Jan 13, 2014)

This was a standard order thing with Serverhub?  Not special order or anything?


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## Virtovo (Jan 13, 2014)

drmike said:


> This was a standard order thing with Serverhub?  Not special order or anything?


They called it a custom configuration; however stated a 2-3 business day delivery.  They advertise Dual E5s on WHT.


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## MannDude (Jan 13, 2014)

Virtovo said:


> They called it a custom configuration; however stated a 2-3 business day delivery.  They advertise Dual E5s on WHT.


Hmm. It's likely that may not have had available stock and a delay was caused by needing to order additional parts, this isn't super uncommon for things like that I s'pose, but you'd still imagine they would have contacted you and kept you in the loop.

Wonder what happened.


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## Virtovo (Jan 13, 2014)

MannDude said:


> Hmm. It's likely that may not have had available stock and a delay was caused by needing to order additional parts, this isn't super uncommon for things like that I s'pose, but you'd still imagine they would have contacted you and kept you in the loop.
> 
> Wonder what happened.


Until Thursday of last week I was working with them on the very same basis (which is why I didn't want to name them as they seemed to be working with me).  Since then I have had no reply whatsoever.  I'm not sure if they are a bad company or not as I've not had experience with them for long enough; however my current experience is poor.  At this stage I'd be hesitant to go into production with them now anyways; imagine being ignored for five days on a ticket when your server is down (I understand billing takes lower priority and is usually Mon-Fri at most hosting companies).  I wish they had a Telephone number so I could just call them to get this all straightened out.


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## trewq (Jan 13, 2014)

I had a service with serverhub for Versatile IT when I used to own it. I have one comment on them. DON'T.


They will mess you around for ages and the problems, network and hardware, just don't stop.


I'll pm you the email address for one of the higher ups. I normally got everything fixed within a day of contacting him.


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## Virtovo (Jan 13, 2014)

trewq said:


> I had a service with serverhub for Versatile IT when I used to own it. I have one comment on them. DON'T.
> 
> 
> They will mess you around for ages and the problems, network and hardware, just don't stop.
> ...


Thanks, email sent.  It's not too long now until the close of business in Phoenix so looks to be another day with no reply.  Either everyone there has vanished or I'm being ignored intentionally.  Either way it's not a nice feeling.


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## BBGN-Doug (Jan 13, 2014)

I'm just surprised by the lack of communication.  Even if they were out of stock they should have been honest so if the client needed to move on they could have or at least planned accordingly.


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## mitsuhashi (Jan 14, 2014)

Wow, I'm surprised ServerHub's that bad, as their emails sound pretty professional.

Glad to know beforehand that I should stay far away from the place.


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## Virtovo (Jan 14, 2014)

I contacted Paypal asking where I stood and explained the situation.  They decided to open a claim themselves on that basis.

Still no word from Serverhub, that's 5 days now (3 business days) without any kind of contact.


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## GoodHosting (Jan 14, 2014)

Hopefully you get something back from them, it's be a shame for this to turn into another Zeneva.


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## BBGN-Doug (Jan 14, 2014)

Virtovo said:


> I contacted Paypal asking where I stood and explained the situation.  They decided to open a claim themselves on that basis.
> 
> Still no word from Serverhub, that's 5 days now (3 business days) without any kind of contact.


No phone number to call?


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## Virtovo (Jan 14, 2014)

BBGN-Doug said:


> No phone number to call?


It appears not.  Still no word from them.  Yesterday I emailed the CEO directly and moved the status of my ticket to critical. Just spoke to Paypal.  If they don't reply to them I'll get a refund after 10 days.  It's a real shame the money is tied up for so long.

Not sure if a WHT thread would grease the wheels.  I've always been against those kind of threads, but when a company refuses to reply what else do you do?


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## kaniini (Jan 14, 2014)

Virtovo said:


> It appears not.  Still no word from them.  Yesterday I emailed the CEO directly and moved the status of my ticket to critical. Just spoke to Paypal.  If they don't reply to them I'll get a refund after 10 days.  It's a real shame the money is tied up for so long.
> 
> Not sure if a WHT thread would grease the wheels.  I've always been against those kind of threads, but when a company refuses to reply what else do you do?


While I am not a fan of those kinds of threads, and question the efficacy of them (do people really read WHT when making hosting decisions -- my own data shows: not really), it may indeed get a response.


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## Aldryic C'boas (Jan 14, 2014)

Judging if a post on WHT would get a reaction can basically be determined by checking past threads folks have opened about the company.  If they came in and resolved the situation, one way or another, then it may be worth a shot.



kaniini said:


> While I am not a fan of those kinds of threads, and question the efficacy of them (do people really read WHT when making hosting decisions -- my own data shows: not really), it may indeed get a response.


Generally true.  Although quite amusingly (if a bit off topic), one of our better clients learned about us from one of our negative reviews on WHT.  When we were first setting up the guy's account, he told me "I heard about you guys from a nasty review one of your clients posted.. but after reading the thread and seeing that even other companies, your competition, were stepping in to defend you, I knew I had to give you a try".


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## Virtovo (Jan 14, 2014)

At very least the WHT thread will give some info to those those who are researching Serverhub in the future.

Is it possible to get the Thread title changed to "Poor experience with Serverhub" the first paragraph of the opening post remove and 'company' changed to Serverhub in the first line of the second paragraph?


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## MannDude (Jan 14, 2014)

Virtovo said:


> At very least the WHT thread will give some info to those those who are researching Serverhub in the future.
> 
> Is it possible to get the Thread title changed to "Poor experience with Serverhub" the first paragraph of the opening post remove and 'company' changed to Serverhub in the first line of the second paragraph?


Your thread, your wish.

It should also be noted that because ServerHub is an advertiser here, I have a contact of theirs on Skype. I've linked my contact to this thread since they're not active in the community to let him know about the issue. I've not heard back either. :unsure:


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## Virtovo (Jan 14, 2014)

MannDude said:


> Your thread, your wish.
> 
> It should also be noted that because ServerHub is an advertiser here, I have a contact of theirs on Skype. I've linked my contact to this thread since they're not active in the community to let him know about the issue. I've not heard back either. :unsure:


Thanks,  I have both John and Ryan on Skype.  Not seen them online since before thursday.  Their last WHT login was Thursday also which is when all communication ceased.  I hope everything is OK with them.


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## BBGN-Doug (Jan 14, 2014)

Virtovo said:


> It appears not.  Still no word from them.  Yesterday I emailed the CEO directly and moved the status of my ticket to critical. Just spoke to Paypal.  If they don't reply to them I'll get a refund after 10 days.  It's a real shame the money is tied up for so long.
> 
> Not sure if a WHT thread would grease the wheels.  I've always been against those kind of threads, but when a company refuses to reply what else do you do?


That's unfortunate.  You have to do what you have to do sometimes.  At the end of the day you're paying for something that you're not receiving.  



kaniini said:


> While I am not a fan of those kinds of threads, and question the efficacy of them (do people really read WHT when making hosting decisions -- my own data shows: not really), it may indeed get a response.


I think people generally look and read the reviews, but at the end of the day, WHT shoppers are generally after the most attractive offer.  They would be willing to forgo a little reputation for a few saved $'s.



Virtovo said:


> Thanks,  I have both John and Ryan on Skype.  Not seen them online since before thursday.  Their last WHT login was Thursday also which is when all communication ceased.  I hope everything is OK with them.


Interesting, keep us posted with this.


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## drmike (Jan 14, 2014)

Virtovo said:


> Thanks,  I have both John and Ryan on Skype.  Not seen them online since before thursday.  Their last WHT login was Thursday also which is when all communication ceased.  I hope everything is OK with them.


No CC here 

Perhaps CC got them


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## Virtovo (Jan 15, 2014)

Well, finally got replies:

 

Posted on: 14 January 2014 06:05 PM 

hello Susan 

 

I am sorry that this was not responded to. This raid card is at our datacenter and this should have been scheduled. I am having Tyler and Brent confirm this. 

 

I will personally keep track of this. 

 

We will need you to confirm we can take the box offline 

 

________________

 

John B | ServerHub® Customer Support

Dedicated Servers, Cloud VPS and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

ServerHub® | superior network & server technologies

 

 

**********************************

Like us on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/ServerHub

**********************************

Use of our services constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement 

which may be located here: http://www.serverhub.com/help/policies/useragreement.php

 

© Serverhub is a registered service mark of Eonix Corporation in the United States, Canada and other countries.

    

John B

Staff

Posted on: 14 January 2014 06:27 PM 

Susan 

 

It appears this ticket blackholed as being on hold in our system 

 

I sincerely apologize. This is absolutely not a reflection of our business and we will absolutely make this right for you. 

 

Tyler, chase and Brent will be updating you further and I will be reaching out on Skype to you in a few hours 

 

________________

 

John B | ServerHub® Customer Support

Dedicated Servers, Cloud VPS and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

ServerHub® | superior network & server technologies

 

 

**********************************

Like us on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/ServerHub

**********************************

Use of our services constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement 

which may be located here: http://www.serverhub.com/help/policies/useragreement.php

 

© Serverhub is a registered service mark of Eonix Corporation in the United States, Canada and other countries.

    

Tyler E

Staff

Posted on: 14 January 2014 07:21 PM 

Hello Susan,

 

As John mentioned several times, we do sincerely apologize for this very troublesome inconvenience and I can assure you that this is not how ServerHub conducts business. Due to all the trouble and lateness of the RAID card that was promised upon deployment, I've gone ahead and credited your account $439.99 and another $100 just for the trouble.

 

The scheduled delivery date for the card was today however UPS Customer Service confirmed confusion on the delivery as they tried delivering to the Suite next to us due to poor shipment labeling. Since we had no other deliveries today we could not catch them before they left and marked as "The customer was not available on the 1st attempt. A 2nd attempt will be made." As mentioned we did contact UPS Customer service and it will be delivered tomorrow, 1/15/2014. UPS delivers to us between Noon and 3PM(MST) so as soon as it's delivered and in hand, we'll rush to get the RAID immediately replaced.

 

 

To avoid anything like this from ever happening again, my skype is tylere.serverhub, feel free to add me at your convenience.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

 

 

 

________________

 

Tyler E. | ServerHub® Customer Support & Networking | Level III

Dedicated Servers, Cloud VPS and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

ServerHub® | Superior Network & Server Technologies

 

 

**********************************

Like us on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/ServerHub

**********************************

Use of our services constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement 

which may be located here: http://www.serverhub.com/help/policies/useragreement.php

 

© Serverhub is a registered service mark of Eonix Corporation in the United States, Canada and other countries.

    

Susan

User

Posted on: 14 January 2014 11:05 PM 

I am afraid I cannot even consider moving forward with Serverhub on this. I've been ignored since Thursday, despite opening additional tickets (which should not be blackholed) and emailing you directly John. I've been on Skype seeing if you guys were online in the interim and even tried adding Ryan; however no one responded to my request. 

 

Please could you just issue a full refund. I'll await confirmation this has occurred.


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## drmike (Jan 15, 2014)

Straight up strange.  I expected better from ServerHub.  Unsure what the problem is, but customers shouldn't be ignored like this.


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## Aldryic C'boas (Jan 15, 2014)

Why is it always a Jo(h)?n B? >_>

Seriously though, I hope you don't have to wait another week just to get your refund.


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## Virtovo (Jan 15, 2014)

They have agreed to give a refund and have been extremely apologetic.  I can't say if this is the norm with Serverhub as it is my first experience with them and up until being ignored they were very polite and helpful. 

I'll update this thread when the refund is issued.


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## JohnSH (Jan 15, 2014)

Virtovo,

I wanted to sincerely apologize for the the issues you experienced with some of your recent ticket response time and some other surrounding issues you discussed, it appears there were a few things that didn't transition as it should have.

Those hiccups absolutely do not meet our standards, and we have have already issued a full refund of your account back to your payment method on file, our customers always come first.

At ServerHub we are absolutely committed to providing you with the best experience and we understand you have many choices in the industry. Our customers come above all else.

We have provided you with a response to your email on file related to a previous ticket you have opened, and our previous offer of course still stands.

We would love for you to give us a chance to shine.

If you have any other questions please let us know as we are always here to help


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## Virtovo (Jan 20, 2014)

Just to update, that Serverhub bent over backwards after the initial problems.  The server was fully refunded and I was offered a chance to stay on free of charge in addition to being given personal contact information for key personnel.  I'll unlikely be continuing business with them; however, they have done the very best they can to resolve issues I experienced.


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## drmike (Jan 22, 2014)

Yeah well @Virtovo, looks like GreenValue is now dealing with oddnes / issues / etc. with ServerHub:

[20:19] <JonGV> RAID lost its configuration in the middle of the OS installation
[20:19] <JonGV> The SSD was attached to the RAID card which it shouldn't have been
[20:19] <JonGV> The hardware is faulty
[20:20] <JonGV> This isn't an issue with ServerHub. This is an issue with their remote hands in Dallas
[20:20] <JonGV> Whoever are their remote hands in Dallas needs to be immediately fired on the spot


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## Aldryic C'boas (Jan 22, 2014)

> [20:19] <JonGV> RAID lost its configuration in the middle of the OS installation
> 
> 
> [20:19] <JonGV> The SSD was attached to the RAID card which it shouldn't have been
> ...


Three different excuses in one.  Smells like total BS to me.


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## Virtovo (Jan 23, 2014)

drmike said:


> Yeah well @Virtovo, looks like GreenValue is now dealing with oddnes / issues / etc. with ServerHub:
> 
> [20:19] <JonGV> RAID lost its configuration in the middle of the OS installation
> 
> ...


Oh really?




Virtovo said:


> With my recent experiences I'd strongly suggest reconsidering your Dallas location.






GVH-Jon said:


> We have personal contacts, an assigned account manager, our own internal team of staff (with at least 4 tech staff available AT ALL TIMES around the clock), etc etc so I'm sure we won't be having any issues.





Virtovo said:


> Right.  I won't bother wasting my time typing more.




My dual e5-2620 went offline with them yesterday (no IPMI etc).  I only hope they didn't give it to GVH, as I was still technically trying to troubleshoot the problem with them.


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