Is this poor customer service?

[devineball]

Ya know I apologize to Jarland and whomever else I may have offended or aligned with QPS in my paranoia.

@jarland, Yeah, from further research on QPS I think QPS had a bad run of DDoS there for a bit. I honestly have no idea what that means or how that might effect my situation but I guess they had tightened up their borders a bit (become more secure). And that last statement I made in that email does come off sounding like I was saying fix it or else but the above explanation is what I meant entirely. I just knew this situation was wrong and I was giving them advice to fix it rather than neglect the problem. There system needs to alert people when the order is canceled. I had to submit a ticket to find out my order had been canceled. That in itself is wrong. It needs to be fixed.

I think I'm doing my best broken record impersonation at this point. So I'll give it a rest.

Um, as for anyoe being wrong? Well read above. i'll metaphorize it for you. You go to McDonalds, order a big mac, wait 20 minutes, then WHEN YOU ASK they say no your order was canceled. Sorry, it was just too risky to make that BigMac. (no further explanation and no apology). Ya see, that's not right. So, yeah QUickPacket was in the wrong there. Business-wise, questionably wrong. I don't know the hosting ins and outs. So I guess if a hosts sees a VPN try and host an account then boom that is it. However, they should still make an attempt, for those like me that are honest, to at least not freak us out by giving no explanation to what it is they find that is "high risk" or "flagged". Had QPS just said hey, you tried to order with a VPS IP, unfortunately we cannot complete your order. I would be fine with that. I might suggest they put a little disclaimer up that says disable your VPN when ordering or something like that. But unfortunately, they didn't even bother telling me that the order was canceled. Then they gave a sooooper vague reason as far as I am concerned. Now I got them on record saying that I am a competitor?? Seriously.

So, QPS may be hard workers but they need to work on customer service.

 

[devineball]

KuJoe,

Answer honestly. Do you  believe that posting three links to popular web host review sites is blackmail? Or extortion. You do realize both are criminal offenses. But definitions aside. Here is the breakdown and I think what I have posted still covers that aspect if you follow times and ticket numbers:

Ordered Host

Tried to login. Login Failed.

No email was sent to alert me my order had been canceled.

Submitted ticket.

Got a vague response that something in my order was high risk and the ticket was closed.

I'm upset at this point about having my order canceled without notification.

AND now they are saying something about my order is high risk. (I actually checked to see if my domain was flagged)

I responded to that ticket and got no reply for 1 hour. So I reopened a ticket.

In that message, yes the message that they have and will not post, I simply posted three links of popular web host review sites at the top and asked what part of my order was at risk.

Now do you really, honestly think that posting three links to popular web hosting sites is blackmail or extortion??

If I tell someone I am reporting them to the BBB is that blackmail extortion?

If I get a undercooked BigMac and I tell the manger I am contacting the newspaper about it unless he fixes the burger is that blackmail or extortion??

Honestly why would a host be threatened by someone posting the truth about their service online unless they messed up and didn't resolve it?

Why would they hide the tickets?

Why would they make a false allegation, with no proof, that my VPN, which was orginally just a system error when ordering, is now the VPN  of a competitor??

And the use of the terms blackmail and extortion, aside from being completely wrong by definition and context, is actually being used to make me look like I'm wrong for saying "hey, your screwing me over here and these are outlets to which I can go to let people know you screwed me over". Actually, I wouldn't even be here if a proper apology was given. Now I'm being accused of blackmail and extortion. lol. Extortion being the funnier of the too because I would have to physically threaten them in order for that to be accurate. Seriously, go get a good definition. Not one you had to edit or cherry pick. Because what you are suggesting is that anytime someone tells their host, "hey I'm posting this experience on VPSboards, or WHT or any web host review site, that they are engaging in blackmail or extortion. And if that is the case we have a lot of people here that belong in cuffs.

Plus I think I am giving credit to those terms simply by defending myself against them. Here, this does a great job at providing a rundown of taxonomy of the words and their legal implications:

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/extortion-and-blackmail/

 

[shovenose]

I would have called the customer (if they're in the US) and informed them of why we took the actions we did and how they can be resolved - perhaps asking them to order from their home.

I think the customer over-reacted, (even though I understand that getting declined to order is frustrating - FireHosts refused to host my website even though I was willing to pay them $200/month for a small VPS because apparently I was a competitor), and the customer should understand what hosting providers go through on a daily basis.

On the other hand, QPS could been much more polite and helpful to the customer. Honestly looks like a back and forth of miscommunications, which can happen in any situation.

Devine, if QPS has a phone number, call them up, apologize, and perhaps become a customer. Who knows, you might really love their service - give them a chance and I am sure they will give you a chance.

Edit: For what it's worth, many months ago I inquired about a service from QPS and they responded quickly and professionally.

 

[devineball]

@Quade

In Quickpackets defense I only see good reviews. That is part of the reason I decided to host with them. Unfortunately, I did not receive an email informing me that my IP was the problem or instructing me on how to proceed. In fact I didn't get an email from them at all. I had to submit a ticket to find out what was going on.

The other reason I chose Quickpackets, out of like 8 possible hosts they responded the fastest to my first inquiry. So, I was actually pretty excited about getting a host that communicated promptly. This is obviously not how communications occurred today though. I think once the boat started rocking some people bailed out. By that, I mean, when I presented the errors to QuickPackets I didn't get a response for over an hour. So I'm sitting there wondering what is "high risk" or wrong with my domain or email that has been flagged. I didn't even think about the VPN until later. I think the messages posted on WHT reenforces this, where I am stating that my email and domain have never had any problems. So I was left for an hour hoping something wasn't flagged on my domain name resulting in me having to ditch it.

And now, instead of dealing with errors, apologizing and attempting to fix them, (although they did fix the rates) QPS is now saying I'm a competitor. Which if we want to throw around big legal words, is defamation. And well, there is so much of that on the interwebs it would be a hard case to sell to a jury. That being said, QPS has jack proof that my VPN is a competitor and if you follow the incident it makes jack sense that I would hatch this elaborate scheme with the intent of defaming QPS. I mean, really? So yeah, please present proof KuJoe or QPS when you make accusations. As it stands you have made none and the burden of proof still rests on you as I have provided everything that I can.

 

[devineball]

@shovenose

I wish a phone call would remedy the situation but honestly. QPS is on another forum making false allegations that I am a competitor. So, I really don't think I could trust them to host my site on their servers after what has transpired. And I may have overreacted but I doubt that many people here have been rejected by a host for "risks" with no further explanation. I had to open a new ticket to find out what the "risks" were. And my main concern wasn't the host rejection but the possibility that my domain had been flagged. ]

Anyways, after QPS has attempted to cover this up by falsely saying I am a competitor, no, there is no way I would use QPS especially when their prices and performance are that mediocre. I actually wanted QPS for their location and customer service. As tonyg stated there are tons of hosts. Definitely no need to risk it with QPS, and definitely not after this.

Actually QPS can call me. They got my number I am pretty sure unless they deleted it when they deleted my account. Call me up. Apologize. I still won't host with them. And since they have made false allegations that I am now having to defend myself against I probably won't stop discussing the issue but, hey they might feel better as humans if they fix it. I think sometimes when you spend too much time around the machines you kinda get that machine, ends-justify-the-means, functionality mentality.  So maybe a human phone call to say "oh hey, yeah that was wrong, sorry about that" would help matters. Although I find things to be very wrong at this point, a phone call couldn't hurt. I'm actually a pretty nice dood. But, if QPS had a PR team they would spontaneously combust over some of the decisions made by QPS. Take the extra time to communicate, offer a solution, if there is no solution offer a condolence, do not hide when you are called out, and definitely don't go and try and slander someone without anything to back what you are saying. Especially when that person has clearly called you out on several instances.

 

[mikho]

Why did you post links to three review sites in your ticket? What results did you think those links would give you?

 

[HalfEatenPie]

===== This is Personal Opinion =====

Ok see this is the ridiculous part that just doesn't make sense.

You linked QPS to 3 review sites?  What's the reason for that?  That's like indirectly saying "Hey, either do this for me or else something bad could happen."  This is where people are getting the idea that you're in it for malicious intent.  I mean I welcome everyone to this board for a great discussion but I got the idea more as "I saw QPS posting on this board and I'm pissed off and I'm going to try and hurt their reputation as much as I can by registering here and saying negative things about them".  

I mean yeah I do see flaws on both sides of the fence (from what I understood from your post) but personally seeing the way you present yourself (especially by mispelling dude with "dood" and such) and seeing the way you responded to their responses I can't really say I agree with you/support your argument.  Yes they should have been more direct and clear with why your order was rejected but seriously man?  Come on, you were essentially blackmailing him indirectly.  

And just to reiterate (even though I think you get this) KuJoe is most certainly not QPS.  His actions are reasonable because this industry (while awesome) has the unfortunate experience of people who contact providers privately and demand service (either for malicious intent or just trying to strong-arm them) or else they threaten a bad review/going onto forums and screeching at everyone about how "so and so was mean to them".  I'm sure you're a nice guy, but the current way you've approached the situation it just feels like that.  A guy who's trying to tell/yell at everyone about "so and so was mean to me so help me to take them down".  

In the end, I wouldn't put your own opinions in it.  If you want to make a serious review or a discussion just provide the facts.  People can make up their own opinions based off of what they read.

That's my two cents.  My apologies if I sound like a dick but it's kind of the harsh reality of what just happened (from the information I have been presented).  

 

[switsys]

I would like to come to QPS defense here.
I've been a (low level service) customer of theirs for over a year.

When I signed up I didn't pass their security checks immediately either.
So I COMMUNICATED with them, without 'linking to review sites'.
And the few times that I've needed to communicate directly with them after that - I've just sent them an email, and I've received prompt, polite and accurate response.

They are communicative enough.
They treat 'small' customers VERY well.
They are VERY quick on posting info that will effect your service.
They even have a special twitter account for the sole purpose of informing their customers on these matters.

Their service is also, more or less, rock solid.

 

[perennate]

Communication -- they don't seem to often update StatusPacket when there's a denial of service attack. So what's the point of having it? Agree with the responsive.

 

[devineball]

@HalfEatenPie

I do appreciate the objective point of view. I think some posters here are simply quick to defend Hosts rather than look into the actual situation.

Why did I post three links to web host review sites? The ticket in which I posted those three links was after they had already said they would not hosts my site. So, the idea that I was trying to blackmail, extort, or strong arm QPS into giving me service is completely off. In the ticket where I posted the three links to web host review sites I was not asking for service from QPS. In that ticket I was mainly asking what the "risks" and "flag" were were with my order and asking why they didn't notify me of the cancellation. Basically, I was already done with QPS at that point I just wanted to know what the deal was with the "risks" and "flags" and yes I was clearly not happy that they had waited an hour to reply (after replying in 4 minutes on my first ticket) or that they had canceled my order without notifying.

So, just to make it clear. They canceled my order. They provided poor explanation for that cancellation and they took an hour replying. No, I was not going to use QPS' services at that point. I was being screwed over by QPS so I posted three links to the top of the ticket. It's no different than someone saying "this will be reported to the BBB" or to any place that reviews businesses. It was not an effort to get QPS to give me services.

Here are two logical points that disprove the blackmail/extortion/strong arm accusation:

1. I could have easily just logged out of my VPN and reordered through QPS. Or gone down to the free wifi in our building's lobby. Or gone to McDonalds and used their free wifi etc. There is no need for blackmail/extortion/strong arming.
2. Why would I threaten someone I am trying to do business with? I'm not Alan Greespan, but that seems like a really stupid way to start a business relationship. I mean seriously. In your perspective I am saying "Give me hosting service or else" and then "Oh, hey, here is my domain and credit card info and please do make sure I get good service etc."

No, the three links I posted were after the bridge was burned between QPS and I. And no I do not regret posting those three links or posting here. QPS has already fixed the rates on their site on my behalf. And, I would imagine that in the future they will notify people of their order cancellations and they won't give replies to VPN orders saying nothing more than "your order is high risk". And when asked why the order is high "risk" they won't take an hour to reply.

I do wish QPS would repost that ticket as that is the one ticket I do not have and therefore cannot repost. Ticket #733045.

And no KuJoe's actions are not reasonable. If you are going to repost a link saying I am a competitor then you should investigate the validity of that accusation. I think what you are trying to say is that many posters here simply jump to the defense of Hosts when they see negative reviews. That would be the case with KuJoe as he has failed to answer any of my questions directly or to view the situation in an objective manner.

I'm not trying to take QPS down. This is a review of my experience with QPS. It happens to be negative. Are all negative reviews of hosts attempts to take those companies down? Honestly, this is probably helping QPS more than it is hurting them. I mean look at the posts. You got several people saying QPS is a good host. That is part of the reason that I went to QPS was because of good reviews. And if this wasn't my thread and I read it, I probably would still try and use QPS services. This is a post about one guy that tried to order hosting with through his work VPN and QPS mishandled it. If I read this post I would be a little cautious about QPS customer service when things went bad but I would probably view this as an isolated incident and place an order with QPS. So no, this is not an attempt to take down QPS. I do think QPS will change their system and service, and maybe other hosts, because this issue has been brought to light.

In the end, I wouldn't put your own opinions in it.  If you want to make a serious review or a discussion just provide the facts.  People can make up their own opinions based off of what they read.

It's kind of hard not to put in any opinions. I mean when I say this is what QPS should have done, that is an opinion. When I say they should have notified me of order cancellation that is opinion. When I say they should have told me initially what the "risks" (VPN) were with my order that is an opinion. When I say they should not have waited an hour to reply to what the "risks" were that is an opinion. However, I don't really see these opinions as being unfair, but just the same they are opinions.

 

[devineball]

@Switsys

I'm glad your service with QPS has been good. And at $15 a year that is indeed low level service. Unfortuantely, I don't know the details of your security checks failures and how that was dealt with by you or QPS.

Was the order canceled? If so, did they notify you?  (in my case they did not)

When you had your "security check failures" did they tell you immediately what those failures where and how to fix them? (in my case they did not)

IF they did not tell you what the "security check failures" when you asked what they were did they take an hour to respond with an answer? (in my case they did)

So I think you can maybe look objectively, although I think anyone could see how you have incentive to come to QPS' defense (but your transparency is reaffirming), and see how my ordeal with QPS was very different than yours.

And the one part of this whole ordeal that I think is being overlooked is that QPS has actually said I am a competitor. Now they have nothing to back this up. And given detailed scenario and evidence I think most people would see this is clearly a false accusation. So you have to ask yourself, why did QPS take that course of action? Do you think that is somewhat indicative of the company whom you are defending?

On that same note. I think the accusation that a negative is review is from a competitor should be looked at more closely perhaps. Basically, whenever there is a negative review on a host they can just say "that's a competitor" and then sheeple will agree? That doesn't really make for an honest and accurate web host review platform does it? I think when a host says a negative review is a competitor the validity of the accusation should be questioned. And if the accusation is invalid then clearly the host is trying to get rid of a honest negative review by unethical means.

 

[HalfEatenPie]

Well ok I understand your reasoning but still, some people do have the odd idea that by threatening someone they wish to do business with they'll get better service (sometimes logic is out the window).  You establishing that you understand this concept is at least very great to hear.  

From my own experience,  I can state that I dislike VPN orders.  Now I'm not saying I'm not guilty of this (hell I just ordered a service the other day and totally blanked to turn off the VPN) but most of the time VPN orders are a pain in the ass and honestly more trouble than it's worth.  Now obviously he could have responded with "Hey please turn off the VPN and re-order" or some sort, but (from my own speculation, so this could or could not be true) I could assume there was another issue which contributed to this factor.  This could include information paypal sent them, information fruadrecords sent them, I don't know really.  Regardless from their Risk Management analysis they figured it was not worth the additional risk from the information provided by those tools and decided against providing you service.  

Now these are obviously my own speculations and there's only been one side of the story, and I'm not really interested in reading the other WHT thread, so I'll leave it at that.  Maybe look into FraudRecords and see if your e-mail or anything is setting off any alarms.  

In terms of KuJoe's involvement, you can disagree with it (hell not everyone thinks the same way) but I personally see it as him reporting new information QPS stated in the thread.  Because there are people like me who... sometimes doesn't enjoy having to read another few pages worth of the same material, I personally appreciate it.  Now it's not my place to judge if you're a competitor of his or not (nor does it matter really to me unless it gets out of hand... of which it isn't currently) but it adds on to questions on the validity of your claim.  Of course this is the internet and every single statement shouldn't be taken seriously but given KuJoe's reputation here (of which I trust) in comparison to yours (which is on a new account created yesterday), I know that I can trust KuJoe's words over a random individual who (from our perspective) just registered in an attempt to negatively impact QPS.  This is why (my speculation again) many individuals are quick to defend QPS, especially since many of us consider him (or at least I do) an active member of this community.  

I do apologize if this has offended you in any way but some of the ways I just didn't want to spend more time trying to express it in a less negative manner (aka I'm tired as hell and will probably go to bed after this post).  I do wish you good luck in your future service with any other provider.  For a little background sake, I have been a previous customer to QPS.  I personally have had good service with them previously (for a short time) but due to an error on my end I cancelled my service with them.  From my time working with them I haven't had any issues and enjoyed the product they were selling. 

 

[devineball]

@HalfEatenPie

Thanks again for the reply. Yeah I don't know the details of what was received by QPS when I placed my order via VPN. I do think if someone tries to place an order with a host and the hosts get a message from some verification source saying "Satan Himself is trying to Host with You! BEWARE" they could still reply with a detailed explanation to the individual seeking hosting that says "Our systems indicate you are Satan. Sorry but we cannot provide service". In my case, "Hey we know you are using a VPN sorry but we cannot provide service". To which, I'm cool with. I'm not freaking out wondering what part of my order has been deemed risky. Plus, QPS didn't even notify me of the cancellation or any problem with the order. I had to contact them. So that in itself is a problem.

As for KuJoe there is certain responsibility undertaken when reposting information. And, adding your own commentary to add validity to the repost equals even more responsibility undertaken. The fact that kuJoe is a veteran, respected member of this community carries weight, and his repost are viewed as such. Nonetheless, they should still be questioned for validity. And a biased viewpoint, one that consistently favors one side, is not objective. I know KuJoe sees some things I am saying as true and correct but he has chosen not to represent those ideas in his comments. Which is really what you would do if you are trying to build a one-sided argument.

I also have to admit that my suspicions of kuJoe were first raised when four hours had passed over at WHT with no comments on my post and then all of a sudden I get two comments within 10 minutes apart. One from QPS and one from KuJoe. And then I come over here and KuJoe is carrying the banner for QPS (without acknowledging  QPS' faults in the situation) . I guess it was purely coincidence but I think anyone would view that as being suspicious.

Apologies also to the Satan Worshipers here for my inference that Satan could not pass host ordering verification.

 

[MannDude]

QuickPacket contacted me. It does appear the OP is a competitor connecting from their office VPN.

Though I'm still behind on this thread so unsure what that means or why it matters. I'll get caught up later.

 

[jarland]

QuickPacket contacted me. It does appear the OP is a competitor connecting from their office VPN.


Though I'm still behind on this thread so unsure what that means or why it matters. I'll get caught up later.

I would like for the poster of this thread to provide permission to enter this into public record. If it's not relevant, let's get it on the table and out of the way. Otherwise it can undermine what may be a legitimate, albeit arguably and admittedly not originally worded in the best way, review of a provider.

 

[jarland]

LOL. um where do you see "Fix this or I post bad things about you??" Please cite it. I don't even talk like that as most people reading this post would be capable of seeing so ummm yeah, please post where you are reading this material. I am checking WHT now to see if they have altered their tickets and reposted them which would be both very sad for a company to have to do but deviously awesome at the same time.


@jarland Cite "Fix this or I post bad things about you." -where did that statement come from? or is it just another falsehood?

Logic needs no citation. If you believe my conclusion to be mistaken, you must inject further knowledge for me to re-evaluate. Your previous statement that it was an "exit" comment is already sufficient to cast doubt on my conclusion.

 

[devineball]

@jarland

Logic doesn't need a citation but quoted material kind of does. The paraphrase you quoted is not what was meant by the actual text from which you paraphrased. When I saw it in quotes I thought QPS had altered and reposted tickets because the tickets i submitted said nothing like that. I figured out what you were saying though and addressed it here 6 posts later:

http://vpsboard.com/topic/1838-quickpacket-poor-customer-service/#entry28971

And further knowledge injections for re-evaluations are periodically spaced throughout the thread. I do understand how when reading this the context of time is often lost. But yes that statement was the last statement I made to QPS after they had already canceled the order and my account etc. I think it is even that way in the screenshot at WHT.

And I also specifically address the assumption that I was threatening QPS for service in post #30 above as well.

 

[devineball]

I'm not a competitor. That is simply a lie. It doesn't add up logically for a competitor to take the route I have taken or to take the actions I initially took when trying to get the host. Even in this thread the logic doesn't add up.

1. Ask yourself, why would a competitor even try to use a VPN to get an account? If it is such common knowledge (as has been expressed to me) that hosts don't allow you to place orders with a VPN then why would a competitor (someone that I assume would also know about hosting since they are a competitor) try and use a VPN?
2. Why would a competitor go onto public forums to address the order cancellation/customer service? If the intent of the competitor was to get into the host, why would they even care about the cancellation/customer service? Wouldn't their motive still be to get into the host? And wouldn't they then simply change their IP and proceed with the order?
3. Why would the competitor contact the host 11 days prior and ask where their location was? As you can see here: http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1301704&page=2
   

If the intent of the competitor was to publicly write a bad review of a host do you really think I would have gone through all of this trouble? A more simple explanation? QPS got called out and figured they could cover it up with the allegation that I am a competitor.

Anyone that can prove I'm  using a competitors VPN please do so publicly. One the same note, anyone who can show me how to prove I am not a competitor please assist in the matter. I can give you my IP and the company through which I use VPN services (Level3) and any other relevant information.

As has been the case from the start QPS has chosen to work behind the scenes. He can post my tickets. I have invited him to do so.  He can show the proof he claims to have that I am a competitor. I have invited him to do so. Instead he has simply appealed to moderators in the hopes that his veteran status will be enough for them to overlook the fact that their is no proof to his allegations.

 

[jarland]

I'm not a competitor. That is simply a lie. It doesn't add up logically for a competitor to take the route I have taken or to take the actions I initially took when trying to get the host. Even in this thread the logic doesn't add up.

• Ask yourself, why would a competitor even try to use a VPN to get an account? If it is such common knowledge (as has been expressed to me) that hosts don't allow you to place orders with a VPN then why would a competitor (someone that I assume would also know about hosting since they are a competitor) try and use a VPN?
• Why would a competitor go onto public forums to address the order cancellation/customer service? If the intent of the competitor was to get into the host, why would they even care about the cancellation/customer service? Wouldn't their motive still be to get into the host? And wouldn't they then simply change their IP and proceed with the order?
• Why would the competitor contact the host 11 days prior and ask where their location was? As you can see here: http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1301704&page=2

 
If the intent of the competitor was to publicly write a bad review of a host do you really think I would have gone through all of this trouble? A more simple explanation? QPS got called out and figured they could cover it up with the allegation that I am a competitor.


Anyone that can prove I'm  using a competitors VPN please do so publicly. One the same note, anyone who can show me how to prove I am not a competitor please assist in the matter. I can give you my IP and the company through which I use VPN services (Level3) and any other relevant information.


As has been the case from the start QPS has chosen to work behind the scenes. He can post my tickets. I have invited him to do so.  He can show the proof he claims to have that I am a competitor. I have invited him to do so. Instead he has simply appealed to moderators in the hopes that his veteran status will be enough for them to overlook the fact that their is no proof to his allegations.

This is a personal request and I'll explain my reason first. I consider fake reviews or reviews based on ulterior motive to be a sort of "pet peeve." On the other side of that coin, I consider true reviews that are dismissed too quickly to be another "pet peeve."


Would you specifically give QPS and MannDude permission to post publicly this IP that supposedly proves that you are a competitor? As a mere reader, I like my information to be well packaged. This one is missing something because of this claim and the lack of ability to peer review the information. However, I would not ask them to post that info. If they claim it belongs to you, it is yours to request and not mine.

 

[jarland]

Context: More likely to lean toward QuickPacket because I love their services and support. However, I wanted to be neutral and clarify for the OP given the accusations.


I reviewed the IP in question. It is allotted for customers of a very large cloud server provider. We're talking someone who competes more with Rackspace, not companies who post on LEB, and then we're talking about a subnet assigned for their customers, not office staff.


I see no evidence that the OP is a competitor, and if I assume he is, I have to admit that he'd likely have nothing to gain from posting a negative review about a provider who I highly doubt is causing problems for this major business.