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HOME · Saturday, July 5, 2008
Ecommerce: A Day in the Life
Is your host being honest with you?
I’ve been in a pickle.. trying to get my new server set up correctly. I have blogged previously about the fact that we have a dedicated server just for our direct mail campaign. Recently, we were urged by our host to upgrade this server, and we took their advice, as they cut us such a nice deal to do so. Sounds good so far, right?
Well, in the last three weeks, our customers just faded away. Lee Ann and I were in a panic. How could this be? Did they really not like our stuff THAT MUCH! We’d have days with only one or two sales, and that just isn’t normal for us.
Back to the server…. I had asked that the old mail server be pointed to the new server quite a while ago. I got a confirmation that it was done within a week. I was satisfied. But then business started dropping off.
My host also offered what they called a “migration”. This was to automatically take all data on my old server and migrate it to my new server. Well, that was a nightmare! Because when that happened, and when they re-initiated my mailing lists on the new server, they dropped half of the names along with all preferences set in the lists (ie emergency moderation so my lists can’t be hit with SPAM), and then each member got an email welcoming them to the list, and asking them to manage their membership. I was really angry because this was very confusing to my over 50, suspicious of the internet, members. But we survived it. I send out a damage control email apologizing for the confusion.. They forgave me. I did, however, lose some members…
Here’s my confusion, and where I believe I didn’t get an honest answer from the dedicated server support staff…. Until the new email was initiated, and even after, I was able to access the mailing lists on the old server. I was forced to since their migrations weren’t working out. This went on for 3 weeks that I know of. I never suspected that the mailing lists weren’t working, because the test email, my own, that is on each list was getting the direct mail campaign. I truly figured that my customers were upset, and didn’t like what they were seeing. When I asked my host if something was going wrong, they insisted no. They insisted that the lists on my old server were working, and it was just a breakdown on our end (no surprises there!)
The final chapter.
I rebuilt all lists with new list names on my new server. I now know for sure the mail has been moved. I am sending mail out to the new lists, and, hmmm, I’m pleasantly busy again. Interesting huh? I’m making the assumption my host is just covering up their error. They must be trained to do so. I’m curious if anyone has dealt with this before? And what do you think about it?
Thanks!
Comments:
nobody Says:
January 24th, 2008 at 6:34 am
Title of article should be ” Is your Email List Host being honest with you? “
mike cianciosi Says:
January 24th, 2008 at 8:44 am
hahahaha - I know your pain-let me guess- your server is godaddy ! or aplus ! Been there doing that. May i reccomend fastservers.net.Its a managed server-costs more-but worth every penny.I do noit work for them -i was a customer until. i went for cheaper.I am paying the price now. So i know what your feeling
me Says:
January 24th, 2008 at 10:04 am
I don’t know if you read this over before you posted it. However, it does not make a lot of sense. A few minutes taken to do editing for clarity can work wonders for your writing.
James Says:
January 24th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Yah you get that with come hosting providers.
They cover their mistakes or try to.
We had similar issues with 1and1.com
Worst is they will not admit to a mistake because it opens them to liability.
Best thing to do is own your own server and host it at a colocation center.
Beth M. Says:
January 24th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Well, I can feel your pain!
We recently lost three domain names we had as forwarded domains due to error on the part of our new domain host. When I originally questioned the delays in transferring them, I was met with all kinds of excuses, them claiming the holdup was on the former host’s end, etc etc.
Bottom line? I lost all three, because they did not bother to follow through with notifying me of status, completing the transfer in a timely manner. The domains expired during the transfer process, I could not renew them with my old host, and could not renew them with the new host, as they did not technically have them yet! Amazing… in the literal minutes between them becoming available for transfer and my new host transferring them, a parasite firm that grabs up domain names snatched them. One of them, I believe we can get back, as it is a trademarked name. The other two were my own inventions simply for additional business traffic, and were not trademarked.
To say I am angry at our new host (which begins with a number rather than a letter, and that number is less than two), is an understatement. Them responding to all attempts to get them to fix their error were all basically finger-pointing and not what I expected from a domain hosting company.
Services we PAY for should be helping to make our business matters easier, not harder. The time I spent trying to get their transfer error fixed in the first place took many hours of my time. Then to have them let them slip without ever completing the transfer put them on my potty list!!
I don’t currently run mailing lists, but the sensitivity of a mailing list alone is paramount - there is no reason for a company offering those types of services to allow any service slippage.
I don’t know if it has really cost us any large amounts of business yet, since we recently moved our store anyway - but I can tell you that our sales are way down from even last year. All the searches I do, we can be found just fine - but I wonder how much diversion is happening over the lost domain names….
RM Says:
January 25th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Hi there
I had bad experiences with ipowerweb.com
I generaly don’t like giving bad press but… I was really unhappy with them.
I am just a novice at this website/related marketing stuff. Maybe ipowerweb is great with folks I call techies-very web oriented or web educated. Maybe one day I’ll be a techie 
But I have managed as a novice to create several websites to market services I provide.
Ipowerweb was not user friendly to novices like me. They were not willing to help me get my upload data correct after several calls to them. I finally just gave up! Even tho I had paid for hosting service, I was unable for 6-7 months to get the right info in the right spot.
I changed hosts needless to say. I have now been with ixwebhosting for over two years. I am thrilled with them!
They were novice friendly and have walked me through getting my upload data in the correct spot. They have also walked me through several other processes VERY patiently!
When calling for support, I frequesntly get someone within just a few minutes. I also really like that… when they are busy, they tell me what number-caller I am. Which gives me the option to hang up and call at a later time when they are not so busy.
They have a great user access control panel, which allows many functions. You can easily create new domains or renew domains you have listed through them… right in your control panel. They send you two email notices when it comes time to renew. Easy as pie! I love these guys! They made my life much simpler!
Leave a Comment:
Michelle Lambert is co-owner of an online business called Red Hats By You. Lambert handles all of the internet responsibilities related to designing and maintaining their ecommerce presence.
Michelle has been an Art Director at McCabe, Duval & Associates in Portland, Maine where she specialized in multimedia and print design. Currently, Michelle works from her home in Michigan where she lives with her husband Chris and two children, Maddie and Grady.
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Darlene Norris Says:
January 24th, 2008 at 6:28 am
I have to say I’m disappointed with my web hosting service. They were recommended to me because they supposedly had such great customer service. Well, whenever I contact them, it’s always a problem they can’t resolve and they don’t know how what I need to do. It’s happened several times now. I’m not a programmer, and I had hoped I could get help from them, but I managed to resolve a couple of things myself.
I have an email issue with my blog, and my host says the problem is with wordpress, and wordpress says the problem is with my host. I’m definitely looking around with the time comes to renew.
Darlene
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