Held Hostage By a Customer Service Rep, My Worst Experience
By Michael StelznerThis is the story of an unthinkable customer service experience . . .
I was excited. I had just sent out an update to my 22,000 readers about a new teleclass I was conducting. I sent the message using a great service called CoolerEmail.
I decided to check my website to make sure everything looked okay for people that might want to register for the class. OH NO! The site was down.
I called Aplus.net, the company hosting all of my sites. I spoke to a customer service rep. there. He informed me that my website AND email had been shut down. He explained that I had sent more than 600 messages in a 30 minute time period and their “policy” is to shut down all services of customers doing this.
Only problem is I hadn’t sent ANY emails using Aplus.
I explained, “You must be mistaken. How can I get this site back online?”
He proceeded to explain that I must send an email to a special address stating that I promised not to do what I did again.
I raised my voice, “That is absurd! You mean to tell me I must admit to doing something I never did to get my service back online?”
I explained that I was losing money by the minute.
He insisted I must send the email.
I asked to speak to a manager. Of course, none was available.
I proceeded to craft that email. What else could I do?
After about 30 minutes, I noticed that email was still in my outbox. I checked the website associated with that email account and it was done also!
I called back. They said this other account had also abused the rules and sent 600+ messages.
I went nuts! “How the *&%&* do expect me to send an email if you have taken away my only way to send an email!”
I asked to speak to a manager… None was available.
I was told as soon as that message was sent, things would be fixed.
I had to use an old AOL account to send the message.
In that second message, I demanded proof that I had committed these acts.
A few hours later both of my sites and email were back online.
I never received a phone call. No apology.
Here is what I did get, “I’m going to release the second account also, but please try to not send more than 500 email messages in 30 minutes. If the account get suspended again I will not be able to release it.”
Summary for consumers: Use Aplus.net at your own peril.
Summary for businesses: If you have a policy that holds your customers at gunpoint, you might want to re-examine it.
This was by far the WORST service experience I have ever had. Forcing a customer to admit guilt AND requiring only one way to deliver the message might work in the former Soviet Union, but this is America!
Tell me about your nightmare customer service experience? How would you respond if you were me??
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January 9th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
I would contact the Better Business Bureau and file a complaint. And the state attorney general’s office. Both where Aplus is located.
January 9th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Mike;
Nothings pegs the blood pressure meter faster than web host problems. This kind of “cancel first, ask questions later (much later)” policy seems legion among hosts.
Makes me wonder what *my* host’s policy is…
January 9th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
It turned out the problem was all the bounces that resulted from my mailed with the third-party provider.
Because it was between Christmas and New Years, a bunch of folks were on vacation and sent back “I’m out messages.”
For some crazy reason, they were treated as “outgoing messages” because I use an email forwarder (newsletter@ forwards to mike@).
What insanity!
January 9th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
Mike, If this had happened to me I would have had to edit my original draft heavily before I posted it!
Things like this make me wonder if single sourcing my web hosting is a good idea…
January 9th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I would immediately take my business elsewhere, and I’d write a letter to the head honcho and CC pretty much everyone else explaining in no uncertain terms exactly why they would never get another penny of my money. You’re a better man than I.
kk
January 9th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
OMG ! I would be ballistic !
Hosting has to be run by some of the least personable young people on the planet.
Knock on wood …. our host, HostGator, has been with us ( yes, I meant it that way ) since ‘03 and we recently upgraded to a fantastic Pro series server with them, which I guess means we’re reasonably happy.
January 10th, 2007 at 8:30 am
Mike,
You may want to consider going to GoDaddy. I have always had great customer service with them, never waited on hold very long, and their prices are very competitive.
Hosting services are so competitive that any behavior such as what Aplus showed you should be followed up by immediately switching providers.
January 10th, 2007 at 9:45 am
Hi Michael,
Thanks for the great post. I’ve recently had bad experiences with APlus also… I just had to blog about it after reading your post:
http://www.episteme.ca/index.php?/archives/229-Customer-Service,-Security-and-APlus.html
APlus KGB customer service line of the year:
“I have discussed with our management and our decision is final.”
I moved to Site5, and I’m incredibly happy - they’re nice, they listen to reason, and they work with me to make my sites a success. Not to mention that it’s lower-cost, higher-storage and higher-bandwidth.
-Mike
March 19th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
We ran into the same issue with Godaddy. The problem is SMTP relays that are heavily used by spammers. The web hosts are highly proactive in order to avoid being shut down by the major email services (AOL, Yahoo, etc.). Godaddy’s limit is 1000/day.
June 1st, 2008 at 2:38 pm
That’s sad to just shut you down with no questions asked first. Luckily, I haven’t run into that problem yet….