My awful experience with Webfusion

[elrandom3]

I posted in a previous thread a while back about an experience I had with 123-reg, a domain provider. At the time I also mentioned how I was having an ongoing issue with Webfusion, a provider of web-hosting services owned by Pipex Communications.

Today marks the 14th day since my official complaint was received by Webfusion, and I have yet to receive any response, be it via e-mail, telephone or letter.

I have compiled together a page outlining every single issue and gripe I have with this poor excuse of a company, and will be using this throughout my complaint using the ADR scheme. I want to share this all with you so those of you thinking about hosting with Webfusion can see what kind of support and service you can expect.

Your thoughts and comments are most appriciated.

You can see the article at http://teh-chris.co.uk/experience/

[acidtechno]

wow Chris, that's an extremely detailed article, very impressive, must have took you some time to complete. I will steer clear of them. I'm happy with www.servage.net

I will have a read when time allows.

I assume webfusion owe you money or have not delivered the service(s) they promised?

What is the ADR scheme if you don't mind me asking?

[elrandom3]

I have to say, most of that article was written on the day I got back from holiday... nothing better to keep you awake after a transatlantic flight than a good rant

I guess they do owe me some kind of compensation. The hosting was offline for a few days for no good reason, i've spent about £9 on phone calls to them, and the amount of hassle they've caused is just unacceptable. That and the fact i'm still owed vouchers and a free domain name.

The ADR scheme is like an ombudsman. Looking at Ofcom guidelines, all communications providers need to have one to act as a third party should a complaint arise that the company cannot resolve. As yet, I can't find Webfusion's ADR policy, so i've asked them for clarification

It is a good read if you get a chance, you'll not believe a couple of the replies I got from them. I hope someone can take notice and give them a poke where they need to be poked

[nettech]

It's quiet at work so I read this pretty much word for word. Blimey! It makes me wonder if some companies actually want your money or not.

Do they want any customers at all?

Anygood good luck with the complaint - keep us up to date.

[elrandom3]

Thanks for the comments.. it made me wonder whether they want customers or not too.. they don't seem to be very forthcoming with information.

I've just had a look at my ticket for information on the ADR, and it states it's been escalated to someone. Looks like there might not be something in place...

[elrandom3]

My suspicions were correct, Webfusion is not a part of an Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme, which means there's no third party to liase with if an issue arises.

I think i'll probably get some legal advise and find someone at Ofcom to chat with, see if it's within their remit.

All good fun

[elrandom3]

Well, I got a voicemail on my phone from Pipex Customer Solutions today, stating to give them a call about my hosting.

Thankfully I have a direct-dial landline number now, so no more expensive calls. I'll let you know what happens tomorrow.

[elrandom3]

Okay, the person who contacted me was very nice. We had a chat about several things over the phone and had a joke around a bit. She also told me of an offer with conditions, which I am currently deliberating over.

Details of the offer and conditions won't yet be made readily available

[elrandom3]

Well, the first offer as mentioned above was a refund of some money I'd paid, on the proviso that the webpage be taken offline. I wasn't willing to do that, so I stated i'd settle for the refund of the monies, plus that of the domain name, and keep the page online whilst offering Webfusion the chance to include a statement.

I was a tad shocked to find out that the call wasn't initiated by my letter I sent (no, it appears that one can't be found right now), but by someone at Pipex sending a link to the page. I can only assume that there's someone here who did so, in which case, thank you mystery person, whoever you are

[segedunum]

Our boss unwittingly signed us up to Webfusion not long ago(!), and it was a disaster. At least you got SSH access to your server. We didn't. They hadn't activated it. The support queries were all sent to their centre in India, and it was taking us two days at a time with the time difference to get responses such as "Have you tried logging in with SSH?". "Errrrrrrrrrrr, there is no SSH access on the server". "Have you tried logging in with SSH?". An so on. They routinely don't configure things as they should.