You'd expect that setting up a new website with one of the big guys would be plain sailing. Well, how wrong was I to expect a half-decent service from one of the biggest hosting companies in the UK - 1&1 Internet Ltd. I have never, in my entire life, in any field of the market and in any standard of expertise, encountered such poor customer service and support.
My request was simple: I want to use a custom ASP error page. Not HTML. Not ASP.net. Just a simple ASP page.
Their control panel is moronic - I don't even know if that's a word but there's no other way to put it. It's like a kinder garden version of a space shuttle - sure it has pretty coloured buttons, but trust me, you ain't flying nowhere!
I'm not the lazy type who gets people to do your work for you so I looked around their support site hoping that I'd find a treasure map pointing me to magical area of their control panel where I could configure my domain. No, I didn't find that, but I found this article, which explains how to create a HTML file and upload it to your web-space so the server displays it for each error type. Ie.:
- error404.html is displayed for 404 - page not found errors.
- error500.html is display for 500 - internal server errors.
- and so on...
How can I use a custom 404 page, other than a html file?
PS.: I need this setting to be /404.asp (or any other .asp file)
The response I got was, quite simply:
We don't have sample scripts for custom errors on asp. You can search it on a search engine.
To which I replied:
I didn't ask for a sample 404 script. I have a my own 404 script. I need the server to use this script to handle all 404 errors. How can I configure my domain so the server uses my script instead of the default html page (error404.html)?
Over 30 emails later...
- I received links to tutorials on 'How to create a custom ASP error handling page'
- I received links to this article, explaining how you can use a custom error404.html page
- I received links to this article, explaining how you can use .htaccess to use custom error pages in Linux! And the article had this heading...
This article is for 1&1 Linux WebHosting only. - I was told several times that they would not help me create my own ASP script - even though I repeatedly explained: I have my own script. I want your server to use it.
- I was told by some agents: You can't have a custom error page.
- One agent sent me instructions on how to configure IIS:
Set the custom ASP error page:
a. Open the Internet Services Manager in the MMC.
b. Expand your Default Web Site.
c. Right-click on the Scripts folder and select Properties.
d. Click the Custom Errors tab.
e. Scroll down and highlight the 500;100 HTTP error and click Edit Properties.
f. Ensure that Message Type is set to URL.
g. Change the URL to "/scripts/my500.asp" (without the quotation marks).
h. Click OK until you return to the MMC. - One agent suggested (this is my favourite) that I should create an error404.html file. Wait for that to work, then convert the file to ASP.net by renaming it to error404.aspx - presumably so the server would pick it up.
- I emailed them so many times that one agent nick-named me Niño.
- receiving replies that don't address any of the issues raised in my emails
- dealing with a different agent in every email
- having to explain myself, over and over again from the beginning
- being ignored - from the replies I received, it is obvious that their agents don't even read through my emails before reply to me.
Guess what? I'm not the only one...
At this point I learned that it wasn’t just the tech support that was incompetent. 1and1 has gone out of their way to collect the most incompetent people in their staff.And a few more...
- 1and1 Sucks: 1&1 Will Rip You Off
- 1&1, oneandone, 1and1, one and one, sucks!
- 1and1 internet - the worst web host in the world?
- 1&1 Internet is the devil
- Client Support - How should it be done?
4 comments:
I'm feeling yer pain man...
However, (so this comment might be useful to other readers) email support should be a first port of call. As soon as you have a ticket number or they incorrectly answer a question. Avoid the Pain.
Call them... it is worth it in the long run...
Phoning 1&1 has proved to be an even worse experience for many users.
Don't hold your breath!
I totally agree - phoning 1and1 costs almost 40p a minute (and that's on Skype!) and gets you nowhere that asking the crystal ball lady at your local palm reading centre will not give you a lot cheaper and with a lot less wait!
Below are some complaints I sent to 1&1 after a very frustrating and trying experience with their company over the past week in 2008. As soon as my accounts are unlocked, I will be moving all hosted domains to another company. I have never had such poor customer service nor have I ever felt so helpless and frustrated. I have recommended numerous people to 1&1 and now am forwarding this to them as well. 1&1 has been a wonderful company to me up until this last week when I had to deal with their customer service. This is the letter I will also be sending to the US main office as well as United Internet in Germany. Hopefully they’ll take this information and change their system so this never happens again. Read below:
To Whom It May Concern,
Friday, April 11, 2008, I was baffled to learn three of my domains were not only delinquent but 1&1 had sent me to collections and locked my account. My credit card had been stolen in 2007 and I had forgotten to update the card on the account. I am a web designer and currently hold over 70 domains with 1&1 and my business also has a business server.
I have never worked with a domain and Internet provider that didn’t try an alternative method of contact about upcoming payment or delinquency. I think sending me to collection over $16 was a bit unnecessary. Even more troubling is I have over $400 in charges coming up in May that would have been billed to the same incorrect card had this incident not occurred. I have a client rolling out a City website that is one of the sites delinquent. They want to launch at their board a week from today as well as go live to the public. The web designer working on this site was trying to get in to the account today and that’s the ONLY reason I had found out there was an issue.
After calling 1&1 and explained my predicament, I was given a code to call a collections agency to take care of the $16 late fee plus charges for being late. I immediately called the collections agency to pay the bill and she promptly gave me a confirmation number and told me to call 1&1 back and give them the confirmation code.
Upon calling 1&1, I explained my situation again to the service rep which said he could not help. I was told I would have to wait 3-4 business days before the account would be unlocked. I asked for a manager and I was rudely greeted when he got on the phone. Actually, no greeting was given at all. “Is this about the 4 day business day policy?” he barked. Later I realized the service rep (Josh) had not honored my request to speak with a manager.
I told Josh I had no idea why I had never received 1&1’s emails regarding the three default accounts but I asked Josh if he could update my email account online because I was afraid the other large amount of domains I held was already behind as well. Very curtly he let me know not only would he not change my email, he would also not change my credit card information to ensure it was updated. I was traveling in Sacramento and did not have all the 1&1 account information with me. I would not be able to change any of my information until I returned from my trip.
I had the great pleasure of telling my client they’d be locked out until next week possibly ONE day before their release. The 1&1 staff had absolutely no sympathy for the situation and was no help. 1&1 also informed me that they were no longer “required” to take the confirmation numbers from the credit agency and would not assist me in getting the account unlocked. I took this to mean that Josh could have helped me, but he didn’t feel like it and I deserved what I got for going delinquent. He also told me he couldn’t give me his last name because it wasn’t “policy.”
Shortly after we ended our conversation, an email survey was sent to me regarding my experience with customer service and Josh’s entire name was listed in the email. I gave the service poor ratings and pasted the above in the email survey.
I’ve been a big advocate of 1&1 for some time now and have referred several clients. I was about to move over another 50+ domains from IPowerWeb. I will now start looking for a new home for all of my accounts and I will never refer your company again. Furthermore, this letter will be sent to all of my clients that I have referred to you to warn them of your customer service.
I’ve been in the service industry for some time and the way I was treated today was unacceptable. I’m sure you deal with a lot of dead beats in your business that just are lazy and don’t pay their bills. I have never been one of those people and I don’t appreciate being treated like one over an honest oversight. Especially from a company that didn’t do all it could have done to avoid this situation.
I’ve been on the phone twice with your staff today as well as the credit agency. Now I will spend further time sending this via mail to several people on the 1&1 staff as well as United Internet AG including Andreas Gauger, Ann Marie Tropiano, Ralph Dommermuth, and Norbert Lang in hopes this never happens to another customer. I had been very impressed with your company until today. I’d hate for another consumer to have the same experience.
A simple letter or a phone call from 1&1 would have saved us all time and money. Both my mailing address and phone number, by the way, were correct on my account. Now I have the issue of restoring my perfect credit thanks to 1&1 which will require AMEX verifying the stolen card with the credit agency.
For your future customers, I hope 1&1 reconsiders its policies and considers sending out a late notice via standard mail or a phone call if someone goes delinquent. For us in the web industry who handle multiple domains and several clients, it’s not always easy and this seems like a simple courtesy that saves everyone grief, time and money. If email is the only way 1&1 plans on contacting customers, please allow a second alternative email address so it has two chances to reach a customer should one go bad or change. This could very possibly save this from ever happening again. And please consider changing your three to four day restart policy. This practice seems unnecessary, unproductive, and frustrating. It’s done nothing but make sure I never want to work with 1&1 again.
Update: Monday, April 14, 2008
Today I called the credit agency again and wanted to make sure the charge went through and to check and make sure this didn’t go on my credit report. I’m extremely anal about my credit and looking to buy a house this year.
The gentleman confirmed that my account had been billed and everything should be set to go. I wish someone would have let me know it was not a reporting agency. I stressed a lot over the weekend.
When I got back into town from Sacramento, I had a letter from the credit agency telling me of the delinquent account. I wish I would have got one from 1&1 a few months prior letting me know to update my account before sending me to the collection agency.
Update: Thursday, April 17, 2008
Thursday, April 17th I was still nervous because the account had yet to be unlocked and my client was sending me emails asking the status. I called 1&1 to see what was happening. While I was on hold waiting for a manager, I looked at my bank statement to be sure it had charged my account.
Sure enough my account had been charged April 14th for around $46 and it showed an origination date of the charge at April 11th. I told the rep the situation and she passed me on immediately to a manager. The manager (Ian) informed me that the account had still not been paid and he said he even logged in to the NCOF’s (credit agency) system and it showed it hadn’t been paid. That would have been nice if they would have checked that when I called them Friday after I paid and wanted them to check with the confirmation code.
As you can imagine I was again baffled and upset. I told him I had even called 1&1 back Monday to confirm with the confirmation number that 1&1 refused to take it down. I had discarded the envelope I wrote the confirmation number on while I was in the car.
Once again I was told I had to call NCOF with the code given by 1&1. I asked if I could have his direct extension and if he could help me have this fixed so my client could have access by tomorrow morning. He said he could get it turned on in the morning as Germany would get the request early as long as I could get this fixed with NCOF. He feared that NCOF had charged the wrong account!
Off I go to NCOF once again. I give NCOF the number 1&1 gave me and sure enough it shows I had not paid. I told the woman I had my online statement in front of me and even a number attached to the charge. There was no record that I had ever called and she couldn’t find the charge. I was given another number at another department at NCOF to call.
Now I arrive at a separate department and speak with Mr. Williams. He is as baffled as I am and we start digging into the system. Come to find out, either 1&1 had given me the wrong number or I had written the number down incorrectly. My payment went to another delinquent account!
I found this extremely upsetting since she asked to verify my name and I believe my address before we even started. How could my bank debit card get charged under a completely different name? How could my address mismatch not be caught? I don’t know who to be upset with here about the charge. I dare not call Citibank as they would freeze the account and cause even more problems.
I explained to Mr. Williams my predicament with my client and I need his help. He tells me to fax my bank statement over along with a note stating what we had discussed on the phone. I did and the fax was sent 2:50 PST. I figured I would call Ian and tell him it was in the works and perhaps have him speak to Mr. Williams so he knew what was going on.
I wait for the fax to go through and print out the fax receipt and started trying to call Mr. Williams back to ensure the fax had gone through. I keep getting a voice message saying they’d call me back and to leave a message. The third time I finally left a message and wanted to tell Ian so he could set things straight in their system and set things up for the unlock Friday morning.
I dial the 1&1 number and enter Ian’s extension.
“The billing department is now closed. Normal business hours are from 8-5 EST.”
As you can imagine my stomach dropped. Ian had not informed me about the time difference and I am not sure I he had set up for the unlock to go through.
I called NCOF again only this time I call the original number and ask them what happened to the other department. She informed me they too are on EST and would not be until morning!
1&1 nor NCOF had told me we were on a time crunch. Ian made it sound like he would set up the unlock if I got back to him with the info from NCOF. I had sent Mr. Williams a personal bank statement and was now unable to verify if he even received the fax. I was under the impression that both were available and willing to finally help. They were not.
I had even asked for Ian’s extension and I couldn’t even reach his voice mail.
I am so flustered and angry that my card was charged to someone else’s account and that 1&1’s staff couldn’t take the time to help me out when it was obviously important. I only spend $2,000 with 1&1 per year which I know is not much. But I have never been treated so poorly as a customer. Just once in my whole experience, I wish I were treated the same way the people I was dealing with would like to be treated (especially from management).
As soon as I can get my accounts cleared I will be moving my entire portfolio elsewhere before you can charge me for the other 70 domains I have with your company. Even after I sent the past review, I received zero contact from 1&1 regarding this matter.
The last note I sent had a few suggestions as I hate people who just complain and never offer any solutions. I think I’ve run out of constructive ideas and I don’t feel anyone on the other side would listen anyway. 1&1 is an excellent company to work with unless you really need their help.
I am completely helpless at this point and I have let me client down. I feel horrible. They’re upset but not nearly as upset as I am. I have spent numerous hours dealing with this issue and now I will spend a few more taking the time to move all my accounts.
For all you readers, make sure you keep numbers handy for any domain accounts you may have and keep your credit card current. You have absolutely no control of your experience if you go delinquent. I realize that going delinquent was my fault. I’ve been in school and working full time. I never expected to have the truly horrific experience I had with these two companies over $16 and a stolen credit card.
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