Wow, after reading that exchange I think I will look into Hosting Matters. This is a case where the customer WAS being unreasonable, and the response was pretty professional and reasonable.

In contrast, Verizon STILL hasn't returned my last two calls regarding DSL outages. One was two weeks ago, the other months ago. When I call, I get voice mail, "all tech busy... please leave message... will return your call ASAP..." I suppose month is as soon as possible. Or they won't call a cell phone number. Odd, they accepted that number for my contact number when I signed the contract though.

And my host answers the wrong question (and mostly incorrectly) every time I ask them for support. In the HM thread the CSR declined to give a specific date because HM was not in control of the schedule, since they had to wait on a third party. She did estimate roughly, but said that was all she could do under the circumstances. That's reasonable, if not to the liking of the customer.

Contrary to what he said, it was even on point.

This is a case where the customer WAS being unreasonable, and the response was pretty professional and reasonable.

While the customer did get harsh fast, I don't think that it is reasonable for the rep to avoid stipulating a timeframe for shipment, and then treat the person as if they are stupid ("duh, it takes as long as 'shipping' takes"). I find that your vision of customer service is rather too forgiving, specifically if time is of the essence for a web site issue.

She didn't "estimate roughly," she said "we've ordered it" with no indication of how long it takes for delivery of such an item. (On back order? Standard shipping? Next day? In Stock? How long for install?) That being said, yeah, the customer got snippy too quickly.

In addition, Ms. Tabb usually does not respond to e-mails, so she's not much better than your experience with Verizon.

I wish that I could publish all of the e-mails and scenarios from people that have had poor customer service from Ms. Tabb, but most individuals chicken out from letting me publish, primarily because she still has their money for an incomplete job.

I have to agree with Bill on this one. The customer was being given the runaround. He got bent out of shape pretty fast, but she got snippy just as fast.

Hosting Matters web site says, "With top-notch support, network redundancy, stable servers, and a plan for every need, Hosting Matters offers the most comprehensive web hosting solution for your personal or business site."

They only have 5 dedicated server options and most of them can use the same motherboard. There is really no excuse for not having at least spare motherboards. Any hosting company with "top-notch support" and "stable servers" should be able to get you up and running in less than a day. This is either a shoddy company or this tech support person was giving the customer the runaround.

Having dealt with the customer 'support' people at Time Warner Cable (I know different company, but customer support is customer support) for the past 10 years, I would say that she had no clue what was going on and didn't want to admit it.

Just my $1.50 or so.

If you are running a business, it is reasonable to expect that a major hosting site wont keep you waiting on spare parts. That is their problem, not the customer's.

When you go to a restaurant are you content to hear, "well your breakfast will come later, the cook has a nasty hangover?"

Just because Verizon sucks, which I have experienced too, doesn't mean the bar should be lowered.

BTW, I use ServerBeach and found their customer service to be excellent. For smaller sites, Webmasters is good too.

This seems to be more of a Stacy Tabb predicament as opposed to a HM one? I've heard lots of good things about HM and have to assume the people who raved about HM were simply the ones lucky enough to have avoided her during the course of their business transactions.

Am I correct in assuming Tabb just works for HM but does not own it? She owns Sekimori, though, and HM contracts out to Sekimori? What's her relationship with them anyway?

I have to say, her actions with a few people are deplorable, regardless of how many other people love her to death (and there seems to be a fair amount of those as well). Life's too short and there are FAR too many talented, even-handed, professional people out there who would love to design web sites to even consider tolerating her behavior.

The design work is what elicits the most complaints.

Hosting Matters is a good company, from what I've heard, but I wouldn't put myself in the position of possibly having to deal with her.

Hello,

I'm the poster of the referenced exchange with Ms. Tabb. Even though most of the comments here agree that HM/Stacy was the unprofessional party, at least one person thought I was out of line. I can't really figure out why, but allow me to further my case:

1) I was about to become a $130/month dedicated server customer with HM - In fact, my credit card had been billed more than a week prior.

2) I ended *all* of my messages with "Thanks" or "Thank you"

3) Stacy never once thanked her customer (me). Right away, I found this was odd. Didn't you?

3) I was never notified of the delay before the inquiry documented in my blog entry began.

4) 10+ days after my first inquiry, my credit card was still holding a $130 charge, but I had no idea when my server was going to be online.

5) I found 10 days and counting without any substantiative information about the service I was paying for to be more than a little bit unreasonable. Remember, this was a service I was going to be paying $1,500 a year for!

6) I don't think it's acceptable for a web host advertised as elite to be without on-site spares. Just think what would have happened if the motherboard in my server would have failed after my site was up and running. 10+ days of downtime, with no estimated time to repair? Maybe they do have on-site spares at HM and mine was just a corner case when they were temporarily out. If this is true, a proper response might have looked like: "We're sorry, but we usually have measures in place to prevent this kind of occurrence with our on-site spare stockpile. Unfortunately, we had a problem with our supply chain and we're doing everything in our power to have you up and running by the end of the week." Instead of this kind of a response, I got a lecture about cause and effect in shipping and a refusal to answer my very clear and appropriate question, all in a tone that suggested my inquiry was out of place.

7) Perhaps I was I bit snippy, but Stacy's "professional service" was wearing thin more than ten days after I made my order. I design systems 500 times larger and way more complex than the webservers at HM (quite literally, check my resume). I make these systems run reliably for a living. Maybe I was holding Stacy to too high a standard, but if one of my customer's systems was down for 10+ days and I refused to give them a safely padded repair estimate, I'd be out of a job.

8) Even if I was less than 100% cordial, I think I was well within my rights as a customer. It's usually the vendor's job to deal with less than perfect customers in a free market. It seems odd to think that it would be the customer's responsibility to be nice to the vendor. Customers might have groveled beneath store clerks in Soviet bread lines, but it doesn't work that way in America.

A very clear benefit of the free market is that customers can to choose their vendor and easily change vendors upon receiving poor service. I'm happy to have chosen Server Beach, after my poor experience with Host Matters and Stacy Tabb. Server Beach had my box running in a single day vs HM's 10+ days without notice or forecast.

A benefit of the Internet is that conversations like this can easily travel far and wide, better inform customers, and lead to (or force) better customer service in the future.

This seems to be more of a Stacy Tabb predicament as opposed to a HM one?

I'd like to believe this explanation, but I sent my exchange with Ms Tabb to every HM email address I could find. I received zero replies. This gave me the impression that no one from HM cared. Could Stacy have intercepted all my messages, before they could get to a supervisor or their intended recipients?

Bohnsack -

Your comments provide context to your anger.

And this ...

3) Stacy never once thanked her customer (me). Right away, I found this was odd. Didn't you?

.. totally puts a finger on the resentment and disdain that Tabb has for clients, especially bloggers. She clearly elucidated this resentment in an e-mail to me during our dispute. If you'd stayed with HM and had repeated dealings with her, you'd have seen an even less pleasant version, so it's good that you bailed.

"I don't think it's acceptable for a web host advertised as elite to be without on-site spares. Just think what would have happened if the motherboard in my server would have failed after my site was up and running."

You are absolutely right. They are second rate, total bush league. I don't know why people bother with Hosting Matters; there are so many other companies out there with a better track record and superior customer support. HM has no phone support either, and when I pressed the issue with them once upon a time, they blocked my IP from the site. I thought that was pretty pathetic. They delete any comments of desent, so they look like they are responsive, when in fact, they just block any negative remarks.

Tabb does something over there. I think she reboots the servers, which are chronically down from the sounds of their internal posts, so it's a full time job.

What strikes me about Matthew's exchange with Tabb was her last comment. She says: "We will ignore any further messages from you." Talk about bad business--anyone with a modicum of common sense or professionalism would have apologized and offered something like a month free service if he [Matthew] ever decided to give them another chance. But HM and Tabb in particular are so freaking defensive you gutta wonder, how many people have they alienated and screwed to have developed such a crappy front end. I think Stacy's would be probably less offensive than the face she shows her customers.

And just incase anyone is reading this and considering Sekimori designs...don't bother. If she says 14-21 days to complete a project, expect 60 - 90 days... and don't expect an e-mail explanation, or any apologies; or, whatever you do don't expect a reply when you are desperate and wondering what the hell is going on (is she robbing you or what?) It would be one thing if she only asked for a deposit [that's what normal designers do], but she resorts to practical extortion to get your money up front and then, when she has it, she disappears for days, weeks at a time.

Hosting is the last thing that Matters with HM. Word of mouth built their business, and word of mouth is going to kill it. Good riddance to a company we are all better off without.

What I meant to say was: "...Stacy's ASS would be probably less offensive than the face she shows her customers."

"I wish that I could publish all of the e-mails and scenarios from people that have had poor customer service from Ms. Tabb, but most individuals chicken out from letting me publish, primarily because she still has their money for an incomplete job."

Yes and one last thing. After a month waiting for my project, and after days of sending e-mail and no reply, Tabb finally sent me a mock-up--it was a jpg file [though I wanted to see the code because it was important to me that it be done in CSS and not javascript] but I was just so relieved that she hadn't skipped the country, that instead of complaining, I thanked her profusely. I thought she was going to send me the actual coded file later that day or week [at which point I would approach her on the CSS issue]. She never did and it was only after I complained to Paypal that I finally got something from her. I withdrew my Paypal complaint, but I did it too soon. After closely examining the files, I realized it was incomplete and it took another few weeks to wrestle stuff out of her. She never did finish the project (or what she said she was going to do) and she blocked my email. Yeah, she's a real pro.

mefish...forget paypal if you used a regular credit card to pay her. If it's within 60 days you can challenge the payment to her for "services not rendered as promised." You stand a very good chance of getting a refund. You have to do it within 60 days from the time of the statement date that the paypal charge showed up on your credit statement. Call your bank to verify their regulations, but you have protection when purchasing with a credit card.

I've had it with her and am doing the same thing. She refunded 1/2 the fee, but that's not good enough. I'm getting it all back, and will fight her to the ends of the earth to accomplish that. Her snippy attitude and her contempt for people who deal with her in good faith has crossed my red line. I dealt with her in completely good faith, and was trampled over.

If she posts about me like she did about Bill last November, she will have a royal public fight on her hands, and I believe that public opinion will be on my side, given her well documented history.

Thanks Rick, unfortunately, it's not within 60 days... Remember, it took her that long to get the (half-finished) work to me... I suppose she knows this time frame with Paypal and strings you along long enough to cover her bases. No, at this point, I'm just cutting my losses because I simply have better things to do in my life than to deal with that crook. Though I suspect she will get what she deserves. At least these posts will alert others to the pitfalls of doing business with Tabb or Hosting Matters.

I'm sorry you can't challenge the charge. That refers to the credit card. I do not know what Paypal's regulations are. I think the word is going to get out more and more about her. Eventually, people like this tend to get found out, even when they deal with some of the biggest types of clients.