I have been using Ipower for the last four months. In those four months my server has gone down 3 times. No big deal. The real problem with Ipower is their technical support.

When you get a dedicated server with Ipower, the only support they provide is a reboot. This is fine and probably standard with most hosting companies offering dedicated servers. What they don't tell you is it takes 12+ hours for a guy to hard reboot your system. The first time my site went down, it took them about 12 hours to reboot my server. The second time, the same thing. I finally got a tech guy who had my server rebooted in 5 minutes after talking to him on the phone. I am on the third time today and they are not picking up the phone and the guy online wont give me a phone number or e-mail to a manager. Here is their process.

1. You e-mail them and a ticket number is replied back to you and they state "you will get service with 24 hours." Unbeleiveable!!! How many people running an online business can wait 12-24 hours for their site to get back up?

2. They have online chat and get with you quick, BUT these guys just tell you "I bumped you to a level two priority" or "I have made you a higher priority". 3-4 hours later, nothing and the guys in chat repeat the same thing over and over when you contact them again.

3. Telephone. You are lucky to EVER get a guy on the phone. The last time I got a guy on the phone he actually had my server rebooted in 5 minutes. This is far from the norm because the previous 5 phone calls were simple a repeat of their online chat, "We are bumping you to a higher priority."

My guess is these online helpers and tech support guys on the phone are simply farmed out labor. You are simply talking to a guy that is 500 miles or more from the data center were your server is actually located. Your request is sent into a ticket system and if a tech guy steps away from watching a movie or football game roughly 500 miles away from the customer service center, he may turn your server off and on.

I am at the point of finding a new hosting company and requesting a refund. I paid for 6 months in advance and it was the worse decision I have made yet. I feel like putting a "Jihad" on Ipower. Anyone else have any Ipower.com stories?

Mike

ouch, thats a really bad news

Here is an update. I finally got someone one the phone and my server was rebooted in 5 minutes. But of course it is like hitting the lottery getting someone on the phone.

It is always better to do some research about the company before buying. I hope you get your refund.

No matter how attractive the host you are looking at appears to be, make sure you check up on them first.

My host has been really awesome- bluefish webhosting. Sounds like you'd have a lot more fun working with them.

Anything gotta be better than Ipower after reading that post. I am VERY glad I didnt choose them now. When my first host 'buggered off', I was thinking about going with Ipower.

We have been with IPower for about 3years. They were excellent until about 10-12 months ago when it started to go down hill.

After hundreds of support requests I believe that they have had a change in senior techs somewhere along the line and this is where it is falling down.

Some of the major issues on my site are un-resolved and never will be resolved. I don't want to go into the details here but suffice it to say we are looking very hard for a new host.

They are cheap and they were very good, but at the moment sadly I have to agree with mikesilvia. Avoid

Unfortunately, the net is filled with similar stories about them, some significantly older that 1 year. It's nice when customers think of others and decide to warn them. Good job mikesilvia!

Obviously now that you've experienced this you know that research might reveal interesting (and repeating) stories about the provider you plan to use and you'll always do your research before signing up with a host!

Thats sad. However you should know that many hosts offer more support than reboots on their dedicated servers. The only host I have known to be that slow on reboots is Sagonet. I transferred one of our larger sites from them because of that. Twice I had to wait hours for a reboot. The last time it took them almost two hours after I spoke to someone.

I hesitated leaving a big company like Sagonet for a smaller host but I'm glad I did. The current host monitors the server and proactively manages it too. It's been 3months and the new host has been stellar. Now I only use Sagonet for my remote backups and when I find an adequate replacement for them I will drop them like a hot potato.

Man that's REALLY bad to hear! I have heard such good things about Ipower in the past. It's such a shame when you see a good company go down in flames... I hope they can get their act together and possibly recoup.

Man I'm REALLY sorry to hear what you have been going through with them. Is there any way of getting at least some of your money back if you change servers?

Well, five days later I am having problems again!!!!

Today, I did a simple back-up on my server. After the back-up, the domain was acting funny, so I rebooted from my admin control. Well, as you can guess, my server locked up. I have NEVER, I will repeat, NEVER had my system NOT lock-up from rebooting on my own. EVERY single time I try to reboot from my admin control the server locks up and I have to go through the pain of contacting Ipower. It is terrible.

So, I am on the first hour of e-mailing, online chatting and phoning them. Like always I get the "I can assure you it will be rebooted in within 2 hours, blah, blah, blah"

After the problem last week, I asked the guy on the phone were I can send feedback and ask for a refund. After filling out a long form and sending the e-mail, I got nothing in return. I have a degree in Business and this company is everything I learned NOT to do. I have never wished ill-will on anyone, but I really hope this company goes under. They are a pathetic excuse for a company.

I hope my pain helps others think twice about this company.

Mike

Yes check the host before you go with them , email them and see how fast you get a reply say you have a technical problem , but dont state your site address or ip or anything and see if they reply fast or not at all!

Well, my server is slow today and there is NO WAY I am hitting the reboot button. So, I just e-mailed them to reboot. Any bets on how long this will take? There are few companies were I know their tech support e-mail by memory.

Mike

Well, I called and got placed on hold until my phone card ran out (24 muntes). I am also on hold on their live chat. Every 3-4 minutes it tells you that a operator will help you shortly. Well, here is my string so far:

Please wait for a site operator to respond.
All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.
All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.
All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.
All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.
All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.
All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.
All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.
All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.
All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.
All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

So, once again, I can't get someone on the phone or on chat. I sent in an e-mail and here is the official response.

Your question has been received. For an optimal support experience, please visit www.contactipower.com in the future to submit a question. You should expect a response from us within 24 hours.

You "should" get a response in 24 hours. I should? So, if they get back to me in a week, it's ok, the should covers it!

Folks, I am considering legal action this week, as I run a solid business online. This is unacceptable. I will be contacting a lawyer and taking about false advertisement as they state a reboot service, but don't mention it takes 12-24 hours, or longer.

Since I have been writing this I got another.

All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

Mike

I would also like to mention that I have a total of 160 members on my classifieds and even less on my forum. Many of these members overlap. So, my server is having problems from 130 or so members and a ton of visitors. I know sites with 60,000 members who don't hae problems like this. If I were Muslim, I would put a Jihad on Ipower!

Mike

the big sites use dedicated or semi-dedicated servers

Here is another great feature of their servers. At least once a month I can't log in! It says access denied. I have to come back one hour later to log in. Go ipower!

Mike

http://www.webmaster-talk.com/web-ho...ain-sucks.html