Internet Service Provider Hall of Shame

VolumDrive.com "reliable, high-performance hosting" - This company is the least trust-worthy of any company we have ever encountered, in ANY INDUSTRY. Before acquiring services with VolumeDrive, we would recommend your buying your dog food from China, along with some painted toys for your kids. On August 13th, 2013, we received a notice that VolumeDrive was moving to a new facility on August 16th. We were uncomfortable with a move made on such short notice, but it never happened. At the time we were vacationing in Florida, and could not do much of anything anyway, except to make certain that our nightly backups to servers which we had with another provider were being run successfully. Thankfully, they were.

On August 21st and 22nd, the plugs were pulled on the four servers we leased from VolumeDrive. Still in Florida, we assumed they were moving. And they were. But our servers never came online again, and we still do not know where they are. In the end, VolumeDrive simply told us that our servers were "inaccessible". There were over 500 GB of data on those servers, one Alexa top-100,000 website with nearly two dozen subdomains, and a dozen other unrelated websites. If we did not have those nightly backups on servers with a different company, today they would all be gone, since it would take a couple of months to re-upload the data fom our office, which is only connected to the internet with standard Cable-TV broadband.

Fortunately, on August 23rd we had the foresight to see that VolumeDrive had serious problems, and we only hosted our data with them. Our domain registrations and DNS are all with different providers. So on the 23rd we were able to lease servers from a different company, and have all of those websites back online on the 23rd, 24th and 25th. We only lost about 10-12 hours of visitor data, from the time of the last backups to the time when VolumeDrive unplugged the servers. Since none of the websites were engaged in commerce, there was no critical data loss (if they were, we would have had more frequent data backups, or a replicated database).

Here is the correspondence we received from VolumeDrive:

The first email from Volumedrive, our former ISP:

Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 22:31:35 -0400 [08/13/2013 10:31:35 PM EDT]
From: VolumeDrive Info <info@volumedrive.com>
To: wmfinck@xxxxx.com, bill@xxxxxxxxxxxx.net
Subject: VolumeDrive Server Maintenance Window August 16th 2013

Dear William Finck,

VolumeDrive is pleased to announce that our brand new facility in Dunmore, PA is ready for the relocation of your current server(s). We would like to schedule the move on August 16th starting at 9AM EDT. This move will cause some downtime for each server while it is being relocated. The relocation window is set for 6-8 hours, however, approximately 2-3 hours is a good estimate as to actual downtime. The move will be performed in phases, and downtime will be kept to an absolute minimum. This move will NOT require any changes to your IP space or DNS. The typical relocation scenario for each server will include a graceful shutdown, physical move (only 3 miles away), cabinet installation, and then server boot. We will have additional personnel on-site to oversee the relocation process, as well as to help facilitate the transition as smoothly as possible.

The new facility is a high end, state of the art data center, at our same traditional low pricing. If you are a reseller, you should find that this is a more attractive draw for prospective new clientèle.

If you are interested in upgrading your package, this would be a great time to do so. We are focusing on revenue growth for the new facility, and our sales team can offer very competitive pricing, for any upgrade processed during the relocation process.

VolumeDrive thanks you for your understanding and patience during this necessary maintenance window, as well as for your continued business.


-----------------------------------------------

Best Regards,
VolumeDrive Support.

General: info[at]volumedrive.com
Support: support[at]volumedrive.com

Twitter: @volumedrive

 

Another email from Volumedrive, our former ISP:

Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 10:32:53 -0400 [08/16/2013 10:32:53 AM EDT]
From: VolumeDrive Info <info@volumedrive.com>
To: wmfinck@xxxxx.com, bill@xxxxxxxxxxxx.net
Subject: Re: VolumeDrive Server Maintenance Window August 16th 2013

Due to some minor technical complications, our migration process will begin this afternoon. We expect slightly longer maintenance windows as well. We apologize for any inconvenience.
-----------------------------------------------

Best Regards,

General: info[at]volumedrive.com
Support: support[at]volumedrive.com

Twitter: @volumedrive

A third email from Volumedrive:

Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 23:21:33 -0400 [08/26/2013 11:21:33 PM EDT]
From: VolumeDrive Support <support@volumedrive.com>
To: wmfinck@xxxxx.com, bill@xxxxxxxxxxxx.net
Subject: Facility Migration Status

Dear William Finck,

We appreciate your understanding during the lengthy migration process. Our new facility is operational and we are restoring services gradually. This new facility will allow us to provide better network performance compared to our previous location. This migration gives us the opportunity for added growth while maintaining our competitive pricing.

If you have any questions, concerns or requests for account credit, please contact our support department at support@volumedrive.com. Our support staff is busy bringing services back online, so your patience is greatly appreciated.

-----------------------------------------------

Best Regards,
VolumeDrive Support.

General: info[at]volumedrive.com
Support: support[at]volumedrive.com

Twitter: @volumedrive
VolumeDrive.com reliable, high-performance hosting

A bill for two servers that I had not seen in a week!

Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 00:02:13 -0400 [08/27/2013 12:02:13 AM EDT]
From: VolumeDrive Billing <info@volumedrive.com>
To: wmfinck@xxxxx.com, bill@xxxxxxxxxxxx.net
Subject: VolumeDrive Invoice
Images have been blocked to protect your privacy. Show Images? | Show this HTML in a new window?
Please login to the Client Portal to view and pay this invoice.
Aug, 27th 2013
96439 Due: Sep, 01st 2013 (NET 5)
FROM


VolumeDrive
US


TO


William Finck
wmfinck@xxxxx.com

96439
Qty Description Price Total
1.0 Service
Server ID: CL-665
CPU: Intel Xeon X3450
Memory: 8 GB DDR3
Hard Drive 1: 250 GB SATA
Hard Drive 2: 250 GB SATA
Raid Controller: Software RAID 1
Control Panel: Plesk 30
OS: CentOS 64

74.95 74.95
1.0 Service
Server ID: CL-690
CPU: Intel Xeon X3450
Memory: 8 GB GB DDR3
Hard Drive 1: 250 GB SATA
Hard Drive 2: 250 GB SATA
Raid Controller: Software RAID 1
Control Panel: Plesk 30
OS: CentOS x64

74.95 74.95
Subtotal: $149.90
Total Due: $149.90

Bills for two more servers and several late notices came over the two weeks subsequent to this first bill, however none of my servers were online. What was even stranger, is that VolumeDrive's own website was not yet in operation on the 27th, yet apparently their billing system was working quite well. They just wern't providing the services which they were billing for.

In the meantime, I found out that VolumeDrive was procuring services from Burst.net. I received this letter from Burst.net:

Guy Hopkins <GuyH@burst.net>

Aug 23 (5 days ago)

to me

Hello,

Unfortunately, due to a recent situation with VolumeDrive, your server is likely currently offline. BurstNET may be able to assist you in the matter, if by chance we still have your server in our possession, or can set you us a rush delivery replacement server.

VolumeDrive was scheduled to relocate to our brand new facility here in PA, moved about 20% of their stuff in, put the rest of their stuff in another truck, and never showed up with the remainder at our facility. We tracked them to an office building about 20 miles away, and we assume the rest of the stuff is relocated there, and we saw all their cars and staff outside the building to confirm it. After 24 hours, they do not even have their own website online, so we question whether they will get anything online at all, and how they are going to explain the 300+ servers they left down in our facility with live clients on them.

We do have a percentage of the servers they hosted, that they simply left behind, and are more than happy to accommodate you if possible. Even if we do not have the physical server we would be happy to rush build you a new machine and have it online as soon as possible, running in a company that has been in the industry for 23 years, and is not going anywhere soon. The first step in getting your server back online would be opening a ticket to sales@burst.net in which we will provide you with the steps for transferring service to us. We empathize with the inconvenience this has caused you, and want to do whatever we are able to get you, and your end clients/users/visitors, back online as soon as possible.

Please contact sales@burst.net ASAP, and we will do our best to assist you in your time of need here...

Thank you for your time.

Needless to say, at this point VolumeDrive was not going to get another dime from me anyway, even if our servers were brought back online.

Then on September 9th, I received this:

Facility Migration Status: Update

10:27 PM (14 hours ago)

Dear William Finck,

We are pleased to inform you that the facility migration process is now complete. Please open a support ticket if you are still having difficulties accessing, or to inquire about your service.

We appreciate those that have stood by us during this long and arduous migration. Unfortunatley, due to circumstances beyond our control, some of our equipment has not been recovered as of yet. If your server(s) was one of those not placed back online, please urgently contact us and we will do whatever we are able to get you up and running again, including offering you a new server, account credit, free upgrades, etc. We will continue to strive to overcome the difficulties that we have faced this month during the migration.


Now that the migration is complete, we will be rolling out additional services that weren't available before the move. IPv6 addresses will be offered very soon. A free IPv6 allocation will be available on request for all existing dedicated servers. Our new network offers improved routing performance, higher speeds, and direct connections with major metropolitan carriers in New York City (Less than 5ms away from locations in NYC!).

We hope that we are given the opportunity prove that we are a top-notch provider with rock-bottom prices.
-----------------------------------------------

Best Regards,
Josh B.

General: info[at]volumedrive.com
Support: support[at]volumedrive.com

VolumeDrive | Internet Technologies

Their "migration" was complete, but the four servers we leased were still nowhere to be found! Of course, I figured that at least three of them (the three which went offline on the 22nd) were probably left behind among the 300 servers Burst.net was in possession of.

I immediately wrote VolumeDrive (for at least the fourth time in ten days) asking where my servers were. Here was their response:

William Finck,

A customer support staff member has replied to your support request, #167876 with the following response:

CL-650
CL-690
CL-665
CLF-144

Unfortunately, your servers are inaccessible. We apologize for the inconvenience, and we understand how important the recovery of your service is. Therefore, we can provide a new upgraded server, 1 Gbps network port, and an account credit for the downtime. You will have to restore your data from your own backups.

Please let us know how you'd like to proceed.

Until this point, I was really quite patient with them. Here is my response to being informed that my servers were "inaccessible", and their offer of a continued business relationship:

09/10/13 13:20:31 EDT

Are you kidding me? You lost four servers with 500+ GB of data? And you want me to trust you again? At this point, I would not let you host anything again. You people should all be flipping burgers at a local McDonald's.

To which I received the following from VolumeDrive:

William Finck,

A customer support staff member has replied to your support request, #167876 with the following response:


We have closed the account. Thank you for your past patronage and we wish you the best of luck in the future.

I am considering a filing with the Pennsylvania Attorney General. If for nothing but to recoup the few hundred dollars' worth of unperformed services they billed me for.

Anyone who does business with VolumeDrive is putting their own business at risk.

Santrex "Affordable Hosting Solutions" - This company was a nightmare. I got a VPS from them in December, 2011, for one small solitary website. I wanted a VPS so that later on I could relay one of the Shoutcast streams which I run for Christogenea.org. Anyway, I got the website up and running choosing "use the default name servers" option on the control panel, and a few days later it was down. After inquiring, I was trold that I had to use BIND and create my own name servers. No problem, but the site was working, and now had already been down for two weeks. It is a little-traveled site, and I do not check on it often.

Well, fixing up the DNS, a few weeks later the site went down again. Not having time to get to it, before I did I had an email from Santrex (after the site had been down for at least a week) informing me that they had to change the IP numbers, and supplying me with the new IPs. Geez. A week later I had the time to get to the VPS, but I could not get the DNS to work. After banging my head against the wall for a few hours, I ran out of time, and had to put off resolution for another week. Now this week (it is February 7th, 2012 now) I went so far as to reimage the server, to no avail. Then t dawned on me, that the company's name servers were probably not updated. But I had no way to check, not being able to reach the domain.

Filing another support ticket, I got a short answer telling me to do something I had already been doing. Replying to that, I got a smart-assed remark telling me to change the names of my name servers, which is something I had already explained would not work. So Santrex is fired. I had my VPS there for two months with a single site on it, and I don't think the site was up half of the time. Of course, this is an immaterial hobby site, and I would have resolved it a lot differently if it were for a paying customer, but I sure could not have relied on Santrex if this were critical to business! So Santrex will never see any more of my business.

Powweb.com - No SSH available, a huge minus if you ever want to get any actual work done quickly (with shared hosting, it would mostly be used for server-to-server file transfers, and for certain SQL operations). But much worse than that, Powweb also has some of the slowest SQL servers I have experienced with shared hosting accounts. They are not just plain slow, they are painfully slow!