Why does HostMonster support take so long to answer tickets?

[serversn]

Hi, I was just wondering why HostMonster support take so long to answer tickets? It took 6 days to answer my last question...

[Aaron]

Send your complaint to Matt Heaton, the CEO. He does respond to emails. I don't recall such long ticket replies, but I usually use LiveChat rather opening a ticket.

[E.M.P.]

Yes I agree I have waited 3 days and no answer to my ticket.. Use live chat that is the way to go...

I gave up on the ticket system it is the only major negative customer service that I can see with hostmonster.

[xtendedf]

I don't see any severity levels or service level agreements.
What's the incentive for answering a ticket? Do any
tickets escalate? Why do they service any at all?
Hey, if it's easy, answer it! If it's too hard or obscure,
just leave it alone, the author will forget about it,
maybe wiki'ed an answer, the ticket will age and fade
into the bit bucket.........

[bermslayer]

Yeah, 2 weeks no reply or acknowlegement of ticket. I re-submitted it, and emailled my query. Still no reply. I had to call on phone for assistance. I mentioned the emails and tickets. Didn't seem to matter. I was asked if I used the on-line support. No, I didn't care to use that method. That's why I used the others.

[Aaron]

Maybe we should get signatures and send an email to the CEO and ask him what's going on. One person doesn't matter a difference, but I bet 10 people would make him sweat a little. :D

[E.M.P.]

Is HostMonster running these forums ? Will they read these posts and respond too them ??? Just wondering.

[Aaron]

I bet some of them read the forum, but if I'm not mistaken, this is mainly intended as a user help user forum, and not really for support from HM.

[shadmego]

I agree that if they provide a service (ticket submission), then they need to honor that service and staff it sufficiently. 2 weeks is unacceptable for a response time.

Having said that, I don't understand why you would use such a known failed system, and not use the chat or the phone (unless you are out of country). When I was searching for a new hosting company, I used both the phone and the chat and honestly, I probably spent more time asking questions than I did waiting for answers. The three phone calls I made to them in the first week or so only added up to about 15 - 20 minutes (hold times included).

Another thing to take into consideration is the size of this company. I think that their support staff also handles the support for BlueHost. I know this cause one of the guys on the phone got confused for a sec and thanked me for my subscription to BlueHost. Hehehehe

Anyway, these two companies are rather large and are dealing with multiple thousands of requests per day. I would cut them a break, if you can.

Having said ALL THAT, refer back to my first statement. If they are going to provide a support service, then they need to make sure it is working; otherwise it is just a money pit for them and a huge headache for us.

Kindest Regards
Shadmego

[stnvnet]

Hi, I was just wondering why HostMonster support take so long to answer tickets? It took 6 days to answer my last question...

I have not been a Hostmonster client long enough to have any serious problem I can think of. But, here's something to think about. When a hosting provider offers clients 50 GB of space and near 1 TB of monthly bandwidth allowance for only $4.99 or so a month, they're guaranteed that clients will flock to them. And, when you're dealing with flocks, having one or two ducks in that flock who are unhappy is no big deal. Clients like you, me, or anyone else can be (and are soon) replaced by other clients.

This is why I only moved one domain here for now. I have four other domains I want to move here. And, I'll move them here when the first domain has a track record of acceptable service (and customer service). If it doesn't, the four other domains go elsewhere. And if I get really bad service on my one domain that remains consistently bad? Well (grin), that's what I have prepaid legal insurance for - lawyers in all 50 states who will handle cases for me at no out-of-pocket expense to me.

As the old saying goes, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." And a decent attorney can do an awful lot of squeaking. :) Of course, I'd attempt to resolve problems through online chat, phone calls or faxes first. I don't like litigation. But, I have sued people before and would not hesitate to do so again if I felt I was being wronged without any polite recourse.

Regards,
J. Alec West