Re: [cobalt-users] Warning regarding using CobaltRacks.com

[Nell Bolen <nell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: cobalt-users-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:cobalt-users-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Bradley Caricofe
> Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2001 2:50 PM
> To: cobalt-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [cobalt-users] Warning regarding using CobaltRacks.com
>
> Hello,
>
> I hate to send an email like this, but I feel compelled after nearly being
> put out of business today by the negligient actions of some ametuers who
> possibly shouldn't be in the hosting business.  After developing websites
> for 5 years and working at companies like CyberCash and Red Hat Inc.  I
> felt I was ready to go at it for myself.  I leased a dedicated RaQ3 from
> COBALTRACKS.com.
>
> Until yesterday my service had worked very well this entire time.  Last
> night, they decided, for reasons completely beyond me, to rebuild my
> entire operating system.  I never put in any such request.  This morning,
> I wake up to find myself possibly out of business.  I have managed to
> attain 20 hosting clients since the inception of my business, all of them
> are currently down.  Clients that had signed with me this week are
> wondering if we can handle their projects now and deadlines are now being
> pushed around so myself and my one sysadmin can rebuild things.
>
> THINK TWICE BEFORE USING COBALTRACKS.COM or any service from
> VISUALLINK.com.
>
> Not only did they let us down, this problem was addressed to them at 11:30
> am this morning.  I spoke with their CEO, NOC manager and tech support
> staff.  Noone has called me back at all today after all of them promised
> to.  Does anyone know where I can get cobalt racks at similar prices?
>
> thanks,
>
> Bradley H Caricofe
> CEO, Advanced Web
>
> __________________________________________________
>

Hello,

I am Nell Bolen of Willis, VA, a customer of cobaltrack.com for three months
now. My association with this company has not been without rough spots, but I
give cobaltrack.com all the credit for treating me fairly during this tenure
with them.

I contracted for a RAQ 4i, 512 MB DRAM, 60 GB hardrive. My account was opened
immediately, but with a slight problem. The IPs assigned to my machine were
already in use by someone else (a local database screw up), so I could not begin
working. Response time to my complaint about this was very very slow, a matter
of days, even though I contacted the company daily via tech support, email and
phone messages.

On to the next problem -- I was soon told that the company did not have in stock
the machine I had paid for. After small discussion, they agreed to provide me
with a 20 GB RAQ 4i  to use until the machine I contracted for came in. This
arrangement proved satisfactory because I could then start to work right away.
About two weeks later, the switchover of machine drives was accomplished by them
without a wrinkle.

In addition, I encountered a billing mixup with cobaltrack.com, but they
rectified all problems immediately, responding with appropriate refunds, and for
my trouble, they gave me some applied credit.

And finally, I'd like to compliment one cobaltrack.com tech named Sam, who has
provided excellent advice and real help in response to all queries. Today, if I
have any complaint at all, I guess I would like to see cobaltrack.com improve
its response time to customer support queries.

I also sincerely thank the participants in this mailing list for filling in a
lot of blanks for a newbie RAQ person like me. While I waited for cobaltrack.com
tech support response, you see, I could read the list materials until my eyes
glazed over and solve most of the "problems" from advice available in the
archives or in the daily list postings here.

In summary, for me, today's situation seems satisfactory, but who knows what the
morrow will bring, eh? I regret very much Bradley Caricofe's difficult situation
and sincerely hope all is set right for him soon.

Regards and thanks again for all the help -- Nell Bolen
nell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx