Over the past year and a half I put up with slowdowns, outages, and email problems as the normal “costs” of a cheap shared hosting plan. But the last straw for me was my experience in the past week. Here’s the breakdown.

1. Over the weekend (March 27-30, 2008), ixwebhosting.com moved all their servers (and customers) to a new data farm. I was warned well in advance of this move via email and also warned that this would mean downtime of about 48hours. There was nothing wrong with that – and they did their customers right by communicating what was about to happen. The move was done to put us on new servers and make things run faster and better – or so we were told.

2. After the move, (on the Sunday), I noticed that the website DNS had propagated but the mySql db wasn’t connected. I went on live chat and received the news that the dns hadn’t propagated for the mysql db’s yet. The support guy gave me the ip address of the mysql server and all was well again. (+1 for customer support)

3. On Tuesday I noticed that no emails were being sent from any of my website installs (db backup scripts, comment notifications, new user signups for the orgseries support forums etc.). I filed a support ticket with ixwebhosting.com explaining the problem. I did some research on my own and discovered that it was most likely due to the way they had set up their servers to use the php core mail() function (and sendmail binary). I added these notes to the ticket and then waited for the answer…and waited…and waited. Keep in mind that prior to the server move I had no problems with WordPress processing and sending mails. Over the course of the next few days I went on live chat multiple times to see if I could get someone to acknowledge the ticket and let me know what they were doing. When I got someone (no doubt they were busy with support requests after the move) – the person would always refuse to answer my questions and simply say that I would have to wait for a response to the ticket (and that it would come “soon”). In my last live chat conversation (on Friday) – the customer support rep even said, “Don’t post anymore to the ticket – you will get an answer soon.”. Of course I’m going to post more info to the ticket if I think it is relevant and no one is putting any replies there!

Finally, on Sunday I received a reply from Elena Yarkina on my ticket. Unfortunately, for ixwebhosting.com that reply was the last straw. Here’s the full text of the ticket I submitted…

Darren Ethier, Wed Apr 2 19:36:10 2008
I’ve use WordPress which uses the php mail function in tandem with the sendmail settings (compiled in php). Prior to the big move of servers this worked fine across all my domains that use wordpress (for registration of users, etc.). However, after the switch it is not working.

I have checked the error logs to see if anything is showing up there but with no luck.

Has anything changed on your end in the big move – either something didn’t get set up properly or you made a decision to block usage of that function?

Darren, Ethier, Wed Apr 2 19:47:05 2008
Is phpmail() enabled?

Darren, Ethier, Wed Apr 2 20:05:46 2008
I made a simple php script using the standard php mail() function to test if it is working or not and I can confirm that mail() is not working as expected (i.e. no mails are getting sent out.

This is a critical function for all the various uses it’s put to with my website installs – I’d appreciate knowing if anything is being done about this?

Darren, Ethier, Wed Apr 2 20:09:47 2008
Do I as user have permission to access the sendmail binary? see http://ca3.php.net/mail

Darren, Ethier, Thu Apr 3 21:34:08 2008
I just got a jumble of mails from the past week arrive in my mailbox – is that because things are fixed or in the process? I’ll keep this ticket open as I monitor this over the next couple days (unless you post something here to the contrary).

Darren, Ethier, Fri Apr 4 12:55:23 2008
Okay, it’s still not fixed. It looks like things are getting held in some sort of queue as I haven’t received any mails from recent tests I’ve conducted (I’ve waited over 2 hours to see if the emails will be received).

I’d appreciate some sort of response to this ticket – I’m starting to get disturbed by the lack of communication. I understand you’re busy with the move but at least a “we’re working on it and here’s the eta” would be appreciated.

Elena Y., Sun Apr 6 02:39:05 2008
Ticket Status was changed from Open to Resolved
Dear Darren,

Thank you for using our services!
Please let me apologize for any inconvenience. By default, the mails that were sent using the scripts were sent from the server with the sender’s address httpd@webxx. Most of the Internet providers block the mails with such address and that is why we had been getting the complaints about the non-delivered mails all the time. The improvement lies in the opportunity to force the sender’s address change with the help of the additional command line parameter in mail() function. You should add -f parameter to sendmail binary directly in call to mail(), e.g. mail($sendto,$subject,$message,$header, ‘-ftest@yourdomain.com’); and this should fix the issue.

Should you have any further questions please let us know we are available 24/7.
Kind regards,
Elena Yarkina
Technical Support

Darren, Ethier, Sun Apr 6 18:07:19 2008
Ticket re-opened
Finally! Thanks for the response but I’m sorry I don’t buy it. Prior to the move I had no problem with WordPress (and related scripts) sending out mail using the mail() script and certainly no problem with my email provider blocking it. Now, after the move you are asking me to go in and change all the core code for a popular open source blogging software to fit the way you’ve set up your servers (which is contrary to the majority of shared server webhosts on the market)? Not only that, but this is the “solution” you give me after me waiting nearly 4 days for a reply?

I’m sorry, but you’ve just lost a customer.

It simply boggles me as to why a web host would require customers to do this level of coding to adapt popular open source programs to work with their server idiosyncrasies. Especially when there were no problems prior to the server move. Not only that, but from her “helpful” response I’m not even sure Elena read my entire ticket!

Oh well, consider this a “heads up” to all my readers that while I switch hosts over the next week there will be intermittent times where unfoldingneurons.com (and my other websites) will be unavailable. I still haven’t come to a final decision where I’m going to move to so if you’re reading this and have any suggestions I’m all ears!

In my opinion, what makes or breaks a company (or any organization for that matter) is customer support. Probably more than ever – word of mouth matters – if you have crappy front line customer support it doesn’t matter how stellar the rest of your business is – your business/organization will suffer.

So, here’s my list of what customer support should be:

1. Don’t keep me waiting.
Whatever way you offer support, long delays mean I get unhappy. Don’t have an answer for the question I’ve asked – write, “we don’t have an answer yet but we’re looking into it” but DON’T say/write nothing. In today’s world more than ever, time = currency. I’m not just paying money for your product/service but I’m also paying time because there was a problem. You better balance out that time in coming up with a solution!

2. Assume I’m smarter than you (even though I’m probably not).
Nothing is more irritating than condescending and “know-it-all” customer support. Sure, there are always a whole host of “dumb” people that get in contact with you and I’ve had my share of dumb moments – but I’ll stick around with a company that makes me feel smarter than I am (and is patient with me when I’m not).

3. Remember I’m paying your paycheck.
Sure, in the grand scheme of things my contribution is probably about .005% BUT the power of word of mouth means that a big chunk of your future paychecks could depend on what I tell others about my experience with you – don’t forget you represent your company.

4. If you don’t know the answer, tell me, then find someone who does.
Don’t pretend you know what I’m talking about if you don’t. Get me to someone who does.

5. Keep your word.
Trust broken is gone. The sad thing is, most people don’t remember what went right but what went wrong. Especially when what went wrong involved being lied to. Know your companies guarantees and stick to them – I don’t care what your internal policy says – if you don’t have the authority to keep the guarantee then hurry up and get me to someone who does.

6. Communicate clearly.
If I don’t understand what you’re saying because you can’t talk my language then I’ll end up getting frustrated (and you probably will too).

7. Don’t wait for me to ask for reimbursement.
If you’ve screwed up, it cost me. Don’t think I’ll just forget it. It may cost you a little bit to reimburse me in some way but it’ll end up costing you a lot if I take my business elsewhere (and potential customers as well). If I have to ask for reimbursement, I’ll still remember the problem – if you offer it to me I’ll remember your solution.

8. I’m not always right, but it’s your job to make sure I think I am.
Your attitude when responding to communication from me matters. Don’t tell me not to add any more entries to a ticket I opened (especially when I go to live chat to find answers because there’s no response to the ticket…).

9. Like your job.

If you don’t like your job – I don’t want to know it. And bosses/owners – your customer support people are your evangelists. Make sure they like their job. If they don’t, I won’t like your company.

And finally,

10. Assume this is your company’s last chance…
…to make it worth my while to stick with you. Always remember that in today’s worlds there are options. You can either make it difficult for me to leave (because I like you too much) or difficult to stay (because you don’t like me enough).

Enter in my recent laptop purchase in August of this year which runs on Vista. I installed the correct Vista drivers as posted on the HP site and seemed to have no problems – but alas that was an illusion. For the past couple of months I’ve been experiencing the following problems:

1. Duplex printing doesn’t work properly: The printer has an automatic duplexer but portrait printouts have the reverse side printing opposite to what it should be (landscape duplexes print correctly). Thanks to some help from an HP customer who discovered a unofficial patch (from Microsoft!) that “fixed” the problem I’m able to resolve this. But…
2. Extra top and bottom margins: I’m not a newb. The same file printed from XP does not appear the same when printed from Vista with extra margins meaning some text gets cut off on the bottom of the page. I’ve played around with margins via the driver properties and in the word processor with NO success. In fact playing around with the margins appears to have no visible effect on the printout. This is a major pain and to date have found no resolution.
3. Disappearing Printer icon/driver from system. Every few days the printer appears to uninstall itself and I either have to do a full reinstall or “add printer” in the OS itself to get the printer back. HP has posted a “critical update” on their site that supposedly “fixes” this but I can’t even get the update to run (keep getting the message “update failed”). Fed up I tried the online chat with HP technical assistance and it didn’t do nothing to help me out (more on that later).
4. Intermittent scanner failure: Again on the XP machines the scanning to computer works flawlessly. On Vista I’ve yet to get it to work. I can start the scanner interface sometimes – and sometimes the HP solution center won’t even load up (requiring a full re-install of the drivers to get it to “work” again). This is simply unacceptable!

I decided I’d be a bit patient and see if HP comes out with a fix. However, it’s been two-three months since I first experienced the problems and after searching through the HP IT-support forums it looks like other users have been waiting far longer. The “up to date” printer driver on their website was released in March 2007.

When I had problems with installing the critical update patch I decided to give their online chat support a try. Here’s an excerpt from that chat (which wasted about an hour of my time)…

Darren Ethier: No. Let me explain further…
Darren Ethier: 1. I installed the software drivers etc.
Darren Ethier: 2. the printer disappeared
Darren Ethier: 3. I researched the problem.
Darren Ethier: 4. I discovered the patch – ran the unistall utility, reinstalled drivers and software then…
Darren Ethier: 5. Downloaded and tried to install the patch.
Michelle: Thanks for the information.
Darren Ethier: By the way I’m a “power user” i.e. I’m not a computer “newb”
Michelle: I appreciate your efforts.
Michelle: May I know how many number of computers installed in network?
Darren Ethier: 4 total. 3 on XP Home and using XP drivers. None of the computers are “sharing” the printer through another computer but are communicating directly with the printer
Darren Ethier: All the XP drivers are working properly
Michelle: Have you installed the full version of HP software in your Vista computer?
Darren Ethier: Yes
Darren Ethier: I’ve actually tried both versions
Darren Ethier: Same problem
Michelle: Is the printer icon present in printers folder?
Darren Ethier: Yes
Michelle: Please hold on a moment.
Michelle: Thanks for your time and patience.
Darren Ethier: If it resolves the problem it’ll be worth it..
Michelle: Iwill try my best to fix this issue.
Darren Ethier:
Michelle: Sorry for the delay in response, we are experiencing some technical issues at our end.
Darren Ethier: I’m searching the help forums while waiting your response
Darren Ethier: which is a chore in itself I might add…needs improvement
Michelle: Please let me know the sixe of ht epatch you downloaded.
Darren Ethier: 838kb
Darren Ethier: I’ve tried downloading multiple times in case I got a borked file…same size everytime.
Michelle: Thanks.
Michelle: You have the correct patch.
Michelle: Please follow the steps below:
Darren Ethier: ok
Michelle: 1) Click on the “Start Menu” icon on the bottom left corner of the screen , type “services.msc” in the “Start Search” edit box, and hit enter. This will trigger Vista to pop-up a “User Account Control” dialog to prompt for permission to continue. Click “Continue” to allow Vista to open the Services management console application.
Michelle: 2) The Services management console application is made up of 2 panels. The right panel contains a list of all services available on the system. Scroll thru this list and look for a service called “HP CUE DeviceDiscovery Service”.
Michelle: 3) Right-click on “HP CUE DeviceDiscovery Service” and select “Properties” to open the “HP CUE DeviceDiscovery Service Properties” dialog.

4) From the “HP CUE DeviceDiscovery Service Properties” dialog, click on the “General” tab. If the “Service status” shows that the service has started, click on the “Stop” button to force the service to stop.
5) Change the “Start type” to “Disabled” and click on the “OK” button on the bottom of the dialog to apply the changes.
Darren Ethier: trying now…
Michelle: Please proceed.
Darren Ethier: done
Michelle: Now try to install the patch.
Darren Ethier: Same message
Darren Ethier: There is a HP Network Devices Support…should I try stopping that service too?
Michelle: Darren, to effect the changes we ave made through the above steps we need to restart the computer.
Michelle: I recommend you to restart the computer and try downloading the patch.
Michelle: I am sure the issue should be fixed.
Darren Ethier: Okay I’ll restart…and try. Does the service need to be reenabled after the patch is applied?
Michelle: For your convenience, I am providing you the session id of this chat session: (–deleted–) . You can reach us with the session id as reference.
Darren Ethier: Thank you
Michelle: You are welcome.
Michelle: Thank you for contacting HP Total Care Real-Time chat support. If you need further assistance, please contact us again at: http://www.hp.com/support/chat. Chat support is available 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.

Of course it appeared that Michelle was genuinely trying to be friendly – but I’m sure a lot of her questions/answers were canned. Her suggested fixes did not give me the ability to install the patch and upon my own tedious research on the net I discovered that the “solution” she gave me is apparently what the patch is supposed to do in the first place…Go figure. I decided I didn’t want to waste another hour of my time chatting with a “tech support person” after realizing that HP has “known” about this problem for at least 6 months and if there was a fix they’d have posted something about it by now – or at least their “support” people would know about it, right? Yeah…right.

Bottom line – I’m getting pretty fed up with HP and am making some noise here in the hopes that they get their priorities in order and either get a fix pushed out (come on…you can’t tell me it’s taking you this long!!), post something on their website that actually informs customers about this problem and that they are working on a solution, OR offer customers a refund or exchange for the defective hardware. If the Officejet 7410 had of been a cheapo printer I would have ditched it by now and gone for something else but since it was not cheap and still works well with the XP machines we’ll keep it for now. However, my opinion of HP at this point is pretty low and you can bet I won’t be recommending any of their printers to anyone (or any of their products for that matter).

Comments welcome.

‘Hi my name is Lindy and I deny the existence of the Holy Spirit and you should too.’

With that five-second submission to YouTube, a 24-year-old who uses the name “menotsimple” has either condemned herself to an eternity of punishment in the afterlife or struck a courageous blow against superstition. She’s one of more than 400 mostly young people who have joined a campaign by the Web site BlasphemyChallenge.com to stake their souls against the existence of God. That, of course, is the ultimate no-win wager, as the 17th-century French mathematician Blaise Pascal calculated?it can’t be settled until you’re dead, and if you lose, you go to hell.

I went and visited the site and discovered that the “blasphemy challenge” offers an incentive for those who would do what Lindy did. Guess what the incentive is? People who take up the challenge and follow the instructions (which include the requirement to explicitly say, “I deny the existence of the Holy Spirit” in their video) will receive a free copy of “The God Who Wasn’t There”.

Here’s what I don’t understand. First, there are actually people willing to risk an eternity in hell for a video that basically promotes there is no God and mocks Christianity? C’mon there’s gotta be a bigger payoff than that! But then I get thinking of the Lindy’s and the Michael Lawson’s who are meeting the challenge for their free video. What has happened in their lives to give them such a bad taste for God and such a willingness to rush into the opportunity to “blaspheme”?

Second, this viral vitriol against Christianity and God is getting ridiculous (getting? it’s beyond that)! Does belief in Jesus Christ really pose that much of a threat to those who choose not to believe? Ah, but perhaps it does…perhaps its the fear that one’s “freedom” might be infringed or trodded upon if this religious monstrosity is allowed to flourish. Forget the fact that most significant historic accomplishments were done by believers, forget the fact that almost every school of higher learning was founded by believers, forget the fact that nearly every major hospital, orphanage, or some sort of social care organization was begun by believers. Oh but faith must be stopped because our “freedoms” and “intelligence” and “progress” will suffer… hogwash!

Jesus spoke of himself when he said,

…if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36, NIV)

Freedom from what? Freedom from sin, from slavery to sin – that propensity to place self above everything else (even God) and constant dissatisfaction in life. What the proponents of blasphemychallenge.com don’t seem to realize is that the very subject of good vs. evil predicates some universal absolute standard of measure from which conscience is formed. The very presence of our present day imperfect (because of sin) civil law and order, government, and “justice” finds it’s roots in the perfect justice and order of God.

Now am I saying the unbeliever is incapable of good, or is incapable of placing others before themselves? No. The corollary is also true – Christians and believers aren’t perfect either and sadly we too do things contrary to the teaching of the one we follow. However – the very fact that the good is recognized in the non-believer and the bad is recognized in the believer is significant in any discussion on the existence of God. Truly, if God really didn’t exist then why are atheists so concerned? Why the battle? Does it really matter then if there is good or evil? If the Christian is hypocritical or the non-believer a saint?

And finally, the question that keeps my head shaking through the whole thought process is the question I’d ask those posting their “blasphemy” on YouTube. “What if you are wrong?” Let’s reverse things for a moment. I’m a Christian. I believe that I have been saved from death (hell) and saved to life (here and later in heaven) by my faith in the work of Christ on the cross and His resurrection from the grave – a work that dealt with my sin (which separated me from God). I believe that Christ now works in and through my life and He has a unique purpose for me in this world. My life is richer because of my faith in Him. My love is fuller because of Him. My joy is more complete because of my faith in Him. My hope is more sure because of my faith in Him. With that said, if you were to ask me, “What if you are wrong?” My reply would be simply, “then I haven’t lost anything…” Can the “YouTube blasphemers” say that with the same degree of certainty?

Ever wonder if your sermons are connecting? Try the translation that speaks to the heart.

and goes on to say:

As a pastor, you want your messages to connect on the deepest possible level. Thankfully, the New Living Translation delivers living language that hits the target every time. Scripture comes to life. People pay attention. The message gets through. It’s the translation you can count on to connect, and that you can depend on for precise scholarship. Speak God’s Word to your congregation in language that they understand – and watch them wrap their hearts around God’s message.

And finally at the bottom of the ad they advertise that Pastor’s can get a free 4-week sermon series at pastorport.com – when I clicked to check it out I couldn’t find it.

I guess what bothered me most about this ad is not the fact that it’s advertising a Bible Translation – actually I use the NLT on occasion myself because it is written very clearly and sometimes does aid in getting a point across. What bothered me the most was that it appeared to me the ad was appealing to a pastor looking for a quick fix and communicating the idea that using this particular Bible Translation will solve all your problems with sharing God’s message with the congregation. The subtle message, “Use this translation and it will work wonders!” is communicated in the ad and frankly it turned my stomach.

Since when did the power and authority and life-changing work of preaching God’s word depend on what translation of the Bible you used? It is not the choice of phrasing, or transliterations that impacts life-change in people but instead the Spirit who breathes life into peoples hearts as they hear God’s word. Hey, what about what Paul wrote to Timothy…

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. — 2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT)

I wonder what Paul would have said if he saw this ad?