Ok, here 'tis, in all its glory.
Well, we had an $8/month extra support package (because of outdated software) about last Dec. and Jan. Then I fixed it. Fine. The site was working fine, and then in October, it suddenly disappeared. WTF? Call the host (1and1 / Ionos) support.
It had not just been turned off, but it had all 111,000+ files and 5 databases deleted from the server. Oh, the contract was locked then deleted, so we couldn't go in and try to figure things out. Why?
$17.42.
For the extra support back in December/January. A bill we didn't know about.
They said they tried to charge whatever payment was usually charged, but it didn't work. Dunno what they did. They said they sent emails in February and March, but Jon doesn't recall any, and if anything looks unusual, he sends them to me. No emails that we know of. Ultimately, they said they locked the account/Control Panel, though I have no idea if either Jon nor myself had a need to go there. Again, nothing can be verified as the account Jon's had for many years got totally blown away.
So, Jon the Deadbeat
paid up (with a collection agency no less!) the entire $17.42. I hear he had to mortgage the house to get the bucks. But you're worth it! And the site was supposed to be restored. Actually, it was up for a few days (I presume under the old, locked contract) then it disappeared again. Their idea of putting things back involved dumping the 111,000+ files and database *backups* on the server..... rebuilding it and making it work again was our problem.
I've been with 1and1/Ionos for about 14 years with my personal stuff, and they've been fine. But besides Landracing, another site I work on just got blown away (without notice!) because of a changed credit card number. Great customer care!
So, BtWE is usually pretty mellow, but I. Was. Pissed. I told them they broke it over $17.42.... now fix it. "That's your problem, read the contract". I asked why they couldn't do a 1-minute phone call before blowing everything away? They have Jon's contact info. They wanted his phone number when he signed up. Save us many hours of work and almost a month downtime? "We have very many customers, we don't do that".
I told 'em, if I had to rebuild the site, it WASN'T going to be at 1and1/Ionos. I downloaded/uploaded all the files and database backups, did the grunt work. Took a whole day for each download and upload! (You folks are prolific!)
So it's up on Host Gator.
HG support has been really good, and somebody went above and beyond to get Landracing up (the big problem was finding the magic words to hook the site up with the databases). HG support is about 1000 times better than 1and1's. You might get somebody in Houston (I had a nice chat with Brian this morning) and the Filipinos not only speak English, but they're good at helpin' ya.
So, that's the story, with lots of little details left out. A good example of a big corporation "flipping a switch" and cracking down on billing (and I think screwing up on their end) and really messing their customers up, unnecessarily. Impersonal.
Believe me, I'm glad it's back!
