Blacknight Hosting: Slow Servers & Bad Service

Chimevault101

I run an e commerce business & I hosted my site with Blacknight & would definately not recommend them.

My site was running very slow & the Blacknight staff advised that the problem was with our site & not their hosting..
I took this advice on board & proceeded to spend money on site performance...
This made no difference until i got another company to look into it

They told me to move the hosting away from Blacknight asap.
Our site is now flying on cheaper hosting in the UK & sales increased almost immediately.

I asked Blacknight for a refund for all money spent with them in the previous 18 months, as i believe the service i got was rubbish & the advice i got was lies..

...But they said it was outside their 30 day terms !!

I paid for a service that was sub standard & Our problems were brushed under the carpet by the reps.

I would recommend anyone looking for hosting to stay well clear of Blacknight unless you are running a very small website & dont mind if it takes ages to load.

mneylon

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with us

Do you have a ticket ID or IDs that I can look at?

Chimevault101

[#IZP-123285]: Slow Site

johnmck

I hear you. I've been with them a number of years now. Some of their support staff have a chip on their shoulders. But <some> in sales is nice and helpful. I used to recommend them a lot, but not anymore. Plus they have been having a lot of issues with email etc recently. I think they have oversold their hosting. I'll have to move away.

<Boards.ie edit - snipped names out>

mneylon

Chimevault101 wrote: »

[#IZP-123285]: Slow Site

Ok - thanks. I'll have a read over it and get back to you.

Regards

Michele

Chimevault101

johnmck wrote: »

I hear you. I've been with them a number of years now. Some of their support staff have a chip on their shoulders. But Ria in sales is nice and helpful. I used to recommend them a lot, but not anymore. Plus they have been having a lot of issues with email etc recently. I think they have oversold their hosting. I'll have to move away.

Check out TSO Host www.tsohost.co.uk
Have to say theyre on the button & my site is running about 5 times faster..

mneylon

Ciarán

I've had a look over the ticket you raised with us.

You signed up for hosting in 2009.

You used our services from then until earlier this year when you moved your hosting elsewhere.

This happened after you were in contact with our technical support team in March of this year.

They looked into your issues with you and answered all your queries as best they could.

There was no further communication from you for several weeks until when you came back stating that:

• You had moved elsewhere
• You wanted a refund

Our staff told you that you were not entitled to a refund, as you were outside the 30 days. (You had renewed your hosting 7 months previously in October)

Your account was left in credit after you informed us of the cancellation, this credit could be used for domains or any other service that you wish.

We are not going to be offering you a refund beyond the credit that we have already provided on your account.

Regards

Michele

Chimevault101

Hi Michele

Thanks for the summary so far..

However my point is that I was paying for very slow hosting, I was told it was my problem and we found out it was your problem.

Your guys came back twice with "load spike" excuses & then recomended a dedicated server....Its not ryanair.com im hosting...

I am going to continue with this on principal until i get a cheque in the post for the bad money ive spent.

I would advise your boss sees this post, as im not stopping here...

mneylon

Ciarán

Could you please clarify exactly what you are asking for?

And on what grounds?

Regards

Michele

Chimevault101

I am looking for the money back that i wasted with Blacknight in the last 2 years.

I was told that my website was the problem and i found out that it wasant, I changed hosting to www.tsohost.co.uk and all problems disappeared.
I paid another IT company a few hundred euro to optimize the website for speed because you guys said it was nothing to do with the hosting .. more money wasted

I had customers calling me up telling me the site wouldant load, I sat on the phone with customers & them thinking it was their connection was the problem.... more business lost

All i want is a refund for the money ive wasted. This would not compensate me for my loss of business, But at least you would not have my money that you do not deserve. If i was told the truth in the firstplace, This problem could have been nipped in the bud.

You are not going to shake me off with details of your terms & conditions, Were past that... all im looking for is a fair deal

mneylon

Ciarán

You signed up with us, paid us and used our services for well over a year before you complained, moved and demanded a refund.

We are not going to refund you for services that we rendered in good faith and without any complaints from you.

If you had been so unhappy with our services you shouldn't have renewed.

Regards

Michele

Chimevault101

I was sure the problem was mine, because your support staff said so..
Should I have ignored your support staff`s advice ??

I was not told the truth, Thats why i let the service renew.
I was sure it was our website that was the problem... and it wasant..

If i would have not taken other advice, you guys would have set me up with a dedicated server... thats what you recommended !! How much more would that have cost me...???

kirving

If I have a slow internet connection for years from eircom for example, and then I move to UPC because I want/need a faster service, I can hardly come running back to eircom claiming that I was less productive with them, so I want a refund.

It sucks, but you complained far too late.

mneylon

Ciarán

You renewed your hosting with us in October 2010

You contacted our support team in March 2011.

You cancelled in May 2011

We will not be refunding you.

Regards

Michele

Chimevault101

Michele, I will get a refund eventually, It just may take a bit more action..
Here are some more support tickets you should have a look at.

#JZT-588129 DATE JULY 7, 2010 Slow site issue:
#JTQ-736682 DATE 8 Dec, 2010 Slow site issue:

---

July 7th 2010

Ciarán,

There were no changes on our side.
It may just have been the case that the server was busy.
All shared web servers are vulnerable to slow down during periods of heavy traffic.

Regards,

---

8th Dec 10

Hi Ciaran,

The webserver you are hosted on looks to be running optimally at the moment, and as does the database server truckelectrics.co.uk is set to use. It looks like the reason the website is slow is down to the website code and design. I have ran you site through an online optimiser and it is repoting a large number and size of scripts and images on the page and downloading and running all these is what is taking so long. The optimiser I used was:

http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/

You might want to check the forums for whatever PHP Application you are using to run your website shop to see if there is any modules or caching or similar that can be enabled to help speed up your website.

Regards,

Chimevault101

Michele,

Can you make sure your boss sees this thread today,
Im moving over to the Irish Webmasters forum if this isant resolved by this evening.

Ciaran

mneylon

Ciarán

I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but as I have already stated, more than once, you will not be getting a refund.

If you were not happy with our services you should not have renewed.

Regards

Michele

mneylon

Chimevault101 wrote: »

Michele,

Can you make sure your boss sees this thread today,
Im moving over to the Irish Webmasters forum if this isant resolved by this evening.

Ciaran

Ciarán

I am the boss.

As far as we are concerned this matter is resolved.
You may not like the resolution, but that does not change it.

Regards

Michele

Chimevault101

Michele,

If youre the boss making that decision, Good luck to Blacknight!!
Companies like yours have been hiding behind terms & conditions far too long

Im not dropping this issue anytime soon.

Talk soon
Ciaran

Chimevault101

Michele

Would you go on to Liveline on Rte with me this afternoon or Monday for 10 minutes..?

Ciaran

tricky D

What an absurd complaint. You are looking for a refund after the fact and after renewing - quite unbelievable. Now you are also trying to be vindictive by going to LiveLine and the Irish Webmaster Forum (another absurdity all things considered). This could end up very badly for you. Your solicitor might end up loving your money.

Chimevault101

I first brought this to their attention a year ago & was fobbed off by saying it was my problem when it wasant. All Im going to do is tell exactly what happened, All i want is a fair game.

If a company provide a bad service that effects your business, tells you that the problems are nothing to do with them & make off with the money.. is that ok ?

I think we need to get real here.. Shoot me for telling the truth Tricky D.

johnmurph01

Chimevault101 wrote: »

I first brought this to their attention a year ago & was fobbed off by saying it was my problem when it wasant. All Im going to do is tell exactly what happened, All i want is a fair game.

If a company provide a bad service that effects your business, tells you that the problems are nothing to do with them & make off with the money.. is that ok ?

I think we need to get real here.. Shoot me for telling the truth Tricky D.

Good on you for sticking to to them man. BTW Michelle owns IWF so I wouldn't bother posting over there. He'll remove it quicker than you can say 'doughnuts'.

I have heard good and bad things about blacknight.com, im going to stick with them for now though. I will tune in Monday to liveline for the craic.

Darragh

I think we're at the stage where this can be closed. In my opinion Blacknight have acted properly.

This is a channel for support, service and advice. You've got all three.

Darragh