1&1 disables account and server with no warning

[nullensc]

I have a root server with 1&1 since October 2005 and so far - apart from an incident 2-3 weeks ago where it was offline for 19hrs for causes unknown - I have been happy with it and my clients have not had any problems either.

Until last night...

At about 23:55 UK time my server went offline while I was uploading something to it. To cut to the chase this is what I think has happened:

- my 1&1 control panel (CP) has been locked by 1&1; this according to their FAQ is usually due to billing issues

- I checked my messages in the CP for any clues but they weren't any (do they ever use it?)

- I then checked my credit card info and discovered that it had an old expiry date of 01/2006 so I'm suspecting that the payment for February failed

- I know that I haven't received any emails, phone calls or letters from 1&1 informing me of this issue - like I do with eBay, eBuyer and all my other online suppliers

- My contact details are up-to-date and I can verify this since I have been receiving their invoices, including the February one.

- Their online CP only shows the bills, not a history of payment or non payment (like other online suppliers would have)

- And of course they shut down the server on a Sunday but their billing department is not open until 09:00 Monday morning - and I can imagine what their phone queue will be like....


So, in short I am just so annoyed, angry, upset as well as stupefied by the whole thing - by the time the server will be back up (and assuming they haven't wiped it clean for good measure) the total outage will probably be 15+ hours just because their pre-historic online "control" panel cannot handle an expired card and cannot take immediate action once the correct details have been entered - can you imagine eBay doing that?

It has been said before, 1&1 are fine from a technical point of view but their back-office seems like it is intent in commiting commercial hara-kiri.

http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/mad/mad0214.gif

I'm going to try and give them a call now...wish me luck...

Charles

[nullensc]

Well that was painless - 3 mins 45 seconds including speaking to a nice sounding young lady who said that my credit card will be charged within the next 3-4 days (WHAT!(^%%$ I thought!) but my account will be unlocked within the next 2-3 hours (WHAT!(^%%$ I thought!).

So that'll be a downtime of 12hrs sir...thank you for a calling 1&1, your custom is important to us....http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/character/character0304.gif

Not sure whether I should laugh or cry but it does remind me of a saying an ex colleague of mine once told me:

"Think about it, what's it going to matter in 100 years' time".http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/sad/sad0064.gif

[nullensc]

And it's back up again - total outage 10hrs....:rolleyes:

[eWebtricity]

that was pretty painless to get back up and running, but why did they take you down in the first place .....how long was it since your last payment ...30 days? Why didn't they contact you via phone or email, is it not their standard procedure to try to contact you regarding an issue. We always get emails regarding any billing issues with our account.

[nullensc]

The previous successful transaction occured on 26 Jan 2006 - the one due in February should have been charged on or around 27 February 2006.

The server was disabled on 13 March 2006

I received a "suspension of service/threat of legal action) letter from them on 16th March - but it is dated 8th March 2006 and was posted through a bulk postal system in Switzerland. In the letter it advises that my service will be suspended within 3 days from the date of the letter.

My contact details haven't changed since the start of the contract and I have been receiving their adverts and bills without any problems so I imagine they never sent an email about it.

As I said their back office is diabolical.