Rackspace, Good, but a P.I.T.A.

[OldWelshGuy]

Ok we all know Rackspace are good, probably one of the best, but here is a copy of my conversation with their dedicated team.


Welcome to Rackspace. My name is Aarti and I am a Live assistant. How may I help you today?
you: Hi there
you: we are currently with hosteruope, but the server has been down since friday
you: we are looking to change
you: it is a windows server
you: how do I get prices from yourself
Aarti: Oh my. That does sound frustrating to deal with. I am sorry to hear that. We have lots of experience in the Windows hosting area, and I can put you in touch with a technical specialist for pricing. Please can I have your name, company name, email & phone number so I can do this for you?
you: I am not an individual, I am enquring on behalf of one of the companies I am a director of.
Aarti: That is not a problem at all!
you: what information would you need to know to allow me to get a quote.
Aarti: Firstly I would need your contact details - your personal details or the company you are director of- then I would just have a few quick questions to ensure I ask the most appropriate specialist to contact you about this.
you: So I can't chat to someone then?
Aarti: For sure, just give me your contact number I will get the most appropriate person to contact you.
you: with respect, i am a VERY busy person, and am not willing to pass out my contact details to a salesperson
you: I am sure you understand this
you: the company however is business cluster marketing systems ltd
you: my name is James Edwards
Aarti: Our specialist are not available on this live-chat function- as we custom build all our solutions to suit you and therefore they will need to speak to you about this. The initial call is to assess your needs and so we can send out a quote to suit you James.
Aarti: Briefly, what does your business do, i.e. what are you looking to host with us?
you: We have a cluster of sites running on ASP. we are looking for a dedicated server running SQL & Access databases and managed.
you: so what is the best route to market here to allow me to get a quote?
you: as I said, getting someone to ring me to ask me a load of questions I do not know the answers to is a waste of BOTH our time.
you: i will ask again :
you: what information would you need to know to allow me to get a quote?
Aarti: Ok great. We can install and fully support asp. for you and will fully manage the network, hardware, O/S, data back-ups, and proactively provide critical patching. Our specialist would need to know a little more info about disk space, memory required etc. Perhaps a spec of what you are currently using...
you: I believe this is our current spec
you: webfusion link was here
you: option 3
you: but I don't think we need anywhere near that as we are not currently getting great levels of visitors, and the databases SQL/Access are lightweight, but that will give you a guide spec.
Aarti: I am not here to waste your time,and I can pass the link above over to our specialist so they know what you are looking for in terms of spec. They will be able to discuss a best fit solution to suit you. But if you do want to speak to a specialist and want a quote for our services then I would need to take your contact number. There is no other way that I can arrange a quote for you.
you: my email address is **myemailaddress here** if you can get someone to email me some information / request further info, then fine, I would like to deal with this via email.
you: I have no problem with my contact deails, just not my telephone number
you: I own this company and others, I work from my home as I don't go near the offices, so i am not willing to give my private office number out, that is all :-)
you: get someone to email me to make contact, I will get the exact configuration of server, and we can take it from there
Aarti: James, I appreciate that you are a busy man and we will certainly arrange a time that is suitable for you. But we are not a 'set' package company and prefer to take a consultative approach and get things right first time around. I will need a contact number to arrange a suitable person to call you.
you: No point, I am not willing to pass out my personal telephone number to a sales company. I fail to see what can be achieved on the telphone that can not be achieved via email.
you: I fully appreciate that you are not a 'set' package company, which is why i suggested passing my email address on to your tech guy, so he can make contact and I can gather the EXACT SPEC (as I offered previously)
Aarti: I am also saying that, please supply a contact number so the most appropriate person can contact you to discuss your needs.
you: are you saying that you do not conduct business via email?
Aarti: You seem interested in our services and have also told me that your server has been down since Friday - in that case I was hoping to ask a specialist to contact you asap about this. Our specialist would be happy to liase with your tech guy to gain exact specs for what you are looking for.
Aarti: This way you would recieve an accurate quote but an initial phone call would need to be made with either yourself or your tech guy to assess your needs.
you: so you are saying that you do not deal with matters by email then? THAT is ludicrous.
you: are you on commission for getting telephone numbers or something?
you: I have given you my email address, but you have chosen to ignore it
Aarti: James, if this is not something you in a position to do then I will leave my email address and you can contact me at a later stage. As mentioned our specialists offer a consultative approach, and yes, this is harder ( and a longer process ) via email.
Aarti: My email address is *removed**@rackspace.co.uk
you: I have told you I will give you the spec for the server via email to the correct person
Aarti: James, you can email me the specs that is not a problem.
Aarti: My email address is above./
you: and then what will happen?
Aarti: Perhaps that would be best. I can then offer you a ball park price, if you are happy with this then we will see the best way to move forward to get you an accurate quote, I will get the most appropriate person to call you, please may I have a contact number.
Aarti: When can I expect to hear from you?
you: when I get the information together, although after this conversation I am not so sure I have the confidence. I has takemn me almost 10 minutes to get you to agree to let me (The customer) deal with things via email. I am shocked to be honest. I will now post this conversation on my blog! I can't believe it was so difficult, why not just give me your email in the beginning.?
you: Odd way of doing business, and I was recommended to you as well.
you: ah well
Aarti: James, I am trying my best to help you. If you had been able to speak via phone, then I would have got all the information I would have needed and passed your details to a specialist to contact you within the hour.
you: it should be with you later today, if not, tehn tomorrow morning
Aarti: If you want to email me the specs, then I will of course, email you back regarding ball park pricing. Moving forward from there, a specialist will need a contact number to get in touch as stated earlier on.
you: Arti you are not getting what i am saying. I asked what information you needed from me to get a quote, and you repeatedly said 'your contact details'!
you: it seems to me that ALL you are interested in is getting the lead, rather than providing a service :-( . I am not having a go at you personally as I am sure you are just doing your job. But a little respect for the way your CUSTOMERS would like to conduct business might well be a better option. I prefer Email, YOU prefer telephone. have rackspace heard of the saying " the customer is always right"?
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I am not so sure now I want to deal with rackspace!

Anyone else have any rackspace tales, good or bad/ Are they better once they actually 'accept your application' to become a customer

[Bagi Zoltán]

Nice long chat, I see your point James. and the communication which was executed by the Aarti is a bit silly. Otherwise i suppose you may want to remove your email address from the tread i did not dare to remove it lol

[OldWelshGuy]

Typical of me, I removed his email address, and left my own .

Also use this as a warning. Hosteeurope (webfusion) have taken from Friday 10am until now to rebuild our server DESPITE telling us it would take 2-3 hours! Their customer service is lousy, avoid them like the plague.

[temi]

I almost leased a server from Rackspace once, the conversation I had was much better, it was mainly the price that made me not proceed with the purchase. I prefer companies that have at least the bare bones of a package where you can then add or remove to customise the server to your own requirements.

Most of the time, what hosting companies advertise and what they are able to offer you are different things, I had a conversation very similar to the one you had with Rackspace with a company called Memsets or something like that.

[DanielEZPZ]

I've dealt with Rackspace before too, stupidly I handed over my contact details only to be bombarded with sales calls.

I was even called a few months later to take part of a "customer survey", even though I never actually signed up with them.

[KingPin]

Apart from the crap OWG got, no one can deny that they are a top notch UK hosting company.

I have been with them for 8 years now and not a single problem.

I have a few dedi's and a half-rack with them.

Once you have waded through all the crap they are damn good.

KP

[OldWelshGuy]

Yep, as I said in my opening post, top quality, but man it was too much like hard work. it reminded me of the attitude IBMers had 20 years ago."wait in reception? he DOES realise we are IBM'ers does he"?

[KingPin]

I think you got the chat bot known as "Piss of the potential customers bot"

KP

[bochgoch]

So can anyone give an indication of what they actually charge?

I want a dedicated server for a couple of new projects so I have an interest...

[temi]

They do not have fixed price, they charge you depending on what spec server you ask for.