HostMonster

I thought 1and1 Hosting was bad. (See www.jmargolin.com/1n1/1n1.htm)

HostMonster is much worse.

After signing up with HostMonster and moving my Web sites to them they starting messing with me.
 
It turned out that they were doing it deliberately because they are anti-Semitic.

Their phone number is 1-866-573-4678. Ask for Tod. Ask him to tell you the story of the seven Jews.


HostMonster is owned by the same company that owns Blue Host.

HostMonster.com Inc..
1958 South 950 East
Provo, UT 84606

Phone: 801-765-9400
________________________

Jed Margolin
March 17, 2010

From: "Hostmonster Support Team" <support@hostmonster.com>
To: <admin1n1@jmargolin.com>
Subject: Re: [#DHU-73261-813] regarding raw access logs
Date: Sunday, February 28, 2010 2:16 PM

Domain name: planetarydefenses.net

Customer is asking why the raw access logs are updated at different times

They have been getting later and later

This is been inconsistent and customer is frustrated about why it is updated so late and changing

Wants to know what factors go into when the raw access logs update

Is this something we can change
From: "Jason Trent, Hostmonster Support Team" <support@hostmonster.com>
To: <admin1n1@jmargolin.com>
Subject: Re: [#DHU-73261-813] regarding raw access logs
Date: Sunday, February 28, 2010 2:56 PM

Thank you for your patience while we continued to look into this problem. I have confirmed that raw access logs on your account are being updated immediately as people visit your site. I tested this by tailing your main domain's raw log while visiting it through a browser. That looks good to go. As far as awstats and webalizer updating at different times each day, we do have our weblogs script which takes your account's raw access logs, then builds awstats and webalizer stats from those, run at the same time every morning, but you will see your stats update at different times depending on a few factors. First: logs are run user by user, meaning that the more users the server has, the longer stats will take to update. Second: depending on how large of log files are for each account, there can be a pretty significant variance in the amount of time it takes to process each customer's account. There are currently several hundred users on this server, so the amount of time logs take to run each morning can vary quite a bit.

I hope this information is of some help. Of course, if there are any other questions or concerns we can address, let us know. We're always happy to help.

Thank you,

Jason
Level III Support
Hostmonster.com
866.573.4678

Most questions can be answered by articles in our forum, knowledgebase, and video tutorials:
Forum:               http://www.hostmonsterforum.com
Knowledgebase:       http://helpdesk.hostmonster.com/index.php/kb/
Tutorials:           http://www.hostmonster.com/tutorials/
Server Status:       http://serverstatus.hostmonster.com/

When you have a new questions or issue, please open a new support ticket.
From: "Jed Margolin" <admin1n1@jmargolin.com>
To: "Jason Trent, Hostmonster Support Team" <support@hostmonster.com>
Subject: Re: [#DHU-73261-813] regarding raw access logs
Date: Sunday, February 28, 2010 6:19 PM

I'm sorry, but you don't understand the problem at all.

I rely on the raw access logs, such as "jmargolin.planetarydefenses.net-Feb-2010.gz"  .

I wrote software that:

1.  Decompresses it.

2.  Combines the logs from all of my web sites.

3.  Strips out the IP addresses and eliminates duplicates.

4.  Does a reverse IP lookup for each IP address and puts the pairs in a file.

5.  Creates a new file with domain names added to the entries in the access log.

6.  Runs a program that picks out whatever I am interested in, such as:
     a.  What particular domain names (or IP addresses) are looking at.
     b.  Who is looking at particular web pages.

The list of things I am interested in is in a file, so it does it all automatically and produces a File of Interesting Things.

Here is the problem.

When I signed up a few weeks ago, the access files (such as jmargolin.planetarydefenses.net-Feb-2010.gz) for the *previous* day were produced at about 9:30 am (Pacific).

As time goes on they have been produced later and later. Today they were produced shortly before 2pm (Pacific). This is unacceptable.

The daily access file is not very usable because it contains the entries since the last update, and the update adds the last 24 hours. As a result, the daily log is either a partial day or is split between days.

And, BTW, the daily log is not accessible from Firefox FireFTP. It shows the directory as a hidden file. I have to use an old version of WS-FTP32 to access the daily log. (Example of what I am calling the daily log is "jmargolin.planetarydefenses.net")

You have answered my complaint with:

    1.  "I have confirmed that raw access logs on your account are being updated immediately as people visit your site."

That is not the problem.

    2.  "As far as awstats and webalizer updating at different times each day, we do have our weblogs script which ...."

I don't use your awstats or webalizer. They are irrelevent.


Running the access log compression in the middle of the day is inexcusable.

When it ran it today at around 2pm (Pacific) my website was almost inaccessible to normal traffic.

One of the reasons the update is so intensive is that you add it to the *monthly* log.

This is what you should do.

1.  After midnight (server time) compress the daily log for the previous day. Ideally, have a separate file for each day, such as "day07.gz".

That way it is a much smaller file than the monthly file, especially at the end of the month. (Don't name it Feb07.gz; it makes it more difficult to work with.

2.  Keep the days in a separate folder for each month. If you like, keep a maximum of the last four months of logs.


The reason I dumped my previous web hosting service (1and1 Hosting) was that they decided that the people coming to my web site deserved privacy so they munged the IP addresses in the weekly log. The reason I dumped the web hosting service before that (One World Hosting) was they made it difficult for me to access my raw server logs. (They did a reverse IP lookup in the raw server log, which was hard to give up.)

1 and 1 also lied to me extensively and wasted my time. As a result I wrote about them:  "If You are looking For a Crap Web Hosting Service, I have Found it For You: 1 and 1 Hosting"  http://www.jmargolin.com/1n1/1n1.htm

Then I became your subscriber, and it only took a few weeks for access to my raw access logs to become almost useless.

If you still don't understand the problem, or refuse to deal with it, let me know immediately.

As a result of my experience with 1n1 I have no patience with (or tolerance of) clueless web hosting services.


Regards,

Jed Margolin
From: "Erick Cantwell, Hostmonster Support Team" <support@hostmonster.com>
To: <admin1n1@jmargolin.com>
Subject: Re: [#DHU-73261-813] regarding raw access logs
Date: Sunday, February 28, 2010 6:55 PM

Jed,

In our hosting service we have clients from all over the world.  There is not a specific time that would be "acceptable" to run logs because it doesn't matter when we do it.  There will always be a customer that has a day split due to time zone differences.  Furthermore, it takes time to generate logs, and dependant on how many hits, visitors, etc... there are to every site on the server the time it takes to run can vary.

Additionally, we cannot change the set up for how they are stored.  These settings are global for the server and cannot be changed for one account.

I apologize that you have had a problem with our service.  Furthermore, I apologize that we cannot accommodate these requests.  If you are  unsatisfied with our service you are able to cancel your account at any time.  This is, of course, not what we would like to happen, but we understand that our service is not able to meet the needs of every person out there so we leave this as an option.

Please let us know if there is anything else that we can help you with or if you have any further questions.

Thank you,

Erick
Level III Tech Support Engineer
Hostmonster.com
866.573.4678

Most questions can be answered by articles in our forum, knowledgebase, and video tutorials:

Forum:               http://www.hostmonsterforum.com
Knowledgebase:       http://helpdesk.hostmonster.com/index.php/kb/
Tutorials:           http://www.hostmonster.com/tutorials/
Server Status:       http://serverstatus.hostmonster.com/

When you have a new questions or issue, please open a new support ticket.
From: "Hostmonster Billing Department" <billing@hostmonster.com>
To: <admin1n1@jmargolin.com>
Subject: Re: Contact me: Cancellations
Date: Monday, March 01, 2010 6:10 AM

Jed,

Based on your response from Erick I just want to confirm what you would like to do with your hosting account. Please respond and let us know if you want to keep this hosting active or if you would like to cancel this account. Again, this is not what we would like to happen, but we do understand that our service is not able to meet everyones needs so we do leave this option open. Please let us know.

Thank you,
Heather
Billing Specialist
866-573-4678
billing@hostmonster.com
From: "Jed Margolin" <admin1n1@jmargolin.com>
To: "Hostmonster Billing Department" <billing@hostmonster.com>
Cc: <support@hostmonster.com>
Subject: Re: Contact me: Cancellations
Date: Monday, March 01, 2010 8:46 AM

Dear HostMonster (Heather and Erick),

I spent a great deal of time and energy moving my websites to your company from 1and1.

It will take me a great deal of time and energy to move them again.

I didn't have the time and energy to move away from 1and1 and I have less time and energy now.

Yes, I am going to cancel but I will do it on my timetable.

I will also make an attempt to contact your company's management before I go.


Erick's response was not only unacceptable, it makes no sense.

It doesn't explain why the access log updates occur at such widely different times. (9:30am - 2:00pm)

He seems to be saying that because you have clients all over the world you run the logs at random times. Perhaps you rotate the times according to the time zones your customers live in.

Or, perhaps you have clients on other planets, so there can be no consistent time zone. (That would also mean there could be no consistent day without being accused of being Earth-centric.)

The only time that counts to a server is the server's time. The location of the customer is irrelevant.

I have attached a list of the web sites on my server from myipneighbors.com .

A random check shows that many have no web site. Other look like they would have very little traffic.

How many of these customers are located outside North America? (Yes, I know what .au, .ca, and .il means).


I proposed a better way (for everyone) for you to handle your access log updates  and you blew me off.

Eric's answer makes no sense. He made it up.

Yes, I am leaving. I will let you know when I leave.

Then I will write about my experience with you.


Jed Margolin

From: "Hostmonster Billing Department" <billing@hostmonster.com>
To: <admin1n1@jmargolin.com>
Subject: Re: Contact me: Cancellations
Date: Monday, March 01, 2010 8:56 AM

We are sorry to loose you as a customer. Please contact the billing department when you are ready for us to close the account completely.

Please note when the account is closed, the refund will be issued back to the card with which the service was purchased.

When a cancellation is processed, we delete all of the content from the account. This includes emails, files and databases. Once they have been deleted, there is not a possibility of restoration. Please backed up all necessary files before we process the cancellation.

Thank you,
Amber
Billing Specialist
866-573-4678
billing@hostmonster.com
From: "HostMonster.Com" <support@hostmonster.com>
To: <admin1n1@jmargolin.com>
Subject: New Account Security Features Activated for planetarydefenses.net
Date: Friday, March 12, 2010 10:04 PM

Dear Jed Margolin,

In conjunction with the recent and upcoming roll-outs of several new cPanel security features, all customers will be required to change passwords to new, stronger passwords that meet stricter security requirements. These new requirements are designed to protect customers from potential security risks to due to weak or easily guessable passwords.

A new, temporary password has been set for you. Once you have logged in, it is strongly recommended that you change your password again to a preferred password that meets the new password strength requirements. The new system will automatically assist you in choosing a secure password.

Your temporary password is: {xxxxxxx}

A recent upgrade to CPanel 11.25.0 and the upcoming upgrade to 11.25.1 will introduce several new security features that will provide even greater levels of security for your website. Some of the upcoming features are:

    * Source IP Check - This new feature will allow you to (optionally) restrict login access to only trusted IPs that you specify, and requires an additional "secret question" level of authentication for all other IPs.
    * Increased Password Strength - CPanel has added a number of enhancements that help increase password strength and security of your accounts.
    * Security Policy Control - You.ll be able to limit password ages and set minimum password strengths for your users to help keep your users data safer.

If you experience problems changing your password or accessing your website, please contact our customer support department.

Thank you for using Hostmonster.com.
From: "Jed Margolin" <admin1n1@jmargolin.com>
To: "Hostmonster Billing Department" <billing@hostmonster.com>
Cc: <support@hostmonster.com>; <whois@bluehost.com>; <domain-admin@icann.org>
Subject: Re: Contact me: Cancellations
Date: Saturday, March 13, 2010 1:56 AM

Dear Monster.

I am canceling my service, effective immediately.

When I became your subscriber on January 11, 2010 I explained the importance to me of the raw log files, and that I was leaving my previous Web hosting service because they decided to make the raw log files useless.

From the day I moved my Web sites to your company you began updating the raw log files later and later during the day.

Your explanation lacked credibility.

On Wednesday, March 10, 2010 you failed to update them at all. These would have been the raw log files for Tuesday.

On that Wednesday evening I called your Tech Support line and talked to Tod.

I asked him if you had forgotten to update them or if it was being done on purpose.

Tod made an anti-Semitic remark, something about seven Jews. It sounded like something from Scripture.

He also admitted that you had, indeed, been intentionally messing with me and that Tech Support had been told not to help me.

Then he told me not to call again.

I have found a new Web hosting service and have moved my Web sites.

On Friday morning, FTP access to your server no longer worked. It worked a few hours later, then it stopped working again.

You are petty, vindictive, AND anti-Semitic.

It's going to cost you.

1.  What is the address at which you accept legal service?

2.  Even better, what is the name of your law firm?

3.  Save the recordings of Wednesday's phone calls. They are subject to subpoena.


Regards,

Jed Margolin
From: "Hostmonster Billing Department" <billing@hostmonster.com>
To: <admin1n1@jmargolin.com>
Subject: Re: Contact me: Cancellations
Date: Saturday, March 13, 2010 1:58 PM

We are sorry that you have not been satisfied with our customer service.

For cancellation purposes, please re-verify the last four characters of the cPanel password and the last four digits of the credit card on file. Hosting accounts can not be canceled until you confirm you have off-site backups (not on our server). When a cancellation is processed, we immediately delete all of the content from the account. This includes all of your emails, files, and databases. Once thy have been deleted, there is not a possibility of restoration. Please respond confirming that all necessary backups have been made.

It also appears that you have several domains that are registered through our company. If you do not wish to have the domains auto renew, we can update the settings so that the domain names are set to manual renew or to expire. Please specify.

You may also direct all legal correspondence to legal@hostmonster.com.

The hosting cancellation will not be processed until we receive both the requested account verification and also confirmation stating you have made backups. We await your reply.

Thank you,
Daniel
Billing Specialist
866-573-4678
billing@hostmonster.com
From: "Jed Margolin" <admin1n1@jmargolin.com>
To: "Hostmonster Billing Department" <billing@hostmonster.com>
Cc: <legal@hostmonster.com>
Subject: Re: Contact me: Cancellations
Date: Saturday, March 13, 2010 6:10 PM

> For cancellation purposes, please re-verify the last four characters of the cPanel password and the last four digits of the credit card on file.

1.  The last four characters of my cPanel password (which you made me change yesterday) are: {xxxx}

2. The last four digits of the credit card on file are: {xxxx}


> It also appears that you have several domains that are registered through our company. If you do not wish to have the domains auto renew, we can update the settings so that the domain names are set to manual renew or to expire. Please specify.

3.  I have several domains registered with your company.

    Do not auto-renew them.

    I will be transferring the registration of these domains to another Registrar as soon as ICANN rules allow me to do that. I have been told that ICANN requires a period of at least 60 days before a domain registration can be changed.

As a result, I will continue to need access to my Control Panel in order to transfer the domain name registrations. This has nothing to do with web hosting services.


> Hosting accounts can not be canceled until you confirm you have off-site backups (not on our server). When a cancellation is processed, we immediately delete all of the content from the account. This includes all of your emails, files, and databases. Once thy have been deleted, there is not a possibility of restoration. Please respond confirming that all necessary
backups have been made.

4. Yes, I have backups of all my emails, files, and databases.


>You may also direct all legal correspondence to legal@hostmonster.com.

5. Legal service may not be effected through email unless the party being served waives service. Are you waiving service?


Jed Margolin
From: "Hostmonster Billing Department" <billing@hostmonster.com>
To: <admin1n1@jmargolin.com>
Subject: Re: Contact me: Cancellations
Date: Saturday, March 13, 2010 6:55 PM

Jed Margolin,

Your hosting account under the primary domain name planetarydefenses.net, has been canceled at your request. A prorated refund of $39.01 has now been processed.

Please allow up to 7 business days for the refund to be completed by your bank or credit card company, and applied to the credit/debit card that was used for the original transaction.

Your domain names still belong to you and are registered until the end of their current respective terms.

You will still have full access to the Domain Manager portion of the cPanel.

If you do not wish to have the domain auto renew, please log in to your account at http://www.hostmonster.com. Use the following steps to change your renewal settings to manual renewal instead of auto renewal:

1. In the top right corner of the homepage, use your primary domain name <primary domain> and original cpanel account password to log in.

2. Select the "Domain Manager" tab, located in the top left section of the screen.

3. In the bottom left of the screen, select the domain you wish to change to manual renewal.

4. To the right, a new tab labeled "Renewal Options" will appear. Select this tab.

5. Select one of the 2 manual renewal options and click on the "Save Changes" button.

6. You have now successfully changed your domain to "Manual Renewal".

7. If you have any additional  domains, follow steps 1-6 for each domain you would like to change from the default of auto renewal to manual renewal.

In regards to the legal issue (item 5 of the previous email); we, here in the billing department, are not authorized to speak for the company in regards to any legal issue.

We do a have a separate department that will assist you in those matters. I invite you to contact them, they can be reached by email or by phone.

If you have any additional questions, please let us know.

Thank you,
Michael
Billing Specialist
866-573-4678
billing@hostmonster.com
From: <billing@hostmonster.com>
To: <admin1n1@jmargolin.com>
Subject: HOSTMONSTER.COM CREDIT COMPLETE
Date: Saturday, March 13, 2010 8:45 PM

A CREDIT HAS BEEN ISSUED FROM HOSTMONSTER.COM!

The following credits were completed:

+ planetarydefenses.net: "Web Hosting" for -9.9 month @ $4.95 ea. (covers 2011-01-11 thru 2010-03-14)
+ jmargolin.com: "Registration Coupon" for -1 year @ $-10.00 ea. (covers 2011-01-11 thru 2010-01-11)

Total Amount Credited: $39.01
Invoice: #2983475
Order Transaction Code: 2890401303
Order Transaction Code: 2890462268

We are very glad to have you as a customer.  Please let us know if there is anything we can do to improve your hosting experience or to better meet your needs.


Thank you,
HostMonster.Com Support
http://www.hostmonster.com
For support go to http://helpdesk.hostmonster.com/
Toll-Free: (866) 573-4678