Fathi Said CEO & Founder of Incompetent IX web hosting

German-born Fathi Said has the distinction of having launched and lost his first company, Web hosting outfit Hosting-Network Inc., by the time he was 20 years old. He says he got into business with the wrong partner-and clearly, the collapse of the firm, which hit $7.5 million in annual revenues in 2002, still hurts.

So guess what Said did? He started another Web hosting company in 2003-this time called Ecommerce.com. Headquartered in Austria, but with its main data center in Kentucky, Ecommerce has attracted 80,000 customers and plays home to more than 150,000 Web sites. The company has 130 employees in five countries, and revenues should hit $12 million this year.

::  NOW IT’S TIME FOR A LAUGH ::

Can you explain IX Web Hosting’s Uptime or Cash Guarantee? How important is uptime in the shared hosting marketplace and how do you manage servers so as to ensure that their usage load does not cause server outages?

Customers put their trust in us, and we feel the best way to gain that trust is to guarantee them that their sites will be up and working. We’re very serious about what we do and because of the confidence we have in ourselves and our services, we’re more than willing to offer customers hassle free guarantees for their services.

Although no technology is perfect, we have taken extensive measures and expenses to provide a very stable hosting platform, monitored by a full 24/7/365 staff and an array of tools and equipment.

Customers expect reliable services and we’re eager to please by offering them those services and a safety-net of added money-back guarantees to assure it. If a customer is dissatisfied with our services or if the services are not stable or down, we will gladly offer full refunds. Customers have nothing to lose! 

But, the reality is different… VERY DIFFERENT… had this sent to me today by an IX customer who tried to get compensation. 

 I am very sorry that you have been hacked repeatedly. As far as compensation, I am very sorry but we will be unable to grant you any credit for this issue. If it was something that we had direct influence over, I would be happy to award you credit…unfortunately, we have no control over this situation.

Thank you for your understanding,
Amanda Walsh
Quality Assurance Manager 

So, lets take a look at things…  This is a problem that has been globally effecting multiple servers throughout the world. We are working on a solution with other hosting providers, but we have not been successful thus far. Well at least they are admitting they have a massive security issue…. 

 As far as compensation, I am very sorry but we will be unable to grant you any credit for this issue. If it was something that we had direct influence over, I would be happy to award you credit…unfortunately, we have no control over this situation. ..

WTF!!  so they admit that they have a security issue, that we all know is effecting 1000’s of sites, but even though it is on their servers, because they have no control over the situation, they are not willing to give credit…  So basicly no matter what happens, we can forget any refunds!!..

One more time Mr Fathi Said … 

Customers put their trust in us, and we feel the best way to gain that trust is to guarantee them that their sites will be up and working. We’re very serious about what we do and because of the confidence we have in ourselves and our services, we’re more than willing to offer customers hassle free guarantees for their services.

AND THE  ‘PIECE de RESISTENCE”…..

If a customer is dissatisfied with our services or if the services are not stable or down, we will gladly offer full refunds. Customers have nothing to lose!