What's up with the 'URGENT' ticket delays here?

[twhiting9275]

Your outburst is unwarranted

Oh, it's warranted allright, and it's hardly an 'outburst'.

Look at it this way

Because of WHMCS' inability to process licenses properly.

A> Client servers were unable to be rebooted, making this a CRITICAL problem

B> Staff replies to support desk would have been unable to be made, had I not already put in kayako (which is yet another reason to not use WHMCS' support desk)

C> Critical issues , not able to be resolved, because my hands were tied, due to the improper license processing here.

 

 

, and might not even be WHMCS' fault. I remember Matt stating that they don't use their own software for licensing as it's not something it provides.

Oh, it's definitely WHMCS' fault, even IF they didn't do their own licensing (which IIRC Matt said he does now, though I could have mistaken that statement). Here's why:

 

Firstly, they are responsible for processing payments. The buck stops THERE, period. I am responsible for MAKING the payment, THEY are responsible for PROCESSING it.

 

Secondly, they are responsible for letting clients know AHEAD of time if something is wrong, and licenses will be cancelled (or deactivated), unless specifically cancelled by the user.

 

Had #2 been followed, this issue would have been moot, it wouldn't have even come up, because I would have said "hey, this has been made already, see payment XXX", and it would have been done.

 

 

Nowhere in the subject did it mention Critical or Urgent

And nowhere should it HAVE to. It was submitted with a HIGH priority, no? this is the reason that priorities exist, so that clients don't have to put something like [CRITICAL], etc, in the ticket subject

 

I do agree, that it was a 2 hour response time (or 10 minutes shy of it), but that is still way too much for a critical issue, or an issue marked as high priority. Now, admittedly, many people will mark the ticket with 'high priority' just because they feel like it, and rarely will it actually BE high priority, but this is one of those cases, that it was, in fact high priority. 30 minutes max is what any 'high priority' ticket should take to investigate and resolve. Yes, that's a low time, but there's a reason it's marked and sent in as 'high priority'.

 

 

Now, I noticed that you cancelled the subscription via paypal , wanting me to re-subscribe next time the invoice is generated for processing. is this something we're ALL going to have to do when 3.6 comes out, because that is just going to get ugly if that's the case.

 

 

A "staff area" is just that, it's an area where staff things should be done. Again, why have multiple areas of login, when only one is necessary. Redundancy for networks, good, for software? Not necessary.

[bear]

A> Client servers were unable to be rebooted, making this a CRITICAL problem

How is WHMCS responsible for or even capable of rebooting servers?

Secondly, they are responsible for letting clients know AHEAD of time if something is wrong, and licenses will be cancelled (or deactivated), unless specifically cancelled by the user.

Seems to me the license wasn't cancelled, simply that the admin log was disabled. Cancellation implies nothing worked at all.

[isdoo]

Tom - Please feel free to send me your site URL - I would love to sign up for an account to see how you respond at 1am on a Sunday morning

[twhiting9275]

How is WHMCS responsible for or even capable of rebooting servers?

WHMCS is responsible for maintaining service, period. It is THEIR responsibility to maintain that services that CLIENTS pay for are accessible 24x7. I never said THEY were responsible for rebooting servers did I? No, I said, that because THEY didn't do THEIR job, my own couldn't be done, because I couldn't login making this a CRITICAL issue.

 

Seems to me the license wasn't cancelled, simply that the admin log was disabled. Cancellation implies nothing worked at all.

Did I say things were cancelled? nope. I said

 

they are responsible for letting clients know AHEAD of time if something is wrong, and licenses will be cancelled (or deactivated), unless specifically cancelled by the user.

 

In this case, they deactivated the license, WITHOUT any proper warning (which would have resolved the whole thing). They didn't CANCEL the license, they deactivated it, which is pretty much the same thing. In the end, the result is the same , the license is 'invalid'.

[bear]

I never said THEY were responsible for rebooting servers did I?

You directly implied that it was because of this issue: "Client servers were unable to be rebooted, making this a CRITICAL problem".

 

How are we supposed to take that direct quote other than to mean you were prevented because of your WHMCS admin area being unavailable?

 

They didn't CANCEL the license, they deactivated it, which is pretty much the same thing. In the end, the result is the same , the license is 'invalid'.

Not exactly, but I do understand. The admin area was deactivated...not the whole application. It would still work for clients, just not the back end access, for under 2 hours, in the middle of a Sunday night.

 

You already stated you keep you helpdesk separate, so that rules out tickets being inaccessible. I would further assume that reboot requests would be done through the helpdesk...not in WHMCS, so that's no issue either from what I can see. Then there's the question of just how many reboots didn't happen in that ~2 hour window because your license didn't work...but you're using a different helpdesk, so that would be...none?

 

Yes, it's a probelm.

Yes, it's something that needs to be looked into to prevent recurrence.

No, I don't believe it was nearly as urgent as you're making it sound, but I don't know just how busy you are (or were at the specific down time), so that's a guess.

 

Matt has fixed your install for you, and all is presumed working. Was there anything else?

[twhiting9275]

I would further assume that reboot requests would be done through the helpdesk...not in WHMCS, so that's no issue either from what I can see.

Actually, you would be assuming incorrectly.

Reboots and monitoring is all handled through whmcs. When server is monitored as 'down', I go through WHMCS, find the appropriate client instructions (as they place them in their client area), and follow them. Because I couldn't get to the admin side of things, of course, I had no admin access to client information (such as reboot urls, etc).

 

Rarely (if ever) is a 'reboot' ticket opened up in the support desk, as it shouldn't be necessary. If it IS, all the information needed to reboot the server, which should be accessible through the admin interface is not, because it is inactive.

 

So, it gets back to licensing, admin area not working because of poor communication on the end of WHMCS.

 

The whole thing was triggered because a client needed some urgent work done. Putting root passwords in a helpdesk ticket is unprofessional, as those aren't encrypted before going into the database. I've spent years training clients not to do things this way, but to put them in their client area, which then encrypts them and puts them in the database itself. This just makes ME look bad, because someone else can't do their job quickly, or effectively here.

[bear]

Ok, I stand corrected. If I might suggest one thing further, an owned license should prevent any chance of recurrence of this issue. If you're relying on this product that heavily, it would likely be in your best interest to simply remove all doubt.

Just a thought.

[ask21900]

I really don't understand the problem here. <2 Hr response time is great - for ANY service, billing platform or not. A couple of things though:

 

WHMCS is not a server platform, only a solution to automate processes on those platforms. If my WHMCS ever "went down", until WHMCS got it resolved, I would simply log in to the server, and manually perform the necessary tasks.

 

If you are so worried about not being able to access support tickets from your customers in the event that your license gets disabled, why don't you bypass the WHMCS system. Now that your license is back on, switch to pop3 integration rather than piping. That way, if you are ever locked out of the admin system, you can simply check your email and the tickets will be there.

 

-Just what I would do if placed in your position.

[Methinks]

I posted a question under this thread earlier which was certainly the wrong place to post because I was just so amazed at how this has gone.

 

I have to say as a total newbie even critical issues answered inside two hours seems a little petty to be having this much fuss over. I have spent more than two hours before on hold waiting for support. And that also in the middle of the night when it should be slow.

 

Maybe I am just so new at all of this that I dont know better but I would never keep everything in one place. And certainly would never trust myself or any piece of software to be totally responsible for my whole business as it seems is the case here. Maybe in the future you could pretend your dumb as me and place your client info in quickbooks which is what I have done so you have a second copy. From what your saying the notes in the admin section is what prevented you from being able to go into other systems to fix whatever problems you had.

 

Reboots and monitoring is all handled through whmcs. When server is monitored as 'down', I go through WHMCS, find the appropriate client instructions (as they place them in their client area), and follow them.

 

Matt I thought your answer to this gracious and showed great restraint. And i hereby promise if I ever need to place a ticket I will only mark it urgent if I am gonna throw a fit. Someday if I ever get more than the few little customers I got and things seem real imprtant I will purchase this license as it has sure taken away the headaches I recieved trying to use the cheaper made stuff...phpcoin...modernbill...whmap brrrrrrr now talk about delayed answers.

 

Jeff

[twhiting9275]

Maybe in the future you could pretend your dumb as me and place your client info in quickbooks which is what I have done so you have a second copy.

 

Wow, such ingenious thoughts. Oh wait, client server information CHANGES REGULARLY. passwords, they change regularly. reboot information, it changes regularly, instructions, believe it or not, it changes REGULARLY.

 

yes, one place for information. NOT 500, NOT 5, NOT 2. Why? Because this way, it's convenient for CLIENTS to get to when , say, they have to update something, and it's convenient for ME (or staff) to get to at 3am, 4am, 5am, whatever.

 

Why should clients have to update information in 500 pieces of software, or put root passwords (or other sensitive information) in an insecure area? They shouldn't.

 

Why should clients have to worry about their information getting leaked everywhere because of insecurely stored (written down, quickbooks, etc) information? Again, they shouldn't.

 

Why should I (or other employees) have to search everyplace for client information when it's critical? Again, it shouldn't be necessary.

 

I will only mark it urgent if I am gonna throw a fit.

Maybe that's what you call it, realistically, I don't care. I call it requiring urgent, critical support, in a timely fashion.

 

If I submittted a reboot ticket at a dc and had to wait 2 hours for a reply, I'd be steaming mad, and so would you. There is no difference here, absolutely none. The situation is JUST as critical, and in last night's case, COST me a good deal of money, all because someone didn't handle their support tickets properly. That's what it boils down to.

 

In 5+ years of doing business, I've come up with a solution that, believe it, or not, WORKS. It took a few years to get it all put together (and I'm still trying to do SOME of that), but rather than have 5 different login areas for clients (support, monitoring, server access, billing, etc), it SHOULD, quite literally be all put under one umbrella. Why do you think MAJOR CORPORATIONS such as Theplanet, EV1, Softlayer, etc, do this VERY THING? Because it's a MAJOR pain in the tail end for clients to have to login to every area separately. Even with the 'integration' of WHMCS and Kayako, that's still a slight pain, though that one can be dealt with.

 

At 3am, when a server is down, I can either go to one managed location, find the server, find the reboot url (which is a simple click) and reboot the server (if necessary), or do other work to it, OR I can follow your example, pulling up files, searching said files through 100+ servers for one specific ip, copy the url to clipboard, open up browser, paste url, c&p user and pass, and and then HOPE I've got the right one (odds are not).

 

Which one is more efficient? Option A, which is why it EXISTS. Option B is arcane, slow, and deadly when dealing with people who require immediate support, and when you're dealing with server reboots, you'd better believe that support had BETTER be immediate.

 

ON top of all that, Option B is less organized, especially when you're dealing with a solution that puts a reboot a simple click away, and a server search a link away.

 

Now, maybe, you're happy waiting hours for a reboot, but the average person isn't. The average person considers this a critical issue, and rightly so.

 

Maybe you're content storing passwords unencrypted in a database, where any old person can grab them and run, and obviously you are if you're using something like QB to store information. Me? Not so much, hence why I created the solution I did to work hand in hand WITH the area that the clients are already IN, where database passwords, usernames, ports, are stored, encrypted multiple times with multiple keys in database form, so IF they're needed, they can be pulled out.

 

One place, one solution, it's all that's needed. It SHOULDN'T have backfired like it did, and that can only be blamed on poor communication and poor support ticket handling by WHMCS staff.

 

Again, critical issues should always, always take priority, and ALWAYS be addressed, at least initially, within a half hour, no matter WHAT time of day. This is why 'high priority' and 'critical' priorities exist! 2 hours is FAR too long when dealing with issues that involve server security, servers needing rebooted, nd the like. 2 hours is long enough for a client to be hacked, have their data replaced, and the hacker to be completely gone from the system, all because someone didn't do their job properly.

 

Again, I compare this (quite literally) to a reboot ticket, especially when something this critical is in place. I don't place 'high priority' tickets often, but when I do, you'd better believe they ARE, and they need responding to quickly!

[railto]

Wow, only 2 hours to get a critical issue resolved. Umm, something really, really needs to be done here about this!

 

 

ok i was gonna stay away from this post, and i know i havent read it all, but here, tell me one thing, WHERE DOES WHMCS STAFF POST A SLA SAYING THAT URGENT OR CRITICAL ISSUES WILL BE DEALT WITH IN LESS THAN 30 MINS. Sorry to shout but your posts really annoyed me, also, something for you to ponder, without an SLA you dont have a leg to stand on with the comments you have made, cut the team some slack, actually, maybe i should sign up multiple accounts with you and log a lot of urgent tickets, will be interesting to see how many get answered within 30 mins.

 

One final thing, if you dont like that a ticket that you SAY was logged as urgent/critical took 2 hours to get resolved, i suggest that you raise it directly with the company, and not flame them on thier own forums, if you use the forums on a regular basis all you will see is praise,

 

I must say that i find this an utter joke,

 

Getting back to my main point, please show me the 30 mins sla, i would really like to see it, otherwise, stop going on about this

[PPH]

This thread is no longer producing any additional information and really needs to be closed in my opinion.

[bear]

Yup, I'd suggest it's over. The member has his admin area back, he prefers to use WHMCS the way that works for his company, and Matt was notified of an issue that may need looking at further.

Everybody wins, and nothing more to be gained...if we stop it here.

 

/thread.