Cari.net: two thumbs down

[Fred]

On Tuesday 06 September 2005 21:10, Greg Rundlett wrote:
...
> If Linux is a workhorse, then Plesk is a workhorse with 2 broken legs, no
> eyesight, and it has fallen down with you pinned underneath and the
> stirrup wrapped around your leg.

Anyway, an update on how things are going with cari.net. 

Before I begin, let me say that I tend to have unusual requirements and what 
not just because I have various goals in mind to push the envelope in just 
about everything I touch. I usually bring out the best and the worst that 
way.

I have a certain way I want my IPs allocated, etc. A month before signing up 
with cari.net, I was assured they could accommodate my unusual requests at 
no extra cost. I was also told that all the IPs in the blocks I purchased 
would be usable. I went into excoriating details of what I was looking for 
just to be sure they could meet my demands. 

And so, I made the purchased, and requested the extra IPs  according to the 
way I wanted them. It took them several days to sort out the IP request, and 
when they did, I found out to my dismay that:

1) I would not be able to use all the IPs, as one would be the mask, gateway, 
etc.
2) It would cost me an extra $50 a month on top of what I was expecting to 
pay for the IPs.

I confronted them with this and the fact I had asked about this up front and 
was told categorically that all IPs *would be* usable and that there would 
be no extra costs.

The CEO of cari.net modified the costs a bit and waived the setup fee, and 
gave me an option to drop the service and get a full refund, but I only had 
by the end of that day to get a full refund if I wanted.

Well, I nearly tossed the fish back in the water, but they still have a good 
set of features for an attractive price, so I went for it. But it was the 
sort of thing that left a bitter taste in the mouth from my former 
expectations, not the original joy I had. A cold calculated business 
decision.

I'm a busy person, so I like to spend the weekends configuring a new server 
to my needs. And so late this past Friday I wanted to set up the new IPs. I 
dutifully installed Webmin to make the setup a no-brainer. I configured the 
first block of IPs just to get them working before I'd do the rest.

To my great dismay, no workie. I could ping the IPs on the box itself, but 
not across the Internet. I used traceroute to root out the problem and it 
appeared to be the router just before my server not properly routing the 
packets.

I called cari.net to get them to fix the problem immediately so I could get 
on with my setups. They were able to confirm the problem, but said I would 
have to wait until Monday to get it resolved??!!!!! I impressed upon them 
that I needed it for this weekend, but no can do. Apparently, their clueful 
guys don't work on the weekend -- they leave their lackeys at the helm for 
the wee hours.

And so here it is Monday. I've got many other things to do and will have to 
shoe-horn in dealing with cari.net so I can get this new leg of my business 
going. The bitter taste in my mouth grows stronger.

For my needs, it turns out that the great price advantage I thought I was 
getting was is not as sweet. And cari.net is only clueful during "normal" 
business hours, not 24/7 as I hoped. And that's California Time, so I have 
to wait even longer for them to bring in the clue. 

If your needs are not as demanding as mine, Cari.net may be a good deal. But 
if you, like I, like doing things your way and you have "atypical" 
requirements, keep searching. Since my money is already tied up in them, 
I'll just have to see if I can make this turkey fly. I've made turkeys fly 
before, but it's draining as wastes much time. Oh well...

-Fred