I think it’s my duty as part of the open-source community to share the nightmare that was GigeVPS.
I first came across Host Latch and was impressed with their low prices and advanced features, which is why I thought I should sign up. In the first few weeks, there were problems every once in a while, but it wasn’t catastrophic.
One day, I receive an email saying that they’ve been acquired by GigeVPS. Subsequently, my server was down and I had to update the configuration so that everything worked on the new IPs.
In a period of just under 3 months, the server was down at least 5 or 6 times. Every time that would happen, I would find out by chance (never notified), and it had always been GigeVPS’s fault. Their response was that either the server was about to restart automatically (which is hard to believe), or that everything’s fine (I would always restart the server myself).
Overall, the service was poor and the VPS was unstable and causing constant issues.
I didn’t get around to setting up an automated backup system with my Amazon S3 subscription because I was too preoccupied with trying to get the mail server working properly (which, by the way, is an almost impossibility with GigeVPS’s Kloxo control panel). Just as I was about to work on that, disaster struck.
I paid my invoices on time every month (due by the 13th). This time though, it slipped my mind. On the 14th (a few hours after the payment deadline) my server was down and none of the websites were working.
I logged on to the billing control panel, and found that my VPS wasn’t there, and my latest invoice was canceled. There was no way for me to access or restart the server, and I couldn’t even pay the invoice if I wanted to.
I opened a support ticket showing extreme urgency, and literally got an answer a few hours later with “We’re looking into this and will let you know”. It went back and forth for 9 hours before I was told that the VPS was removed because I hadn’t paid.
At first I could fathom that the entire VPS was terminated because I was a few hours late. I keep adding longer and longer updates to the ticket with no answer.
It turns out that, a few hours after my invoice was due, everything was erased. They completely removed the VPS and everything was gone. I couldn’t pay the invoice, restore data, access any part of the server – nothing.
After getting over the shock, I asked them to have the manager call me. It literally took about a day to get any sort of response, and it was of no use whatsoever. All I got was “You didn’t pay your invoice on time, so your account has been terminated. We’re sorry for the inconvenience. We can offer you a 50% discount on the first month of a new VPS.”
Needless to say, I was completely furious. They had erased everything without the slightest of warnings only a few hours after the deadline. And all they had to say, after torturing me with endless hours of delays in response and completely inadequate tones and attitudes, is that they can give me a 50% discount for the first month of a new VPS.
After another day waiting impatiently for them to call, and updating the ticket every half hour, I get a call from a young man who seems to be handling the entire business on his own.
He refused to apologize, and would not even recognize that they have committed a serious error. All he said was that they “might’ve been a little too fast terminating the account after the invoice was overdue”. I clarified the following points to him:
- I’ve always paid my invoice on time
- This is the first time I was late, and it had only been a few hours
- I didn’t receive any warning whatsoever
- I couldn’t even pay the invoice on the 14th – it was immediately canceled
- Everything was erased with no backup
- They would not recognize the error
- All they could do to make up is to offer a lame 50% discount on the first month of a new VPS
It has been an absolute nightmare. Whatever you do, DO NOT sign up for GigeVPS, you will certainly regret it.
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