OC(UK) Host Review :-)

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TSOHost are awful. I'm having an absolute mare with them. My ex-wife managed to log into my account and changed all of the account details to her including the email address and password used to login. I've been arguing with TSOHost to get it changed back to me and sent loads of evidence (invoices etc) but they have refused to do anything about it.
 
Sirrel Squirrel said:
TSOHost are awful. I'm having an absolute mare with them. My ex-wife managed to log into my account and changed all of the account details to her including the email address and password used to login. I've been arguing with TSOHost to get it changed back to me and sent loads of evidence (invoices etc) but they have refused to do anything about it.
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You might have more luck dealing direct with Nominet and pulling your domain back that way?
 
Glanza said:
You might have more luck dealing direct with Nominet and pulling your domain back that way?
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I did manage to get the domains back through Nominet but the hosting package is still stuck with TSOHost. I can still get into CPanel for the domain so I'll do a backup and transfer the hosting to someone else. Still annoying that I paid for 3 years worth of hosting and I've got 2 years left.
 
More stupidity at TSO. Found half my websites offline again, all errors pointing at a PHP issue (they couldn't find the error logs, I had to copy/paste them).

First suggestion was to restore the themes folder
Second suggestion was a complete restore of the backups from a point months ago
I asked to escalate it to someone else
They kept saying files were missing on the server (the logs were listing files and the commands they were trying to operate and failing to, not that the files were missing).

They couldn't explain what has happened to the server, when the sites went down (I know when because they all had the same error at exactly the same time in the logs), what they've even done on the server, all they want to do is restore a backup and pretend there's no issue, no risk of it being compromised or anything else.

What has actually happened is they've had a cpanel update which now allows users to select different php versions per site, and after doing the update all my sites which were on 5.x were moved to 7.x... but they haven't figured that out yet.

Pay extra to have a completely managed service and they have no clue what is going on with their servers.
 
Steeps said:
More stupidity at TSO. Found half my websites offline again, all errors pointing at a PHP issue (they couldn't find the error logs, I had to copy/paste them).

First suggestion was to restore the themes folder
Second suggestion was a complete restore of the backups from a point months ago
I asked to escalate it to someone else
They kept saying files were missing on the server (the logs were listing files and the commands they were trying to operate and failing to, not that the files were missing).

They couldn't explain what has happened to the server, when the sites went down (I know when because they all had the same error at exactly the same time in the logs), what they've even done on the server, all they want to do is restore a backup and pretend there's no issue, no risk of it being compromised or anything else.

What has actually happened is they've had a cpanel update which now allows users to select different php versions per site, and after doing the update all my sites which were on 5.x were moved to 7.x... but they haven't figured that out yet.

Pay extra to have a completely managed service and they have no clue what is going on with their servers.
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Was that on a shared server or a managed dedicated? Do you have a copy of the error messages and the ticket saved? Any prior communication about upcoming changes?

Just thinking if you wanted to make an SLA claim you'll need to keep as much info as possible to prove it all. I would presume they told you about the upcoming version change so would deny any SLA credit? If not, then you may have grounds as surely system things shouldn't just change out of the blue, you would have thought.

Of course you will want to keep copies of all your evidence such that the facts were indisputable should you need them at any point in future to prove your position.

Like these people appear to have saved for example, assuming this page is unedited, etc:

https://www.lemonrock.com/tsohost_dialogue.php

On a separate note:

I'm wondering if there should be some kind of independent regulator for the web hosting industry because while there are always 2 sides to a story, there are plenty of cases where users get unknowingly shafted, or blamed, or told little lies by their provider so that their provider can save face.

Imagine if you rang up British Gas to report a gas leak and they told you "oh sorry sir, you need a bigger pipe, that's gonna cost you!"

Ofcom I presume doesn't cover web hosts as such. Maybe it does?

:shrug:
 
Beansprout said:
Was that on a shared server or a managed dedicated? Do you have a copy of the error messages and the ticket saved? Any prior communication about upcoming changes?
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Got a copy of the chat, not going to post the transcript here if I do want to make a complaint. It was on the Dakota cPanel shared host as it ran fine running low demand Magento 1.x stores which I didn't have time to update.

They won't admit it but they've updated the cPanel version about 12 days ago (not logged as updates/downtime because it's software) and enabled a PHP switcher so you can run each site on whatever PHP is needed. I only still have this host package because I'm running some very old Magento sites which didn't take too kindly to being updated and I didn't want to rebuild them as there are over 2000 products which would need to be re-built (it's static only for reference, not an active shop). When they added the cPanel features it reset the PHP version from 5.x to 7.x and took down some of the sites.

I've had no email notice they were going to do any updates, the only clue they had done something was in the Magento error logs:
(12-Jul-2019 02:20:26 UTC) PHP Deprecated: __autoload() is deprecated, use spl_autoload_register() instead in /home/*****/public_html/*****/app/code/core/Mage/Core/functions.php on line 60
all the way to:
(22-Jul-2019 15:02:03 UTC) PHP Deprecated: __autoload() is deprecated, use spl_autoload_register() instead in /home/*****/public_html/*****/app/code/core/Mage/Core/functions.php on line 60


The same errors on 2 of the sites, but not the 3rd which I later found out was fine with PHP7.x.

No emails from them to say they were doing updates (last one was in 2018), support couldn't confirm if there had been any updates on the servers. I got a ticket back after 10 hours saying they have put the old sites back to PHP5.x and now working again. If I wanted to host somewhere where my sites break due to updates and random downtime with no clue what they're really doing I'd host it myself.
 
Glad it got sorted....changing the default PHP version is often necessary when old versions become obsolete, but doing it with no notice is surely amateurish.

Things like Cloudlinux Hardened PHP do allow old versions to be run more securely than any other way I know of so I presume that is what they have setup - the 'PHP selector' icon in cPanel?

Spin up a $5 Digital Ocean droplet where you can then blame yourself for any issues, or check out Trustpilot, there are many alternative hosting companies. Or stay with Tsohost if you're sure they will take your complaint seriously and make things right. Everyone has bad days?

I wonder how many other people were impacted which makes you wonder why they deny any changes. I also thought their support was 24/7 so 10 hours seems excessive given that Googling the error message gives this result - 7.2 is an obvious cause even without clicking a result:

"
PHP 7.2: "__autoload() is deprecated, use spl_autoload_register ...

https://github.com/ezyang/htmlpurifier/issues/154
19 Dec 2017 - The mere presence of the __autoload function definition, even inside the conditional, seems to raise this warning on PHP 7.2. It's just a ..."

Although to be fair 24/7 probably just means the facility to open a ticket is 24/7, and reply time may vary? Their take on that would be interesting if you do make a complaint.
 
I've managed to get evidence they did an update including version numbers, time and exactly what was done which would have altered the PHP version in my cPanel... but they are flat out denying in writing that an update took place even though it's documented in the cPanel changelog this would happen. I've asked them to discuss this further and investigate because if they are denying any changes took place and not accepting responsibility for it then they have some serious issues with their support staff.

The sites are non critical as the updated ones are hosted on Krystal with PHP7 but I couldn't migrate all the data over cleanly which is why I'm still split between hosts/sites. (Magento 1-2 migration using lots of customised features)
 
Long time no post.

I've been with TSOHost since before it was TSOHost. Now having some issues due to them doing a server move and they seem inept.
Looking to move providers - CPANEL/WHM. Only for a few small sites and email. Reliability and "no hassle" the most important things in my decision making process. Not price or bandwidth. UK based ideally.

This OCHostReview site is Copyright 2010 and has reviews from 2005 so figured there might be some updates by now?! Thanks in advance.
 
For the sake of my business I had to move everything away from Tsohost. The month long email blacklisting issues, that nearly 4 months on are still ongoing, was the final issue. Their uptime is awful to the point where none technical clients call asking to move to a host "that allows their site to be available all day". The whole refusal to provide any form of ETA for fixes to any issue was an ongoing problem. They've they've declined as a company and brand drastically in the last ~4 years.

In the end, I migrated my sites to AWS, https://krystal.uk and https://stablepoint.com. The difference is night and day. I no longer worry about downtime or general issues. I have a couple of servers with Stablepoint and plan to move more to them in the new year. I'm blown away by how on the ball their support staff are. Their support staff are clearly technical / server people and seriously know their stuff.

Krystal's support is also excellent, I have zero issues.

I'd recommend both of those hosts.
 
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suarve said:
For the sake of my business I had to move everything away from Tsohost. The month long email blacklisting issues, that nearly 4 months on are still ongoing, was the final issue. Their uptime is awful to the point where none technical clients call asking to move to a host "that allows their site to be available all day". The whole refusal to provide any form of ETA for fixes to any issue was an ongoing problem. They've they've declined as a company and brand drastically in the last ~4 years.

In the end, I migrated my sites to AWS, https://krystal.uk and https://stablepoint.com. The difference is night and day. I no longer worry about downtime or general issues. I have a couple of servers with Stablepoint and plan to move more to them in the new year. I'm blown away by how on the ball their support staff are. Their support staff are clearly technical / server people and seriously know their stuff.

Krystal's support is also excellent, I have zero issues.

I'd recommend both of those hosts.
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Interesting. I'm with Krystal at the moment and have no issues whatsoever. Never knew about stable point but it looks good. Wonder if there's much between them and Krystal?
 
superleeds27 said:
Interesting. I'm with Krystal at the moment and have no issues whatsoever. Never knew about stable point but it looks good. Wonder if there's much between them and Krystal?
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At the moment I have lots of smaller sites with Krystal, where each site also has email hosting. Can't fault their support afyter nearly four months.

I use Stablepoint for a few larger servers, again their support is flawless and very quick. Interestingly they use other cloud hosting infrastructure i.e. AWS, Google Cloud, Digital ocean etc.

Fun fact, if you recall how good Tsohost were in the past, take a look at who the directors of Stablepoint are :)
 
suarve said:
At the moment I have lots of smaller sites with Krystal, where each site also has email hosting. Can't fault their support afyter nearly four months.

I use Stablepoint for a few larger servers, again their support is flawless and very quick. Interestingly they use other cloud hosting infrastructure i.e. AWS, Google Cloud, Digital ocean etc.

Fun fact, if you recall how good Tsohost were in the past, take a look at who the directors of Stablepoint are :)
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Yeah I had spotted the directors actually, and I was previously with TSO/Vida.

Just not sure if the move is really worth it as such. Never had any real issues with Krystal tbf
 
I'm currently developing a new app and website that is going to need windows ASP.Net hosting and MS SQL server (Web Deploy would be nice as well). I do have a small hosting package with TSO hosts but they seem completely unable to set up an SQL Server Database for me.

It seems Hosting UK (https://hostinguk.net/web-hosting/windows-developer-hosting) has a service that would fit my needs. Does anyone have any experience with these guys?
 
Our Krystal server looks like its banned from Microsoft. ALL emails to Microsoft associated addresses are being held back. Krystal have said they can move us onto another server. But that means I have to spend a day sorting email and websites
 
mattyg said:
Our Krystal server looks like its banned from Microsoft. ALL emails to Microsoft associated addresses are being held back. Krystal have said they can move us onto another server. But that means I have to spend a day sorting email and websites
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I believe server IP's get recycled so you could have just been unlucky and got an IP with a bad reputation. I think there's a form you can fill out with Microsoft to have them review the IP address. Had it happen on one of our work servers with another provider.
 
Thinking of moving away from Krystal now, seeing too much server slowdown with "nothing unusual going on", after raising a ticket and insisting the database server is restarted... it works again! Seems to be happening at least every quarter and the lack of ability to check is disappointing.
 
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