Support is not that great after all

[softplc]

I am very dissappointed at the support. We've been with Rochen for only less than 6 months are we are already thinking about changing.

They have been completely non-empathic to the fact that their email server is not blocking emails which contain files whose extension is "eml". EML is the file extension used by Mozilla Thunderbird. WTF? Thunderbird is a major email client, and you can't use it?

Look elsewhere for your hosting provider.

[Brad]

I'm not sure that this is a support issue, rather a server configuration issue, however I will reply here like I have in your ticket.

So that we are clear, you have refused our offer to walk you through configuring Thunderbird to forward messages inline, which is beyond the issues we usually provide support for.

This practice of blocking .eml attachments is not new, and neither are we unique. Thunderbird, a major email client, by default does not attach forwarded emails, rather it forwards them in-line. You obviously have enabled this option for some reason.

Your other choices are of course, that you use your own ISP's SMTP server (if they permit .eml attachements). However you would need to check with them.

I don't recall a single issue on this subject recently (last 2 years??) as most of our clients appreciate the steps we take to ensure our server are running stable and securely.

We're here to help, we're just also here to ensure we meet the needs of the majority of our customers, and where people like yourself have configuration issues, we go beyond and try to offer to help as well.

[Brad]

You may wish to edit your first post to reflect that fact that we ARE blocking .eml attachments. Currently it implies we do not, and that is why you are upset.

[Chris]

I am just dropping a quick reply here to fully support what Brad has said above.

As Brad correctly points out this is nothing to do with technical support or service levels (and I think it is highly misleading of you to title the post the way you have done) but has everything to do with the way the mail server is configured to block certain potentially harmful extensions (one of which includes .eml) from being sent as attachments.

I think it is also very important to point out that this type of filtering is standard under any cPanel / Exim server by default and is not something we have specifically enabled. We have also not just gone ahead and enabled this - it has been in place for years and has not changed since. Any hosting provider running cPanel will have exactly the same setup as we do unless they have disabled this extra layer of security under their mail server, which I highly doubt they will have in a shared hosting environment.

We have tried to point out a few possible workarounds for you including sending your messages in-line, sending messages that you need to send like this via your ISP's SMTP server (if they allow it) or renaming the extension to one which is not regarded as being harmful by filtering systems. None of these were acceptable to you so I am really not sure what more you would like us to do but we certainly wish you all the very best with your future hosting endeavors.

Unlike a lot of our competitors we stand by the principle of being open with our customers and potential customers so this post will of course remain for everyone to read as I think it is important people are able to make an accurate assessment of our services before signing up.

Please don't hesitate to contact us via the help desk if we can be of any further help :)

- Chris

P.S. Although you did not agree with the outcome I think it is important to point out that your ticket regarding this matter was originally answered in less than 4 minutes and no follow-up replies took more than 9 minutes.

[MikeS]

Wow, some perspective you seem to have there Softplc.

From the sounds of your post you either have a reseller account or hosting one, either way your account will be on a shared server and the primary requirement of any hosting provider would be to ALL their clients, not just one. Yes there are times it can be frustrating when this protection of the majority seems to conflict with an individuals perceived needs, but it really is not the end of the world. There is invariably a way round it, of course one could always opt for a dedicated server then you could do exactly what you want.

I would add that as a long standing customer of Rochen, in fact probably one of their longest, that the last thing you could complain about is the support service, flexibility and their willingness to understand their customers needs and evaluate actions when needed to ensure they are doing the right, or best, thing. Witness the recent issues with default email address accounts.

I am still here, after MANY YEARS for one reason and one alone, trust! I find the Rochen team are open, honest and forthcoming. Open to discussion and willing to listen, I really do think that you would be very hard pressed to find a more supportive hosting company anywhere. Yes growth, due simply to this success, is going to impact on the services from time to time, and that's all it is, but they are aware of this and addressing it.

So I would suggest that if you discussed your particular problem with the support guys, listened to their advice, which is generally pretty darn good and helpful, you could overcome your particular problem. I can't offer anything as I don't know or use Thunderbird, but where there's a will there generally is a way.........

Good luck with your quest for the faultless and perfect hosting provider, you will be hard pressed to find one better than Rochen!

[NYhost]

Last year one of my clients hosted with Rochen also got error replies when using the .eml attachments. It is not a Thunderbird extension. I believe it originated with Microsoft Outlook.

At the time, I did some research and found that the .eml extension is indeed unpopular due to it carrying exploits through email. Many tools now watch for and perhaps ban such attachments.

At the time, I had a ticket open with Rochen support and they made a very important point:Your customer will likely find many other mail servers are blocking their messages containing .eml files as well but they may not be setup to send a bounce back. We will it is important to send a failed delivery report though. The best plan is for them to rename the file to .eml.txt or send the attachment in another format.Do you know how many of your email destinations block .eml but don't send a non-delivery response? Sobering thought.

eml is not the only attachment type considered by email policies against viruses (http://advosys.ca/papers/mail-policies.html). Some organizations block a number of attachment types. (http://www2.essex.ac.uk/cs/services/email/executables.html)

[jmac]

Sounds to me like softplc will never be satisfied. It would be better for him to depart to another hosting service so we can all have a bigger share of the support pie! I've found the quality and speed of the service offered far superior to ANY service I've tried over the last 12 years.

softplc - I wish you the very best of luck in finding a better service - please let us know when you find it!

[sijo]

I would also like to add my comments that, in my opinion, you will not find a better bunch of guys here at Rochen. I have loss count of the number of times they have offerred advice and help over and beyond the "call of duty" and certainly not covered by the monthly fee.

I have used Outlook and Thunderbird for email and used them without problems it is just a case of configuring them correctly.

I do not believe you will find a better host.

[delosibe]

To be honest I must also reinforce the fact that, after more than three years with Rochen, the level of service, support quality, response time and overall responsiveness have always been difficult, very difficult to beat by any other hosting company...

We may always ask for more... every, everything may, of course, may be better.. but what Chris and his team provide is, again, very difficult to beat by their competitors... and it is due to so recognize it !

[Kola]

In my own experience of some 6 months or so I love Rochen and wouldn't transfer even if somewhere were cheaper.

Why? 100% up time so far, no hassles and half the time you don't have to even bother customer services as MikeS sorts it all for you. If he doesn't some other member will. Hey, if you want support, come to Rochen. Last but not least, the Official Joomla! web site uses Rochen - I rest my case!!

As a total web hosing noob rochen and its members have taken me from an absolute novice to a seasoned beginner and that's worth the monthly fee alone.
I won't be moving for the foreseeable future, so im talking here with my cash as well as mouth - (or fingers as im typing lol)

Some of my questions I post on here as I scramble to find my web hosting feet must seem repetitive and stupid to the Pros on here but never once have I ever received anything but help and support in return. I am now confident in asking pros pointless and stupid questions and because of this confidence all down to others good will I am progressing leaps and bounds. I was with a host prior to Rochen who were less than tolerant so I left - simple as

I know if anything goes wrong or worse goes down I have all the experience and support I need right here and just an Email or Skype away.
As a new start up business, I can have no less and have no time to mess about saving 50p here a month or whatever. I demand a quality product and this is what I get month in month out here.

Join Rochen, you won't be sorry!

[leftbrain]

I would say WOW support.

We have a managed dedicated server with Rochen and I am frequently asking them to charge me if my request is out of scope, or out of line.

I feel positively spoiled by Brad and Chris.