Just a short while ago, I wrote about the great job DreamHost had done in quickly self-identifying and correcting it's own billing error.  This week, I've got to take back a few of their gold stars. 

PROBLEM #1:

DreamHost is in the business of providing web hosting services, but last week it had delays and outages that make clear it shouldn't host stream-of-commerce businesses.  On the same day that I sent out announcements that I was making my new business site available for testing, it was essentially impossible to get to it.  It took more than five minutes for the homepage to load.  

The DreamHost team tried to help, but needed to have done a lot more.  Apparently, they knew that they had reached some scaling limits and had planned to spread the load in a new facility.  They ultimately sent a note to users that they were planning to have a twelve hour outage to address the problem. 

SOLUTIONS:

First and foremost, you can't be a webhost if you need to have twelve hour outages; they needed to have a backup or fail-over facility. 

Second, if you are having an emergency (both your operating and fail-over facility are hit by simultaneous tornados), you need to know exactly what the damage is.  DreamHost has a status page that was supposed to report system problems.  Prior to the scheduled expansion, it was reporting occasional serious system delays and outages.  However, more often than not, they were listed as resolved while a string of user-submitted comments indicated they were not or had been supplanted by new problems.  If you're posting notices to your customers and allowing them to write back, you need to read what they write, and hold a responsive dialogue.  Things would have gone more smoothly if DreamHost had replied to all the posted comments and explained why they weren't part of the same problem, how they were being addressed, etc.

PROBLEM #2:

While all of this mini-mayhem was going on, I discovered a problem unique to my site and went to pull the back-up copies of files.  They didn't seem to be there, so I sent a note to customer support and signed up for the enhanced call-back-by-phone support.  The new phone support required me to provide a number and a multi-hour preferred calling window.  Later in the day, I discovered that they had called while I was handling some other business responsibility.  The support person left a message that he had made the attempt to call and would now be sending me an email (with no opportunity for interaction).  No return number was offered nor any explanation for why not.  Needless to say, I don't consider that phone support and canceled the service. 

SOLUTION:

If DreamHost wants to offer fee paid phone support it's got to have a method that takes into account that the customer may not be free at the moment DreamHost decides to call.

ONE THING DONE RIGHT:

I'll give them credit for one thing.  When I canceled the phone support, they didn't whine, wheedle, or attempt to cajole.  They just politely informed me that they'd credit my charge card.