Experiencing downtime as a web host is one of the worst things that could possibly happen. I was recently hosting with a canadian web hosting company who handled a brief period of downtime exceptionally well. I thought I would note their actions so that others could benefits from their actions.
Outstanding communication
The first thing I want to note is that they had amazing communication during their issue. Although it was likely a very stressful time for the small team, they took the time to communication with their customers every step of the way. I received three emails during the brief 2-3 hour downtime. The first explained what exactly happened and the steps they were taking to fix the issue. They gave an estimated time for repair – which luckily was much shorter than they initially suggested. Their second email updated us on their progress and their third was a notice that the issue was resolved along with processes they had implemented to keep the problem from happening again.
Social media attention
Another thing I noticed about this hosting company was their activity on twitter and facebook. They were able alert clients of their updates they sent through email and on their blog by sending quick notices through traditional social media channels. This is actually how I found out about the outage. I have had a shoutcast hosting package with them for several months without any problems before this.
Accepting Responsibility
I noticed that throughout all their communication they accepted full responsibility, even when it would have been easy to blame something that we did not understand.
In conclusion, this is a company that handles their customer service issues with grace and excellence. I have hosted with many different hosting companies, from little guys to the big names, and I must say that this process is what saved me from switching again.
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