Suspending sites

[peddler]

There are occasions when hosts need to suspend accounts due to the breaching of the terms of service (bad content, resource heavy scripts, etc). When suspension is necessary, is it standard protocol to for the host to contact the reseller (in this case) explaining that the site is being suspended and why? Or, do hosts just suspend the site, say nothing and leave it the reseller or the client to discover?

Thanks.

[Chicken]

I've never had to do it for a reseller, however I'd suspend, notify reseller as to why.

[iBiz]

depending on the seriousness of the infraction we have done in the past:

1. spamming or illegal stuff = we suspend and then contact the reseller and tell him why.

2. minor stuff = we notify the reseller and let him resolve it and then let us know what was done.

We work with the reseller at all times to keep him as independant as possible. When we do have to do things before we can get ahold of him, we do it in a fashion of "his tech support team" had to suspend the account until the hosting manager could be notified.

[michaeln]

Like Chicken we have never been faced with this situation. However, I would have to agree with iBiz. Unless it is crippling your server you should give your reseller a chance to handle it. I know that we have a few resellers that would move to a different company if we didn't. I find resellers like to look and feel independent from you.

[peddler]

Thanks all, for your responses.

As a collective, you all seem to agree that the reseller should be contacted re "any" suspension, and this certainly makes sense to me. If the infraction is critical and jeopardises the service to others on the server, then suspend immediately, but at least email the reseller so he/she knows about it. Seems that all hosts ought to practise this to maintain the integrity of their service and also to show respect to his/her clients.

Not sure whose forum this is, but it’s a refreshing change to the "other" one, although I do have to admit that I still sneak a peek there as well.

Regards

[allan]

One other thing I have found is that, unless it is a serious infraction, never suspend an account on a Friday evening.

Not all customers are attached to their computers 24x7, and if that customer comes back to work on Monday and finds that their site has been down all weekend you will have lost a big chance to save the account.

(of course, if you want the customer to go away, the suspend away :D).

[eBizAlive]

I would notify him, whether his own reseller account or one of his clients account.

John

[beley]

If you sell reseller accounts, I wouldn't reccommend contacting your clients' client. If you have to suspend a site of theirs, let them know so they can contact their clients... and let them know they should be keeping a closer eye on their customers' content :D

Depending on the reason for suspension, sometimes we notify them prior to suspension and give them a few hours to get the content off... however in the case of illegal material, spam or other serious infractions we suspend and let them know when we get a chance. We usually don't reinstate those accounts for any reason... we don't need business that badly :)

[vito]

I had an issue like this about a month ago. The sticky part of it was that at the time, my reseller was not reachable in any way. His email address was not active, his phone was disconnected. So the issue became do I contact the reseller's clients as a courtesy so they can avoid any interruption of service. In the end, I decided to simply suspend the reseller's account and let his customers contact him for resolution.

Vito

[oritsfree]

I think warning is always good. I think if you can let your reseller know hey this is what's happening it gives them a chance to handle their business, and just like you they are handling a business.

(Before running my own servers I was reselling with a company, that would just go in and terminate my clients without warning or lettimg me know till I heard from the clients.)

From that my point of view is alert resellers when you can, if it's hacking then you have to act immediatly ofcourse, but if you can suspend a site without terminating it then have your reseller take care of it I suggest doing that.

[Netrilli]

If it is a minor situation, I send out a warning e-mail, letting them know what the problem is. Give them a chance to handle it and fix whatever it is that they are doing.

Serious matters however, when there is a threat of injury to the server or another client(even a visitor) however should be dealth with as soon as possible.

What would some of you do if a person actually threatened the customer support staff, abused their account and also sent threats out that they have ways of hacking the server and sending out viruses to other clients? Would a warning, suspension or even termination be justified?

[Alex[nl]]

Originally posted by Netrilli
What would some of you do if a person actually threatened the customer support staff, abused their account and also sent threats out that they have ways of hacking the server and sending out viruses to other clients? Would a warning, suspension or even termination be justified? I'd say log the threat and suspend his account forever. Also make sure you keep track of your clients that if he is realy in the power of doing as he claimed he can you can respond quickly.

[Chicken]

Originally posted by peddler
Not sure whose forum this is, but it’s a refreshing change to the "other" one...
We're like a cold glass of lemonade on a hot summer day :D :chicken:
Originally posted by vito
I had an issue like this about a month ago. The sticky part of it was that at the time, my reseller was not reachable in any way. His email address was not active, his phone was disconnected. So the issue became do I contact the reseller's clients as a courtesy so they can avoid any interruption of service. In the end, I decided to simply suspend the reseller's account and let his customers contact him for resolution.
Vito, it is always interesting to read the comments by others concerning this (a good thread in itself). Lots of varied opinions as to what one would and should and should not do concerning contacting the clients of a reseller.

I've always thought that the best way to handle a situation like this is to have a contingency plan for this, in your TOS, before it ever happens. It will happen to all hosts, so something clearly laid out for both you and the reseller seems to make the most sense. If your agreement clearly states that you will only contact the customers of resellers whose accounts are about to be terminated in order to prevent the customer accounts from dying, I don't see how it would be an issue.
Originally posted by Netrilli
What would some of you do if a person actually threatened the customer support staff, abused their account and also sent threats out that they have ways of hacking the server and sending out viruses to other clients? Would a warning, suspension or even termination be justified?
Termination, no question about it. That type of customer isn't one you want to keep around. Who needs a mentally unstable person who threatens you and your business?

[Netrilli]

Thank you both. That is the exact way I dealt with the situation. I tried to speak to the person and see if it was a misunderstanding, but only came out more convinced that it was best to get rid of the problem now.

[iBiz]

you might want to record his ip if you can for future purposes.

[allan]

Originally posted by Netrilli
Thank you both. That is the exact way I dealt with the situation. I tried to speak to the person and see if it was a misunderstanding, but only came out more convinced that it was best to get rid of the problem now.

This is also a case where, whenever possible, you want to record the conversation.

[Matt]

We have had to do it before and will no doubt do it again. We suspend the site, then send an email to the reseller with as much information as possible on why the account was suspended to keep them in the picture. We suggest solutions that the reseller passes on to the client - if these are used, in most cases we can unsuspend the account again.

[suppleSupport]

If a site is compromising the server I suspend it, give a detailed account of the problem to the reseller, and ask them to communicate with their client themselves.

[Robert]

If you're running Cpanel, I'd suggest creating the suspended page so when you suspend a site, and the user goes to it, there is information such as reason why (in general, ie. Due to Non-Payment, Excessive use of CPU Resorces, Spaming, etc) and than an email where they can contact you. For a user just to go to their website and see 403 Forbidden, well.. that's not good.

And remember, always treat a scammer/thief as a customer, not a customer as a scammer/thief.

[Rdldesign]

wel i do suggest not just suspending and not telling the reseller for the pure fact that he might try to unsuspend the account :D

[allan]

Originally posted by Rdldesign:

wel i do suggest not just suspending and not telling the reseller for the pure fact that he might try to unsuspend the account :D

Yea, but that's easy, if that happens, suspend the reseller :D.

[suppleSupport]

Originally posted by Rdldesign:

wel i do suggest not just suspending and not telling the reseller for the pure fact that he might try to unsuspend the account :D

Don't know what you use, but WHM lets you stop resellers from unsuspending their accounts :)

Besides the reseller has the right to know...

[James]

well me being a reseller my self for right now i havent yet had my provider suspend a client on my behaf. but I have a few clients for testing perps( ie me getting used to the CP i use the trubble ticket system ect ect. ) now on the part of just suspeding a site incase of a majore TOS/AUP infraction i think any host that does reselling will lock the site shoot an e-mail to the reseller and then wate for a responce back. if its miner like hrmm why is client X of client Areseller sending out 50 e-mails at one shoot i would just ask, and i hope others would to, before doing anything of said reseller.

thats not spam persay but 4 or 5 times in a row in a short time span would raise an eye brow with my provider.