July 2004 Archives

SBC Sucks Ass

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Received this email today:

Dear Customer:

We were unable to submit your web hosting charge to the Billing Telephone Number that you provided as your method of payment. What we show is not a valid local telephone number in our SBC region.

Your Billing Telephone Number, xxx-xxx-xxxx, has been found invalid against the following line items:

N1580941 - 50 NON-OWNERSHIP. RESOLD LINE
R3154240 - 50 NON-OWNERSHIP. RESOLD LINE
R3187042 - 50 NON-OWNERSHIP. RESOLD LINE
R3404074 - 50 NON-OWNERSHIP. RESOLD LINE
R3443142 - 50 NON-OWNERSHIP. RESOLD LINE
R3479114 - 50 NON-OWNERSHIP. RESOLD LINE
R3513197 - 50 NON-OWNERSHIP. RESOLD LINE
R3549008 - 50 NON-OWNERSHIP. RESOLD LINE
R3583330 - 50 NON-OWNERSHIP. RESOLD LINE

Please contact our office as soon as possible so that we may update your billing information. Please remember that if you would like your web hosting charges added to your phone bill, the billing number MUST be a 13 digit valid line in our SBC region (no cell phone #'s).

If you choose to pay with credit card you may add this yourself by going to “Change Credit Card” in your Control Panel, (Edit Account Info screen). All fields must be filled in with the required information (first name of cardholder, last name of cardholder, credit card number, etc.) The credit card information will be immediately updated.
Regards,
SBC Internet Services, Inc.
www.webhosting.com
888-WEB-HOST (932-4678)

Now, last summer (June 03 or maybe July 03- that is, ALMOST A FREAKING YEAR AGO), our DSL provider, Hosting.com, folded up their offices in Chicago. We then were suckers, and signed up for a SBC Webhosting account. After about 2 weeks of back and forth with tech support, and multiple emails/calls with various marketing and tech support people, we got the account to work, sort of. The upload/download speed was atrocious, and the pop3 email was horribly flaky: frequently would time out, or fail to connect at all. After another week or so, we canceled our account, and even took it a step further, and canceled our local phone service to move everything to a fractionated T1 line with Allegiance Telecom. We had a little problem with a lightning strike-electric spike ruining our first modem, but in general, have been very happy with ALGX.

SBC can kiss my ass. I guess I have to go through my old Amex bills to see if I have been charged at any time in the last year for some phantom SBC hosting account. I wouldn't put it past them.

Update from some snotty SBC rep called Erica J. cancellations@webhosting.com


To cancel an account we must receive written authorization from the contact e-mail address on file. Such a request to cancel was not recieved until today, thus the account has been canceled effective today, 7/29/03.

Unless a request to cancel has been received we continue to renew the contract automatically for the initial term specified by the customer. This is what has occured. Our renewal procedures were provided to you when this account was first created. I have included an excerpt for your review:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“2.3 Renewal term(s). If Account Holder wishes to terminate the Services at the end of the Initial Term or any subsequent Renewal Terms, notice of intent to terminate must be given in written form faxed to: 561-999-8215 or emailed from email contact account to support@webhosting.com at least 30 days prior to the termination date. Neither U.S. mail nor phone notification shall be acceptable. If Account Holder fails to notify SBC of its intent not to renew, this Agreement will be automatically renewed for a period equal to the Initial Term (”Renewal Term“) at SBC's then-current rates and charges.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I have done a who-is look-up on your domain name and found that your hosting service is no longer pointing to our servers:

Domain Name: xxx
Updated Date: 08-jun-2004
Creation Date: 02-sep-1999
Expiration Date: 02-sep-2009


However, please be advised that moving your services to another provider does not automatically cancel your previous hosting services. We are not notified that such changes have been made if not by the customer themselves.

Your account was on a month to month contract. Please be advised that there are no refunds offered for accounts canceled after the renewal date. This account last renewed on 7/09/04. No credit will be issued.

If you have a copy of a previous request to cancel, complete with headers, please forward us a copy for review. Once we verify when the cancellation request was originally sent we will gladly issue any necissary credit due.

Otherwise, without written documentation of a previously requested cancellation, we can not offer credit for previous months.

Cancellation/Refund Policy Link:
http://webhosting.com/shared/support/faq/billing.html

You currently have an open invoices for this account.


You will need to contact our Customer Service Department to make payment:

(888) 932-4678 option 2
Monday-Friday 8:00a.m. to 11:00p.m. EST

Ain't that a bitch! So, even though I cancelled my SBC in May (I looked it up) of last year, I'm liable, in SBC's minds at least, for calling them, waiting on hold, and so forth. Dream on. I want to work at SBC's data center, that sounds like a slacker's job by any definition of the word.

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Yurt

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D's latest idea is to build a Yurt on our roof, in lieu of a penthouse. We talked to a company in Colorado (Colorado Yurt) that has been building yurts since 1977, and they seem to think it would be a viable idea.

A latticework of wood, held together with tension, provides the walls.
Lattice

Yurt frame

Interior view

A better explaination is here

Saturday's Chicago Tribune had an article about the idea of yurts in general
(If you need a subscription to enter the site, go to www.bugmenot.com, or use lmagnino /dexter)

...round, portable structure first used centuries ago by the nomadic herdsmen of Mongolia and central Asia. During the cool months, they come every weekend. When summer temperatures soar in Utah, the Raleighs close up the yurt and live full-time in their Carbondale, Colo., home.

“The number one motivating factor was cost,” said Lisa, who works with Duane in the magazine publishing industry. “Yurts are amazingly cost-efficient.”

With price tags between $4,700 and $10,000, these steel and fabric structures provide an affordable alternative to brick and mortar. Owners are using them as backcountry ski huts, guest cottages, home offices, yoga retreats and restaurants.


...
Yurts are held together by combining compression and tension. Lattice pieces are bolted together to form a continuous circular wall.

A steel cable is preset, on top of the lattice wall, to the exact circumference of the yurt. The rafters hook onto the steel cable at one end while, at the other end, they attach to a compression ring at the top center of the yurt.

The entire structure is then covered with a fabric skin.

Yurts come in a variety of colors and generally range in size from about 200 to 700 square feet, although sizes may vary depending on the company.

Depending on the climate, additional insulation, wind and snow-load kits may be required.

Other extras include wood-burning or gas stoves, insulated windows, French doors, cistern systems and screen doors.

I also found two other yurt companies....
http://redskyshelters.com/
http://www.yurts-r-us.com/

I think it would be so cool so have a yurt on our roof, along with a wooden deck to sip mint juleps on.

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Toronto vignette

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Vignette from Janice Spellerberg's back yard (Marty was in Texas).
Toronto Collagiate Vignette

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This page is an archive of entries from July 2004 listed from newest to oldest.

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