ASO - No Phone Support - Is that a problem?

[VitalNation]

I started looking in to ASO thanks to all the great reviews found on these forums. Although I am very computer literate and fairly internet savvy, I have no experience with PHP or mySQL. So I had several questions for ASO to see if I would be able to pull this off by myself. They informed me that they have no type of phone support whatsoever. This concerns me on many fronts, most of the fact that I am new to hosting a bulletin board. How do those of you who are ASO customers handle complex problems when they arrive? Do you just go back and forth via email/chat to get resolution? It doesn't seem like the most efficient way to get things done.

[rh2004]

Ticket support, it is beneficial to the provider why?

- Communications are logged
- Look back on previous support tickets
- Internet service, support provided by more modern methods (tickets)
- Multiple tickets can be worked on by multiple staff whereas with phone
only one person can work on a issue

You could say ticket support is similar to a forum board in some ways.

[WireNine.com]

Email/Chat is the best way to go in my opinion. As rh2004 described some of the benefits of using ticket support.

Phone support should be just for basic questions same as Live chats.

[marksman]

Yeah from a support perspective, you are much more likely to have an experienced and knowledgable tech reply to a ticket in a ticket system than you are going to be able to get one on the phone. Phone calls are amazingly inefficient, so as others mentioned you would really only get basic support that way anyways, or have to wait a long time, potentially, for a call back.

You can handle many-fold the number of support queries via a ticketing, chat system than you can on the phone, because you can manage multiple customers at the same time.

[encryption]

Telephone support in my opinion means nothing. Yes you call someone and lodge a complaint. But you have to consider the following.

A) Is the person answering the phone qualified to understand your problem.
B) Does phone support mean someone will sit with you on the phone and troubleshoot your problem or merely "take note" of your problem as a ticket and have someone contact you shortly.

Emails / MSN work just as good especially if you've got tech help from the webhosting company directly on your list.

I've worked with SEVERAL companies offering 24 x 7 tech support, only to have them "create" a ticket and wait for a response until they have "evaluated" your issue.

[Ohiosweetheart]

hmmmm... the very few times I've had to call my host (yes they provide telephone support) they took care of the problem right then and there. Stayed on the phone with me til the problem was fixed.

I think that phone support is essential for emergency problems

[Reeve of Shinra]

I open a ticket online or I can page my host in an emergency... either way support has been responsive and thurough. I actually prefer logging a ticket over calling up.

[1996 328ti]

Telephone support in my opinion means nothing.I beg to differ. I had a problem with my site (exceeded bandwidth due to an error on my part) while away from home.
I did not have my passwords so I couldn't log into the support section.
I didn't have access to email. I did have the phone number for www.realwebhost.com (http://www.realwebhost.com) (shameless plug) and made a quick call.
Everything was straightened out within minutes.

No phone number gives me the impression that two geeks in a basement a running the show and will get to my question when
they get home from school.
This is in no way a reflection on ASO. Just my opinion of no phone support.

[encryption]

Bandwidth exceeded is not a problem, if MySQL crashes and you stand to lose your entire database, THAT is a problem. And no provider is going to sit on the phone with a client while they resolve a problem of such magnitude.

If you consider "bandwidth exceeded" to be a "problem" I assume you haven't used WHM. Most folks with basic understanding of hosting and those who know their way around WHM can resolve a "bandwidth exceeded" issue within a few seconds simply by allocating more BW to you.

[TheMusicMan]

Back to the initial question...

I run a moderately busy forum on an owned server, housed and managed by ASO. I was initially on several of their shared plans before moving onto a dedicated then owned server.

I have not found the lack of official telephone support a hinderance at all.

[joeychgo]

Ive been with ASO for almost 2 years.

I started on a shared plan, moved up through the rnaks to a VPS - moved on again and now have a Dedicated server I own, but is managed by ASO.

I have never had a significant probelm with ASO. I have been happy throughout my experinece.