Live Chat

[Moose3]

Does anyone monitor the Live Chat at PowWeb? I've sat waiting for someone to respond for over 15 minutes over the past few days and nothing happens. :(

[halo4john]

I've also encountered this problem. Not sure if anybody does monitor. I end up having to call.

[IanS]

It is a 24/7 service but can be extremely busy at times because of the migration. It's best to leave it trying and have cup of coffee (or a beer :D) while you wait. (Don't have too many beers though as you won't then make ANY sense out of what you're eventually told.)

[SubCog]

yeah, the last couple times I've chatted, its taken around an hour for them to get to me.

[snobrega]

Like Ian said, the chat queue time can be lengthy during the transition time. The best thing to do is open your chat request and multi-task until a representative is able to answer. I know they're always working on training new reps and adding support capacity so hopefully the wait times will drop.

[retro]

I have waited for over twenty minutes. This is an unacceptable degradation of support chat service, which was *instantaneous* under PowWeb. I tried legacy support, but they advised me that the new chat was overloaded and that I would have to wait for 24 hours for an e-mail reply.

My site failed the automated migration due to transitory server errors accessing 25 or so files, and now it sits in limbo. At the kiosk, I have cleared the error condition by clicking "Check Again" on each of the problematic files, but 24 hours later, it would appear that my migration has been left by the wayside, and that there is no means for discussing this with an engineer.

[retro]

Ian, I do not understand what role you play here. Are you an Endurance employ? Your suggestions in response to customer issues seem very flip if so. Please explain.

[keithl]

Hi retro,

The instantaneous chat on legacy was not dedicated one-to-one support as it is on the new platform. While the wait can reach up to 30 or 40 minutes, it's worth taking that into account that during a migration these times will increase. Hopefully you would notice a turn in response time after the migration is completed.

"Check Again" is not the same as ignore. Are you trying to ignore the issues, or are you trying to find out the root cause of the issue?

P.S. Ian is a customer, just like you. His "role" is both moderator and consumer advocate.

[retro]

Hi retro,

The instantaneous chat on legacy was not dedicated one-to-one support as it is on the new platform. While the wait can reach up to 30 or 40 minutes, it's worth taking that into account that during a migration these times will increase. Hopefully you would notice a turn in response time after the migration is completed.

"Check Again" is not the same as ignore. Are you trying to ignore the issues, or are you trying to find out the root cause of the issue?

P.S. Ian is a customer, just like you. His "role" is both moderator and consumer advocate.
Keith, the kiosk offered a "Check Again" (or "Re-Check") button for each of the problematic files. I went through the list, clicking each button, and each time, the *new* check passed. I have no intention of ignoring the issue, but it was obviously a transitory server communication issue which interfered with the QA test. The kiosk now indicates an OK/Green status, but nothing has happened since this status change (for the past 24 hours). Should I switch to a manual migration at this point? Thanks, but I really don't understand your response. My point is that the kiosk's "Check Again" feature essentially verified that the 25 or so "server error" issues which occurred during the QA script were transitory. Otherwise, "Check Again" should have re-generated the same error. Right?

[keithl]

Hi,

Sorry if I was unclear. We can deal with the information you've just presented.

I think you should switch to manual mode and see how the process looks at each of the four steps, if nothing more than to give you more peace of mind.

Yes. The same error should have been generated if you didn't change anything and the error still existed. It doesn't look like there is an issue, but if you are uncomfortable with what you're seeing, try calling the transition line (1.866.9.PowWeb) instead of the normal support number and ask them which errors you'd like to review.

A manual migration will probably make this easier for you, since you'll have more control of the process and will choose when YOU are ready to flip DNS.

[retro]

Hi,

Sorry if I was unclear. We can deal with the information you've just presented.

I think you should switch to manual mode and see how the process looks at each of the four steps, if nothing more than to give you more peace of mind.

Yes. The same error should have been generated if you didn't change anything and the error still existed. It doesn't look like there is an issue, but if you are uncomfortable with what you're seeing, try calling the transition line (1.866.9.PowWeb) instead of the normal support number and ask them which errors you'd like to review.

A manual migration will probably make this easier for you, since you'll have more control of the process and will choose when YOU are ready to flip DNS.
Thanks Keith. All of the errors reported were identical, non-specific "server errors," and I suspect that the QA script simply had a problem verifying existence of the 25 or so specific files when it originally ran.

I suspect that the site is ready to have DNS re-pointed, but I cannot get the "Compare" feature at the kiosk to work. At least, I don't know what I am supposed to see when I click this. Sometimes, I see my site under its DNS name, and sometimes I see it under at username.powweb.com (where username = my username).

If I click the button to flip DNS, will that also flip my DNS aliases? Also, what impact will this have on my e-mail?

Thanks again for the quick response.

[keithl]

The compare feature is, in this migration, somewhat of a challenge for some people.

What it should do is give you a side-by-side view (WYSIWYG) into how your site will "look" on the new platform; quite literally. In most cases, however, without hacking your hostfile (you can follow these instructions if you wish: http://www.powweb.com/knowledgebase/read_article.bml?kbid=2776
), it will more than likely only test the files that link back and forth (but WILL test local path data).

MAKE A LOCAL BACKUP OF YOUR DATA.

If you think that the errors have been resolved, then it's time to flip.

Please note:

Change your ftp settings to: FTP.POWWEB.COM

Check your e-mail settings once you've flipped DNS in the E-Mail Forum Threads.

[retro]

The compare feature is, in this migration, somewhat of a challenge for some people.

What it should do is give you a side-by-side view (WYSIWYG) into how your site will "look" on the new platform; quite literally. In most cases, however, without hacking your hostfile (you can follow these instructions if you wish: http://www.powweb.com/knowledgebase/read_article.bml?kbid=2776
), it will more than likely only test the files that link back and forth (but WILL test local path data).

MAKE A LOCAL BACKUP OF YOUR DATA.

If you think that the errors have been resolved, then it's time to flip.

Please note:

Change your ftp settings to: FTP.POWWEB.COM

Check your e-mail settings once you've flipped DNS in the E-Mail Forum Threads.
Thanks again. I telephoned the transition support line, and they performed a full "QA Flip" which re-checked everything and then re-pointed DNS. Everything seems kosher at the moment, and I will wait out the global DNS change.

[keithl]

Sounds good! Don't forget to check your FTP and E-Mail configurations.

Good luck!