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C-Servers (Centerfield Ltd) - Great Deals and Very Rude Support Agents
PointyCandle
Member
TLDR: C-Servers has very affordable deals, but their customer service is terrible. I asked them a relatively simple (to be fair, somewhat silly) support question and their support personnel reacted very unprofessionally, resulting in a ban.
To be fair, if you think that you won't mind not contacting their support ever, I totally recommend their service. It works just fine.
They had a good Black Friday offer. They were offering the following for 44 USD for 3 years
- 3 vCPU AMD Ryzen 9 3900 @ 3.1 GHz (60% Fair Share)
- 6GB RAM DDR4
- 120GB NVMe RAID
- 1 Gbps / Unmetered + C-Servers Remote SSH Included (IPv4-to-6)
It has not been 3 years, so I cannot know how things would have gone, but their product worked. To be clear: their advertisement was NOT fraudulent.
Here is my interaction with the customer service.
Ticket 1
I can't find my original message, but it was about running a script they provided, from here
Hello,
Script is not broken. NAT is working as intended at the server. The output of both scripts is correct.
Ticket Closed
Ticket 2
Me
I am trying to reopen #XXXX. Closing the ticket without actually checking with me why I think it is broken is not very nice.
As you can see in this screenshot, the script terminates with
./nat.sh: line 113: 16#: invalid integer constant (error token is "16#")
Is this intentional?
Thanks for your time.
Them
Hello,
Let me exceptionally state a huge "what?", first and foremost. Because, evidently, you don't seem to understand what you're doing - at all.
Obviously the NAT script is EXCLUSIVELY for the IP provisioned and provided by C-Servers. And solely these. Not obviously for your own created IPs, which are private and we don't have knowledge of.
Attempting to have a NAT script go on your own "fd7a" created IP, when this was never part of our own provided range per the product description, is just absurd.
Sending twice a ticket after creating an IP and not realizing this, is even worse.
Blaming the provider for being "unprofessional" on an adequate resolution provided beforehand, when you've apparently created by yourself your own theoretical "issue" and then sent us a ticket for that, is truly the worst.
Think on what you're doing in life - and this ticket will, again, be closed.
Next time, kindly reconsider that your own actions are your sole responsibility - not the provider's. And the VPSes are unmanaged, as usual on this industry, so don't even think of sending another ticket regarding that IP or you will be banned for 7 days from writing support tickets.
If you've broken your own Internet, it's time for a reinstall with another OS. That is also entirely on you to do, as VPSes are managed by their users just like a server.
Have a nice week.
Best Regards,
C-Servers Customer Service
Specialized Support - Systems Administrator
Response to Reddit Post
At this point, I posted this on reddit
Hello, good night, and thank you for bringing that question here.
I stand by my own word: expecting a resolution from an apparent issue you've created (the fd7a IPv6 is not automatically created by the system, our range starts at 2a00/2a01) like this was our problem, or our issue, is not reasonable.
We provide info on NAT port ranges on our own IPs. We can't provide it on other ranges created by a customer. How would we know these? We don't have a way to. They're private. Technically your request doesn't make sense - and if a support ticket doesn't make sense, it's wasted time for both parties. Unpleasant, may we agree, right?
In any case, support ticket volume has been very significant lately after the Black Friday, myself I've been getting pressured for the natural expected decisive answers at this time and to bring support volume back to normal, and I do apologize if in any way you felt offended, because it was absolutely not intended - we do strive to be up to standards, support-wise.
It is a three year deal, but I'll gladly give you 3 extra months for free, as a compensation. Send us a ticket and I'll extend it from there.
Performance-wise, you'll see the VPS is nice. They're tested before commercializing them and I want to ensure they have quality. And we are implementing soon a new automation system based on VirtFusion - which all in all, will improve this topic.
Best regards.
I said the following:
Hi u/ittakesfive
Thank you for responding in a more civil tone here.
I do apologize if in any way you felt offended
Thank you for your semi-apology. (A real apology shouldn't be guarded by an if.)
I am aware that you would not be able to answer arbitrary tech questions as part of support. A simple, "As for X, this is working fine. Please look at Y. As for Z, we are not able to help, because it is not relevant to our service" would have been fine. Instead, you went on a meltdown ("Think on what you're doing in life") and threatened to ban me.
I understand that customer support is a thankless job (when it is done well, nobody notices and when it is done poorly, it results in drama). I empathize with you as a fellow techie and a fellow human, but I cannot say the same in my capacity as a customer.
It is a three year deal, but I'll gladly give you 3 extra months for free, as a compensation.
Thanks for the offer. I will take you up on it. I will also post screenshots of my tickets here (regardless of whether the conversation goes smoothly or is hostile), for the sake of transparency.
Thanks for assuring me that your VPSs have good performance. I have not tested them. However, I do not have doubts about the quality of the machines, or your technical capabilities but only your civility towards customers.
After some digging, I figured out what was going wrong with the script.
Here is the output of the script
🌐 You have the following IPv6 addresses at this server: 2a01:4f9:xx:xxxx::1 fd7a:115c:a1e0::9a34:714d ────────────────────────────────────────────── 🔎 NAT IPv4 ports of the IPv6 IP: 2a01:4f9:xx:xxxx::1 → TCP: xxxxx - xxxxx → UDP: xxxxx - xxxxx → NAT IPv4 IP: 135.181.113.98 ────────────────────────────────────────────── Thank you for choosing C-Servers. ────────────────────────────────────────────── 🔎 NAT IPv4 ports of the IPv6 IP: fd7a:115c:a1e0::9a34:714d ./nat.sh: line 113: 16#: invalid integer constant (error token is "16#")For the first IPv6, it works fine. For the second IPv6, it does not.
However, the second IPv6 is something I have added and I cannot expect your script to work for it. You were right about that.
However, you could have just told me that, instead of closing my ticket early, or yelling at me.
Even better, the script should have said that by itself. Something like "Non C-Server IP detected. Ignoring this IP.". Instead, it exits un-gracefully.
I think you could improve the script by checking if the IPv6 is a global unicast one
2000::/3before attempting the calculation.
The Ban
In a few hours, in response to my response, they cancelled my service - Screenshot 1 and Screenshot 2
They sent me an email stating that it would not be sustainable to continue the current service relationship - Screenshot
Comments
Welcome to LowEndSupport, your ticket has been received and your wait time is doubled
Please wait for reply
Did you get a refund?
No. At least, not yet. But they said they would give me a refund.
I paid with my credit card via Stripe, so I don't know if it that route causes delays in me receiving the refund.
My experience with it, probably take a month
you mean, in general, for this sort of situation, or with this specific provider?
Hi,
we also use stripe, it can take multiple days....If you did not get anything within 10 working days, you should follow up.
As to the story: Quiet unfortunate. But maybe its indeed better to stop this kind of business relationship if both parties are unhappy with the performance of the other party.
While deleting an account / service without warning or possibility for the customer to save his data is quiet harsh in my opinion.
Its depend on your bank
Thanks for the info on what to expect about the refund.
I can wait. Thankfully, it wasn't that much money.
Take the refund and run.
i mean, you get what you paid for. I also have this plan in my global vps list, but im routing it through tailnet and use it as a cheap service & incremental backup server.
yep, I had the same idea! The
fd7aIP mentioned in the story was indeed added by tailscale. I wasn't smart enough to know this at the time.The thread at https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/comment/4449616/#Comment_4449616 is interesting. The agents do respond, but their is the same tone problem, at the end of their comment "Be considered as warned"
I prefer no bullshit support and at least talking the truth rather than 'check now' and playing dumb.
You also 'lost' the first ticket content, yeah.
Script clearly worked, you selected wrong IP, you had output. You disabled brain.
If script didn't work you had a whole damn website how to calculate. You disabled brain.
Script is public, you could trace what is happening, you decided go to support. You disabled brain.
There is nothing wrong with disabling brain once, but if you are being told to re-enable it and just do it before going at support again.
While I get it was OP's fault for not noticing that it wasn't the provider's IP, the script's error output is still rather obscure and saying shit like "Think on what you're doing in life" really is condescending.
Just my two cents.
stop using NAT. real men use IPv4.
i am 100% about rude support
they have Nat vps but they can't configuration the ip
you have 5 ports open but even if you open then and edit your firewall you can't connect
guess what they did even know what they say
maybe
i doubt
don't know
i request refund and cancel server since they didn't give proper product
they cancel they server and i contact them any they confirm the cancellation request with email
waited 14D as i know it's normally take up to 2 business day
they told me i have to open new ticket to request refund even i already tell them
they refuse to continue the refund process and close my account
i didn't regret anything
it was like 6.5 $
they will get deadpool i am 100% sure
due to low prices and fu#ked support
Thanks, my experience was mostly similar.
I found out that the NAT actually works though. Externally, you use
their_ipv4:your_given_port. BUT, internally, you receive it over IPv6 at that port.So, if you are using nginx, you need to use
[::]. If you are using netcat, you need to pass-6I really don't understand the mentality of people who buy an unmanaged VPS and then get upset when support don't want to hold their hands through every single thing they struggle with.
Buy a book. Google it. Pay someone for a managed service so you don't even have to do it. Whatever. Just don't complain about something you've not paid for.
Perhaps the OP also consider it reasonable to complain to Uber Eats support who are delivering his food because he can't open his cupboard to get a plate to put his food on or because his dishwasher hasn't finished and he hasn't got a clean knife and fork.
That said cancelling a service with no warning is a bit harsh. If I was support I'd have replied something along the lines of "we can only provide support if the server itself has issues but are happy to refund you if you decide the server isn't suitable for your needs".
Unilaterally deciding to just delete an active and fully paid-for server risks causing the customer to lose work and cause them to get upset and post stuff like this.
Thanks @ralf . I am not upset because they didn't answer my question. I am upset because they reacted unprofessionally.
A much more palatable response would be "X is working correctly - Please look at Y. As for Z, we cannot help with that."
I suspect you still disagree with me. That's okay. If you wish to avail they are services, they do provide pretty decent prices.
management vps?
so any unmanagement vps, i don't have right for any support when the issue from their side, and even the support don't know what's going on
Who we should ask in this case
Man, this is the first time in my life I've seen this from a service hosting provider.
unmanagement mean they only provide support for network issue or hardware issue most of them doesn't have support for ex: operating system issue windows etc
good that i didn't share my experience couple month ago so i don't need to see
unmanagement? you don't have to right to ask support for configuration ip
even when you do everything right
and issue found from their side
and they didn't know what's this
and they doesn't support windows
also they have windows image ready for installation
they say we don't need windows customer
use anything expect windows
ahh
i forget it's unmanagement vps
Sounds like you have an interesting story. Mind sharing with us?
With Stripe it usually depends on how the merchant issued the refund but it shouldn't take more than a week.
Unbelievably rude support on this one. I get that they are busy, but if they already verified that the script is working, it would have taken zero additional effort to paste the output of the script into the ticket so you would have the information you needed. The lack of clarity in their documentation was obviously what caused the confusion in the first place. Getting incredibly heated and insulting you for not understanding their cryptic technical documentation in the second ticket before abruptly cancelling your service is quite frankly just a disgusting way to treat any perspective paying customer. EDIT: After rereading the OP, you were banned after your conciliatory reddit response? I guess they can forgive wasting their time, but pointing out that they made a half-assed non-apology and giving them genuinely great advice on how to improve their product is a bridge too far.
I agree with both sides of this to a certain extent. I've been working with their services over the last few months. I do think that they could have handled this a bit better.
From my limited interactions with support and reading through the knowledge base, I can tell their services are meant for a more technical customer. They do things to cut costs, support being one of them -- you get what you paid for.
yes
i will dm you
exactly, that's why i don't really make any complaint in LET since i'm the one wrong in the first place ( you get what you paid for.)
from this moment i already skip any dirty cheap product and unknown providers
The problem is that when you show your ass, people see your ass.
I've never been a customer of C-Servers, and while I consider myself pretty technically competent I'd never spend 7 cents here because I've now seen their ass.
Customer service is one of the few ways you have to stand out down here at the bottom of the barrel.
Just to set the record straight: I got back my refund today