I recently wrote that I switched all my domains over from SRLNet to Dreamhost.com. I closed the account on 10/11 by jumping through all the hoops to file a ticket on their support system. When I received a bill 11/1, I replied to the automated email, and BANG! Instant response.
The reply was that dreamhost offers terrible support, oversells their servers, and their sites frequently go down. I already knew all this. You know why, because dreamhost told me. He told me that I might be saving money but that I would be losing support and performance.
At the time, I didn’t realize I was talking to the owner of the company. I thought it was just some support jockey. But I still wanted to be helpful and give him some feedback about his company — hoping that the information might make its way up the chain. So, I replied:
…For the record, your assumption that cost is my primary motivation is
wrong. I prefer their control panel. I like the subversion support. I
have received great support via their wiki and I am entertained by
their blog. SRLNet is missing all of these.
Who knows what was controversial about this, but the response indicates that I pushed some buttons. (Maybe he just hates dreamhost.)
cPanel is an extremely user friendly control panel, we’re here 24/7/365
to offer you our personal support. So you’re basically moving to a
terrible hosting provider because you like their blog.
The condesending demeanor … totally free of charge.