[XiangZai]

Hi there,

Re: today's newsletter offer
Just confirming - are the $8 nodes that price (per month) for the life of the nodes?

Thanks
X

[mrtorrent]

And if it is the price for the foreseeable future, why won't the price of existing nodes be changed?

[boeki]

maybe it's just a limited time offer.

but i'm sure the price is the locked-in price for the life of the nodes if you get them now.

[Terry Myers]

It's a limited time special for existing customers only. The price for nodes purchased during this time will stay the same for the life of the account.

[Spiral]

Everyone watch your invoices and nodes closely on the discounted nodes ----

THEY DEFINITELY GOT SOME BUGS WITH THE NEW CHANGES MADE!

I purchased a grand total of 5 of the discounted nodes (4 and then added 1 more)
from the add nodes interface on the main account menu and link where we were
told to go to purchase temporary nodes and I was initially billed correctly
except instead of pro-rating to my current due date it started a new due date
which opens up more questions.

I then used the new discount nodes purchased to build a new server and 2 more
invoices appeared on my account for $40 each listed 5 temporary nodes each
and shortly after those extra invoices appeared, an additional 5 discount nodes
also appeared among my nodes again.

So to recap, I was billed 3x for the very same 5 nodes and then on top of that
an additional 5 nodes I did not order appeared back on the account. Even if I
decided to keep the self appearing nodes I did not order, that would still leave
me over charged for a whole extra 5 nodes which has never been on my account.

Needless to say --- everyone watch your invoicing and nodes very closely.

I'm submitting a separate ticket to billing to let them know about this issue
but wanted to let everyone getting the new nodes know about this and keep watch
on all your own accounts.

[anthonysomerset]

its very unclear how these nodes work

we are told you cant replace existing nodes but what does that actually mean? does it mean that the moment we buy discount nodes it takes into account the number of normal nodes we have in our account and wont let you go below that amount without removing discount nodes?

does it mean we cant replace a normal servers nodes with discount nodes so that you can resell the normal nodes onto a client?

very little info about them other than limited time and price.

[Spiral]

Quote

we are told you cant replace existing nodes but what does that actually mean?

From what I've seen at least that part actually seems to be straight forward but there are bugs.

When you want to upgrade an EXISTING server, it now forces you to purchase the new nodes directly
from the "edit" screen on the server that you are trying to upgrade instead of going to "Add Nodes"
in your main VPS.NET console and those nodes at the edit screen are still billed at regular price.

When you go to "Add Nodes" in the main screen and purchase nodes there, it purchases discount nodes
and you'll find that you cannot use the nodes purchased there to upgrade existing servers. If you
try to do so it will tell you that you don't have any nodes currently available.

The "Add Nodes" screen also shows you your free and available "Discount Nodes" labeled as such.

What is unclear is once you actually use the nodes keeping track of which servers are using discount
nodes and which servers are using regular nodes as there doesn't seem to be any labeling with regard
to that respect so you apparently have to keep track of all of that yourself. I used the labeling
tag for the new server to leave a note to myself that this new server was discount node based.

In my case, I purchased "4" normal priced nodes to upgrade an existing server ---- THAT WAS FINE.

After, I went to the "Add Nodes" screen and purchased in total "5" discount nodes and used those to
build an entirely brand new server and again the rate was correct and everything normal except
that is looks like the Discount Nodes have their own billing cycle and are not synced to the
billing dates of your normal regular billing cycle charging a full complete month instead of
the pro-rate to the end of your normal billing date. THIS WAS ALSO FINE FOR THE MOST PART.

After I added both of those though, I got two more additional invoices spontaneously appear on my
account both each for additional 5 discount nodes being overcharged for an extra additional 10 discount
nodes above and beyond the previous invoices already billed and changes already mentioned. In addition
to the the 2 extra invoices, an additional 5 discount nodes appeared on my account which I also did not
order either so now I've got the original 5 discount nodes I did purchase in use in the new server plus
have 5 open available additional discount node that are not in use which I did not order, and then on
top of that have been billed and charged in total the billing for 15 discount nodes!

Apparently today's math: 5 + 5 = 15 (and I didn't even order the second 5 in the first place)

But anyway to answer your main question, it seems the main way they are regulated is by WHERE the nodes
are purchased.It would seem to be the only way to purchase normal priced nodes for use in an existing server
is at the edit screen itself and you can only make changes to existing servers via the edit screen it seems.

Other purchases elsewhere for use in newly constructed servers use instead the discount nodes and as I
mentioned previously is apparently on it's own separate billing cycle which appears to be based upon the
date you purchase the very first discount node in your account instead of your main account billing cycle.

What a mess! I'm not really certain how I like this setup ... definitely don't like the over billing bugs!

This post has been edited by Spiral: 18 October 2011 - 10:57 PM

[pluscourses]

I agree there must be some sort of bug.
For those who plan to participate in this super offer. Here are some guidelines that I have learnt the hard way.
1) It can only be used by existing customers on a new vps.
2) Don't purchase discounted nodes from the upgrades page - this is where the bug is as you can't later apply it too a new vps.
3) Create a new vps and add desired nodes and from what I can see these nodes will be discounted to $8 a node.

If you follow link from email newletter don't buy nodes on that page (upgrades page), you will only find that everytime you try to asign those purchased nodes you will be charged for new nodes. Double / triple billing. Rather create new vps and add nodes there.

Now I just got to wait for support to answer my ticket(s) to help me sort out this mess I'm in - lol

Edit: Support came through and sorted out the mess This is a super deal.

[BenHippynet]

I've bought three so far. Used one to start a new vps and increased two existing vps's by a node each. No problems so far.

It's a fantastic offer! I might buy a few more to cater for future growth!

[ilokano]

I also learned today that if you delete nodes in the future, the discounted nodes will be the ones to go first.

[rossdev]

ilokano, on 21 October 2011 - 06:13 PM, said:

I also learned today that if you delete nodes in the future, the discounted nodes will be the ones to go first.

Even nodes assigned to a VPS?

[BenHippynet]

I've got to say that I think that's only fair or we'd all try and swap our expensive nodes for cheap ones. We've got to let vps.net make their money somehow ;-)

[akia]

Terry Myers, on 17 October 2011 - 09:08 PM, said:

It's a limited time special for existing customers only. The price for nodes purchased during this time will stay the same for the life of the account.

How long is the offer for?

[Nick]

My account is totally messed up, I got tons of invoices now, and keep getting an error when applying a node .

[danders67]

Agreed. "MESS" is an understatement.

I added 2 "discount nodes". Was unable to add them to my existing VPS, but saw them available for creating a new VPS I asked support for assistance and was told was told they could only be used to create a new VPS. That defeated the purpose, so I removed them, but didn't get credit. I opened a Billing ticket and asked for it. I was told there is no pro-ration on discount nodes, but that they could now be added to existing VPSs and I would receive a one-time courtesy credit.

Ok, fair enough - or so I thought...

Added them back, and guess what - still unable to add them to an existing VPS. During my experimentation, I removed one of the nodes from my existing VPS to see what would happen. Now all I am getting from anyone is "you can't use them to replace monthly nodes that were there prior to the purchase of the discount nodes". Again, fair enough - but what part of "They can't be added to my existing VPS - even before removing the node, and even after it is added back" seems so hard to understand?? Apparently all of it, because I am getting nowhere between Support, Dev, and Billing.

What seemed like a great offer in theory has become much more trouble than it is worth. I'm not usually one to rant, but this was very poorly executed (IMHO).

[akia]

Smart move from them if you ask me after all the downtime ect. They'd lost me as a customer and I'd already moved my site to a new provider and was quite happy!

With this they've won me back as a customer, and I'm now spending more than I was originally, so win win.

I've not had any problems with billing so far but we shall see when my next invoice is generated.

I'm still going to run both hosts for a few months so I've got a back up to switch to immediately, if I start having issues with downtime again.

[anthonysomerset]

akia, on 24 October 2011 - 07:59 PM, said:

Smart move from them if you ask me after all the downtime ect. They'd lost me as a customer and I'd already moved my site to a new provider and was quite happy!

With this they've won me back as a customer, and I'm now spending more than I was originally, so win win.

I've not had any problems with billing so far but we shall see when my next invoice is generated.

I'm still going to run both hosts for a few months so I've got a back up to switch to immediately, if I start having issues with downtime again.

i also considered it but with all the hassles i've seen with billing for some people and just the general percieved higher risk to host services here i had to pass on it. its just not worth my time and effort to chase techs and support whose grasp of english is often a lot less to be desired and tend to always blame the customer and lack of nodes as a default (even if it isnt the problem) and lets not get me started on all the stories accross the net if you just google: rus foster - http://www.google.co...ch?q=rus+foster

This post has been edited by anthonysomerset: 24 October 2011 - 08:40 PM

[BenHippynet]

I've got to say I've been happy with the nodes offer. I've bought 4, used one to create a new VPS and added the other three on existing VPSs. No problems so far.

The Rus Foster Google search is worrying though. Always two sides to every story but it is worrying!

[vps247]

BenHippynet, on 24 October 2011 - 09:43 PM, said:

I've got to say I've been happy with the nodes offer. I've bought 4, used one to create a new VPS and added the other three on existing VPSs. No problems so far.

The Rus Foster Google search is worrying though. Always two sides to every story but it is worrying!

Wow. The stuff I've just read, it is worrying. I hope I don't read about any of that on these forums. What a jaw dropper...

[Terry Myers]

If you guys are still having trouble with the discounted nodes offer, please place a ticket. We've been working on getting that all straightened out. I think Kody might be an expert at it now.

Other than that, I think thread has run it's course.