TemplateMonster.com is more trouble than its worth

My recent experience with TemplateMonster.com & TemplateTuning.com has made me bitter and angry. I recommend that anyone concider using them instead try one of the Free template websites, such as www.any-expression.com, www.spyka.net, www.expressionwebtemplates.org, or others.

The TemplateMonster template number: 23321 looked good but was not a search engine friendly design. It was just a series of nested tables.
My experience with template customization with TemplateTuning was terrible, they did not appear to have quality control. Nearly every edit was incorrect or incomplete.

I will never use Template Monster or Template Tuning again and will tell anyone that asks to stay away from your organization.

Dell Hell 2!

Called the customer support number

 

Was on hold for a total of 25 min and they still couldn’t tell me why my computer was being delayed. 

 

Someone with pretty good English answered the phone and put me on hold again when I asked for the reason for the delay, after 12 min he said he had no information but would Rush my order and send it next day delivery when it was ready.

 

My concern is that quality of the system, was the delay due to availability of parts or due to operating system problems.  Time will tell.

 

 

 

 

Dell Hell

I’ve ordered a new Dell computer on Nov 9^th for delivery on Nov 17^th.

The system has been delayed, and delayed, and delayed, and delayed, and delayed

 

And is now scheduled for Dec 18^th

 

Every week I would get a notice the it was going to be delayed, the notices gave no explanation of the delay.   The only customer service I get are reminders that I can cancel my order at any time but I don’t respond to e-mail notifications, the order will be automatically canceled.

 

This is their only response, that they repeat if you ask any questions.

 

We, Dell's Delayed Order Notification Team, are solely responsible for informing our customer(s) about potential delays to the delivery of their order(s). If you would like more specific order information you may contact one of our customer care representatives at 1-800-456-3355 (Small Business) or 1-800-624-9897 (Consumer). You may also check the status of your order at www.dellcustomercare.com.

Thank you,

Dell Inc. Notification Team

 

 

Website interruption

My webhost had a 24hr service interruption on Monday.

 

We were not alone, thousands of servers were down because of this service outage. My Webhost shares a data with many Fortune 500 companies and this data center was just in the newspaper for 100% uptime.

 

We have several sites and servers at this data center and we are very confident with their quality.

 

Here's exactly what happened.

 

It started out with massive thunderstorms and lightning on the East coast which created a problem with the connection from the AT&T backbone to the data center.  All over the East Coast there were power outages.

 

They switched to another backbone connection and then the servers had to be rebooted.

 

Then there was an explosion in the building next door- which didn't affect the data center- but-made it necessary to switch the entire data center to generator power because the firemen turned off all of the electric around the area.

 

After the reboot -(it's been over a year since the server was rebooted) the server did a hard drive check to making sure that the data was all intact.

 

This took all night.  The important part is that no data was lost during this entire process.

 

After the server did a hard drive check the server needed to be rebooted again.

 

And then all was back on-line.

 

 

Upgrading to FileMaker 10

We have upgraded to FileMaker 10 and have begun upgrading our application to take advantage of some of the new features.

 

Newsletter Distribution Service

The Disseminator  is our e-mail campaign manager www.TheDisseminator.com   

 

I’m very happy with how well this service is working and have been adjusting the Templates to verify the formatting of the message to be sent.

FileMaker 10 supports sending of e-mail using built-in SMTP, currently we are using SMTPit Pro to distribute e-mail.

 

WebWizDirect is our RSS feed publishing application

WebWizDirect is a website and RSS feed publishing application www.WebWizDirect.com     

The new FileMaker 10 features that will be most useful are the SMTP, Script Timer, and Field by name script step.

This will make WebWizDirect more flexible and simplify many of the scripts.  Full implementation will take some work but I’m well under way.

 

Merchant Services reseller of Prolific Payment Solutions

 

As your long term business partner, 2Geckos strives to continually provide you with the highest level of service offerings and has recently partnered with Prolific Payment Solutions.

We can now offer you the most competitively priced credit card processing rates in the industry. Whether you require payment gateway processing or a credit card machine for your store, we are now your one stop shop.

Prolific Payment Solutions rates are up to 33% lower than PayPal and other ecommerce providers, and up to 20% lower than major banks.

 

More information at http://www.2geckos.com/ww2g/ecommerce.php

Updated Policies

Privacy Policy

2Geckos values the relationship we have with our customers and web site visitors, and are committed to responsible information handling practices. We take the privacy of our customers very seriously and want you to feel comfortable whenever you visit our web sites, access our online services, or participate in our online offerings.

Information We Gather

We do not gather information as you browse our web site. We do not set any cookies.  When you request information we ask for your name, address, telephone number and email address.  We collect contact information from all e-mail send to 2Geckos.com. This information is used to follow up with you as you, and adds you to the distribution list for our newsletters.

Third Parties

We do not share your personal information with third parties.  We do not partner with or have special relationships with any ad server companies.

Use of contact information

We may contact you to make sure that you received the information that you requested.  When you email us, we check the subscriber list for the newsletter and if you are not a subscriber or have not sent us an unsubscribe message, we add you to the subscriber list.  We keep a record of what event added you to the newsletter list.  If you choose to unsubscribe to the newsletter, we also maintain a list showing when that was done.   

Our approach to responsible information handling is founded on the basis of the Fair Information Practices, the cornerstone of which is providing notice of our information practices and other privacy aspects in order to allow individuals to make informed decisions regarding personally identifiable information

We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information that you have provided to us.

Return & Refund Policy

2Geckos offers 30-day trial versions of our software for customers to have adequate opportunity to assess the value of products prior to purchase.

We do not offer refunds on software where the activation code has already been sent to the customer.

Unlike physical goods, electronically distributed software and software licenses can be duplicated. Once a license has been issued, it is unfortunately not possible for us to recall all copies. Therefore, 2Geckos Software does not accept product returns or exchanges.

Hosting and Maintenance Contract Cancellation Policy

2Geckos will stop monthly or yearly automatic billing on any website development, database development, or web hosting, or other internet service accounts.

The cancellation of monthly, quarterly, or annual service will be done within 5 working days, starting with the date of your notification. Your account will be canceled and deleted from our system. No refunds will be issued for any unused portion of the services regardless of when you cancel the services.

To cancel your account, simply use the e-mail accounts@2geckos.com with your request to stop future billing to your account.

Please be sure to include your first and last name as well as your company name when making the request.

Non-refundable deposits

When a non-refundable deposit amount of 50% is requested, it is due at the time of the contract signing. Cancellation of any design project by either party will result is a refund to the client of all fees paid beyond the deposit amount, minus the amount already incurred in the development of the project by the date of cancellation, based on the amount of $120/hour. Cancellation refunds will be processed and delivered within 5 business days of the cancellation date.

Payment Policy

Unless other arrangements are made with 2Geckos, all 2Geckos projects require payment due upon completion.

Monthly agreements are available only with credit card, all others require quarterly or annual payments unless other arrangements are made with 2Geckos.

There is a 10% discount for quarterly contracts and a 15% discount annual contracts.   There is no discount available for the past due amount.

Development Policy

2Geckos reserves the right not to accept projects that promote racism or anything that is of objectionable content.

Websites created by 2Geckos must have the statement "Website designed & maintained by 2Geckos" (and possibly include a small 2Geckos logo) placed at the bottom of each page, unless otherwise agreed upon by the client.  2Geckos reserves the right to include in our portfolio any projects created or developed by us.

Limitation of Liability

2Geckos will not be liable for indirect, special or consequential damages, or any loss of revenue or profits, arising in connection with the projects that we developed.

Project contents - All digital and non-digital materials supplied by the client to 2Geckos for project development must be, either owned by the client or given copyright permission for publication. 2Geckos is not responsible for copyright infringements found on these materials.

2Geckos policies are in effect as of May 2009, until further notice.

2Geckos reserves the right to change or update our policy, services, and prices without liability. If you have any questions regarding 2Geckos's Web Design policy please contact us by phone (520) 709-2079, or e-mail accounts@2geckos.com.