Give Us Liberty

Web host shuts down site twice, promises to migrate,
then leaves customer in the lurch

By Sharon Rondeau
The Post & Email (site is under maintenance at time of publishing)
(Jan. 30, 2012) – Due to high traffic on both January 20 and 26 after Atty. Orly Taitz announced breaking news regarding the Georgia ballot challenges, The Post & Email’s web host, GoDaddy LLC, shut the site down without warning.
We worked quickly to hire a website developer to optimize the site and restore the twice-daily news alerts which had stopped working.  He began work almost right away and was about to start the optimization process when GoDaddy shut the site down for the second time.
Although both the website developer and I contacted GoDaddy immediately and explained the steps we were taking to correct any overages, GoDaddy refused to turn the site back on.  It made no difference that tens of thousands of readers were depending on the newspaper to report accurately, quickly, and in detail the breaking news of the day, which is vital in these days of the Obama regime.
On January 26, we prepaid $800 for a new hosting plan on a dedicated server to resolve the issue.  We had already paid the website developer more than $200 to do his work.  In a three-way conference call, GoDaddy told us that it would take up to 72 hours to prepare the server and that they would migrate the site content from the old server to the new.  However, on the third day, they changed their story and said it was the website developer’s job to migrate the content.
He attempted to do so and after three hours stated that he was unfamiliar with their server, deferring to GoDaddy to do it.  GoDaddy then put The Post & Email at the end of another 72-hour queue.  I asked to speak with a supervisor and did so, but nothing changed.  Later on January 29, the word from GoDaddy was that the migration had not even been started yet.
I am spending the last of The Post & Email’s funds to attempt to get the site up and running again.  I may have to hire a specialist after the migration is done, as I had to sign a disclaimer acknowledging that problems with connections might be encountered.  Having to pay another professional will most likely deplete the small amount of cash we have left.
Your editor has been working without pay for many months to bring you the news, complete with personal interviews, court documents, inside investigations, and detailed follow-up.  However, even though we have tens of thousands of readers each month, only a relatively few actually support the paper.  If we cannot get past this hurdle, The Post & Email will close, which is exactly what our enemies want.
GoDaddy can be reached at 480-505-8877, and the corporate office phone number is 480-505-8800.  A detailed letter has been mailed to Bob Parsons, CEO, and a message left with one of his corporate staff this morning.  I have pledged to withhold the contents of the letter from publication until after Parsons has had a chance to respond and act upon it.
If you wish to see The Post & Email return and grow, please send money via Paypal to payments@thepostemail.com.
Or send checks to:
The Post & Email
P.O. Box 195
Stafford Springs, CT  06076
We need approximately $1,500 to overcome this obstacle.  Can that be raised from a monthly readership of possibly 200,000?
Thank you for your support.
Sharon Rondeau, Editor