Service Status 19.30 CET

[hanslysglimt]

This morning all three disks where checked and turned out fine. As they where set in production again we upgraded som drivers for the 3Ware Raid-controller as this might have caused the problem. This upgrade unfortunately caused the server to want to go over the disks all over again...

This again lead to the slowdown that happened this afternoon.

I have now ordered the entire server with this problem to be shut off and left alone until it has gone over the disks again. This should take less time than the last time since it is left alone to do this job only, we also know that the disks are fine. The first disk is now 83% done.
This means that considerably more users will not be able to open mail until all the disks are checked.
All disk checks should be done by tonight so that all email service will be up and running by Monday morning.

All email is beeing received and stored for delivery as soon at the server is up again.

Trust me when I say we are very much aware of this problem that we need to upgrade hardware ASAP and that we are working on that as we speak.

[hanslysglimt]

Hi all, I am unable to answer all posts individually so I will have to make this a general statement.

In general:
At runbox we are comitted to giving you all the best possible email experience. If we do not live up to this we feel the pain as much as you do (truly, we do - and we take this very personally I am afraid).

We will make this work whatever it takes. Please trust us when we say that you will get great service with runbox.
At several times in the lifetime of runbox we have run into some pretty challenging roadblocks, but we have been able to get over them every time. This time will be no different, we will solve the current technical issues and get back on track. Rest assure that whatever problems you have will be fixed and your account will be up to speed again.

Right now I am working on an offer from an undisclosed vendor to seriously upgrade the runbox fileservers. We are working on the specifications and the details of how this will be done as we speak. It might take some time to get the details done.

##########

We use the runbox system too, and feel the pain if there are problems.

During the last few weeks we have had some unfortunate events that have caused problems for some users.
However I would like to remind you that the great majority of runbox users have not experienced significant problems.
The great majority of runbox users have perhaps experienced downtime of minutes of perhaps hours during the last year or so. Our aim is to have at least 99% problem free uptime, and we have delivered this to more than 90% of users during the last year.

This does not make things better for the users that have experienced problems.

Unfortunately the discussions on this forum gets a lot of focus on the users that have problems (as it should be).
But there are tens of thousands of runbox users that are happy and that are not heard here.

At runbox we are 100% committed to fixing any problems we have and make runbox the best possible email experience for all users.

Again our appoligies to the users that have problems.

########

On forum postings.
The runbox policy is to share as much information as possible.

If we do not post as much as we might be expected to it is usually becouse we do not have any new relevant information.
I want you to know that inside runbox we have communication systems that have been bursting with acctivity all day long as we have worked on this problem today.

But, I also know that it is ensuring to see posts and to know that the problem is beeing worked on even if there is no new information. So we will try to post more.

[andykowal]

Although I appreciate your status post, FINALLY!!, it is absolutely unacceptable. Service has been slow or unavailable for close to 48 hours now, and now you're telling us to wait until Monday!!!

If you were actually committed to great service you would have done whatever is necessary to get the new hardware in place yesterday....not take time to negotiate a great deal with several vendors until you find the right one. This is absurd.

Please send me details instructions on how to retrieve all of my saved and categorized emails from your servers so that I may cancel my account with runbox as soon as possible.

Thank you.
Andy Kowal

[andykowal]

I want to briefly apologize for the hostile tone in my previous post, but like other users have said -- enough is enough! I have simply lost my patience with runbox.

Regards,
Andy

[esj472]

"The great majority of runbox users have perhaps experienced downtime of minutes of perhaps hours during the last year or so. Our aim is to have at least 99% problem free uptime, and we have delivered this to more than 90% of users during the last year."

How unfortunate that you had to add this...to convince those of us who have had DAYS of no service that the problems at runbox are not that bad ?

I wonder how many merchants would stay in business if they said, "we give good service to 90% of our customers".

Very sad.

[petrs]

I've always wondered by runbox doesn't want to commit to a uptime percentage - now I understand... how sad this story ends...

[suzi]

Thanks for the post, Hans. I can now access my mail and don't appear to have lost anything, which I am pleased about.

I still have no intention of going anywhere. I had no problems with the bandwidth limits and wasn't affected and, although I couldn't get to my mail over this weekend, it is a small amount of my time compared to the amount of time Runbox is working perfectly (for me anyway).

These last few months have been quite bad, but I hope things will improve and we can put all of this behind us.

[flylow]

I do appreciate the update. It is a bit late in coming though. I do think that you could have posted status updates even if you were to have just stated that you could not give a definitive answer at the time and there was no change. The problems runbox is going through now will be fixed I am sure otherwise runbox would cease to exist.

But the biggest problem for me is memories of the Comcast cable and ATTBI at home email fiasco. Seems like more of the same, continuing problems without the issue being fixed. ATTBI told us the issues were do to growing pains and to give them some time. They finally got it worked out before they sold to Comcast and the problems started again. Now runbox is facing similar troubles. I started to pay separately for email in an attempt to avoid frequent email problems.

I, of course, have know way of knowing if the latest issues are related to the past issues but I do know that troubles will be back because all systems experience problems sooner or later. What bothers me most about your statement is that you state “Right now I am working on an offer from an undisclosed vendor to seriously upgrade the runbox fileservers. We are working on the specifications and the details of how this will be done as we speak. It might take some time to get the details done.” Sounds like you are going through some sort of price negotiation. In the future do you plan to have replacement parts and/or systems on hand in case of hardware issues or when a problem happen does the email service we pay for simply stop again while you work out the details?

I already signed up with another pay for email from one of your competitors. Runbox is getting one last chance only because my runbox account has several months left before my subscription expires and I plan on keeping the one with the most reliable service. I know that upgrades cost money but having to pay for two email accounts costs me more money too. Reliable email is what I need. I do not wish to wait while you work on offers. I need email now, not sometime in the future.

[zapata]

OK, webmail does work again! But when is the IMAP server working again? I cannot access my e-mails via IMAP. :-(