vodien.com

OPEN LETTER TO VODIEN

COMPANIES INVOLVED- Paladin Software Development Pte.Ltd.- Knoweather (Macau) Met Tech Co Ltd.BACKGROUND STORYI have been using VODIEN services for years, initially through my China company, now through PALADIN. The service was previously provided by Pacificnet Hosting Ltd in Hong Kong, which VODIEN acquired years ago. Up until early 2024, they operated under the pachosting.hk domain, which now redirects to vodien.com. Before 2023, the service was excellent and reliable. I provided about 83,000 HKD/year (~14,150 SGD/year) in business to them.FACTSI have kept all related emails. On December 20, 2023, VODIEN announced the termination of their co-location hosting service in HK, preventing further renewals. This required me to relocate key routing equipment, costing around 27,000 SGD in reconfiguration. I also had to personally collect the equipment from Hong Kong.They refunded the remaining service balance promptly. The same email suggested their dedicated server offerings as an alternative, leading me to believe these services were still safe.On March 18, 2024, I requested a new server but was informed no servers were available. This was alarming as PALADIN's server handled critical functions, requiring careful planning to move.On May 10, 2024, I received an email about the discontinuation of dedicated server support, effective June 10, 2024, and a 30-day period to move data without their assistance. The same day, both PALADIN and KNOWEATHER servers experienced a 2-hour outage, causing significant stress and operational disruption.Following the outage, VODIEN confirmed the server was running again, but after 3 days. PALADIN incurred about 30,000 SGD in emergency migration costs, with 5 people working across 3 countries. My health suffered during this period due to stress and lack of sleep.Despite multiple reminders, Vodien has not addressed my request for a refund. Their last response on May 31, 2024, mentioned they would update me, but no further communication occurred.On July 15, 2024, I received a renewal offer for a service, with prices increasing tenfold without prior notice, forcing me to find an alternative for my customer quickly.CONCLUSIONSPALADIN has incurred approximately 57,000 SGD in damages, with a missing refund of about 9,000 HKD [correction: 6,000 HKD] . KNOWEATHER faced around 10,000 SGD in damages and 23,000 HKD [correction: 10,000 HKD] in missing refunds. Instead of pursuing costly legal action, I am sharing my experience on TrustPilot to help others make a better choice in a reliable hosting partner.EDIT (September 10th, 2024): after intervention of Sambrin, Paladin and Knoweather has been both issued a refund, which is already received (correct amount is written above between [], my initial estimation wasn't correct). For the dedication and combined effort, and slight mitigation of our damages, I autonomously upgrade this to 3 stars.

Date of experience: Aug 06, 2024