Ticket #1937293

First, before I rant, I want to make it clear, I think Lunarpages is great. I host several websites here. Uptime has always been great, service is good, and problems have always been resolved well.

This is the first time I've ever had an issue that I consider a problem, and it all begins with lack of communication.

Like the other post on here, I too have run into the NO NOTICE SSL EXPIRATION disaster. I post this not only out of frustration, but as a warning. IF YOU HAVE AN SSL CERTIFICATE, they expire after one year and you will NOT be notified by anyone it is about to expire (at least I wasn't).

I have a business plan which includes an SSL Certificate. I paid two years in advanced. No where in anything I've read other than on this forum (now) are you alerted that the SSL Certificate expires automatically. No one informs you of this when you set everything up.

My certificate expired on on July 13. I did not become aware of this until July 15 when I contacted LP support.

It all went down hill from there. First, the support agent didn't even agree with me the SSL cert had expired. I have no idea what he was looking at or doing, but he couldn't corroborate it has expired until he loaded a second browser. Then, he told me I would have process it after I paid for a new certificate. It took about an hour to clarify that the SSL certificate IS INCLUDED in the Business Plan.

Finally, he processed the ticket.

The next morning, I get an email saying they will process it once I give them the last four digits of my credit card--WHICH I GAVE THEM THE day BEFORE.

OK, maybe it is just an identity check. I reply and wait all day. Nothing happens.

I call support again and they want to forward me to billing to PAY FOR THE CERTIFICATE before they will do anything because the original ticket wasn't clear the SSL Cert is included in the plan! Another hour on the phone. It is ONCE AGAIN clarified the SSL Cert is INCLUDED in the Business Plan.

I am told the issue will be elevated and it would be handled that day (Friday).

I get an email this morning telling me that they have requested a certificate and it will be installed when it is received. How about a timeline? Is Comodo (the SSL Cert provider) even open on weekends? Am I going to be down for five days? Will it happen today? When I set it up, the turn around time was 12 hours, why is the renewal taking three days (so far)?

Listen, I know mistakes happen. And I know that we have to deal with multiple tiers of tech support, and this is complicated by the fact this is a third pary SSL certificate so another organization is brought in, but you have to recognize that the communication needs to improve.

If I had a business site, this would be lost business because of mistakes made by the support staff. As it is, we only use it for registration for events for our organization, but I have two upcoming events with a fast approaching deadline and the president is completing freaking out and I don't know what to even tell him.

So, for those who read this--FIND OUT WHEN YOUR SSL CERTIFICATE expires and get a hold of support at least a week before hand.

Just wanted to report back.

Yes, the certificate was re-installed and all is working fine again. Overall, I am pleased with Lunarpages and my main reason for posting was to alert others to the fact the certificates DO EXPIRE without notice.

A suggestion might be to alert SSL Certificate holders before the expiration. I know this adds a task to the setup process, but it can certainly be done--I get annual renewals emails for all of the various websites I host here--why not a renewal email notice for a the SSL Certificate?

Again, nowhere was the expiration noted when I purchased the certificate, and no where is it highlighted in any of the package information upon purchase.

In my case, it was not a total disaster. The organization president was having anxiety attacks, but that is par for the course. This domain is simply used for processing organization registrations, but for those who sell goods and services through their website 4 days is a long time to get everything up and running again.

Thank you for the attention paid to this issue