Netidentity E-mail Crisis Ends for Press Release Service PR Consultant and Others
Netidentity, owned by Tucows, went from bad to worse as migration troubles disrupted service for thousands, including ThatPRGuy, a PR consultant who writes and sends press releases.
[USPRwire, Thu Oct 12 2006] ThatPRGuy, David M. Bresnahan, began to have problems receiving and sending E-mail in mid-September through Netidentity, which was recently purchased by Tucows, Inc. for approximately $18 million.
Bresnahan's site at http://www.ThatPRGuy.com is ranked the number two site in the world in the public relations category by Ranking.com. He writes and sends press releases for many different clients. Recent press releases can be seen at www.ThatPRGuy.com/news.
Bresnahan is not alone. Untold thousands of Netidentity customers have suffered with E-mail service that has been on and off for nearly a month.
Bresnahan obtained his name as an E-mail address in 1998 from Netidentity and uses it as his primary contact for the news articles, commentaries, and press releases he writes. Previously it was reported that the Netidentity web site was down for more than two full days and all E-mail service was stopped. (See http://www.theopenpress.com/index.php?a=press&id=12578 and http://www.itworld.com/Man/3917/nls_solutions060928/)
Ross Rader, director of Tucows retail services group, denied the problems in E-mails to Bresnahan. However, Leo Pierro of Tucows phoned Bresnahan and confirmed that the problems were as described and that thousands were effected by it.
The Netidentity web site is filled with messages from the company dating back to September 22 apologizing for the problems and asking for patience.
E-mail requests for help have been answered with an autoresponder message that states: "Due to the high volume of emails to our Customer Service Center, we are estimating 5 - 6 days to respond to your question."
An article in ITWorld warns: "System migration may be the most dangerous thing you ever do" and specifically addresses the problems faced by Netidentity and parent Tucows.
Bresnahan owns the domains for Bresnahan.org and Bresnahan.net, as well as his company web site at ThatPRGuy.com, but Netidentity owns Bresnahan.com. He said he has forwarded all his E-mail accounts to ThatPRGuy.com.
Rader sent an apology by E-mail to all Netidentity customers offering an extension of service for three months without additional cost. Netidentity hosts over 14,000 name-based domains that are shared by people wanting their name as an E-mail address. The extension of service has a value of about $6 per customer.
"Stuff happens, and I recognize that Tucows made a mistake while trying to improve their service. I accept Mr. Rader's apology and appreciate the extension of service. However, I will change my strategy when it comes to E-mail to protect myself from something like this happening again."
About ThatPRGuy.com:
ThatPRGuy.com is a web site owned by PR consultant David M. Bresnahan. The site offers fixed rate press release writing and distribution services to small businesses.
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