so umm what's up with AS now?

I guess I should have waited 3 more minutes before making my post as that was when the update came in.


I really hope AS does get something more reliable sorted out and soon!



Posted June 29, 2008 08:17 AM
Hi Community,

As many of you have probably already noticed, the Auction Sniper website is currently down. The colocation where our servers are hosted is experiencing another power related technical problem that has caused the Auction Sniper website and services to be unavailable again. According to our most recent communication with them, unfortunately, it sounds like it may be a few more hours before power can be restored.

Any snipes that are scheduled to be placed when the site is down will not be launched so, if you have any snipes that are scheduled to be launched soon, I recommend bidding on those items manually through the eBay website. Our colocation has been very good to us for a number of years now but, since this is the second time this week something like this has happened, we're probably going to be moving the site to a new colocation within the next couple weeks.

We apologize for any inconveniences this issue is causing; I'll be posting further updates to this thread when additional information becomes available. Thanks for understanding.

-Mike

The following posts seem to be contradictory:

quote:

Originally posted by luzdemivida (in 2 other threads):
I am also interested in recommendations for other snipe services.

quote:

Originally posted by luzdemivida:
There are many other snipe services available. I'm still trying to figure out which are best.

Hi Community,

Update - I am pleased to report that the issue mentioned in this thread has just been resolved, so the Auction Sniper website and services are available once again. We're currently planning on moving our systems to a new colocation next Tuesday in order to minimize the chances of this happening again, and I'll post a thread in the "News" section when I have more details on that move. Your patience and understanding have been appreciated during this difficult time.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our customer support team by completing the web form on the following page: http://support.auctionsniper.com/

-Mike

I have had the same problems and have followed all of the instructions....now I am told I may have to wait 24 hours to get the site reconfigured to my computer...I think AS has to be much more definitive than what has currently been said...if you cannot guarantee reliable snipe services, then be truthful about it. You are going to lose a lot of customers with what you have been saying over the last week.

I'm sticking with Auction Sniper. This is the first item I've lost in three years due to system failure. I did lose two others due to advanced timing on Sunday evening, but that was explained as due to heavy traffic. That's compared to over 300 successful snipes. That's a 99% success rate in my book. Give them a break. Sue

Lucky ole you. I've lost 3 items in the past few days because the snipes weren't placed - all went for peanuts. I wish AS would be honest enough to give the reason as "We screwed up" instead of "Did not win".


The impact of AS being down is catastrophic for its users. We don't know when/if it's going to break, therefore we can't trust it. It's clearly not set up as fail-safe like most business systems. If we can't trust it, then we might as well bid manually.

The reliability of any service has 2 factors - the amount of down-time and the impact of down-time. The latter, in my experience, has been more than 1% but, whatever it is, the impact is total. 3 free snipes (about $1) is hardly compensation for losing bids this way.

There are other sniping software packages out there so I'm looking.

quote:

Originally posted by JLR:
Can anyone recommend a good alternative snipping site?

Why would anyone want to do that on an AS forum?

AS is having a temporary glitch - you either accept it or go elsewhere but please be realistic and accept AS for what it is - a piece of software that can avoid a bidding war but doesn't guarantee success. And occasionally it has an off day...

R2

quote:

Originally posted by JLR:
Can anyone recommend a good alternative snipping site?

If you’re not being theatrical, but are sincerely looking for an alternative, don’t you think you could be a little more creative in locating other services besides using AS’ resources to find a competitor?

quote:

Originally posted by Rick:

quote:

Originally posted by JLR:
Can anyone recommend a good alternative snipping site?

If you’re not being theatrical, but are sincerely looking for an alternative, don’t you think you could be a little more creative in locating other services besides using AS’ resources to find a competitor?

I would like to know too, I know E-Bay has their own now, I have been using AS for couple of years now and it has been really good, spent several hundred dollars in sniping fees.

But when the customer service does not bother to answer to your question, makes you think, do they want my money, well I guess not. SO DO TELL ME, WHAT OTHER SITES ARE OUT THERE.

Edit, I just looked it up $670 spent so far And I do not get reply back, even if my question was little sarcastic, business must be good.

quote:

Originally posted by JLR:
Is there a particular reason why an e-mail can't be sent to people who have snipes ready to be placed? I've been reading posts by sniper support saying the web site is working when, in fact, it is still not working.

Can anyone recommend a good alternative snipping site?

Pretty please.

quote:

Originally posted by NUTFINN:
Pretty please.

OK. Since you put it like that. According to those that are in the know, you'll want to use this service. And, tell them I sent you.


Happy sniping

Typical. You give a person what they want, then before you know it, they attach an AND to it. Next there will be a BUT. There’s just no satisfying some people.

Although, it’s refreshing to see a (not one but two) “pretty please”.

quote:

Is there a particular reason why an e-mail can't be sent to people who have snipes ready to be placed? I've been reading posts by sniper support saying the web site is working when, in fact, it is still not working.

Does "Rick," who seems to try to answer everybody, work for AS?

AS finally got around to trying to place my bid when the auction was over hours ago.

quote:

Does "Rick," who seems to try to answer everybody, work for AS?

AS would need to lower their employment standards. Although, a recommendation from JLR or NUTFINN would be most helpful.

If you want to find another site, just Google Auction Sniper.com. I didn't check right now, but normally other sponsored sites pop up on that page. Power problems can affect any server, especially in CA. You are not guaranteed of finding 100% reliable power anywhere especially going into the summer. My husband works for a utility contractor and they are building substations and transmission lines as fast as they can. Blame deregulation for the current sad state of affairs on the electrical grid. Sue

Hello-

I missed 6 auctions today of a rare item because of the failure of AS. I do not understand why there was no built in redundancy to cope with the present problem, (unless you all were trying to save money). This is unacceptable-Sorry guys and gals-but I'm gone for good. Mike P.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike P.:
I missed 6 auctions today of a rare item because of the failure of AS.

This is going to sound like I’m skeptical, but “6 auctions today of a rare item” sounds like a contradiction?

Rosenthal linear silverplate. 6 sets of dinner knives, dinner forks, fish forks, various spoons and serving items-last seen on Ebay 2 years ago and long out of production.

Any other questions?????

Mike P

quote:

Originally posted by Mike P.:
Any other questions?????

One more - does the following still apply?

quote:

Originally posted by Mike P.:
but I'm gone for good.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick:

quote:

Originally posted by Mike P.:
Any other questions?????

One more - does the following still apply?

quote:

Originally posted by Mike P.:
but I'm gone for good.

rick, why are you such an asshole?

why don't you do the planet a favor and put a bullet in your head.....

I was wondering when you'd find time for me. Like the good old days.

quote:

Originally posted by kimmothy:
rick, why are you such an asshole?

I'm an a acquired taste. They (don't ask me who "they" are) say a$$holes are like opinions - everyone has one and they all stink.

quote:

Originally posted by kimmothy:
why don't you do the planet a favor and put a bullet in your head.....

Now be honest – didn’t that make you feel better?

OK, so I lost another auction tonite due to no snipe being placed. Had to go out or I would have sniped it myself. I go to A.S. site and it says still having power problems. Does anyone have a realistic time frame for them coming back? This is starting to sound like another kind of problem. Sue

I just read all the other threads and now have more questions than answers. I snipe thru the link directly, therefore never went to the site or the board to look for Mike's explanations. Why can't they just send out a blanket email to all active accounts when the site goes down? It seems so simple to me, a techno idiot. Sure would save a lot of teeth gnashing. Sue

I agree that they need a better way to alert people when this happens. If I were sitting at my computer reading the forums, chances are, I would already know the service was down from not being able to access My Snipes. I don't use AuctionSniper to bid for me so I can sit at my computer checking AS and Ebay anyway, I set those snipes so I can go off and do other things, far away from my computer

What would really be nice would be text message alerts sent to my cell phone, or at least some kind of email (although a text message would get my attention MUCH quicker, and I bet that would apply to most everyone).

At the very least, I think users need to be compensated somehow for missed snipes and snipes that were placed way early. It doesn't seem right to pay for the service if it is sniping early, and I've had that cost me more money than my entire AuctionSniper balance... Even worse is when the snipe is not placed at all. Not only does this completely kill any trust that users have in the service, but it also can cost people priceless items that they really wanted. Saying to manually bid on items you really want is basically just like saying the service is unreliable and should not be trusted. I want every item I bid on, that's why I'm bidding

I guess one solution would be to just use more than one sniping service so that you have two snipes being placed for every item. The downside is that you'd probably get charged by both services every time you won something. Better than not winning the item at all I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by HRINSPAIN:
Lucky ole you. I've lost 3 items in the past few days because the snipes weren't placed - all went for peanuts. I wish AS would be honest enough to give the reason as "We screwed up" instead of "Did not win".


The impact of AS being down is catastrophic for its users. We don't know when/if it's going to break, therefore we can't trust it. It's clearly not set up as fail-safe like most business systems. If we can't trust it, then we might as well bid manually.

The reliability of any service has 2 factors - the amount of down-time and the impact of down-time. The latter, in my experience, has been more than 1% but, whatever it is, the impact is total. 3 free snipes (about $1) is hardly compensation for losing bids this way.

There are other sniping software packages out there so I'm looking.

You want some cheese with that?

Sorry Dave, you've lost me on that one. Was that supposed to be funny or, in your own strange way, were you empathising? Or neither of the above?

Okay folks, I understand the frustration of loosing bids/auctions all too well due to this technical problem AS has been having. When I found out about it I went straight to several other auction nippers and found that none offer insurance. To me that is very important. Why? because sometimes the seller doesn't have all that good of feedback ratings, or they don't offer insurance or whatever the reason be; Auction Snipers insurance is a no brainer, it has saved me peace of mind and also $ when a seller wants to charge more than the USPS and I insure it on my own...kind of blows their bubble of rip off don't ya think?
So yes this technical problem has cost me some wins and even cost me a higher bid because I basically bid against myself Whoops! But as I stated AS is better than the rest so I myself will stay with AS forever. However, I do wish they would send out email notices when a problem occurs as well as get new collocations or whatever that is! And to that kimothy who theatened Dave, shame on you, can't you learn to temper your temper? Goodness gracious people like you make this world a horrid place to live in. The world is basically a nice place if you'd only open your heart and see the good in people. As the old saying goes: "Smile and the world Smiles with you"...so on and so on!

I guess I have been lucky, past five years, I have spent about $150K on E-Bay and lost about $150, so why would I need that insurance.

I'm starting to think the IT team is one guy working out of his garage. I didn't file a support request, I don't want any money back. I just want you to be successful in this business. I have used AS since I started buying on ebay and it allows me to lead a normal life. I love you guys, I'm not going anywhere.

Dear pfft & everyone else who is getting really pee'oh'd about Sniper site being down.

Please exercise patience, this doesn't happen very often and while it does I understand how it can be frustrating. It is a maintenance issue and you all should know that sometimes things fail and it can take some time to locate and fix the problem. This is no reason to threaten to go to some other bid sniping because Auction Sniper is the best and easiest I have used and they care about their customers and will help you with any problems without fail. Just write them in the proper format and see.
So please be patient with them and stay with them. If you need to snipe a bid while system is down. Go to another free sniper site that will allow you a free trial and use them for the time being so that you can win your item.
Then you will see why patience with Auction Sniper is well worth it. And NO I am not being paid by Auction Sniper...I just happen to have been in your same boat once before and I tried others and I love Auction Sniper best of all and will NEVER go to another snip site! I will sit back and wait. Thank you for your understanding and patience. Best Angel Wishes to everyone!

Hello,

Please see this thread for the latest update on the site being down.

Steve
Auction Sniper Product Manager