So, i get this in facebook today and I think to myself.. how can I not take a min to help him out.. i mean, it's a great sob story.. I did some backgrounding on it.. it's true.  Ouch.  Well it took 45 seconds and i got my vote in.  Anyways guys, take a minute to help this couple out. 

Here it is:

Hey everyone ... Connie and I have a friend named VAN for those of you that are in the Madison area you may recognize this name from Van Edwards on WIBA fm ... we need to pass the word HARDCORE and help his daughter .. please read below!

Thanks in advance
Fish
--------------------------

This is a picture of me and my oldest daughter Vanessa, she's 25 (26 next month!). A framed copy of this picture she gave me as a gift is on the dresser in my bedroom...I see it every morning and every night...it is now more than a photograph to me, and here's why:

Vanessa is fighting for her life. She is battling Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and so far the cancer is winning. Her fight took a serious blow right before Christmas when we found out it had spread to her bone marrow. About a month ago she underwent a bone marrow transplant at the UW Comprehensive Cancer Center. The verdict is still out on the success of the transplant...but we remain optimistic. Since all conventional forms of treatment have proved fruitless...she is undergoing experimental treatments outside of Washington, D.C. (Fairfax, VA), close to the area I grew up and she was born. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated...but that's not all I'm asking.

Vanessa and her husband Mike were married in a civil ceremony before his deployment to Qatar (he is in the Air Force). We were going to plan a wedding "celebration" for this coming summer in Madison...but the diagnosis of cancer put everything on hold. Several months ago one of Mike & Vanessa's friends entered them in a contest for a "Dream Wedding Giveaway"...a complete wedding package valued at $100,000 put together by businesses in the San Francisco area. For once we received some good news as Mike & Vanessa are one of five couples in the national finals.

Here comes the favor. The winner will be determined by national online voting. I have provided a link below and am asking you to cast a vote for Mike & Vanessa Hawkins (couple #204). To cast a vote requires an email address and it's one vote per IP address which means everyone can't vote from the same system at work or they will cancel each other out. By giving your email address, I'm assuming you'll get some sort of "mail" from the promotional sponsors (although I haven't)...if this creates a problem for you I clearly understand...if not, please accept my thanks for quite possibly making a dream come true.

Here's the link:

http://www.sfweddinggiveaway.com/enter-to-win/

Please forward this to those you love, and do it now because voting ends soon.

Please know I can never thank you enough, Van

Well, it's finally happened... And it came with a slap in the face from my friendly sales associate at The Planet basically saying that they don't care enough about their current customers.  Really, had he looked at my support requests, and tickets, and discovered that not only have i been on the receiving end of shitty tech service for 4 months, but that i actually wanted to give them my business because I wanted to support my local businesses.  Yes, i've gotten into the whole 'Texas' thing.. keep local jobs by supporting local businesses.. be true to your school.. go aggies.. blah blah blah. 

There are people out there that don't believe you should be rewarded for this.  So get this.. .here is my chat transcript.  I'm going to try to find some of my closed tickets from support to back this shit up.  I want everyone to know, that this is really the kind of service you get from them.  Mind you.. Before when i signed up they were called Server Matrix, and they were great.  After the Planet bought them out, service has gone to shit.   For the record, I linked to him who i'm going to.. http://www.1and1.com looks like it has an awesome setup and a great price.  Expect the servers to move sometime in the next 2 weeks..lol.

Thank you for choosing The Planet, please stand by while we connect you to the next available agent…
You are now speaking with Steve Dorsey!
Steve Dorsey: Thank you for contacting The Planet, my name is Steve Dorsey. How may I assist you today? (If you currently have an account with us, please provide your Orbit/ServerCommand login and the answer of your verification question.)
you : Hi Steve, let me get my info for you
Steve Dorsey: Thanks!
you : lol,, found it
Steve Dorsey: Ok great

Steve Dorsey: Thanks! How can I help out today?
you : I was working with a sales guy, and he was supposed to send me a quote. The server i'm on is garbage. literally, it's breaking down.. basically, I've had nothing but trouble with it the last few months
Steve Dorsey: Ah, Ok. One moment, let me take a look
you : So, I've been waiting on this quote now for a while, sent an email to request it again, and i've not gotten anything back
Steve Dorsey: I'm actually not seeing any activity on the account. Do you remember who you spoke with?
you : off the top of my head, no. I think his name started wtih a D tho. He sent me his email address and contact information, but it's on my home system
you : so, you don't have any record of me in the last few days calling up customer service, or talking to sales
Steve Dorsey: We do, but it would have a separate system for sales related activity. It would be the sales person's responsibility to input the specifics of the data into this system
Steve Dorsey: I could get you with another sales person if you would like
you : Okay, in the last customer service entry then, it should say that she transferred me to sales guy 'his name' then
Steve Dorsey: It would be dropped into a sales "queue", a line of sales people rather than a specific person. I don't think we can pull it up that way.
you : ahhh, gotcha.
you : yeah, if you want to send me over to a sales guy, that would be great
you : i guess i can start this process over again
Steve Dorsey: Ok, no problem. Do you have your orbit username available?
you : Steve Dorsey: Ok great you : c22931data you : wagner
Steve Dorsey: I'll speed you through to a sales specialist since I know you've already been through this once
you : yep, there ya go
Steve Dorsey: Ah, sorry about that
you : oh kewl, smileys work in here.. it's hard to annunciate voice inflection when typing in here :d
you : but big toothy grins don't work
Steve Dorsey: Yeah, usually they tell us not to because it doesn't give off a professional feel, but sometimes I interject them because it's more of a personal touch :D
Steve Dorsey: Ok great, I've put in your info and will transfer you to a sales specialist now.
you : kewl, thanks Steve
Please hold while your chat is transferred to another agent.
Steve Dorsey left the chat.
You are now speaking with Adron!
Adron: Thank you for contacting The Planet, my name is Adron. How may I assist you today? (If you currently have an account with us, please provide your Orbit/ServerCommand login and the answer of your verification question.)

Adron: Hello, I have the previous chat.
you : oh, good deal.
you : Hey Adron, let me give you a quick synopsis
you : I've been a customer there for a few years now, and have always had good service
you : the last few months, have been crappy. The server i've been on, is just failing whenever i transfer files to it, I can't update it.. the tests come back nothing wrong, but i can replicate my problems everytime
you : basically, i'm not happy with the service i've been paying for on that server.
you : So, instead of dealing with the techs i'm looking at getting a different server.
Adron: Ok.
Adron: So you want a windows server with 2GB of RAM?
Adron: This is the best offer for you.
you : Yeah, but i'm also seeing that you have a 10TB bandwidth thing
Adron: ..
Xeon 3060 Dual Core 2.4GHz
+ Single Processor Dual Core
+ 2GB RAM
+ 1x 250GB SATA Drive
+ Windows 2003 Server, Standard Edition

+ 5 IP Addresses
+ 10000GB Monthly Transfer
+ 100mbps Uplink
$25 Setup / $139 Per Month
Adron: The setup is free.
Adron: I can add that to your account now.
you : I would assume so
Adron: Why.
you : So, whats the total price going to be
Adron: The setup is only free because of the promotion.
you : Phew.. i was thinking that because i've been a customer for so long and the server i'm currently on is starting to fail, that i'd be getting some sort of consideration from 'the planet'
you : So, the best you guys will do to keep me as a customer is an out of the box configuration with no considerations for the fact that i've been paying and using a gimp'd server for the last 4 months?
Adron: This is a perfect opportunity for you to upgrade to a better processor with more bandwidth and free setup.
Adron: Every month we provide you with great opportunities to upgrade your configuration.
Adron: Do you receive the emails that when send you?
you : Yes, of course, but i dont' like to have to mess with changing up my servers every month. I look at your emails when i need them, otherwise, i'm pretty low maintenance.
Adron: Understandable.
Adron: You don't have to change the server every month.
Adron: I am just pointing out that we could have added this server to your accounts months ago.
you : Yes, you could have added it.. but instead, read thru my tickets with tech support
you : I don't want to have to reconfigure it if they can test it
you : To do that, it's gonna cost me a weekend and downtime, based on what they wanted to do. The only reason i'm shopping a new server is because if i'm going to spend a weekend setting up all my stuff and migrating domains to new ip addresses i'm going to shop for the best price and the best plan
Adron: This is definitely the best price and the best plan for you.
you : I've giving the planet first opportunity to keep me as a customer.
Adron: This is also the best we can do unless you sign a one year commitment.
Adron: If you sign up for 1 year I can then take off another 6 percent.
you : and save 7 dollars a month on the server
Adron: You are saving a lot more than 7 dollars per month.
Adron: This server is normally 169.00 you are getting it for 139.00
Adron: Bandwidth is 175.00 per month for 1TB and you are getting 8TB for free.
you : and that $8.34 dollars savings (basically sales tax here in texas) commits me to 139 bucks a month for each month if i have to break the contract.
Adron: If you are not planning on leaving then it's money saved no matter how much it is.
you : i'm also looking at the 1and1 servers, who are moving all their servers to unmetered bandwidth check their Dual-Core L - High Performance Server http://order.1and1.com
Adron: How much bandwidth do you use per month?
you : I'm planning on getting the best service for my dollar
you : If i grow to as big as i want to grow in the next year, i'll hit 6TB in 4 months
Adron: The best service does not mean the cheapest price.
Adron: Ok, perfect and you will be on a server that has 10TB.
you : I have peers that are on their servers. I have never noticed any problems with the services they provide
you : their stations never go down, and they recommended this company to me. So, it's gotta be more than adequate
Adron: Maybe.
Adron: I have not said they are not.
Adron: That still would not mean you are getting the most for your dollar.
you : Plain and simple, i'm looking to spend my dollars where i think i'm going to get the best bang for my buck. If you've reviewed my tickets with Tech Support on this server, you'd see why i'm a bit critical.
Adron has sent you a web page.
Please click on the following link to view it: Dedicated Windows and Linux Server Hosting | The Planet
Adron: That's our best offer.
you : okay.. .I'm not Greg Agri, He had setup a server for me, and for some reason, even tho i've talked to everyone there for years... and tried changing it, it's never been changed.
Adron: Ok.
Adron: That information was automatically generated because that is name on the account.
Adron: To get it removed you will need to speak with our billing department.
you : k, so thats the same promo everyone else gets?
Adron: Yes, it's a great offer.
Adron: If you were upgrading any of the hardware I could do more.
you : i'll consider it, but i'm not feeling any love here
Adron:
Adron: Is there anything else I may assist you with?
you : nope, i'm good. This is all i needed to know
Adron: Thank you for contacting The Planet. Have a great day! Good bye!