My apologies!

For the past 18 hours, "Adam Smith, Esq." has been offline due to a server failure at my hosting provider.   I have had several email and one phone conversation with them and they understand that, while I've been very pleased with their service over the past four years, today represented a genuine black mark on their reputation.

There's a lesson here.  This is a firm that I have loved for four years:  I have other websites (of friends, etc.) hosted with them, I recommend them to anyone who asks, they could have solicited a testimonial from me and I would have provided it enthusiastically.  But let a good client down once, and they tend to remember that more strongly than even four years of top-notch service. 

In their defense:

• I got an email from the supervisor of the server farm shortly after I noticed we were down and inquired, personally informing me of the problem, saying his team was working on it as hard as they could, and reassuring me he'd let me know as soon as it was back up; and
• When I phoned, the (random) tech support guy I got--who picked up on the first ring, which is characteristic of them--knew about the problem, evinced genuine concern, and said that everyone "had been running around working on that server problem."

Moral:  Am I thinking of switching providers?  Not on your life.  Client service can include not just coming through all the time every time, but acknowledging that one is pedalling as fast as one can when the inevitable glitch occurs. 

Still, on behalf of "Adam Smith, Esq.," I apologize for this uncharacteristic lapse.  (And, two strikes and you're out.)