I kinda need to do this rant as I am getting more and more frustrated by my current dedicated server host, CrystalTech. I have details of this on a thread in their own forums here.

I have been with CrystalTech for 5+ years now, having gone from a shared service to a dedicated server around 2 years ago. Now the server plan pricing has changed to keep up with new techology and market rates.

After having paid for this long with my old plan, CrystalTech will still charge me the old rates to simply keep on with it. The only way I can fit in with CrystalTech's current market pricing is to switch (setup fees, or paying large sums in advance etc) to a completely new server and go through all the hassle, or pay for someone else to. Current rates show I get a more powerful server, more diskspace, newer software (mail server etc) for $20/month less...

Why should further setup costs and extra work be needed for long-term CrystalTech customers just to keep paying market rates, if the existing server is still adequate?

Has anyone else experience this? With CrystalTech, or any other service providers?  How did you deal with it (to your satisfaction)?

Are there hosts that look after their long-term customers more than CrystalTech does?

Geez... I wonder if there are hosts that truly look after their older loyal customers?

I have just used this example of essentially the same situation to try to spell it out for CrystalTech. Their solutions all involve me paying more now, and having the hassle of it (or paying yet more!).

Example
Say it is floorspace in a building.  Couple of years ago you rent an office and pay monthly $x. No problem.  But now it is 2 years down the track, you've stuck with the landlord and the floorspace.

New tenants can pay $y (less than you) now and get a bit more space, and airconditioning included.

Doesn't that seem unreasonable? ...considering the landlord says you can still pay $x (more) and have the less space and no air-con... or to pay the current market rates you can take the hassle of changing floors in the building to get more space & air-con and will charge you a small fee for their 'admin'.

But if you are currently content with the smaller space, and no air-con... after your years of custom with the landlord, mightn't it be reasonable for the landlord to either:
 - put your rates in line with the market (new customer paying $y); or
 - assist with moving you to a spot where you can get the new market rates (without the hassle & extra upfront cash)

Am I being unreasonable?

For me I would rather pay a new landlord a little more than stick with the landlord I feel isn't really helping me out and purely putting their pocket first.

Its a pressure tactic used by many server hosting companies. They really want you to move your stuff to the new servers cause they want to get rid of the older ones, but they want to make you pay for the move. Ie the time it takes their admins to make the backups run the images, and image a new box. Which for most server companies is like 1 hour of work yet they want to charge like 200 bucks to do it. I had an issue a long time ago with a server host, much like yours, upgrade to new hardware / software platform and its cheaper each month, but have to pay us X amount to do so. I gave them the middle finger found another host spun up an account did the imaging myself, and cancelled my old host. The next go around I had I loved the host great support, really solid, stable servers etc, but similar thing, they started adding lots of new fees which were typically waived if you were a new customer. Well I just made a few phone calls and changed my business name. Registered as a new customer and then ported all my stuff to the new installation, then cancelled my old account.  Overall good quality server hostings are become a new plague, I know of atleast 10 "good" server hosts each with fairly well priced plans. If you call their sales support and state your leaving to move to a new host if they don't make the change / swap and / or lower your monthlies and that you have been a customer for 2 years and hate to leave but will do so. You can typically get escalated to someone in the company with half a brick for a brain. This person after some discussion will realize its better to take the lose / internal cost to move you cause keeping you is worth more then losing you.

117 x 12 = 1404 while 55 x 12 = 660, both sound much much better then 0 x 12 = 0 when you quit and find a new host.