Regular readers of this blog may have noticed that accessing this blog has been flaky all weekend. I've gotten numerous reports via Twitter that my blog was displaying the following error message when being visited

Server Error in '/site1/weblog' Application.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exception of type 'System.OutOfMemoryException' was thrown.
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.
Exception Details: System.OutOfMemoryException: Exception of type 'System.OutOfMemoryException' was thrown.
Source Error:
An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.
Stack Trace:
[OutOfMemoryException: Exception of type 'System.OutOfMemoryException' was thrown.]
Go1999(RegexRunner ) +0
System.Text.RegularExpressions.CompiledRegexRunner.Go() +14
System.Text.RegularExpressions.RegexRunner.Scan(Regex regex, String text, Int32 textbeg, Int32 textend, Int32 textstart, Int32 prevlen, Boolean quick) +144
System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Run(Boolean quick, Int32 prevlen, String input, Int32 beginning, Int32 length, Int32 startat) +134
System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Match(String input) +44
newtelligence.DasBlog.Web.Core.UrlMapperModule.HandleBeginRequest(Object sender, EventArgs evargs) +458
System.Web.SyncEventExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() +68
System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) +75

This seems like a straightforward issue. The machine my blog is hosted on is running out of memory probably because the server is either overloaded from having too many sites hosted on it or one of the sites is badly written and is using up more than its fair share of memory. This has happened once or twice in the past and when it did I used the Live Chat feature of WebHost4Life, my hosting company, to contact a support rep who quickly moved my site to a different server. Thus when I got the first reports of this issue I thought this would be a routine support issue. I was sorely mistaken.

Earlier this year, WebHost4Life started migrating their customers to a new infrastructure with a different set of support staff. It seems this was a cost cutting measure because the new support staff seem to be a lot less technical than their previous counterparts and seem to have less access to their infrastructure. Over the weekend I chatted with about three or four different support folks over IM and opened a ticket that was closed multiple times. Here is a sampling of some of the messages that were written as part of closing the support ticket by WebHost4Life

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Support.

We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. I have checked your website at the URL: http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/ and it is working fine. Could you please check it once again after clearing browser cache and cookies? If the issue persists, please get back to us with the exact error message, so that we will investigate on your issue.

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Sharon <redacted>
Customer Support

~~~ TICKET CLOSED

Hello,

Thank you for your reply.

I have checked your website URL: http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/ and I was able to duplicate the issue. I have received the error message. Hence, I have asked a member of our team who specializes in website management to review your issue. You should be hearing from this specialist within 24-48 hours. If you have any questions in the meantime, please let us know and be sure to refer to the link http://www.webhost4life.com/member/sconsole for the quickest service.

Thank you for choosing webhost4life, we appreciate your support.

Sincerely,

Sharon <redacted>
Customer Support

~~~ TICKET ESCALATED TO TIER 2 SUPPORT

Hello,

I have checked the issue and and was not able to duplicate it. It seems to be issue with your ISP. Please check once again and if the issue still persists, please get back to us, tracert results of the website when you experience the issue and also the exact time and location so that we can investigate on it further.

If you have any further questions, please update the Support Console.

Sincerely,

Aleta <redacted>
Technical Specialist

~~~ TICKET CLOSED

Hello,

Thank you for getting back to us.

Currently, your website http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/ is loading without any slowness. I suggest you to check the website functionality again and get back to us, if the issue persists.

If you have any further questions, please update the Support Console.

Sincerely,

Kara
Technical Specialist

~~~ TICKET CLOSED

I’m still getting reports that my blog is throwing out of memory exceptions infrequently and as you can see from the above there isn’t anything being done to fix this problem. At first I wondered if the poor support I was getting was because this happened on the weekend and perhaps the technical folks only work weekdays. Unfortunately my hopes were dashed when someone on Twitter pointed me to webhosting review site with dozens of complaints about WebHost4Life which echoed my experience. It seems the company is under new management and quality has suffered under some of their cost cutting moves.

Although I paid for a year’s worth of service, I’ve decided that I probably need to switch hosting companies. Thus I’m seeking recommendations for a web hosting company that supports ASP.NET and .NET 2.0 or higher from any of my readers. Also if anyone is familiar with the process of cancelling your service with a web host including getting refunded for services not provided, I’d love any experience or tips you have to share.