Hi everyone,

How are the support and customer services of Burlee and FutureQuest?

Do they have knowledgeable staff to answer your calls and how fast do they answer your replies by phone and by email?

Thanks for your help!

I don't have an account at FutureQuest (let me say that now), *but* read these boards and cal tell you one thing. There are many people who tout their services, and they are a very good hosting company by what I have read. I have never read a bad review/post about them. Ever. That says something!

They don't offer dedicated IP addresses, and don't seem to think there's a disadvantage to that.

I think their prices are too high for what they are offering - compare to communitech.net and they don't even do their own payment processing - they take payment through kagi which handles payment for shareware folks primarily.

I guess they aren't credit worthy since merchant accounts typically require personal guarantees or maybe they just arent savy enough to know how to get a merchant account.

burlee doesn't give you a unique ip either

Originally posted by amr:
They don't offer dedicated IP addresses, and don't seem to think there's a disadvantage to that.

I think their prices are too high for what they are offering - compare to communitech.net and they don't even do their own payment processing - they take payment through kagi which handles payment for shareware folks primarily.

I guess they aren't credit worthy since merchant accounts typically require personal guarantees or maybe they just arent savy enough to know how to get a merchant account.

I think that this has been pointed out before.

MANY COMPANIES choose third party processing over a merchant account. That's not a huge deal.

Hi,
I don't have an account there now (sold the site) but still have some domains parked there.

If you are really interested in getting great customer service and support, FQ is the place to go. I have had none to top them and doubt I ever will. I also feel that they are an (dare I say it with all the bad guys out there ...) HONEST host.

They are quite fast at answering support emails and very knowledgable. Too knowledgable for me to understand sometimes. ;) Justin and Terra seem to be on top of the tech game, as well as Deb, of course.

Something to keep in mind is that you get what you pay for and sometimes cheaper is definitely not better.

I do not usually respond to threads about FutureQuest personally (as an owner I feel it's not always a good idea) however I would like to clarify one item... I guess they aren't credit worthy since merchant accounts typically require personal guarantees or maybe they just aren't savy enough to know how to get a merchant account. Which payment system you use is up to the site owner themselves. Kagi allows the site owners to totally control their own payments and FutureQuest to *never* see your credit card information. This creates a stronger level of trust for many of the clients as they can be assured FutureQuest will not be making any automatic charges they are unaware of (a big issue for those who have had billing problems with other hosts).

FutureQuest ALSO allows the clients to sign up for automatic payments via the FutureQuest Merchant Account where we would in fact bill your card automatically. The choice is up to the client. And of course we do allow postal payments (money orders/checks) if that is the preferred method.

Third party processors cost more than individual merchant accounts -- But the cost is worth it in other areas. Client trust, and administration are my two favorite things about using a third party.

Making a credit rating assumption on a public forum using only the fact that we also employ the services of a third party processor is in poor taste... I would only ask that you be sure your information is accurate before making those types of comments.

Hope this helps to clarify.

FutureQuest, Inc.
Debbie Gillespie, CEO Http://www.FutureQuest.net/index.php

Having a unique IP is actually a big deal. Many of the search engines almost require a unique IP for a decent ranking. What if Joe Blow Search Engine Spammer is on the same IP? They'll ban you..and have little sympathy. If you have a site that may rely on SE placement, you'll need and want a unique IP. Some will disagree, but ask any serious placement professional and they'll tell you the same thing. Some sites, like play sites, or family sites shouldn't be concerned though.

Chris Marks http://www.netfronts.com/

[This message has been edited by marksy (edited 06-08-2000).]

I was with Burlee for a good amount of time. They did the job just good. Response time was the best, at about an hour.

They were good, but I do not know what the word on them now is.

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What is a signature?

First, the difference between the costs of a merchant account and someone doing it for you - third party processing is very great. While a merchant account costs more to set up, the cost per transactions is usually less than 2.5%, how much does Kagi charge? I know iBill charges something like 15% of the transaction.

Second, if I have to worry about giving my credit card information to my host, then I don't trust them sufficiently to use their services. - I don't think third party processing is a selling point.

Futurequest may be a great place to have your site for some, however, I find that not having a merchant account makes me doubt your business sense.

Having also read that you incorporated after starting your business rather than before makes me further question your business sophistication.

I have had hosts go down before, it's a bitch, I'm very cautious now. Given that most start up businesses fail, and that "dot.com" businesses fail at an even higher rate, I'm not going to select a host that doesn't look VERY solid.

In my first 2 years on the net I had about 10 hosts, in my last two, I've only had two.
But every time I go out and look for a host the selection is dramatically different - there are a lot of folks who want to get into the hosting business and a lot who fail.

I consider everything - including web design, online forum, response time to presales emails.

I wish you best of luck with your service, but I'm not going to put my faith where I have doubts.

Where did you get the information that search engines don't rank shared-ip websites as highly as others? Is there any *decent * proof?

The only argument I can think of for an IP is if a person is using < Netscape 2. Which is less than 0.005%(if even that).

Amr,

If you re-read what Deb posted, FutureQuest *does* have a merchant account, which they use for recurring billing customers. They use Kagi for those customers who don't want to be billed automatically each month (and regardless of what you might think, I know there are a lot of them out there - my company, Hosting Solutions, does not offer the option of non-recurring credit card billing, but we get asked for it a lot.

As for incorporating after starting the business, 90% of all businesses in the U.S. start as sole proprietorships. Most of those never incorporate at all. Those that do incorporate usually 1 to 2 years after they started in business. As our corporate attorney recently noted in a conversation I was having with him, he generally recommend to his clients that they not incorporate until they can swallow the $1,000+ costs involved without batting an eyelash. Most startup companies that have no revenue stream could not do that - it only makes sense to wait until you have a decent revenue stream before making an investment of that type.

I will tell you right now that *most* web hosting companies are not incorporated at all, and probably never will be. The fact that FutureQuest cared enough about their future to incorporate at all should be a sign that they are a good, solid company, rather than your assertion to the opposite.

Regards,

Jason Ellis, CEO
Hosting Solutions, Inc.

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Jason Ellis, CEO
Hosting Solutions, Inc.
www.windowswebhost.com (http://www.windowswebhost.com)
Now offering Fully Managed Servers!

The more I look at web hosts, large and small, young and new, the more I see the need for industry regulation.

You get folks out there like this True Hosting fellow apparently ripping people off. You get big outfits (and small for that matter) who will give you nice price breaks if you commit to one or two year contract but they will not refund you if you cancel within a month - read all of the fine print - see communitech.net for one example. Now while these outfits are giving a discount for the long term commitment, they could make an adjustment in their fees for early cancellation.

I wish someone like Ralph Nader would take a look at this situation. If it's not fixed it's going to impede the growth of the internet, result in more fraud, and more consumers will get hurt.

Jason makes a good point - most hsoting companies are not incorporated. I must say, however, that it doesn't take an inordinate amount of money or time to take that step (and certainly doesn't take a grand to do it - heck, we did it for just over a hundred bucks).

The regulation you are after, amr, will probably never exist. Most companies fly under the radar of whatever agencies are in their locale, and since they can disappear in a flash, people generally have no recourse when the company is shown to be unscrupulous. The best way for people to protect themselves (and help get rid of those types of companies) is to make sure they do their research BEFORE they hand over their money. It's not 100%, to be sure, but it beats simply waiting around for the next act in the play.


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Annette
Hosting Matters, Inc.
http://www.hostmatters.com

Do you want to know what burlee did to me? They stole my credit card information and charged my AMEX over $15000, I called and called, but they keep hanging up on me, does anybody have advice on what to do about this?
Thanks

Regulation is not needed. There are many many many hosting companies out there, and most are good companies run by good people. You unfortunately read about a few that are completely horrible, some more that aren't very well run (billing), some with bad customer service, etc.

While it may seem like regulation is needed, keep in mind you are reading about a small fraction of the web hosting companies out there.

Also, people tend to go looking for hosts (and find these boards in their travels) when they are with a host that does NOT meet their needs. Satisfied customers aren't quite as anxious post positive comments, nor look around due to their satisfaction. Unsatisfied customers can't wait to spread the word about their bad experiences.

Also, one persons dissatisfaction may be acceptable to another. Some people complain that a host is slow to answer support questions (12 hours), which might be just fine for someone else.

This is why those posts asking "what is the best host", are completely pointless. Unless you want to know what is best for SOMEONE else and their situation, this isn't going to be of much help to YOU and your needs.

Jason makes a good point - most hsoting companies are not incorporated. I must say, however, that it doesn't take an inordinate amount of money or time to take that step (and certainly doesn't take a grand to do it - heck, we did it for just over a hundred bucks).

Hrm... I don't see how. Although I haven't looked at all 50 states, all of the states I looked at for incorporating in all charged between $250 and $500 fee to incorporate - and that's just to the state. We incorporated in Massachusetts (our home state) and it was $395 to incorporate here.

Plus, you have to have someone create your Articles of Incorporation, your Corporate Bylaws, and several other documents. Yes, if you want to do the research and work yourself you can do so - but normally it's a lot better to have an attorney do it. If anything is done incorrectly, or certain things are left out, it basically eliminates any legal protections that you would receive from being incorporated.

Most attorneys charge between $600 and $1000 to do the work to incorporate a company, then you add the state incorporation fees on top of it, it generally costs over $1000 to incorporate.

I don't doubt your honesty when you say you did it for just over $100, but I question whether the corporation would stand up against scrutiny if you got sued (since the first thing any plaintiff's lawyer would do is go over your corporate documents with a magnifying glass - if they can find any problems at all, they can claim that the errors in your corporate documents negate the corporate liability protection, and thus they can name you personally in the suit).

Incorrect corporate documents can also cause problems if you're going after financing - either traditional bank financing or non-traditional investment methods, the person ponying up the dough is going to put your corporate paperwork under a microscope, too - after all, once they give you money, they could be named in a lawsuit against your company if your corporation doesn't pass muster.

I highly recommend spending the extra money and having a qualified lawyer handle your incorporation. Going the cheap route might get you a nice little piece of paper that gives you the authority to put "Inc." at the end of your name, but it doesn't necessarily give you the legal protections that a corporation is designed to provide.

Jason


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Jason Ellis, CEO
Hosting Solutions, Inc.
www.windowswebhost.com (http://www.windowswebhost.com)
Now offering Fully Managed Servers!

(I had a different post here previously. This has been edited, as I have no desire to get into a pissing match about incorporation and lawyers.)

Suffice to say that incorporation can be done without incurring the costs of an attorney, and with all the same benefits that using an attorney can give. Do I recommend having someone look over the papers? Yes, by all means (and since we hve a family attorney, no big deal). Certain protections are conferred by the simple act of filing the papers. Does it protect against everything? No, of course not, which is why articles and bylaws are generally filed, as well, to further cement the entity of the corporation. But nothing will protect against the filing of a frivolous lawsuit - even having a lawyer draw up all the papers and file them, too. Since this is way off the original topic, this will be the last post from me on this particular subject.

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Annette
Hosting Matters, Inc.
http://www.hostmatters.com



[This message has been edited by Annette (edited 06-10-2000).]

ANTIBURLEE - contact Amex and file a complaint with the attorney general's office in which ever state Burlee is located in - some take them online, others at least have forms you can print at their website - oh in some states consumer affairs is with the secretary of state- so check there too. All states are online now.

The Better Business Bureau takes complaints online, they've helped me before.

On FQ - I really didn't mean to disparage you or your service. As Annette said there are a lot of companies out there and they can disappear over night leaving you with no recourse, I'm just trying to make an informed decision.

As to regulations, they may or may not happen in web hosting. But I'll tell you the contractual terms of most host are so unfavorable to the end user that I think there will be lawsuits and eventually improvement.

I was shocked to see Communitech.net's terms, you could actually pay them for a two year contract and cancel in 15 days and according to their terms not be entitled to a refund. That doesn't mean you couldn't get one, just that it would take a lot of wrangling and complaining and maybe a letter from a lawyer.

OT

Admin,
You asked about shared IP not ranking as well and proof. Altavista uses IP to ban sites, not domain name. Someone on your IP is banned - so are you. That's good enough for me, but check out the Search Engine Forums (and anyone interested in SE placement) they are pro's and this topic has been talked about extensively. Additionally, if you consider the shared IP scenario it makes sense for SE's to weight unique IPs..somebody get's an IP and creates 200 sites on it, all something.hisdomain.com and varies the content slightly to gain positioning..It makes a SE useless and results worthless.

ANTIBURLEE -

Please contact me directly via email regarding your experiences with Burlee. I had a similar experience.

Thanks

Originally posted by ANTIBURLEE
Do you want to know what burlee did to me? They stole my credit card information and charged my AMEX over $15000, I called and called, but they keep hanging up on me, does anybody have advice on what to do about this?
Thanks

A Charge Back... How long ago was this? DId you have to pay for it?

I used Burlee for, oh, about 24 hours.

I am very disappointed in them from a billing standpoint, because they do not care one bit about their reputation from what I can tell.

I signed up for a Burlee web hosting account. The same day, I emailed them and asked them to update my MX records so that I could use Everyone.net's free email service for my site's users. They informed me that this would cost $49, which was more than the hosting bill itself. Keep in mind they charged me a setup fee to start the account, and changing the MX records would take, oh, about 30 seconds or so to do, if they typed really slow.

I wrote them back and told them that it was ridiculous to charge me another setup fee. They disagreed. I asked them to waive the setup fee. They disagreed.

I told them to just cancel my account, because most other providers that I had researched did not charge any fee to do the quick MX record update. I never used my Burlee account, and never had ONE SINGLE HIT. I cancelled the account within 24 hours.

Guess what? They refused to return the setup fee. I know, setup fees are non-returnable, but in such a case, it makes good business sense to do so.

Anyway, that is my feeling on Burlee.

Patrick

FutureQuest offers a dedicated IP address with every full account.

I have been affiliated with a number of web sites that were hosted at various companies; dezines, hostpro, dreamhost, *****, etc.

And I have had 3 accounts with FutureQuest.

FutureQuest is great web hosting value that is nested in rock solid support and "up" time.