Fellow webmasters,

I have been in the web design field for fully four years now, but I have only recently delved into the realm of paid hosting. Until now, I have been a student (still am) and not able to afford the cash required to buy a domain. Luckily, I have landed a high-paying job and so I can now afford a quality host. It appears, though, that the money you pay can still gain you crappy service. I spent three months of hell with HostOnce first trying to get my site online and then trying to get my domains in my name. So, for anybody interested, stay far far away from HostOnce's tantilizing $4.95 a month plan-- it might be cheap, but I have heard stories where the "unlimited" webspace ended up being 62 megabytes and the site was discontinuued.

Anyways, the point is not to rag on HostOnce but to comment on the low quality of service available. I think it is incredibly sad on today's "civilized" society that we must rely on websites like WHT and organizations likes the Better Business Bureau to determine if a company is trustworthy. Get online and it gets even worse.

Roughly 30% of webhosting companies I speak with, whether it be through e-mail, AIM, or phone, provide a solid, quality service. Some, though, stick out in their outwright rudeness and total lack of any customer service skills. For example, a representative from telesouth1.com recently berated me on AIM for wanting "too much for my money." Instead of politely informing me my price was too low, he insulted me and demanded that I "must be insane." How this was supposed to win me over, I cannot say.

Other infamous tactics are to reply to a hosting request with offers below the obvious: webspace, bandwidth, and pricing. If I mention I need 200mb of space, do not offer me a plan with only 150mb of space! If I ask for a plan under $10 a month, don't give me the specs on a $14 per month plan. Hosting reps, please, for the love of all that is good and worthy of not beating the life out of, save us all some time and give us decent proposals and somewhat acceptable customer service-- especially before we give you our money!

Originally posted by equiller
Fellow webmasters,

I have been in the web design field for fully four years now, but I have only recently delved into the realm of paid hosting. Until now, I have been a student (still am) and not able to afford the cash required to buy a domain. Luckily, I have landed a high-paying job and so I can now afford a quality host. It appears, though, that the money you pay can still gain you crappy service. I spent three months of hell with HostOnce first trying to get my site online and then trying to get my domains in my name. So, for anybody interested, stay far far away from HostOnce's tantilizing $4.95 a month plan-- it might be cheap, but I have heard stories where the "unlimited" webspace ended up being 62 megabytes and the site was discontinuued.

Anyways, the point is not to rag on HostOnce but to comment on the low quality of service available. I think it is incredibly sad on today's "civilized" society that we must rely on websites like WHT and organizations likes the Better Business Bureau to determine if a company is trustworthy. Get online and it gets even worse.

Roughly 30% of webhosting companies I speak with, whether it be through e-mail, AIM, or phone, provide a solid, quality service. Some, though, stick out in their outwright rudeness and total lack of any customer service skills. For example, a representative from telesouth1.com recently berated me on AIM for wanting "too much for my money." Instead of politely informing me my price was too low, he insulted me and demanded that I "must be insane." How this was supposed to win me over, I cannot say.

Other infamous tactics are to reply to a hosting request with offers below the obvious: webspace, bandwidth, and pricing. If I mention I need 200mb of space, do not offer me a plan with only 150mb of space! If I ask for a plan under $10 a month, don't give me the specs on a $14 per month plan. Hosting reps, please, for the love of all that is good and worthy of not beating the life out of, save us all some time and give us decent proposals and somewhat acceptable customer service-- especially before we give you our money!

Belive me we all feel your pain.. Every 16 year old with a $20 a week allowance is setting up shop and breaking in the "biz" along with the other sysadmins that want to run a business but dont want to support it.. It is a really tough hosting world out there right now and I dont see it getting any better. I think it is going to end up with people feeling like they do when they go to look at a car not knowing if everything they are speaking is BS or if they a being honest. The only thing I can suggest is look for a host that has a good rep around here.. That usually indicates something positive, but also dont be thrown away by one jerk who is flaming a host for one issue with one person.. Well good luck..

only thing I can suggest is look for a host that has a good rep around here..

yeah.. do some research and ask for opinions.

Originally posted by equiller
I think it is incredibly sad on today's "civilized" society that we must rely on websites like WHT and organizations likes the Better Business Bureau to determine if a company is trustworthy.
But that's the wonderful thing about our society! We're free to do business with so many companies -- and while the sheer volume of them can seem like a burden at times, it's SO MUCH BETTER than having one monopolistic company, or only a few companies, or a state-run company do everything.

I think history will eventually show that this is still the infancy of the internet, and in the end, the bad hosts will fall out of business, because as vast as the net is, it's a small world, and word does get around fast. That's why these boards are so great! Be glad that we live in a society where most individuals feel free to speak their minds and share their bad experiences. Be glad that most people's attitude is not one where they give up and whine that they can't change things, so why bother?

Savor these mistakes as learning experiences... they've taught me more than anything else ever has.

Just a word of caution! WHT does have some valuable information BUT I suggest strongly any consumer here looking for hosting better do their own research on ANY company!
This is a public forum.
New hosts pop up daily here and over and again within a month or so theyve folded up.
How many times have you seen a host pop up, gain popularity, only to LOSE it within a month?
Its overwhelming TO THE CONSUMER to even look for a decent host, the market is saturated.

Originally posted by Martie
New hosts pop up daily here and over and again within a month or so theyve folded up.


Speaking of which, I was just cleaning out some old pm's and some of the host's that sent them are now longer around. Go figure

Other infamous tactics are to reply to a hosting request with offers below the obvious: webspace, bandwidth, and pricing.
I have also noticed this, but does the tactic actually pay off? I mean if they can’t read and reply correctly to the most important post of all ‘a potential customers needs’ – what sort of an image does it portray? I prefer to PM or email the potential client – it’s direct, confidential and a lot ‘friendlier’ that responding to a thread.

Every 16 year old with a $20 a week allowance is setting up shop and breaking in the "biz"
Whilst there is a market for these types of hosts, they will continue to ‘set-up’ shop. For example, take a look at the majority of hosting requests on WHT – “I want, everything – for around $5 a month – but if the support is brilliant I may stretch to $8”

Just a word of caution! WHT does have some valuable information BUT I suggest strongly any consumer here looking for hosting better do their own research on ANY company!
Good advice – There are some extremely knowledgeable and helpful people of WHT, the sad bit is that they are often over shadowed by the others whose sole purpose seems to be bringing misery to all and sundry or pertaining to be something there not.
Sort the ‘weeds out from the roses’ then do some background research as Marti suggests. It isn’t a fool proof method – but it can certainly be a good ‘damage limitation’ exercise.

Ouch, yeh, I feel your pain!

Ya I was with hostonce before too and they screwed me over
my site was up for less than 2 weeks and they claim I went over their unlimited transfer website and how can her when my site was going down 3 times a week or was either slow like i was on a 14k modem and also it was just a plain site no forum, no downloads or big files so how can i possibly go over the limite. They also claim my friend didn't order a account when he did with his credit card and they even overcharged it and couldn't remember he order a account

THIS COMPANY NEEDS TO BE SHUT DOWN

If you are looking for a good host, try checking out VenturesOnline.com they have great customer service and great service in all.

Hi, re the comment about every 16 yr old with a $20 allowance.......i know this is true but dont be against all young people, I am older than 16 myself and get more than $20 but i am still young and feel that we get discriminated against (i know in some cases its a fair discrimination)
I myself have invested a lot of money in setting up my business, and i take customer support very seriously and always do my best to please the customer and as a result i haven't had a complaint yet.
The companies who dont care about their customers disgust me, do they not realise that without the customers they will have nothing?