Hi,

I was wondering if I could set up a new hosting website, with no telephone numbers (I'm in UK anyway), just email support, and have low hosting prices in Dollars,

and be succesful?

has anyone else made a hosting company without a support tel number???

cheers

Most of the start ups are without phone numbers. I can't say they are a success, but they are without #s.

Hi,

Customer will contact you in 2 cases, First when he have problem with account like FTP, Email, ... and in that case you will need him to "write" his User name, password and describe the problem and for sure the email will be better for both of you :)


second when you have failed server and in that case if you have phone you will turn the answer machine ON!


so my openion that phone number is decorative accessories for site design ,, not more


i deal with 2 servers providers . when i have real problem i never could contact them .. each one have 4 or 5 phone numbers

You might not need a phone number when you start out. You'll be small and you should be able to handle things. But if you grow big, you'll need that number.

Originally posted by 2Mhost
so my openion that phone number is decorative accessories for site design ,, not more

That's if you're a small host and bad support, ignoring your customers. But some hosts are big. Some hosts have emergency numbers only. Others have various numbers. I think it does help, especially if you start to grow real big, like corporation big.

I've hosted with 2 companies that did not have numbers or did not have numbers where somebody would answer (i.e. answering machine) and I have never had a problem. I often find that I know far more than their tech's do about a problem so I end up explaining it to them, that is why I never call. They did have good email support, they would fire back a reply in about 1-3 hours. So is it possible? Yes, but some people might be unconfortable with it and it might be more trouble than its worth. People end up calling you about the dumbest stuff, like how their browser doesn't work and they can waste alot of your good time. So yes it is quite possible.

Maybe instant messenging programs may be an easier *and cheaper* way of contacting people. If you have cable or DSL you can stay on 24 hours a day and it's very helpful.

Thanks for the comments people! :)

I guess I'll try the no number site!

VenturesOnline.com - Amazing host. Great quality, prices, and support.

They only have an emergency pager, all support is via the ticket system (wonderdesk). I never hada problem with that. Of course their tech people answer any ticket in maximum of ten minutes.

I preferably as a client prefer Instant Messaging support. It's convienent, fast, secure (to some extent), and doesn't cost a penny. Of course if you grow big you'll need tons of IM names and it'll get confusing. At that point you'll need a good tech phone support. Of course with general questions I'll use good ole email and give them time to think about it :). That's my 2 cents.

If I cant get a phone number, or if they dont at least have a forum I usualy stay clear of hosting places. But 2mhost is the devil and hes just out to get your money and in a few months cancel your account so he can sell your space to the next sap.

Atom,
You sure are blood thirsty for 2mhost :stickout :stickout


Originally posted by atomoverride
If I cant get a phone number, or if they dont at least have a forum I usualy stay clear of hosting places. But 2mhost is the devil and hes just out to get your money and in a few months cancel your account so he can sell your space to the next sap.

It's absolutely possible to be a successful host and not offer phone support. You need two things: Excellent support via a helpdesk system (so you can track tickets) and high visibility through advertising.

You also can't be out there with the lowest prices on the planet. The cheapest companies out there with outrageously low prices won't be able to cut it in the long run.

But, the title of your post is a little misleading, Infinite. It is definitely not possible to be successful by being a "no support host".

howabout a VERY cheap hosting plan with hardly any email support but u have a forum. and u only check ur email once in a day. will that work?

lets say 100mb and 1 gig for a dollar?

Originally posted by netacore
Atom,
You sure are blood thirsty for 2mhost :stickout :stickout


I was the nicest guy till my host cancled my service for no reason other than some bull crap non technical reason. I have had the same forums on 2mhost for over 7 months then all of the sudden server crashes were my fault? I dont think so. Sounds like he just made up some reason to keep the rest of my yearly paid service.

Something about getting the shaft from a non supporting bastard of a hosting provider makes me get blood thursty. MAY I HAVE ANOTHER GLASS, and I do have a problem knowing that my money all this time was going to a dude in another country. I am trying to keep my country from going under I need to support USA Products and services. Not some Desert living bin laden.

My two cents, thats all this is. I tell it how I feel dont like it. Dont read it.

But always remember 2mhost is the devil, and a crooked bastard.

Here is my thought:

I bet someone could be fairly successful in operating a no support at all service for low cost. You would need less man power to operate the business.

THe only time you'd need to provider support is when your customers are having account problems. With less support requests from other items, you'd be able to fix account problems failry quickly.

You'd obviously have to keep the servers online, operate a site that has news (server outages, status, etc.) that would be geographically separated from your servers.

Lastly, you'd want to have a pretty good knowledgebase and user forum in which users would help other users with their problems.

In doing such, you could lower your prices for end users because you would be spending less money on man power that is divided between support and technical operattions.

Users would just have to be aware that you tech support people would not answer non-account related problems, and that server outages would be handled asap.

Originally posted by atomoverride
If I cant get a phone number, or if they dont at least have a forum I usualy stay clear of hosting places. But 2mhost is the devil and hes just out to get your money and in a few months cancel your account so he can sell your space to the next sap.

If its a big deal, look at your CC statement, they usually have a phone # to lookup.

We use to offer phone support. We'd get calls from customers wanting us to explain how to setup their email accounts and how to configure their ftp client (just 2 examples off the top of my head) and they wouldn't even be connected to the Internet when they called.

It's got it's good and bad points. For us it just wasn't cost effective. We now have a special email address that alerts us via a pager for emergency requests (even that gets abused at times). Otherwise, customers are asked to use the help desk.

<-- not that kind of customer. I just want to have the "lights on" so to speak, and be left alone. Not have my account cancled and told it was because of Unlinked CGI's and 220% Server CPU load when we all know that 220% is inpossible. As for unlinked CGI's? all I had was a small 10 user ikonboard running, and 2 sub-domain websites. oh la la, I have like 60% more stuff on my new site than I did @ 2mhost and they dont seem to be complaining.

Besides I am a Network Engineer, I think I know how to setup email, and ftp accounts. DUH! a pc tech could do that crap.

atom you need to chill brother, but you are right how can you get 220% out of 100% ?? And unlinked CGI's? sounds like some bull terds to me.