I am in the process of searching for a new host. One of the companies that I am looking at is Westhost. The last post I could find about them was a couple of months old, and I was wondering if anyone was using them or had any opinions about their service?

How do they compare to hosts like: Tera-byte or Hostmatters?

When a company like Westhost list that they have 24/7 email support what does this mean? Is their some industry expectation that support requests should be resolved within a certain time frame? Does this expectation change when it's the weekend? I apologize if that is to broad a question, I am just trying to balance my expectations.

Thanks for any advice or help. :)

- Jason.

Hi Jason

Mentioning 24/7 Email Support is a somewhat, statement of the obvious. Any Company doing business on the Internet has the ability (unless their site/email is down) to receive Email 24/7. If they don't reply to Email, then they will not be in business very long. Your question of "Is their some industry expectation that support requests should be resolved within a certain time frame?" is where most, make or break. This does not mean a Support issue will be resolved in 24hrs, only that a reply can be expected.

It is a common expectation these days that Email sent to a business -- regardless of whether one is doing business with them or not -- will receive a reply within 24hrs. Stating 24/7 is the Internet equivilant to having an 800 number -- regardless of what day of the week or time of day, it is there and can be used.

This is why, it's always a good idea to send a few Emails to prospective Hosters. See not only how long it takes, but also how well your question(s) are addressed and answered. The last part is where I see the ball dropped more often. Answering Support questions requires not only Technical knowledge, but also Salesmanship. A good or bad response it a totally subjective point of view. It will help though, to let you know if you can work them.

Website Rob,

Thanks for the advice. The 24hours expectation makes sense. I will give Westhost alittle more time before I bump them off my list.

Has anyone on the forum had any good/bad experiences with Westhost?

Thanks for the help,

- Jason

WestHost is, in my opinion the best hosting service I have come across, hands down.

It is mentioned above that response time for support is very important, and I was wary when signing up because the only 1-800 number was for sales.

I haven't had many problems besides connectivity issues now and again, but there was a permissions issue that prevented me from setting permissions via SSH.

I sent an email about 11:00 pm and received a response that said the problem was fixed the next morning.

see http://chickenfart.com.

That's a heck of a handle........ lol


I know someone who has a site with Westhost and I believe she has been happy with them.