Most hosts give a money back guarantee but dedicated hosts rarely do, for obvious reasons. I have been searching for hours and I could find only one.
http://sy.net/general/15_day_guarantee.htm

...though their prices are rather high so I am looking for others. So are there any that give such a guarantee for dedicated server rental, including setup fees?

That really surprises me, actually. I could see not wanting to attract clients who are going to spam and run, or something... but really, why not offer a money-back guarantee? Most hosts are charging a setup fee which should more than cover the cost of staff time to set the server up.

that is correct :) i dont even bother setting up a dedicated server with a money back guarantee for someone and turns out , he will just use it to send bulk emails and cancel the contract after 1 month and you will be left out with people complaining of spam they got from server this and that.

bottom line is, its not really worth the hassle.If you are serious in getting a server then there are a lot of good data centers/colo guys out there, some of them frequents this board, so just ask ;)

elijaH :)

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What was posted here breaches the forum rules.
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[Edited by Chicken on 03-01-2001 at 08:58 PM]

Hm, why don't we all start jumping in here advertising ourselves...

There aren't many companies that would be willing to do this. There is too much overhead involved.

I think Dialtone offers a 30 day guarantee.

[Edited by tabernack on 03-01-2001 at 07:44 PM]

Dialtone Internet has a 30 day money back guarantee. I doubt you'll need it, though. I've had my server there about 9 months and have been pleased with their attitude as shown in their committment to service and improving their offerings, and generally pleased with the service overall. There have been a couple of small bumps with service problems. Nothing major though, nor irreconcilable.

"Dialtone Internet has a 30 day money back guarantee"

They used to have this months ago, but not any longer it seems. There are many hosts offering dedicated hosting with a money back guarantee but they specifically exclude setup fees. So far only http://www.sy.net and http://www.burst.net seems to be promising to refund those if they charge them.
Are there any others?

Sorry. I should have said they had one the last time I looked. Since I have no need to check their terms, some information can become outdated.

Along with some other comments here as to why most dedicated server hosts don't offer money back guarantees, I just thought of another. We've seen evidence of it here in the comments some people make.

There are a lot of people getting dedicated servers who haven't a clue as to what to do with them. I don't mean little knowledge, I mean no knowledge. Many are people who won't buy or read a book for the basics, and will depend on a control panel and asking others simple questions they should know.

In short, they are not committed to the time it takes to learn even the basics.

They have nothing to lose by ordering a dedicated server and seeing if they can run it. Since they can't, they cancel, get their money back, and have wasted the time and money of the server company.

Many of us here didn't know everything (still don't), and got our own servers anyway. However, many of us also knew the basics and made a committment to learning much more. I put information on my site to help people make that jump (and avoid the lousy service at so many shared server hosting companies). I do give an idea of what is needed to start and what will be needed to continue. Some poeple just don't have what it takes.

Managing a server is not for people whose brain is on automatic pilot. It takes active thinking.

Originally posted by Duster
Managing a server is not for people whose brain is on automatic pilot. It takes active thinking.

Well said Duster. I was one of those people who knew very little when I got my first server from Dialtone last summer. But, as you said, if you're willing to learn then it becomes a good experience. The first thing I did was go out and spend $150 on books and dove right in.

Some people should just not be allowed to signup for dedicated boxes.

Duster ... such great information. Wow. I've spent the last 2 hours reading your site, dialtone's, as well as clicking on every link you provided.

You shared so much, thank you.

Destee

Destee,

It's my pleasure. I'm just making it easier for others to make sound choices and get started by providing information and links to resources where they can learn more. I had never found any resource that helped people make the jump to dedicated servers so I created one. I also don't like to see people make bad choices through ignorance, whether in choice of a hosting company or registrar, so I added information about them also.

Some people need to learn from their own mistakes and experiences. Others might learn from ours and have it a bit easier. I try to help the latter. There's no helping the former.

I don't agree that it is an issue of concern about people SPAMMING and then running, since that would violate the AUP and they'd not be entitled for a refund anyway. And, money back guarantee or not, they will surely have their account canceled ASAP, as soon as you were able to verify the SPAMMING activity and they'd not be entitled to a refund anyway. So, they have no incentive and no way to save money.

I agree about Duster's comments about people trying ti and finding it too difficult, frustrating or whatever and decide it's not for them and ask for a refund. Is that a bad thing? It depends. If you keep the set up money and all you had to do, was so-much work to set it up for them, does it matter if they get their money back, since they didn't likely move any bandwidth, etc. anyway, in that case? Maybe... maybe not. However, that is about the only potential reason someone might not have the best intentions and plan to continue to host anyway.

So, do you give them the set up fee back too? Probably not, so what do you lose? It depends, you might make money off of it anyway with the set up fee, and you might have had to do nothing else. You might or might not lose out on time or money, but I don't see that as being likely. However, perhaps it's just best to have something that clearly states, they must have a legitimate reason for cancellation to receive a refund. That being enforced, will make you avoid any such problems.

Obviously if they violated the AUP, they'd not be entitled. If someone wants to try it and out see if they can do it or are interested in it, shouldn't they give a better reason to ask for a refund, than simply saying they decided not to do it?

Surely, they could cancel without any problems, but the contract ought to ensure they commit to the fact and lessen your chances of people abusing the service. That shouldn't be anything difficult to implement and enforce, and if people aren't serious enough to promise not to just play around for a month and ask for a refund, you'd likely not want to bother with them under any other terms, since it'll likely have the same result anyway.

Personally, I'd only cater to people that are serious, are at least understand the simplicity of the terms of getting a dedicated server, no matter what their feelings about wanting to give it a try, for free. A refund should be based on a lack of a service promised, or other such issues. People shouldn't have a problem with that and refunds can surely be awarded in circumstances where it's reasonable and fair, not to just let everyone in the world try it out and waste your time each month. It's not a bad idea per se, and it's not even risky, as long as you do it with some common sense, this can be something that can be widely offered without any problems. The people that will complain they have a good reason and don't, will do it anyway.

look at http://www.communitech.net ...

http://www.weinbar.com has a 30 day money back guarantee

Matrix
http://www.weinbar.com has a 30 day money back guarantee

Voodoo Web
look at http://www.communitech.net ...

weinbar and communitech don't refund setup fees, when you look at their fine print. While http://sy.net and http://www.burst.net offer an 'honest' money back guarantee, not holding back on what was paid them.

from http://www.weinbar.com/redhatserv.html
All Dedicated Servers include our 30-Day Money Back Guarantee. If, for any reason you are not satisfied and you are within our Terms of Service, you may cancel within the first 30 days and receive a refund, less any setup fees.

from http://www.communitech.net/hosting/dedicated/policies/guarantees.cgi
"...be terminated and any monthly fees paid, excluding setup fees and first month, shall be credited ..."

jonglenn,

seems like to me that it would be hard to find places that will give a refund on setup plus the months fee within the first 30 days. I know that you posted a few but I bet there arent many of them.

Plus I would be looking at more than just a 30 day money back guarantee. The original poster should be also looking at the reputation of the business, tech support, speed of the company in question and the overall price for the server per month.