Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : I want 99.8% uptime host

I'm currently reseller of BurstNet.

I really hate this company.
Server down regularly, four to five times a week.

Today I have server down phone calls from my clients 3 o'clock in the morning. one of BurstNet server which my clients are hosted in was down for last five hours. And it's still down.

Are there any hosting company who has similar hosting service and price with 99.8% uptime guarantee.

[talula]

what do you tell your clients when something like this happens? (i know this kind of question should go under the reseller forum, but since i got a reseller posting here now.. what the hell!)

i am about to become a reseller and have lots of fears regarding having to depend on a host who might be great one day and crappy the next. are resellers covered at all (legally at least) when their host screws up and you have an angry customer on your hands?

almost every host who provides a reseller account has a manual about what your responsibilities are, etc. but nothing ever is covered on how to handle upset clients who ordered a service and aren't getting it (which really isn't the resellers fault since they advertise what their host does and believes that the service will be provided as stated, though i know that isn't an excuse anyone can use based on other posts i've read on several boards online).

of course when i start to resell i will always give a refund to any upset client, but that doesn't cover those who feel they have lost business due to downtime and want to be compensated. what then?

any advice would be greatly appreciated! :p
oh yeah, HateRRRRR, how many clients do you have? a move to a different host could be hard (how would resellers get backups for a move to a different provider/server?). but if you have a good client base, maybe think about getting your own servers. alabanza has had many good reviews on reliability and ease of software use.

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what had mattered... matters little now
we have shattered... apart somehow

Quote: "but that doesn't cover those who feel they have lost business due to downtime and want to be compensated. what then?"

Keep in mind that as a reseller, you are taking money from people, thus you should form the company as if you were the actual provider. If someone decides to sue you and you haven't set your company up correctly, it could mean a whole lot of personal liability.

Too many resellers either don't set up a company at all (thus opening themselves up to many potential problems), or set up as a sole proprietor, which won't protect you legally.

You are starting a business. Keep that in mind.

Find a company that is on the Alabanza Network, our servers have gone down once in 11 months other then scheduled down time for upgrades and such. And the one time it did go down it was only for 11 minuets in the middle of the night. This is the most rock solid server I have ever been on, but no NT.

JRC Systems http://jrc-hosting.com
1-877-429-8867

jrc-hosting you probably kidding with your 2gig data transfer plans.

[Annette]

What do you mean, niekas? Most people never even come close to using 1G of transfer for their sites.

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

I do create custom plans for those who want more bandwidth, but it is only about 2% of my customers that think they need any more then that. And the ones that buy more have never even come close to their original 2 gig yet. My clients are very happy with my plans, and they are making my company very successful, so I see no reason to change anything at this point.

[talula]

to chicken:

i planned on starting my business as a sole proprietor and then expand as i need to (i really doubt that i'll have more than 20 clients in a year and really dont want more than 50).

if i hire a lawyer to write up a policy and tos that states i am not liable for downtime, etc. would that be enough to cover me if a client wants to sue for losses?

i would assume most people say they want to sue but its just a threat so the host gets back on their toes. is the risk of being sued that high?

so far i've only seeked out help and advice from a professor on campus and here since i don't have money to get advice from anyone else, but he told me that an agreement between the client and myself should cover me if something wrong should ever happen.

i am really excited about becoming a reseller because i know i can give the support and make my clients happy, but the thought of my host going bad is a scary one. but i try and think positively 'the greatest risk is not taking the risk in the first place' heh or something like that!

thanx for the advice and info

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what had mattered... matters little now
we have shattered... apart somehow

[Félix C.Courtemanche]

I wish you good luck to all that are trying to move around, and I'm glad this isn't happening to us

On the GB matter, you have to monitor those clients closely, and unless you only host personal page, you _will_ stumble on people that used 100mb/month that suddenly use 4gb/day (we got that anyway).

Now, for the legality issue, I think that having a ToS, making sure your clients read it and perhapse signing a contrac (it can be virtual now) will save you from the pursuit. However, if you become a bad host and are saved from those pursuit you may still loose all your clients.

The best is to find a reliable host (personally I prefer to use one that is on a good system AND that isn't too big. I prefer that because you usually have less problems with small ones than big ones.)

Of course, you have to know wich whow you are working and make sure everything is clear.

Well, as I said before... Good luck, your going to need it if you plan on moving many domains, set up a new company or wathever I covered in this post


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[Félix C.Courtemanche | Web Designer]
[Head Designer | Co-Admin]
[webmaster@can-host.com]
[Can-Host Networks | http://can-host.com ]

[Jason Ellis]

Talula-

if i hire a lawyer to write up a policy and tos that states i am not liable for downtime, etc. would that be enough to cover me if a client wants to sue for losses?

Well, this is the problem that we all face. With the system of justice in place in the U.S. (and in fact many countries), there is *nothing* that will prevent you from being sued if a client decides they want to sue you.

That being said, a good, iron-clad Terms of Service, with a solid limit of liability, will protect you from *losing* a lawsuit if a client decided to file one. But *nothing* you can do (from a Terms of Service standpoint) can prevent a client from filing a lawsuit against you.

And make no bones about it - lawsuits, even ones you win, are very very expensive to defend against. And because of the newness of this whole Internet thing, almost no insurance company is willing to extend professional liability insurance to web hosts or ISPs. They'll give you general liability (defense against someone slipping on your doorstep and breaking a leg), but they won't give professional liability (defense against business practices/procedures).

Now, I'm not suggesting that the fear of a lawsuit should prevent you from ever starting your company, because that just isn't the case. If you run your company well, treat your customers fairly, and run an honest business, then the likelihood of a lawsuit is very small.

Good luck,

Jason Ellis, CEO
Hosting Solutions, Inc.


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Jason Ellis, CEO
Hosting Solutions, Inc.
www.windowswebhost.com
Now offering Fully Managed Servers!

[Annette]

Jason is right - since we're in the suit-happy US, there really isn't anything that can be done to stop people from filing lawsuits. Hoever, absent any serious, egregious acts by a host, there really should not be any basis for one, and most astute lawyers will recognize this fact.

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

I second Jason's post as you should consider the points he made. Just understand that operating as a sole proprietor, is very easy to set up, but it doesn't protect you persoanlly *if* you should happen be sued and lose the case. As Jason said, anyone can file a lawsuit against you (for the most part). Be sure to understand the risks involved

Also, I thought it was important that Jason mentioned insurance (not a bad idea!) and that you DO NOT need general liability (defense against someone slipping on your doorstep and breaking a leg), which is a common thing most businesses need. Unless you have employees/customers at your location, this would be useless for you.

Don't get scared off, just understand what you are doing, and what limits it has.

to dave..
i have two sites that i administer. one has over 15 gig transfers per month and another is on free host and by their statistics (webalizer) i transfer over 3gigs a month and if you think my pages on the last site is less than 15KB (banners directly from advertizer site). And thats not high traffic site - about 10.000 pageviews per day.

so your plans are really below average that industry has to offer. even those crappy "unlimited" bandwidth companies usually give at least 5gig. but i really appreciate that you don't say "unlimited" bandwidth.

We all chose to cater to certain types of clients, and for now this is working for us. And you are right, we would not be the company for you, we are not the company for many people out there. But you are made aware of that as soon as you look at our page, instead of signing up and then finding that out. And we do create custom packages for those who want more. There are allot of different companies out there, as there are as many different clients out there. I do not claim to be the host for everyone, but I have a great bunch of clients, allot of rookies and they are very happy with the service they receive. And they know exactly what they are getting before they sign up, there are no surprises in the future. I am still new to this and have allot to learn, but if you take a look at my reviews http://www.hostsearch.com/showcommen...Companycode=57 you would have to agree I am doing something right. It is a balancing act that I am still learning, and for right now it is working for me, when it stops working I will have to step back and re think my options at that time. I am trying very hard to be able to provide my clients with what they are promised, I do not want to become a TH or similar host, that can not provide their clients with what was promised to them. I still have allot to learn, there is no doubt about that, and I thank you for your comments, they are appreciated.


Thank You
JRC Systems http://jrc-hosting.com
1-877-429-8867

[Duster]

Dave,

I just took a look at your reviews and your site. Congratulations on both. You obviously offer a greater level of service than seems to be the industry standard. Your candor and outlook are refreshing too. No company can be all things to all customersm and it's nice to come across companies that acknowledge it. Let people like niekas focus on technical issues. More astute people realize the attitude of the people behind a business is of paramount importance and that everything else is of secondary, even tertiary, importance.