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  1. #1

    User Experience with 1&1

    What I am looking for here is simply to share my experience with others who may fall into the same debacle, or one much more severe.

    I write this in hope that it catches the eye of not only potential future customers of 1&1, but also 1&1's current customers, and 1&1 themselves.

    I recently found myself intrigued by the offer of $99 Setup then 3 months free, offered by 1&1 for dedicated server hosting.

    Granted, I hadn't realized at first that this involved a 12 month commitment, and a non-refundable setup fee.

    The down side to this should be obvious. Commit to 12 months to get the deal. Realize in 7 Days that this was a poor choice of hosts, and lose $99 for setup, plus the remaining 12months of your contract that you are obligated to pay. And in my case---potentially suffer a non-refundable fee and a 12 month commit for services never rendered.

    I'd like to meet the genius that came up with this promotion. Mind you, unlike nearly all of 1&1's other server offers, this one does not have a "No Contract" option.

    Anyway, to the point, the mistake was mine for entering into this deal. I'll accept that.

    I signed up an account with 1&1 for their XL servers. I had found it to be a nice deal, as the 3 months free would give me time to set aside money for future expenses with 1&1.

    The payment was processed, and I verified all needed info. I received an email stating that my server would be ready within the typical 24-48 hours. I also verified this via email with their sales department prior to making payment.

    Six days after verifying the information, and receiving said email, 1&1 finally took payment from my bank account. Mind you, during these 6 days, my server was still not available. Nor were any attempts to contact support answered.

    Finally, on the seventh day, I received an email informing me that 1&1 was currently low on supplies, and this caused a delay in setting up the server.

    The amusing part about this is that during the ordering process, I had noticed that all of the servers that weren't being offered 3 months free, all noted if supplies were low and that there could be a 2-3 week delay. Apparently, those of us seeking the enormous promotional offer are not deserving of previous notice of delay.

    Anyway, upon receiving the email informing me of the delay, I immediately logged into my 1&1 account, and chose to cancel my plan, regardless of the 12 month commitment.

    After all, I am trying to run a business, and in my business (and most others), I meet the times promised. In the event of a delay, I am pro-active in informing the customer of such. And I certainly would not take payment six days after having the customer jump through my verification hoops, all while knowing that the setup is already days behind schedule.

    After cancelling my hosting plan, I then emailed 1&1. I very politely explained the entire process I had gone through up to the point of the email I was writing, much in the same terms I have explained here, and politely asked that they look past the "No Refund Policy" they have for the $99 Set Up Fee.

    I did this assuming they would do as any reputable business, and see to the refund regardless. I assumed this mainly due to the fact that I had paid for a set up, that was never set up.

    Not to mention the failure to inform before purchase of the delay; the email stating 24-48 hour set up time (on two occasions)---still lacking a notice of delay; The taking of payment days after the server should have been set up; The 4-5 day response time it took to even get a response to my inquiry about the lack of server availability---sadly, this was just the top of the list of reasons I had assumed they would look past their no refund policy.

    Finally, another 3 days after requesting this refund, I received a response stating that they would cancel all aspects of my plan (including the domain I purchased), and refund all fees.

    However, this came with a catch. The refund would be processed in 2-3 weeks. I have never had a refund take this long when dealing with hosting services---regardless of the reason. Apparently they are low on their supply of payment and refund processors as well.

    Now, here I am, 2 weeks later. No refund, no server, and my domain that was supposedly cancelled---still showing as unavailable and unable to be registered elsewhere.

    Over all, this entire process with 1&1 has taken just shy of a month. What is to be shown for this month long process?

    Nothing.

    Feel free to also note that 1&1 has failed to respond to 3 more attempts to contact them about this matter in the past 5 days.

    While I hope others have received far superior treatment, attention, and service from 1&1---for any newcomers considering them as a host, please take my suggestion to thoroughly reconsider.

    While 1&1's business may continue, and their profit may continue to grow, they seem unwilling (or incapable) or seeing that their failure to act can (and most likely will) hinder the growth and opportunity of others.

    For many small start ups, such a scenario, could put a severe damper on their plans. Not everyone has the time or money to simply wait around, or pick up and move on to another host.

    -Frank

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    132
    Sorry to hear that, be sure to keep us updated with how things get on.

  3. #3
    Wow. I use 1and1 for a few domain registrations, and they've been fine, but for a domain I just registered I decided to go with internetbs.net, just to diversify and because of what i've been hearing recently about 1and1. So for domain registration my own experience is fine, but it sounds like hosting is a whole nother ball of wax.
    My trade show guide is about trade shows and trade show stuff.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Donder View Post
    Wow. I use 1and1 for a few domain registrations, and they've been fine, but for a domain I just registered I decided to go with internetbs.net, just to diversify and because of what i've been hearing recently about 1and1. So for domain registration my own experience is fine, but it sounds like hosting is a whole nother ball of wax.
    I have actually used 1&1 in the past for domains, this is what brought me to considering them for a hosting solution as well.

    And yes, for domains (other than what was to be included with my server), they have been great. I will give them credit for that much.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    779
    1&1 is a terrible company, I recieved diabolical service from them in ~2006 some of their support procedures aren't secure and support in general is extremely bad. Avoid them at all costs.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Ashburn, Virginia
    Posts
    654
    Agreed -- 1&1 has no love from me anymore.
    LionLink Networks
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  7. #7

    UPDATE

    As of today, I have FINALLY received my refund from 1and1 over this fiasco.

    Oh, and guess what...they still do not have the supplies ready for the server set up I tried to order over a month ago.

    And better yet, they still do not advise of that previous to ordering. I had to send a pre-sales email to find that out...6 days after the email was sent.

    I am just relieved to officially be free of this ordeal.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Ten1/0/2
    Posts
    2,529
    Just glad you got out of it and all you lost was a month!

    Imagine how bad it could have been.

    I looked after a server for someone several years ago that was from 1&1 - and yes, it only lasted as long as the initial 3 month payment before moving onto something better.
    CPanel Shared and Reseller Hosting, OpenVZ VPS Hosting. West Coast (LA) Servers and Nodes
    Running Linux since 1.0.8 Kernel!
    Providing Internet Services since 1995 and Hosting Since 2004

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Tampa, Fl
    Posts
    181
    That actually sounded like a pleasant way 1&1 handled this. At least compared to normal. I don't think you will find very many good reviews on them, if you even find 1. They are the scum of the hosting industry...

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