View Poll Results: Should WHT allow "lifetime" hosting plans?
- Voters
- 118. You may not vote on this poll
-
Yes. WHT should allow members to sell lifetime hosting plans.
15 12.71% -
No. WHT should not allow members to sell lifetime hosting plans.
103 87.29%
Results 1 to 25 of 44
Thread: Never pay for hosting again!
-
09-08-2006, 12:09 PM #1Dennis Johnson
- Join Date
- Jun 2001
- Location
- Kalamazoo
- Posts
- 33,412
Never pay for hosting again!
That's what's sold.
The question is, should WHT allow it?
Is it possible to provide hosting forever for one price? When I purchase a "liftetime hosting plan," is if for my life time, the host's, the dc, my dog? I'm not sure I understand the host's business plan.
Maybe it's possible. I don't know. That's what this thread's for.
Okay.
Ready?
Discuss.There is no best host. There is only the host that's best for you.
-
09-08-2006, 12:28 PM #2Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Jun 2002
- Posts
- 1,874
No doubt those companies won't be able to live up to their claims. We'll get lots of angry customers complaining about being scammed on here which will mean a lot of advertising impressions served which means a lot of money for iNet which means... I'll stop before I put my foot in my mouth...
I think it's a no-brainer
-
09-08-2006, 12:34 PM #3Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Sep 2004
- Posts
- 1,909
My discussion - it would be pure nuts! Is that enough characters for this post. If not - have a few more. Oops. Lets do just one more. 1
-
09-08-2006, 01:26 PM #4Disabled
- Join Date
- Dec 2005
- Posts
- 186
What happens is the hosting companies that claims its for life will never able to, sure they will get loads of customers but they would be slowly working themselves into debt because say they have a low month of customers or maybe year, they cant afford to pay for the hardware anymore, therefore your site gets terminated and your stuck with nothing.
A lot of people that want a site would go for a lifetime but people that are or have been in the hosting business will know its not worth it, there will probably also be something in the terms and conditions saying that "lifetime" means that it is lasting you for so many years.
If you really want to try an lifetime hosting company get a really cheap package and see if they are there the next year.
Cheap is never the best.
-
09-08-2006, 01:46 PM #5Retired Moderator
- Join Date
- Oct 2002
- Posts
- 5,178
Nope, don't allow members to do this. Falls under the same type of scam as unlimited in my mind. Every dialup ISP that did this in the late 90's went belly-up within 2 years. I'm sure all these web hosts will do the same, and this will just become a forgotten fad in time.
If you have to operate your company behind the scenes or under a fake name, maybe it's time to leave the industry and start something fresh.
-
09-08-2006, 03:22 PM #6Junior Guru
- Join Date
- Aug 2006
- Posts
- 193
A "lifetime" plan could be as fraudulent as any other plan posted on WHT. Who are they to say that this sort of place must be fraudulent (well, apart from owning the board.....) Surely any ad posted here is potentially fraudulent?
There are reputable companies that offer lifetime plans in many fields. This isn't always a problem. (Apart from when a certain UK cell phone network decided they would try to terminate mine ) - (Yes...tried)
-
09-08-2006, 03:41 PM #7
"lifetime" anything is just as fraudulent as "unlimited" bandwidth. There flat out is no such thing.
Example:
I remember quite some back, numerous individuals and companies attempted to offer "lifetime" internet access (dialup). Most (if not all) of these companies have gone out of business by this point.
Did the customer get their money's worth? That all depends. However, there certainly was no "lifetime" internet access there, and this was simply yet another marketing scheme, fraudulent though it was.Tom Whiting, WHMCS Guru extraordinaire
Linux problems? WHMCS Problems? Give me a shout
Check out my WHMCS Addons
-
09-08-2006, 09:42 PM #8Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Nov 2004
- Location
- Switzerland
- Posts
- 1,307
The idea behind this system is quite simple: if you sell lifetime hosting to 1000 people, 2 years later more than 99% of the websites are inactive. You can delete them and no one will even care.
Even with life time hosting, customers still need to pay for their domain names every year. People without a serious projet, won't renew their domain so the host could safely terminate the hosting.
The business plan is based on the fact that only beginners webmasters beleive on a lifetime hosting and such webmasters couldn't build successfull websites anyway. They pay for a lifetime hosting than give up 6 months later.Enterprise Consultant
CCNP Enterprise - CCNP Security
.:. Travels From West to East .:.
-
09-09-2006, 12:49 AM #9Disabled
- Join Date
- Jul 2005
- Location
- Buffalo, NY
- Posts
- 2,638
Originally Posted by edelweisshosting
Originally Posted by edelweisshosting
-
09-09-2006, 01:15 AM #10Retired ***ulator
- Join Date
- Jan 2003
- Location
- Let's see.....
- Posts
- 4,463
As for lifetime, it should be stated for the life of the company, not your own. So if the company crash and burns, so does your account.
I remember ASO (A Small Orange) doing something like that, but they didn't advertise it here I think. They were trying to get up some $$ to invest in their own servers and move away from the Planet. But it was offered for a limited time only.73's, Kim
Everything happens for a reason I make up.
-
09-09-2006, 01:58 AM #11Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Jun 2002
- Location
- PA, USA
- Posts
- 5,143
I don't see the problem of offering limited number of lifetime hosting. Some hosts are on the level that they can even provide free services if they want to.
Fluid Hosting, LLC - Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure: Cloud Shared and Reseller, Cloud VPS, and Cloud Hybrid Server
-
09-09-2006, 02:15 AM #12Junior Guru
- Join Date
- Jan 2006
- Location
- Wollongong, Australia
- Posts
- 186
I am going to into heavy intellectual debate here:
No no no no no no no no no no no no no NO!
-
09-09-2006, 11:17 AM #13WebHostingTalk Lover
- Join Date
- Mar 2003
- Location
- New York City
- Posts
- 7,406
Hi,
Lifetime no, but there are already some hosts doing FREE 1 YEAR trial and similar tactics which I would say is fine, but when it comes to LIFETIME Hosting that just isn't realistic at all unless it is some sort of FREE HOSTING/ PAID HOSTING Hybrid where they let you host forever but after few years you get ADS on your site suddenly?
Cheers█• Taskade - To-Do List & Tasks • All-in-One To-Do List & Mind Map App for Remote Teams
█• Simple and shareable to-do lists for web, mobile, and desktop
█• To-Do List Templates • 300+ shareable templates and productivity workflows
█• Get things done, faster and smarter! • I eat penguins for breakfast ...
-
09-09-2006, 01:15 PM #14Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Apr 2003
- Location
- Bluesquare dc, Uk
- Posts
- 1,591
I've always had the solid belief that if there's even a SMALL doubt you cannot provide something, then you shouldn't offer it / use it as an advertising trick.
Whether you should allow it or not.....well that's opening a can of worms.
What about all the hosts that oversell, and do not provide the bandwidth / space that was bought?Olly | INX-Gaming
Call of Duty 4 hosting
-
09-09-2006, 02:14 PM #15Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Nov 2005
- Location
- Australia
- Posts
- 642
Originally Posted by SoftWareRevue
-
09-09-2006, 02:17 PM #16learning is in the doing
- Join Date
- Sep 2000
- Location
- Alberta, Canada
- Posts
- 3,146
Originally Posted by SoftWareRevue
According to one Mod, it's up to the individual to determine these type things for themselves. Many would say and myself included, that Lifetime Hosting packages are not viable but that can also apply to selling 'unlimited' Hosting Services of various kinds, which anyone can Advertise here.• PotentProducts.com - for all your Hosting needs
• Helping people Host, Create and Maintain their Web Site
• ServerAdmin Services also available
-
09-09-2006, 02:22 PM #17Dennis Johnson
- Join Date
- Jun 2001
- Location
- Kalamazoo
- Posts
- 33,412
Originally Posted by Website RobThere is no best host. There is only the host that's best for you.
-
09-09-2006, 04:45 PM #18Texas Female
- Join Date
- Mar 2000
- Location
- San Antonio, Texas
- Posts
- 3,690
Nope...another good marketing ploy is how I look at it.
HostCaters.com - Quality Web Hosting - Under A Gig! - Since 1999
-
09-09-2006, 04:58 PM #19Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- May 2001
- Location
- HK
- Posts
- 3,082
Originally Posted by SoftWareRevue
Enforce this "No Lifetime Hosting" policy then because it sounds soooooooo unrealistic to you.
-
09-09-2006, 10:17 PM #20Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Jun 2002
- Posts
- 1,874
Originally Posted by YUPAPA
How long has it been since I last saw you on here!
-
09-09-2006, 10:50 PM #21Retired Moderator
- Join Date
- Apr 2005
- Posts
- 3,499
I believe that there are too many "variables" for a life time hosting plan to work, so my vote is "no". Also, imagine the problems there would be when a "life time" host declares bankrupcy.
Alex
-
09-10-2006, 01:34 AM #22Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Feb 2004
- Location
- Scotland
- Posts
- 2,833
Originally Posted by SoftWareRevue
I can go out and buy a knife with a lifetime warranty, a drill bit with a lifetime warranty, a graphic card with a lifetime warranty, RAM with a lifetime warranty and many many more things, yet the people of WHT have decided that it's a scam?
It's not about getting hosting until you die, it's about paying less overall for the service that you are going to continue to use. If it costs 2x the annual amount to get a lifetime plan, is it really worth paying annually/monthly for the next 5-10 years? If you pay double the annual amount and the host disappears in 3 years, did you really lose anything?
Note that I have no problem with reputable companies offering this as a one-time special because they have the means to back it up, I do however have a problem with companies that offer this as a standard hosting plan, a startup offer or hosts that only offer these types of plans.
To me though, if you are going to act as the police of hosting deciding what is a scam and what is not, I'd certainly hope that the offers of huge plans for a few dollars are also going to be banned. They are no less of a scam than lifetime hosting.
Originally Posted by SoftWareRevue
-
09-10-2006, 02:53 AM #23Web Hosting Evangelist
- Join Date
- Feb 2006
- Posts
- 466
Unlimited plans are not fraudulent and there are still companies that offer unlimited bandwidth etc. It`s mean and ****ed up in a way but...not illegal.
-
09-10-2006, 04:13 AM #24Junior Guru
- Join Date
- Jan 2006
- Location
- Wollongong, Australia
- Posts
- 186
I'll tell you what.
I will start offering 'Lifetime Plans'. Starts at $2.5 million USD for 10 megabytes of Space, 5 e-mail accounts, 1GB Bandwidth, 1 FTP account.
Sound like a killer?
-
09-10-2006, 04:43 AM #25Web Hosting Master
- Join Date
- Jun 2002
- Location
- PA, USA
- Posts
- 5,143
Originally Posted by SoftWareRevue
Besides, nobody objects free hosting ...Fluid Hosting, LLC - Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure: Cloud Shared and Reseller, Cloud VPS, and Cloud Hybrid Server