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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Posts
    333

    Hosts that offer one thing, but you actually get another

    I'm not trying to bash any one company because I know this is common for the mass market hosters. As an example I'll use Lunarpages simply because they have a news release on WHT touting their increased space and bandwidth offerings.

    I see the Lunarpage offer is now 35 gigs of storage / 800 gigs of transfer, and 50 gigs of storage / 1 terabyte of transfer respectively for the Basic and Business accounts. Obviously a ludicrous offer, and one that cannot possibly be fulfilled to any degree. There are plenty of hosts that do this though, so Lunarpages isn't the only offender.

    I read their FAQ and find what they're really providing is 1 gig of storage for the basic plan and 1.5 gigs of storage for the business plan. In order to increase your disk space you must agree to many pre-conditions and they will only increase your space by 500 megs at a time at that. This smacks of serious false advertisement and fraud.

    I'm no lawyer, but I consider these types of offers unethical and on the verge (if not) out and out fraud. I am surprised they (or those like them) have not yet been sued for this bait and switch. I imagine a class action could be created in this situation. Again, I'm no lawyer, and have no litigious intentions, but there are plenty of people out there that love to sue. People won't generally litigate over $10, but a class action suit could be devastating for a company like this. A company that makes an outrageous offer, but then puts in enough caveats that no one can really use what they "paid" for in the way they see fit.

    It is my belief this type of behavior is hurting the hosting industry. It drags everything down, and gives the whole industry a used car lot feel. What do you think? Am I off base? Am I just an old man that doesn't "get" what the hosting industry is any more?

    I can't emphasis enough that I'm not trying to pick on any one company. It just happens the Lunarpages news release piqued my interest so they were the company I used.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Torbay - UK
    Posts
    23
    Just stay away from companies that make these sort of claims.

    Most respectable hosts don't do this any more. Even your average punters are getting smart and can tell they won't get what is being advertised.

    The way to stop this sort of thing is just don't spend your money with them....

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    1,834
    Quote Originally Posted by 0utlier

    I read their FAQ .......
    Most never take the time to read the AUP, TOS, and FAQ......

    I agree with you that this industry is becoming a big slimey used car lot with a guy in a shiny suit saying, "It was only driven on Sundays to church.".

    You have to evaluate who you are dealing with, and just make your best buying decision, which seems you are smart enought to see the difference between the line and the fine line.
    Ray Womack @ atOmicVPS LTD
    Linux & Windows Cloud Hosting Solutions Powered by OnApp
    Fully Managed [Shared][Reseller][Cloud VPS] [Dedicated]
    Featuring the atOmicSTACK ● Speed ● Performance ● Reliability

  4. #4
    Where did you see that in their FAQ's? I know that used to be how they gave storage but now they just give it to you up front. My 2 accounts were upgraded to the full storage amount without any prompting from me. So I didn't have to "qualify" for anything, they just gave it to me.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Orlando, FL
    Posts
    98
    Quote Originally Posted by alan_torbay
    Just stay away from companies that make these sort of claims.

    Most respectable hosts don't do this any more. Even your average punters are getting smart and can tell they won't get what is being advertised.

    The way to stop this sort of thing is just don't spend your money with them....
    Well said... The only way to stop the mass overselling is to not use them.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Posts
    5,393
    Try to avoid hosts with "to good to be true" offers. If a host offers an offer like this they are either going to oversell a server very badly, or not be able to stay afloat in the long term. Best to avoid these all together.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    1,834
    Quote Originally Posted by 12dollarhost
    Try to avoid hosts with "to good to be true" offers. If a host offers an offer like this they are either going to oversell a server very badly, or not be able to stay afloat in the long term. Best to avoid these all together.
    I have never posed a hosting plan around here, but the general consensus is from industry pro's Is that the $59 hosting is crap.
    Ray Womack @ atOmicVPS LTD
    Linux & Windows Cloud Hosting Solutions Powered by OnApp
    Fully Managed [Shared][Reseller][Cloud VPS] [Dedicated]
    Featuring the atOmicSTACK ● Speed ● Performance ● Reliability

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Posts
    333
    Quote Originally Posted by Kiri
    Where did you see that in their FAQ's? I know that used to be how they gave storage but now they just give it to you up front. My 2 accounts were upgraded to the full storage amount without any prompting from me. So I didn't have to "qualify" for anything, they just gave it to me.
    http://www.lunarpages.com/legal.htm#4.12

    Could you please post a screenshot of your control panel that shows you have access to at least 35 gigs of disk space to use?

  9. #9
    Hi,

    I know this post is a little late, but I just seen it.. In any event, when you sign up for our Basic and/or Business account, you automatically receive the full storage and bandwidth amounts listed. Previously, you did have to request the storage increases, but that has now changed.

    I do apologize for the late reply, but I wanted to clarify things.

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