Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Considering Hostmonster? Dont!

[Arctic-Silver]

First of all id just like to say i frequently read these forums for offers/to stay up to date with web hosting in general.

I never felt the need to register until now.

I have experienced what i believe to be sub-standard service from my paid hosting.

Here's what happened:

I got up, as usual to check my emails and i was hit with the following email



Your web hosting account for xxxxxxxx has been deactivated (reason: terms of service violation).
Although your web site has been disabled, your data may still be available for
up to 15 days, after which it will be deleted.

If you feel this deactivation is in error, please contact customer support as
soon as possible.

Thank you,
HostMonster.Com Support
xxxxxx (couldn't have url's in this post)
For support go to xxxxxx
Toll-Free: (866) 573-4678



I checked my domain, it returned nothing.

I don't believe that i have committed any terms of service violation and i am quite peeved off with the results.

My account was just suddenly deactivated with no warning, my domain (also registered via them) no longer works (i have no way of telling current visitors whats happened, the domain just wont work) and i have 15 days to contact them (via email) as phone is not an option as i live out of the US.

Not to mention after all that, i wouldn't review host-monster very greatly at all for speed, at first it was great but it just kept degrading from there until it was just extremely poor.


One thing they did do right was refund me (but i bet it doesn't include the domain) so ill be taking that money and my business else ware.


Thanks for reading
Scott

[MikeDVB]

Did you contact HostMonster to see why you site was disabled? I wish you the best of luck in your search for a new host, I suggest you check the offers section here at http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=4

[RDOSTI]

I'm sure they had a good reason for it...Most hosts dont cancel and refund unless there'a proper reason...could be high cpu usage or so..

Regards

[vnn_vn]

I had the same situation like you before, my domain babyiloveu.com was just a dating website..i also receive that email stated that my account violated TOS and them disabled my account without any warning! I even dont know which mistake i had made lead them to disabled my acc..
How cruel!!!

[Arctic-Silver]

I cant see a good reason for it, i know i just host a community site and a clan site, simple as that.

I have emailed host monster to see what they say.

Also on a side note, i did get hacked a while back, i talked to them via live chat and they scanned my directory for any files that the hacker might of left, they couldn't find any.

I wonder if they missed some thing.

[Arctic-Silver]

I finally got a reply, here's what they said

Sales Rep [7:03:44 PM]: okay, here's what happened, and I apologize for the delay - we got a complaint that there was a phishing website, so our abuse department deactivated your website, then our verification team shut it down since they also thought it was suspicious. What you can do to get it back up is send in a copy of your ID (assuming the account is in your name), your paypal email address, and cPanel password in an email to our verification team, and they can reactivate it for you

Scott [7:05:57 PM]: ok
[7:07:10 PM]: so basically it wasnt my fault?

Sales Rep [7:09:01 PM]: that's correct, and I apologize.



I'm amassed.

My hosting got instantly terminated because they were "suspicious" and from what i have read on Google its not a team its a machine.

Luckily i wasn't hit that hard but what if i was a business, all that lost revenue not to mention loss of customers from the dead domain. It would kill your business.

[Arctic-Silver]

After talking to the sales rep more the ID he talks about is some form of photo ID.

I don't have a scanner, how do i get this to him?

This is quite ridiculous really....

[LemCorp-Nahuel]

Now, for what I've read.. if they receive a claim they act before checking it?

That's some kind of negligence...

[Arctic-Silver]

After telling him i have no way of sending him ID.

Kyle [7:20:58 PM]: I understand, Scott. Personally, it annoys me too that everything hit at once. Usually, Abuse issues are handled simply by deactivating the account, not by deleting it. I've asked my verification department, who was responsible for deactivating it, and this is what they said they need.

He seems to have the same view as me on this. Hes now talking to his manager for me (i didn't ask) to see if there is a way around it.

[Arctic-Silver]

Originally Posted by LemCorp-Nahuel

Now, for what I've read.. if they receive a claim they act before checking it?

That's some kind of negligence...

That's exactly what it is.

They apparently thought it looked suspicious but i don't have a clue how as i only host a couple of sites which were up and well looked after.

But again, there was no proof.

To add onto that i Google'd it to see if anyone else had this same issue and one that stood out claimed that host-monstor had a machine that did this automatically.


I now have a VPS, im just sick of companies like Host-Monster who have too many customers for there own good.

I would recommend geeklayer.net, so far they've been very good. I have even been told if i like they'll talk to host-monstor and try to get my domain back at the very least. If that's not customer service i don't know what is.

[sjrm]

lesson learned : avoid all those over-selling hostings, specially when they offers you 'unlimited' disk, 'unlimites' BW, 'unlimited' MySQL dbs... they usually comes with a near-to-unlimited problems too.

[CrazyPenguin]

Hostmonster / Bluehost can cancel your account at anytime for any reason.

In their TOS it states:

You agree that Hostmonster may, under certain circumstances and without prior notice, immediately terminate your account and access to the Service.

So "under certain circumstances" can be interpreted any way Hostmonster so desires.

Read more about Bluehost / Hostmonster TOS.

[Arctic-Silver]

Yeah, i realize it would be in the TOS but in my opinion this makes no difference. I'm just trying to warn others to stay away.

[CrazyPenguin]

My point being Hostmonster / Bluehost TOS is written so they can do what ever they damn well please.

Here is another fine example and another.

And one of my all time favorites just before Hostmonster / Bluehost announced they were going to offer unlimited disk space. Account deactivated with no prior warning for 'performance problems' Which discusses what data can and can't be stored on a Hostmonster / Bluehost account.

The bottom line is "Bluehost (and Hostmonster) has a tendency to make up the rules as they go concerning their TOS."

And I agree Stay Away from Bluehost / Hostmonster / Fastdomain.

[FizHost]

I can understand that they possibly made a mistake by deactivating your account, but what really shocks me is that they ask for your ID to reactivate it?

Quite shocking really considering it was their mistake in the first place, they are just causing further inconvience.