Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Avoid HostPapa like the plague

Avoid HostPapa like the plague

I have a long list of good reasons why not to use HostPapa. My fist major problem with them was that a couple weeks after I started being hosted by them I was told by one of their tech guys that I was not allowed to host my site on their server. What a rude awakening considering my page is only a PHP web based game that using only a tiny bit of system resources. The idiots they hire there thought I was running a game server for first person shooter games even when I specifically told them that I was running a small PHP game I wrote myself and there was nothing in their EULA that disallowed me from running my site. At least their head admin haves half a brain and said everything was fine, but from there on every time I contacted support I was harassed about running a PHP program on their server which was very annoying. If you are planning on using PHP or having your site being anything about games at all, HostPapa is not for you.
My second problem was the page not working, being very slow, or outright completely down. The site seemed to go down for about an hour or two every other week. Then came a couple BIG downs. In one case last month my site was down for most of a day and night. That is 24 hours. If you like your site to have more uptime than a free host then HostPapa is not for you.
Yes, then came the third problem I had with them. First, they force you to commit to one year because they know you will leave the moment you notice their crappy service, but they do advertise a 99.9% guarantee on the front page of their site. So, I wrote to their forum asking politely asking for the reminder of my year as a refund. I was rudely told that 99.9% does not mean my site. Yea, they don't mean your site is up 99.9% of the time even though they imply this. They only consider something down when the server you are on goes completely and utterly dead. To make things worse, unlike most other providers they don't have any server status andywhere and they will not respond to you if you ask. So, there is no way for me to tell if he was telling the truth or not. If you want a web host provider that does not cheat and lie HostPapa is not for you.
if it was not bad enough that HostPapa bailed out on their %99.9 uptime guarantee they deleted my post asking them about it on their forum without notice. Then, when I made another post politely asking why, they deleted that post; once again, without giving any reason to me. If you want a host you can trust and listens HostPapa is not right for you.
Please, do yourself a huge favour. If you are ever looking for a web host provider avoid HostPapa like the plague. Also, make sure you spend several; hours checking up on a host and don't take their own forums seriously unless you see bad things about them. If there is nothing bad written about them on their own forum, chances are, they are deleting all the bad stuff. And make sure to check neutral places like this, webhostingtalk.com, where people rate their own host. I have done all this now and found a short list of very good host.





Last edited by ldcdc : 11-18-2008 at 05:24 PM.

[HostRefugee-Vince]

Thanks for your review, I am sure it will be helpful to those considering hostpapa.
Per the forum rules, we do need to verify your review. We do this by verifying the domain you had hosted with them. Could you please post your domain in this thread, or use the REPORT post button to report it.
Thanks!





__________________Need a new Web Host?Become a Host Refugee and receive TRUE 24/7 SupportcPanel + Fantastico, PHP4 or PHP5HostRefugee.com - See our current promotions






Last edited by HostRefugee-Vince : 11-18-2008 at 06:40 PM.
Reason: papahost changed to hostpapa

[bager]

Long review. Thank you for sharing your story. Sorry for what have happened.

Sorry, but it is actually hostpapa and not papahost and their domains are hostpapa.ca and hostpapa.com. The current domain I have with them is sgaming.org. I have the subdomains terra.sgaming.org, engarde.sgaming.org, and forum.sgaming.org with them as well.





Last edited by sclewin : 11-18-2008 at 04:57 PM.
Reason: Spelled papahost.ca wrong

Is there a way to change the subject heading and post to say hostpapa instead of papahost? I would prefer my anger be directed towards the appropriate people .

Quote:



Originally Posted by bager


Long review. Thank you for sharing your story. Sorry for what have happened.


Your welcome and thanks for the support . I am going to try and look at the bright side of things here and view this as a learning experience. I have started looking for replacement host and took a lot more time. I also found a great post on webhostingtalk about how to look for a good host and went by those suggestions.
Thanks to the suggestions I am now looking at a host that looks very good, iweb.com. All the complaints I found about them seem to be about long waits setting up servers, but from what I have read, once your a customer they are very good. Unlike hostpapa.com they seem to try their best and actually care about their customers. Also, I recently noticed iweb.com is hosting Ubuntu Linux distributions as well.

[ldcdc]

Quote:


but they do advertise a 99.9% guarantee on the front page of their site. So, I wrote to their forum asking politely asking for the reminder of my year as a refund. I was rudely told that 99.9% does not mean my site. Yea, they don't mean your site is up 99.9% of the time even though they imply this.


That sounds pretty bad. I see in their http://www.hostpapa.ca/Service_Guarantee.shtml page that They offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee. A star prepares you for a disclaimer, but that isn't actually to be found on that page. It is only in their TOS:
Quote:


Disclaimer of Warranty
The internet is a complex network of equipment, services, and providers of information, thus the service may not be available to you at all times. That said, HostPapa offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee. This is valid for only the connection.


Interesting is the fact that there's no detail of what they will do should they fail to reach this level of "network uptime guarantee", as it should be called, no talk about a refund or credit or anything. They could just say "we apologise".
What I'm not clear on, is, are you talking about papahost, or Hostpapa? The site in your profile is hosted by Hostpapa. They're not the same you know.
EDIT: Nevermind, I type to slow. I'll edit your original post.





__________________1. My list of "Honest Hosts"
2. Hosting Coupons






Last edited by ldcdc : 11-18-2008 at 05:29 PM.

[zipdadoda]

Quote:



Originally Posted by sclewin


I was rudely told that 99.9% does not mean my site. Yea, they don't mean your site is up 99.9% of the time even though they imply this. They only consider something down when the server you are on goes completely and utterly dead.


You never stated why your site went down yet the server never... If your script crashes your site... should hostpapa be responsible?
I have to make an assumption because I don't know the details :>)





__________________Fused Network High quality hosting \ 1-888-282-0003
Now hosting over 2000 domains

Quote:



Originally Posted by ldcdc


That sounds pretty bad. I see in their http://www.hostpapa.ca/Service_Guarantee.shtml page that They offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee. A star prepares you for a disclaimer, but that isn't actually to be found on that page. It is only in their TOS:


Stupid me read their TOS after it was too late.
Quote:


Interesting is the fact that there's no detail of what they will do should they fail to reach this level of "network uptime guarantee", as it should be called, no talk about a refund or credit or anything. They could just say "we apologise".
I totally agree. If it said network uptime guarantee I would have known what they where talking about. I never noticed that they never said what they would do for the guarantee until I looked at other host closer and noticed they offered free hosting in exchange. I just checked the hostpapa site and now can not find the 99.9% guarantee on their site. I wonder if they removed it.
Quote:


EDIT: Nevermind, I type to slow. I'll edit your original post.


A big thank you sir. You are of big help.

Is it even possible to claim connection downtime or to prove it? That is just crazy.





__________________SpuceHost - Affordable cPanel Hosting for Beginners.
*No Contracts! *Money Back Guarantee! *Pre-installed Templates

[Hostamina]

Sorry to hear about your hard times with them. At least now you know to be more careful in the future!





_____