That's it HostGator! Bye, Bye

[tf76]

So I contacted them to cancel a specific account.

They cancel the wrong one and I get a call from my client. "Why is my site saying suspended?"

1. Try to use their live chat. Doesn't work.

2. Contact them via FB, get them and they say call us. I'm in Australia, can you call me I say. Their response is "No".

3. They tell me I can use skype to call. I'm not paying for that I say.

4. I ask them if I can chat via Skype. No they say.

5. Send them 2 urgent tickets. Haven't heard back from them as yet. Site has been down since last night.

6. They tell me via FB, the tickets have been escalated.

7. I ask them when the tickets will get seen/resolved? They can't give me an answer!

They used to be good!!!

 

[HCHTech]

I'm not paying for that I say.

Well, if your client is down, maybe you should re-evaluate where you've drawn your line in the sand here. I would be on the phone and yelling at someone, regardless of the cost. How much does that client pay you in a year - IOW, how much do you stand to LOSE if they fire you?

 

[TAPtech]

HostGator... that ship set sail for me 3 years ago. I liked them at first... but you're much better off with a smaller webhost. I use StableHost and love them.

 

[fencepost]

I've been incredibly happy with Hosting Matters for close to 15 years now, they're a small-ish shop in Florida, USA. I believe women-owned and -operated if that matters, Annette is the owner and has responded to my tickets since the very beginning but there are a few other long-term names there as well (Stacy, others?).

The only reason I could see moving is if I decide to jump to a VPS somewhere - they do hosting or dedicated servers, but not VPS.

 

[stro]

When picking out a host, you really need to do your homework. If you are having problems, you might think you are switching to a different host when you are not.

http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed...at-when-of-endurance-international-group-eig/

http://www.linux-depot.com/non-endurance-international-group-eig-hosting/

Many of these hosts with a good reputation stay that way even after being aquired. But some of not. Especially if they host is migrated to a different data center or if the people that originally founded the host leave.

 

[acscva]

So what is everyone recommending for a reliable hosting provider? I have been using hostgator.com for 10+ years without any issues but have seen numerous people complaining about them. I know their support isn't as good as it use to be but that seems to be the case with many vendors now a days. I only have a few domains left with them compared to the 150+ I use to previously before I sold my customer base in NY.

 

[glennd]

I learnt my lesson to keep the host in roughly the same time zone as me otherwise communications is hopeless. I'm currently using Net Logistics in Sydney. I've only ever dealt with them via email but they've always been fast to respond.

 

[tf76]

Thank you everyone for your insights.

The issue is now resolved. I think my FB messages did the trick.

With so many reviews about web hosting providers it's quite a daunting task.

From my research so far A2Hosting looks good. Anyone currently using them?
But Glennd has got a good point in keeping it local or atleast in the same country.
Thank you Stro for that, EIG is big.

Maybe their should be a poll created or a list of recommended host providers on here.

Regards,

 

[fencepost]

keep the host in roughly the same time zone as me

This can also be important since for most of us any site we're hosting is probably also serving the local area. If I shift away from Hosting Matters, it's likely going to be to someone in the Chicagoland area.

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

I use A Small Orange, SSD storage, good pricing and 24 hour support. Chat support response it almost instant.

 

[rsarceno]

Been with Hostgator for almost 6+ years with 20+ domain. Tier one is not too bad and they seem to listen if they don't know the solution. 24 x 7 chat support is better than noting. I have a few more domain with Godaddy and Network Solution to transfer. Godaddy don't have 24 hrs chat so you have to work with them via email. Network Solution takes too long to transfer domain (too much red tape), always trying to change your mind.

If you provide hosting, get a VPS account and you will have full root access which gives you total control. You will then be able to fix most of your problem without depending on anyone.

 

[dombooth]

For the UK guys here- TSOHost.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

Apologies in advance for being harsh but unless you have something monitoring your uptime like pingdom or something your opinion of a web host means nothing. I have tried sooooo many web hosts in the past based on reviews and opinions from people that were completely ignorant of the problems on their websites availability. I ended up giving up and paying the extra money for a knownhost vps.

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

Apologies in advance for being harsh but unless you have something monitoring your uptime like pingdom or something your opinion of a web host means nothing. I have tried sooooo many web hosts in the past based on reviews and opinions from people that were completely ignorant of the problems on their websites availability. I ended up giving up and paying the extra money for a knownhost vps.

I disagree that it means nothing. Having actual support and blazing fast speeds are pretty high on the list of importance.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

I disagree that it means nothing. Having actual support and blazing fast speeds are pretty high on the list of importance.

Pales in comparison to reliability. Doesn't even have to be blazing fast just average is just fine for most customers. I only need to contact support when something goes wrong.

 

[Bryce W]

I use A Small Orange, SSD storage, good pricing and 24 hour support. Chat support response it almost instant.

They are also owned by the same people that own Hostgator - EIG. Thats the danger, these guys own so many companies its hard to know whether you are actually switching as @stro said.

I abandoned Hostgator a few years back, their Time Till First Byte was really really slow on my Wordpress installs.
I proved the problem was them. They said it wasnt. I proved some more it was them. They said it wasnt. I moved to another host and boom, TTFB is fast again.

I second what @ComputerRepairTech , unless people are monitoring with something like Pingdom (there is a free tier btw, so you should) they probably dont know what their sites speed and uptime is.

If you provide hosting, get a VPS account and you will have full root access which gives you total control. You will then be able to fix most of your problem without depending on anyone.

The one problem with this is that if there ARE any problems, they are YOUR problems to sort out. I do use a VPS myself for this Technibble server, but its managed by someone else.

 

[jzukerman]

Check out www.webhostingtalk.com. Check out reviews of potential webhosts there. Of course, take them with a grain of salt. Throw out the A++ reviews and the F++ reviews and look at the reviews in the middle.

For what it is worth, I too have a Knownhost VPS. Been with them for over a year now. Satisfied. Support has been quick. Minimal outages. I also have a regular webhosting account with HawkHost which works fine.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

I also have a regular webhosting account with HawkHost which works fine.

I was with hawkhost for a while but their reliability took a turn for the worse a while back and I had to drop them. They also turned on several of the extra anti spam features causing me to miss some important emails.

 

[jzukerman]

I was with hawkhost for a while but their reliability took a turn for the worse a while back and I had to drop them. They also turned on several of the extra anti spam features causing me to miss some important emails.

I had similar problems about 3 yrs ago I think when I was using their reseller account. I had to on numerous occasions alert them to their /tmp mountpoint being full and my clients' dynamic websites were failing to load, WHMCS failing to work, etc. They couldn't fix the issue reliably so I moved my clients websites off of them. I believe they finally resolved the issue by going with CloudLinux. I've kept my business website with them as I have had little issue with them. I use Google Apps for Business free account so I haven't used their e-mail ever.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

I had similar problems about 3 yrs ago I think when I was using their reseller account. I had to on numerous occasions alert them to their /tmp mountpoint being full and my clients' dynamic websites were failing to load, WHMCS failing to work, etc. They couldn't fix the issue reliably so I moved my clients websites off of them. I believe they finally resolved the issue by going with CloudLinux. I've kept my business website with them as I have had little issue with them. I use Google Apps for Business free account so I haven't used their e-mail ever.

Come to think of it, this would have been early 2013 if im not mistaken.