Tag Archives: comments
Should You Take Notice of Web Hosting Comments?
There is a temptation to look at web hosting comments, see a few negative items relating to a particular host and dismiss them but this can be a mistake. When reading web hosting comments it is useful to bear in mind the following:
* The services provided by hosting companies do differ. There is no point in complaining about lack of support for a particular technology if this was never promised in the first place.
* Users will generally complain more readily than they will praise so it would be surprising if there were no negative web hosting comments about a host.
* The bigger the hosting company the more negative comments you would expect to see.
* Many negative web hosting comments would not have been necessary if users had read the Terms of Service (although some hosts could make the key terms clearer on their web sites).
When looking at web hosting comments about the major hosting companies I was struck by how many are about financial, contractual and support issues rather than technical issues. These can be:
Cancellations: Sometimes there is a procedure to follow which is set-out in the TOS. Not following this results in delays.
Domain Names (and cancellations): When a domain name is included in the package it has to be paid for if you cancel, even under a money back guarantee. This is spelt out in the TOS but the website may only say that the money back guarantee relates to hosting costs and the implication of this is lost on some users. Failure to get a full refund generates some of the more angry web hosting comments.
Renewals: Most hosts issue coupons/offer discounts but these apply to new customers only. Renewals are charged at the host’s standard rates, some websites do not make this clear.
Definition of “Unlimited”: Most hosts offer unlimited bandwidth, storage, databases etc. but whilst it clearly cannot be taken literally, definitions of “Unlimited” are vague. The use of unlimited does keep things simple and hosting companies know that most users will only use a small amount of resources. However we are talking about shared hosting so if a site does get busy it cannot be allowed to take resources to the detriment of other users. At this point you have to rely on the hosting company to deal with this reasonably. Of course users in this position will see the host as unreasonable and will probably post negative web hosting comments.
Backups: Hosting companies usually state that backups are the responsibility of the user. Whilst they do generally backup their shared servers periodically they do not accept any liability for lost data (not unreasonable given the low costs of hosting). Clearly anyone can suffer a hardware failure so you could be unlucky with any host.
To make sure you do not end up writing negative web hosting comments I suggest reading the TOS of your host thoroughly and taking your own regular backups.
Web Hosting Comments – What Do They Tell Us?
It is interesting to sit and read user web hosting comments about various hosting companies. Obviously there are some companies that provide a poor service and attract a lot of negative comments but looking at the top companies the key difference seems to be the quality of support and how it is delivered.
The top companies seem to receive overwhelmingly positive web hosting comments from their customers and even the ones with many negative reviews still have some very satisfied customers.
When customers get angry and post very negative web hosting comments the issue is usually not that a problem occurred but that the support team were unhelpful and unable to resolve it. It is highly likely that if the initial problem had been resolved properly the users would have written a positive review rather than a negative one.
As hosting is a long distance purchase (maybe in another country) users feel powerless if they are being ignored and vent their feelings by telling the world to avoid their appalling host.
Apart from complaints about their site being down for one reason or another many negative web hosting comments are about financial matters. This often relates to cancellations and refunds.
It would be very interesting to hear the hosting companies side of some of these web hosting comments as I can see that in some cases they were simply applying the conditions set out in their Terms of Service. These, for example, set out the process for cancellation and what refunds will be given. One particular issue seems to be cancellations where a domain name is included in the package. A host’s website may say that a money back guarantee relates to hosting costs (i.e there is a charge for the domain name) but many users think a “money back guarantee” is just that.
It is normal for users of shared hosting to be responsible for their own backups. This does not mean that hosts will not take backups but that they do it without accepting any liability for lost data. It is clear from several web hosting comments that many users do not understand this.
All this reinforces my view that the most important criteria to apply when choosing a hosting company is the quality of their support (assuming of course that they meet your technical requirements). You must expect support to be available 24/7 by telephone as well as email and probably chat and you want to see good web hosting comments about the support from existing users. It is also well worthwhile reading the Terms of Service, you will then be aware of any “hidden” charges and what the responsibilities of each party are.
Should You Take Notice of Web Hosting Comments?
There is a temptation to look at web hosting comments, see a few negative items relating to a particular host and dismiss them but this can be a mistake. When reading web hosting comments it is useful to bear in mind the following:
* The services provided by hosting companies do differ. There is no point in complaining about lack of support for a particular technology if this was never promised in the first place.
* Users will generally complain more readily than they will praise so it would be surprising if there were no negative web hosting comments about a host.
* The bigger the hosting company the more negative comments you would expect to see.
* Many negative web hosting comments would not have been necessary if users had read the Terms of Service (although some hosts could make the key terms clearer on their web sites).
When looking at web hosting comments about the major hosting companies I was struck by how many are about financial, contractual and support issues rather than technical issues. These can be:
Cancellations: Sometimes there is a procedure to follow which is set-out in the TOS. Not following this results in delays.
Domain Names (and cancellations): When a domain name is included in the package it has to be paid for if you cancel, even under a money back guarantee. This is spelt out in the TOS but the website may only say that the money back guarantee relates to hosting costs and the implication of this is lost on some users. Failure to get a full refund generates some of the more angry web hosting comments.
Renewals: Most hosts issue coupons/offer discounts but these apply to new customers only. Renewals are charged at the host’s standard rates, some websites do not make this clear.
Definition of “Unlimited”: Most hosts offer unlimited bandwidth, storage, databases etc. but whilst it clearly cannot be taken literally, definitions of “Unlimited” are vague. The use of unlimited does keep things simple and hosting companies know that most users will only use a small amount of resources. However we are talking about shared hosting so if a site does get busy it cannot be allowed to take resources to the detriment of other users. At this point you have to rely on the hosting company to deal with this reasonably. Of course users in this position will see the host as unreasonable and will probably post negative web hosting comments.
Backups: Hosting companies usually state that backups are the responsibility of the user. Whilst they do generally backup their shared servers periodically they do not accept any liability for lost data (not unreasonable given the low costs of hosting). Clearly anyone can suffer a hardware failure so you could be unlucky with any host.
To make sure you do not end up writing negative web hosting comments I suggest reading the TOS of your host thoroughly and taking your own regular backups.