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I read a post in a forum some time ago about someone having problems with Go Daddy, the web host provider. However, someone replied to that post saying that he had used Go Daddy for years without any problems. I could say the same thing about my former web host provider, Interland, which was recently renamed to Web.com. I have never used Go Daddy, so I can’t comment on the quality of their service, but, since I have used Interland/Web.com for quite a few years, I can comment on their service.
Obviously, for a number of years, I had no problem, but that was because I didn’t really need to change anything with my website. However, what I didn’t realize, and didn’t really think about, was that the prices of websites and bandwidth have been dropping dramatically over the years, but Interland/Web.com didn’t reduce my prices—ever. They kept charging me the same amount for years. So the 1st way to save money is to check web hosting prices at least once a year or two. Even check what prices your own web host provider is advertising to attract new business.
But there were more problems than this. Eventually, I wanted to change my domain name and add subdomains on my site. I also wanted a site with more advanced features, since the site I started with was basic. So I informed Interland/Web.com that I wanted to change my domain name and add some subdomains, and that I also wanted to upgrade my site. They told me that I would have to close my old site, and open a new site on a new server to get the new features, so that’s what I told them to do. I set up my new site first, then told them to close my old site. I even got email confirming that they had closed my old site.
After a few months, I noticed on my credit card statements that they were still charging me for my old site and for my new site. So I called them to request a refund, since, by then, I hadn’t been using my old site for several months. They wouldn’t give it to me. They said that I did not close my old site. I said that I did, and that I received email confirming it, and sent them a copy of the email. It was clear from the email that they were going to shut my old site after the new site was set up. But they said that the email didn’t say this. Well, since I knew how to read, it was pretty clear that that was exactly what it said, and called them repeatedly asking for a refund. They didn’t want to give it me, and furthermore, they said that they were never going to give it to me. They said that I didn’t follow their procedure. I told them that I didn’t know what procedure that I was supposed to follow, but since I informed them that I was closing my old site, and they emailed me confirmation of that, there was no reason for me to believe that anything else had to be done. They certainly didn’t mention anything in the email about specific procedures that I had to follow.
I called the sales manager to explain the situation. He hung up on me while I was trying to explain. I called him again, and this time he hung up on me immediately. Now, we’re only talking about $40 to $60 total. They were charging me $19.95 per month for years for a website that they were charging others for less than $10 per month. But that didn’t matter to them. I told them that if I didn’t get my money back, that I would move my site to another service provider. They still weren’t going to refund my money. You would think that the fact that they weren’t going to get another penny from me for the months and years ahead when I would be doing business with someone else would convince them—no, it didn’t. They were just hell-bent on not refunding my money.
To add to my chagrin, they were also charging a $20 setup fee for setting up a new domain name in addition to the $7.95 per year for the domain name, and another $20 to transfer my old domain name to the new server. I needed to transfer my old domain name because I still got a lot of traffic on it, so I didn’t want to kill that traffic. The $7.95 per year for the domain name I knew about because that is what they advertised. What I didn’t know about was the $20 setup fee. They also charged me a $20 setup fee for the subdomain that I wanted. They didn’t advertise that, and I couldn’t find this fee anywhere on their website. This is an example of a hidden fee. A hidden fee is a fee that is not advertised nor even listed anywhere on web host provider's website, but allows them to make more money after drawing you in on the low advertised fee for the domain name. Maybe people just pay this fee, because they don’t know about the web hosting business and may think that it is necessary and seems reasonable. Whether reasonable or not, consider the fact that the hidden fee was 2 ½ times the advertised fee. Furthermore, I only found out about these charges by looking at my credit card statements. If I hadn’t done that, I probably wouldn’t have even known about the charges, since Interland/Web.com sent no invoices or gave any other notice of the charges. I had to call them several times to find out about the charges I was seeing on my credit card. So I finally decided that this was not a good company to be doing business with. To get such bad treatment after being with them for so many years was just incredible.
So I decided to go with 1 & 1, because they specifically advertised no hidden fees. I knew exactly what they meant when I read it. Furthermore, they had a 90 day refund policy—if you didn’t like their service, you can get a full refund within 90 days. For the service plan that I got, which was the same amount that Interland/Web.com was charging me for my old site and my new site, I received 5 domain names free and there was no setup fee for any of them! And they sent me a complete invoice of the total charge several weeks before they charged my credit card, and the price was exactly what they advertised—no hidden fees! I’ve been with them now for about 2 years, and I am very pleased with their service. They always email me an invoice before they charge my card and that’s exactly what they charge. No hidden fees!
So when investigating web host pricing, do the following:
If you want to transfer your site to another web host provider, then you need to set up the new site first while keeping the old site active, then transfer your domain name; otherwise, you will lose traffic for a couple of weeks. Just keep both sites up until the domain transfer is complete, then close down the old site.
I don’t know if Web.com’s policies have changed since my problems with them in late 2005 and early 2006, but, needless to say, they will never get any more of my business.
Consumer complaints about Interland
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