Hostgator is about to lose me...

BHopkins

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Over the last few months I've really gotten sick of Hostgator's support. Keep in mind that I'm one of the biggest proponents of Hostgator, or at least I have been... Some examples...

http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...pu-usage-according-hostgator.html#post4160539
http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...-dedicated-server-soft-layer.html#post4887764
http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/web-hosting/302865-better-than-hostgator.html#post2739376
http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...vice/309459-reseller-hosting.html#post2805197
http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...timization-hosting-companies.html#post5212980
http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...hats-up-lately-my-hg-hosting.html#post2883490
http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...reliable-host-accepts-paypal.html#post5402259

I will stop there, but needless to say, I have really liked HG as a hosting company and 99% of the reason why is because their support was so accommodating and easy to work with.

They're no longer focused on great support. One of the best ways to provide good support is to allow your customers to contact you however is easiest for them. I have customers who text me, call me, skype, email, and any other way that is convenient to them. Customers are my priority and they used to be Hostgator's priority. Not so much anymore.

Your ticket has been received, however, please be aware we will soon be disabling the ability to directly email ticket support.

Forcing people to log into their billing system will stop a lot of the incoming support requests. I won't be able to submit an email from my phone because I never log into my billing account because everything is billed automatically to my CC. This is a big hindrance to me and likely other people as well. It makes it difficult for the customer to tell them about a problem.

Here is an email I just got after a server had some Pharma links injected into my WP site.

It is your responsibility to ensure the security of your account(s). If we detect another account compromise within 6 months of this notification, we will be forced to temporarily restrict access to the account in order to protect our network. We also reserve the right to assess an Account Cleanup fee before restoring access to the account. If you have any questions, please let us know.

That was from a Senior Security Administrator. This hasn't happened to me in the last 6 months...I know it's happened before, but with a hundred or so WP installs, I expect some sort of random hacking/injecting to happen. They want to block access to my site and charge me a fee?

I opened my first account with Hostgator in 2006 and have easily paid them thousands of dollars over the last 8+ years. 8 years is longer than most people have been in IM.

Here is what their intro emails used to look like.

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Unless there is a drastic turnaround by Hostgator I will find a host that appreciates me as a customer and not just a number.
 
I will suggest you to use iPage hosting, using it for a while and have a better experience then godaddy and hostagtor
 
Wow, 8 years at HG? How you made it that long there??
 
I've moved everything away from Hostgator in the last 2 weeks, time for a move.
 
I will suggest you to use iPage hosting, using it for a while and have a better experience then godaddy and hostagtor

You're joking right? And you do know that they are the same hosting company?

/facepalm

OP, unfortunately I know you're pain, just the other day I had to wait a good hour before getting any help via their chat. This is not what I signed up for, nor getting support for my clients sites should be this difficult. Honestly. Thinking about moving but that would be much of a hassle. But wonder if things will get worse as we go along. That server downtime was enough for me to make a run with my money.

Anyone have suggestions based on WHCMS and ease of client invoicing like HG?
 
As far as i know Hostgator is really better than every hosting providers.
 
This is first time i replied someone and got such a harsh reply, you might have tired to give a better and polite reply as everyone is not full of knowledge..and i know the iPage is not hosting provider its just a brand. huh..never going to reply someone anymore.
 
Over the last few months I've really gotten sick of Hostgator's support. Keep in mind that I'm one of the biggest proponents of Hostgator, or at least I have been... Some examples...

http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...pu-usage-according-hostgator.html#post4160539
http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...-dedicated-server-soft-layer.html#post4887764
http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/web-hosting/302865-better-than-hostgator.html#post2739376
http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...vice/309459-reseller-hosting.html#post2805197
http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...timization-hosting-companies.html#post5212980
http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...hats-up-lately-my-hg-hosting.html#post2883490
http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...reliable-host-accepts-paypal.html#post5402259

I will stop there, but needless to say, I have really liked HG as a hosting company and 99% of the reason why is because their support was so accommodating and easy to work with.

They're no longer focused on great support. One of the best ways to provide good support is to allow your customers to contact you however is easiest for them. I have customers who text me, call me, skype, email, and any other way that is convenient to them. Customers are my priority and they used to be Hostgator's priority. Not so much anymore.



Forcing people to log into their billing system will stop a lot of the incoming support requests. I won't be able to submit an email from my phone because I never log into my billing account because everything is billed automatically to my CC. This is a big hindrance to me and likely other people as well. It makes it difficult for the customer to tell them about a problem.

Not defending them but for my hosting I prefer tickets just so its easier for me and clients to communicate, a single place to see whats going on etc. Saying that though, EIG took over Hostgator and they have a track record of tacking something decent and screwing it over royally. Seems they are starting that at HG!

Here is an email I just got after a server had some Pharma links injected into my WP site.



That was from a Senior Security Administrator. This hasn't happened to me in the last 6 months...I know it's happened before, but with a hundred or so WP installs, I expect some sort of random hacking/injecting to happen. They want to block access to my site and charge me a fee?

Again a EIG trait I am afraid but again, IPs being blacklisted is a pain in the ass for any company - they could put it a better way I guess, but I can sort of see where they are coming from.

I opened my first account with Hostgator in 2006 and have easily paid them thousands of dollars over the last 8+ years. 8 years is longer than most people have been in IM.

As with many big companies, loyalty means jack shit nowadays


Unless there is a drastic turnaround by Hostgator I will find a host that appreciates me as a customer and not just a number.

The only way to be more than a dollar bill to a company is to try the smaller guys - the big boys just haven't the time or inclination to be your buddy or treat you like royalty any more. Its a cut throat market so the low low prices mean you are just a number!

The smaller guys will have more time, they have a smaller client set and have more to gain by giving the personal touch - disadvantage to you as a buyer, higher prices and realistic limits on hosting packages. No unlimited everything, I have yet to find a hard drive that has unlimited space!

Good luck finding somewhere though.
 
That is the issue with most budget hosting these days; they toss up servers and rent out slices as VPSs without any sort of basic security installed. They make it the VPS owners responsibility to "protect" their websites although VPS owners don't have root access most of the time to install security tools.

It might be time for you to invest in a dedi and get good security suites installed. You'll find nobody gives a sh*t about your business more than you. As cheap as good dedis are these days I'd never mess with these cheap hosts. Your time is worth too much, not to mention the frustration of dealing with their ignorant staff.
 
HG was good for a while, then I guess someone bought them fairly recently. They went downhill. Outages and of course the excuses that went with them. I went to another host and haven't regretted the decision. It was much cheaper too.
 
Being a faithful customer of Hostgator for more than 8 years is something remarkable. They sure managed to touch your heart with their services, and basically that's what it takes to keep a customer for such a long time, however good things don't last forever. We gotta learn to move on let go when the time comes, and looks like the time has come. I wish you good luck in finding a good and reliable hosting company that will appreciate your loyalty.
 
I find it amusing that someone would pay $5 a month for unlimited email, unlimited mysql, unlimited this and that and expect the service to be usable.
 
hostgator sucks ass.. I moved all my sites from them to bluehost. Didnt have any prob with them still..
 
I lasted about a month with Hostgator - had some technical questions that any newbie admin could answer, but after waiting forever to talk to a "rep," they had to PM every question to a tech, wait five minutes for an answer, give me the answer, take my next question, PM it to the tech.....ad nauseum. It was by far one of the most bizarre tech support systems I'd ever seen, and after enduring it twice I was out of there.
 
As far as i know Hostgator is really better than every hosting providers.

Maybe two years back they were really good. I still don't think they where ever better than every other hosting provider out there though.
 
It is your responsibility to ensure the security of your account(s). If we detect another account compromise within 6 months of this notification, we will be forced to temporarily restrict access to the account in order to protect our network. We also reserve the right to assess an Account Cleanup fee before restoring access to the account. If you have any questions, please let us know.

I just had the same message from them a couple weeks ago. But that was due to my own fault.
The last few years I haven't been into keeping my websites up and failed to update wordpress and some plug-ins, to many interests I guess :p which compromised most of my sites. They took care of the problem and I had some other issue in the past that they fixed, but this is the first time I received that message from them. I have also been thinking of looking around for something else.
 
I have had issues with their shared hosting, dedicated hosting, and VPS hosting. I would just look for another provider.
 
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