I was totally new to web site creation when I first started and this company assisted me in getting my websites up and running. They walked me though the steps to setup my cPanel and stuff like editing database etc. I must say they are very helpful.
I used to have a server at Webhostingpad. It was a managed server. My server crashed after about 2 months of starting my subscription with them. They were supposed to have a backup of all websites but mine couldn't be recovered. So my website was gone and I asked to cancel my service but they did not issue a credit. I chased them up a few times and even have to send them our communication history as proof that I have indeed asked to cancel the service. It was a terrible experience with a terribly bad host.
I have been using webhostingpad to host my 3 websites on a shared platform now for more than four months. so far, I am glad with their service. Their prices are also very affordable.
I had bad experience with this web host. I have had problems accessing my cpanel and they have not been very helpful on that. When I sent them email about the problem I got no response from them. They only replied with automatic emails with links to support ticket and when I clicked the links they were broken. So I decided to cancel the account using the cancellation request but again I got only automatic replies with the support ticket links. I then have to contact them and talk to a representative to get my account canceled. In summary, I am not satiefied with their service.
I used them for the last year. Their service was OK although I experienced many times when the site ran realy really slowly. I usually took a couple of back and forth exchanges with tech support to clear it up which meant the site was running poorly for several hors at least. Either that or sit on hold for 30 minutes waiting to speak to someone.
SO, here's where it gets REALLY BAD.
I decided after a year of this that I had prepaid for that the company wasn't suiting my needs, so I did not want to renew. When renewal reminder e-mails came in I tried to reply saying I wasn't interested in renewing. They bounced back.
12 DAYS LATER I STARTED RECEIVING COLLECTION CALLS AND A LETTER FORM A COLLECTIONS AGENCY. YES, THIS COMPANY SENT A COLLECTION AGENCY AFTER ME FOR SERVICES THEY HADN'T PROVIDED AND I SAID I DIDN'T WANT.
The billing department rep was rude and unresponsive to any discussion about trying to resolve this in any other way than paying this full years prepaid fee.
My attempts to reach the president of the company to try and discuss this have been blown off.
I signed up for 2 years with webhostingpad to get the best price per month. Their support answers quickly, but they tend to forget about me often, making the chat sessions unnecessarily long. The couple of phone calls I've made to them revealed that they only had one (or a few more) people answering phones - and I got the same guy on chat. He wasn't helpful or friendly. When I chatted in (today even) with an issue adding domains, the chat "Technical Support Agent" answered that I had to email someone else. What's the point of chat support?
During my first month (the month where you can get your money back if you're not satisfied) my site was quick and I didn't have any problems. After the first month, it got much much slower. I only use the site for a family website running wordpress, but it is almost unusable. I suspect they put the new accounts on the faster servers, and the older accounts (that are now stuck without an "out") on the slower/more congested servers. Others have indicated likewise.
Before I was aware that it was not allowed to host copyrighted materials on their server (so, music, videos, etc) I uploaded my music library for remote access. After weeks of uploading on a slow DSL connection, my media folder is missing. Just gone. No warning from support, no email or anything. Gone. I called and chatted in, (getting the same guy of course), and he denied that there ever existed a media folder like I described. I understand them deleting a folder that breaks the TOS, but to say nothing about it and deny it vehemently, even though logs are available that indicate otherwise, is asinine.
Lastly, and most alarming, prompting me to spread the word on this terrible company, is the issue I experienced today. I had a folder titled "backup" where I placed a couple multi-volume rar-backups of some important documents. The files themselves were encrypted, along with their contents, so in no way could the company see their contents, so this was NOT against the TOS. Last month it was there, and my disk quota was around 1.7 TB I believe, very large. Today, my disk quota has been bumped down to 10GB, and my "backup" folder is completely gone. My chat with the agent is pasted below for your enjoyment:
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Date : 2008-12-01 16:02:00
Executive :Brian Henson (Support)
Name : Bradford
Email : *******@yahoo.com
Chat transcription :-
Bradford: In Cpanel my "Disk Space Usage" shows as 2722.94/10000 MB
Bradford: Why was it lowered?
Bradford: And why were my files deleted?
Brian Henson: We do not just go delete files from the server.
Bradford: That's what happened.
Bradford: Twice now.
Bradford: Plus, you can see, my disk quota has been changed
Bradford: It was much larger a little while ago. I just noticed today.
Brian Henson: We start everyone out now at 10 gb, as they need more, simply request it and we will upgrade it.
Bradford: I was already a customer with a large quota. I log in today and see that it was made much smaller, and my folder /backup/ with all its sub-files and directories is gone
Brian Henson: I am unsure of why this would happen, once again, it would be something to talk about with our system admins.
Bradford: How do I get in contact with them? I had the same problem 6 months or so ago, and the person I spoke with on the phone and on chat said that YOU guys didn't do it. I sure didn't. I don't want to get the run-around.
Brian Henson: Please contact
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Bradford: What is their phone number?
Brian Henson: There is not a phone number
Brian Henson: they are in the datacenter and are not allowed to take phone calls.
Bradford: Aren't you support?
Brian Henson: This is level 1 technical support, as this livechat is meant for this, level 2 and three support is all emails that are directed to the datacenter.
Bradford: I'll try to email them, but judging by the response I am getting now and the response I've received in the past, I don't expect much. I am going to use this chat as an example on any webhosting review site I can find to show how poor your support is. Deleting large files and then denying it is piss-poor support, and probably criminal according to your TOS, though I'm sure you've covered your asses. I know you're just a peon (I've worked support too) but please pass this on to your superiors.
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I hope this serves as a warning to others. Please avoid this site, or at least start a month-to-month plan with them to get better service. DO NOT SUBSCRIBE TO ANNUAL OR BI-ANNUAL.
