scriptygoddessRather than clean up this post – which was updated throughout my ordeal with them – I wanted to summarize the problem I had when I was hosted with HostICan.
When I first switched to them, they seemed great at the time. I was very happy. I even signed up as an affiliate and recommended them, sent clients to them. A few months after I signed up however, the problems began…
At first I got a threatening email from them saying my site was using too much CPU/Memory. I could not get any kind of helpful response via email so I finally called them. The guy I spoke to said it was a momentary spike – everything was fine – lets see if it happens again.
A few weeks (?) later, it happened again. Again, I called and was told to install wp-cache and that should fix the problem. So I did.
I had a few more back and forths with them. The end result was that starting in 2008 I think they changed their monitoring systems, from a threatening email – to simply taking your whole site down.
My site has not had a massive increase in posts, or visitors in a few years. In fact, because I've been so busy, posting here has been less and less, and number of visitors has roughly averaged the same or less.
Simply put, I wasn't happy with their service anymore. In my previous post, people said "What do you expect when you pay ~$6 for hosting" (Actually I had paid more than that – but whatever). No matter what – if that's the service you get with cheap hosting – so be it. But what happened next is inexcusable.
On their site, they say that if you're not happy, you can get your money back… they ALSO say that if you are not happy within 30 days – you can get a full refund. Well, I'm not looking for a full refund, but since I paid for TWO YEARS up front, and the service obviously isn't working for me anymore – I would like to get a prorated refund. This is standard policy with every host provider I have ever contacted. On their site the "30 day RISK FREE money back guarantee" wording – is COMPLETELY SEPARATE from their "Service guarantee":
SERVICE GUARANTEE:
We guarantee that we'll provide quality service:* 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
* 24/7/365 Phone & Email Support
* Your satisfaction or your money back. (emphasis mine)
When I canceled I asked for my prorated refund, and I was told I would get nothing because I was canceling outside the 30-day window. Their friendly response:
You seem to miss one vital thing "30 day money back guarantee" and this applies within the 30 days "Your satisfaction or your money back." not within 7 months.
They want to massively restrict CPU and take everyone's site down – I guess, sure, thats what you get with cheap hosting – but to put up a VERY misleading "SERVICE GUARANTEE" – and keep hundreds of dollars for hosting I'm obviously not getting/using… This is a good business practice??
Whatever the restriction is on CPU usage – it was so tight that I had A LOT of problems getting my database off their system… I would try to export the database, and it wouldn't let me… I had to manually export most of the rows for my posts and comments in small increments – and even then it skipped a few. It's also interesting to note that if you browse around on their forums, you'll see a bunch of people complaining of this problem.
People – be forewarned… This is not just cheap hosting… this is a BAD BUSINESS. I STRONGLY advise against hosting with them.
