When A Great Deal Isn’t So Great

26 Mar

Posted by User Image Jay as Miscellaneous

I was over at the Site5 web hosting site earlier today, and saw their latest special. It gives you way more disk space and bandwidth than you could ever really use, for $3.50 a month.

It seems like this always happens in web hosting. You sign up with a host under a really great deal, and pretty soon they’re making the deal even better. But not for you, because you signed up under the old plan. That’s just the way web hosting goes.

When I see the $3.50 a month for Site5 hosting, I start to think about getting a second hosting account. They’re offering unlimited websites, so you could easily run all your sites off the one hosting account. I don’t particularly need a second account, I haven’t outgrown the one I have now, but I’m a sucker for great deals.

So I start through the order process to see more of the details. I get to the part where it talks about pricing, and I see that the $3.50 a month price is only available if you prepay for 10 years. Let’s be realistic here…10 years is practically an eternity in web hosting terms. Site5 may not still be around, or I may not still be around, or I may decide to go live on a tropical island without Internet access.

I can’t imagine any good reason for paying for 10 years of web hosting. I’ll prepay for two years to get a better monthly rate, but 10 years is just ridiculous. So I look to see what the rate is for two years, and it’s $6.95 a month. That’s still a good deal, but is double the “special” price. Special pricing is fine, but it’s a bit dishonest to make it available only for a length of time most people wouldn’t use.

I’m still extremely happy with my own Site5 hosting, and don’t have any plans to switch. But I’ll make sure to read the fine print on any web hosting offers that seem too good to be true!

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2 Responses

On Stage Lighting (Who am I?)

March 27th, 2008 at 3:09 pm Quote
1
I agree, even two years is a long time. I signed up with one web host unlimited space/bandwidth reseller account for two years to get a better deal.

Not even a whole year in, 20 sites running and I am leaving. Usual thing - bad support, slow servers, poor attitude. Now I am not only having to migrate 20 sites from their poor servers but I find myself having to argue the toss over a refund.

I am paying my new host a more money but I get better servers and better service - all you need from your host.

So, my advice is:

If you are happy with your hosting, who cares what deal they are giving other customers? I can’t even think of the lost revenue and man hours my rubbish host has cost me. I hope I don’t have to change host again anytime soon but I am now renting by the month.

Best Wishes

Rob
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Jay (Who am I?)

March 27th, 2008 at 6:51 pm Quote
2
Rob, sorry to hear you’re having to migrate to a new host. I’m just grateful that Site5 is still doing a good job for me. Most people don’t realize just how many websites an active Internet Marketer accumulates over time.
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