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Rated
Worst Overall
|
Scoring =
20
Out of
a
possible
100
points: |
HostGator
Web Hosting |
|
Overall:
20
|
Rates
number
10
due
to
worst
technical
support,
lowest
overall
professionalism,
lowest
customer
care,
and
least
dependability. |
|
Available
Contact:
|
Contact
available
24/7/365
by
Phone,
Live
Chat,
and
Email. |
|
Customer
support:
Negative
scoring
-
40
|
Only
one
HostGator
tech
support
member
(out
of
14
members),
Shashank
Wagh,
made
a
valiant
attempt
to
assist
with
the
ongoing
problems
in
the
servers
where
our
web
sites
were
located.
Unfortunately
he
worked
only
one
shift
and
had
to
pass
the
support
requests
on
to
others
where
they
were
regularly
overlooked
or
dismissed.
We
have
documented
137
different
necessary
requests
for
assistance
(within
30
days)
due
to
varied
HostGator
server
error
messages.
The
most
common
problems
we
encountered
were
"Server
Timed
Out"
errors
of
which
we
received
32
error
messages
during
just
one
attempt
to
publish
new
pages
to
one
of
our
web
sites.
Seventeen
(17)
requests
for
assistance
were
made
by
email
regarding
this
one
"server
timed
out"
problem.
Ten
different
tech
support
members
and
three
supervisors
passed
the
support
ticket
among
themselves
for
seven
days,
even
though
we
clearly
stated
in
each
of
our
emails
to
them
that
the
problem
continued.
Copies
of
all
previous
communications
were
included
after
5
tech
support
requests
on
the
same
ticket
were
made.
Customer
support
personnel
were
courteous
in
their
email
responses,
but
their
sign
off
and
offers
for
further
assistance
were
generic
copy
and
paste.
Offering
further
assistance
"if
needed",
when
the
issue
at
hand
has
not
been
resolved,
is
quite
irritating.
Three
HostGator
facility
supervisors
and
engineers
offered
assistance,
but
failed
to
see
the
issues
through
on
most
occasions.
As
a
continuing
test
of
HostGator
services
we
left
one
web
site,
http://EasySiteUSA.com
in
the
HostGator
servers.
The
"Server
Timed
Out"
problem
has
still
not
been
corrected
as
I
write
this
Dec.
27,
2005,
sixteen
days
later.
As
late
as
AM
Dec.
31,
we
are
still
receiving
"server
unexpectedly
closed
connection"
error
messages
during
upload
to
two
other
web
sites
we
have
in
their
servers.
|
Quality
of
Web
Servers
and
other
IT
equipment:
Negative
scoring
-
40
|
Quality
of
equipment
is
unknown.
There
is
no
statement
regarding
location
or
details
of
the
equipment
being
used
posted
on
the
HostGator
web
site.
HostGator
is
a
second
tier
reseller
of
hosting
services,
meaning
HostGator
rents
server
space
from
a
larger
company
and
then
resells
it
to
the
public..
the
servers
they
lease
space
on
are
not
located
on
their
premises.
Daily
repeated
equipment
malfunction.
Example:
"Server
timed
out"
error
messages
received
within
seconds
of
beginning
data
upload
to
server
and
also
during
final
stages
of
upload
were
continuous
on
seven
different
sites.
"Server
not
available"
error
messages
were
numerous.
"Server
unexpectedly
closed
connection"
error
messages
received
daily.
Incorrectly
configured
Hot
Key
feature
which
is
normally
used
to
block
direct
linking
of
images
(stealing
bandwidth)
in
a
web
site,
instead
blocked
viewing
of
all
images
in
the
web
sites.
|
Review
standards,
methods
of
testing,
and
results. |
As
a
test
of
HostGator
services
we
purchased
a
middle
priced
web
hosting
package
from
HostGator.com
called
"The
Baby"
on
Nov.
9,
2005.
See
HostGator
receipt
Our
intent
to
use
our
web
site
HostingCompanies.com
(located
in
the
HostGator
servers)
as
a
Web
Hosting
Review
site
was
clearly
stated
to
a
HostGator
technical
support
supervisor.
We
began
the
upload
of
24
different
established
and
fully
functional
web
sites
to
the
HostGator
servers.
As
a
quality
control
standard
exact
duplicates
of
the
web
sites
(under
different
domain
names)
were
kept
online
and
in
a
different
web
hosting
company
server.
At
the
time
of
uploading
to
the
HostGator
servers
all
sites
were
functional
with
no
errors,
no
exotic
scripts,
no
oversized
images,
no
unusual
content,
software,
or
other
problems
that
would
affect
their
status
in
the
servers.
Each
time
we
ran
in
to
problems
with
the
HostGator
server
we
ran
a
test
by
uploading
the
same
web
site
to
the
quality
control
server.
The
error
messages
and
other
problems
encountered
with
HostGator
did
not
occur
on
any
occasion
in
the
quality
control
server.
A
HostGator
technical
support
supervisor
was
notified
by
email
of
this
particular
quality
control
practice
in
an
effort
to
prove
to
him
the
problem
was
in
the
HostGator
server
and
not
with
"our
internet
connection,
our
PC,
our
editing
software,
or
our
methods"
as
he
tried
to
suggest.
I
sent
him
a
link
to
a
personal
note
on
a
newly
uploaded
page
in
our
http://TrueHosts.com
*
web
site
located
in
a
different
hosting
company
web
server,
but
it
didn't
seem
to
make
a
difference.
*
TrueHosts.com
is
our
duplicate
site
to
EasySiteUSA.com
and
was
located
in
the
quality
control
server
with
a
different
web
hosting
company.
All
support
requests
and
HostGator
responses,
or
lack
of,
are
documented
and
will
be
made
available
for
viewing
by
written
request.
|
|
|
Update:
All
of
our
web
sites
were
removed
from
HostGator
servers
on
Dec.
31,
2005.
Using
their
automated
billing
system
we
deleted
our
credit
card
payment
info
following
proper
protocol.
We
received
no
confirmation
of
our
cancellation
of
services
when
submitting
the
request
through
HostGator's
automated
billing.
After
5
days
with
still
no
confirmation
of
cancellation
sent
to
us
by
HostGator
we
went
back
into
the
automated
billing
system
at
HostGator
on
Jan
4th,
2005
to
find
we
had
been
charged
yet
another
month
of
hosting
fees.
We
followed
the
cancellation
protocol
once
again.
We
then
also
notified
HostGator
tech
support
by
email
of
our
intent
to
close
all
accounts
with
them.
Update
three
months
later:
As
of
April
4,
2006
HostGator
is
still
charging
our
credit
card
for
services
not
rendered
since
our
second
request
for
cancellation
of
services
on
Jan
4,
2005
despite
our
continued
requests
for
a
refund
and
that
the
auto-renewal
be
discontinued.
April
11,
2006
Further
requests
for
a
refund
of
charges
made
to
our
credit
card
for
services
not
rendered
beyond
the
date
of
cancellation
Jan.
4,
2006
are
answered
by
HostGator's
accounting
with
a
generic
copy
and
paste
email
stating
that
all
cancellations
must
be
made
through
their
"online
automated
billing
and
cancellation
form."
Yes,
that's
right,
the
same
automated
form
that
didn't
work
the
first
two
times.
I
submit
that
the
servers
are
not
to
blame,
nor
can
we
logically
point
a
finger
at
the
automated
forms
or
even
the
code
writers
that
built
the
forms.
The
blame
lies
ENTIRELY
with
HostGator
Support
and
Accounting
members
totally
failing
in
their
respective
duties.
What
a
company!
Stay
away
from
HostGator!
I
can't
be
more
emphatic.
We
will
shortly
be
posting
an
extensive
list
of
complaints
against
HostGator,
all
from
irate
ex
HostGator
customers.
We
are
currently
looking
for
contact
information
for
the
owners
and
or
stock
holders
of
HostGator.
Any
information
would
be
appreciated.
Please
email
us
if
you
have
info
regarding
HostGator.
|
Useful
extras
and
special
features
offered:
|
Out
of
concern
for
our
readers
we
Do
Not
offer
links
to
HostGator,
nor
do
we
in
any
way
promote
their
services.
|
|
|
|
Live Support Link 
