I hate fasthost

[euqerqzujz]

Help! I've only just started a 3month free trial with them and I'm already locked into a 12 month contract despite not having paid a penny yet!

Their arrogant support team are a bunch of w****

 

[brownie]

What help are you expecting?

 

Did you not do any research into your new provider before signing up?

 

[euqerqzujz]

I did but their sign up is misleading giving the impression that 3 months free meant it was a trial. It used to be you could shut the account but now you're locked into a 12 month contract. They've changed a lot over the years and now it's like they don't care about their customers.

 

[euqerqzujz]

Can anyone suggest a webhost with fast support?

 

[Dwebs-Ltd]

Can anyone suggest a webhost with fast support?

Define "fast"
Do you want UK phone support or just email support?

 

[mobyme]

I would recommend CS New Media Hosting http://csnewmedia.co.uk/ who responded to this thread a little earlier. Carl never seems to sleep and I guarantee that if you have a problem it will be sorted out as quick as is humanly possible.

 

[euqerqzujz]

Define "fast"
Do you want UK phone support or just email support?

Both preferably. 'Fast' was probably the wrong term, lets say, efficient. I just want to find a host that delivers what they promise.

 

[TizzyDizzy]

I made the mistake of using fasthost for some .co.uk domain name purchases and when I had a problem or question I found their customer service lacking in the 'service' bit.

I had had clients tell me that they have been locked into 12 months for hosting with other companies too. Normally the type that offer 'everything' under one roof at a very cheap price and it's the people starting up a new business who are not that tech savvy who fall prey of them. Only to find out about the overpriced monthly charge, poor customer service and general lack of care.

It just goes to pay to read reviews and research before signing up to any hosting to make sure you know what you are getting and that it will be adequate for your requirements.

 

[MarkN]

http://www.vidahost.com

Very quick, helpful, and friendly support.
Hostings not bad either.

 

[ServWise]

A 12 month contract is outrageous and I would question if that could be enforced, certainly not a common thing in the hosting business.

Test your host before buying, email them, call them and ask them questions (No point is fast response times if they don't know their arse from the elbow.) and always read the Ts and Cs.

 

[Kevin Yeandel]

Both preferably. 'Fast' was probably the wrong term, lets say, efficient. I just want to find a host that delivers what they promise.

I'm a great fan of Amazon Web Services because it has been up 100% of the time since I've been a customer. It can scale from a single instance to virtual supercomputer power (using Map Reduce) and Elastic DB. In the last 6 months I've never had to contact their support and my machines have been up. Plus I can cancel all of it or individual instances at any time.

It also integrates well with godaddy and you can load balance and cluster with live/failover stuff in different countries.
You can snapshot content and use their massive online s3 storage
Basically you get the bare min to the max for quite a good price. The pricing model is also variable according to usage.

As an vocal "internet complainer", I can honestly say I wouldn't opt for anything other than AWS - it does what it says on the tin.

 

[euqerqzujz]

thanks for all the advice everyone, I'm going to work my way slowly, lesson learnt read the small print very slowly!

 

[The Movie Booth]

I've also had some toruble with Fasthosts in the past. They are one of a number of companies discussed in other threads that make it nigh on impossible to actually speak with someone about any concern or issue you have.

 

[GeekSRV]

The only way i've actually seen a customer get what they want from FastHosts is when they have been featured in the watchdog section of .net same with there parent company 1and1. I guess it's just the downside of picking one of the big hosts, you simply become a number and not a valued customer like you do with small providers.

Fasthosts survive not through excellent service and support but from aggressive marketing and most people not wanting to go through the hassle of moving.

 

[Dominic Taylor]

Interestingly of the few times I've contacted Fasthosts, I usually receive a prompt response. But getting things done - need to wait until office hours! They also couldn't do a bulk transfer of some 100 .uk domains for me, whereas Names.co.uk happily waived their usual fee which was nice

 

[G. Lasagne]

Streetslocal(member on here) is a registered fasthosts reseller he may be able to answer a few questions for you.

 

[MartCactus]

I did but their sign up is misleading giving the impression that 3 months free meant it was a trial. It used to be you could shut the account but now you're locked into a 12 month contract. They've changed a lot over the years and now it's like they don't care about their customers.

I recall having people from various services (especially advertising) call me at work about "free trials".

When you think, ah its free what have I got to lose, and say you'd like to give the free trial a go they then ask "can I take your credit card details" which always seems curious for a free trial. They say of course "you'll be so happy this will save the trouble of taking them in 3 months time". Of course what actually happens is they make it almost impossible to end the contract. If I was going to be that happy after 3 months I'd have no problem stumping up the cash of course.

"They've changed a lot over the years and now it's like they don't care about their customers"

Trust me, they never did care. We were with them years ago and they were abysmal back then too. We left after a few months of having a lot of very upset hosting customers.

 

[LandingNet]

We used to be a reseller for Fasthost and I can't shout loudly enough to how bad they were; FTP was aweful, support was next to non-existent unless you were willing to jump through hoops, and even then the response was usually wrong!

We moved everything to Heart-Internet when we branched off from our parent company and now we're happy as Larry. If you need support, their response time is around 10 minutes - we were amazed at how quick it was

 

[streetslocal]

Hi,
I had problems previously with fasthosts when they had the password lock out issues and i did consider leaving them.
However since this point fasthosts have resolved any issues quickly and easily and support has been fantastic with calls answered very quickly and any emails also answered quickly as well.
Downtime on any of the sites we host is pretty much non exsistant and server speeds are perfectly fine.
Therefore ive not had any service issues with fasthosts in anyway.

 

[Dwebs-Ltd]

We moved everything to Heart-Internet when we branched off from our parent company and now we're happy as Larry. If you need support, their response time is around 10 minutes - we were amazed at how quick it was

Support times are low but when you consider the unlimited packages that are in fact extemely limited they are no better than fasthosts.

 

[LandingNet]

Support times are low but when you consider the unlimited packages that are in fact extemely limited they are no better than fasthosts.

I agree the packages are almost like for like, however quality of service (ftp, server uptime) and speed and accuracy of support are huge deal-breakers for us. Lower down the priority list is price, and FH still come second on this too...

 

[4little1s]

I couldn't get into the FastHosts control panel earlier today and I emailed their support desk. Obviously not a good answer but it was quick to be fair

They said they were having 'technical difficulties' at the moment....LOL

 

[The Movie Booth]

Sorry to re-ignite this debate but I must have a further moan about fasthosts. What I find is that there structure is setup to make it almost impossible to contact someone to close your account - I find that so annoying. I called through to customer support this morning, went through the three different option menus (is that really necessary?) and was then on hold for five minutes. The phone then rang a few times, and then the line went dead. Extremely annoying, and I wouldn't use them again.

 

[GeekSRV]

I really hate phone systems where you have to press:

1 for sales
2 for billing
3 for support
4 for the janitor
5 for the receptionist
6 to hear the list again

What happened to just calling, and speaking to a person even if they have to forward you to another department?

 

[G. Lasagne]

Hi,
I had problems previously with fasthosts when they had the password lock out issues and i did consider leaving them.
However since this point fasthosts have resolved any issues quickly and easily and support has been fantastic with calls answered very quickly and any emails also answered quickly as well.
Downtime on any of the sites we host is pretty much non exsistant and server speeds are perfectly fine.
Therefore ive not had any service issues with fasthosts in anyway.

Instead of leaving them though, you decided to sell there product, why was that if you dont mind me asking?

 

[streetslocal]

Instead of leaving them though, you decided to sell there product, why was that if you dont mind me asking?

Because they offer a service that has been reliable ever since and prior to the loclkout they never caused any issues at all.
Since the lockout i can say we have not had any issues of concern at all hence why i even host my own sites on them.
Uptime is excellent and as a reseller i can call a 014 number rather than a 0870 and my query is dealt with in minutes.

 

[G. Lasagne]

Because they offer a service that has been reliable ever since and prior to the loclkout they never caused any issues at all.
Since the lockout i can say we have not had any issues of concern at all hence why i even host my own sites on them.
Uptime is excellent and as a reseller i can call a 014 number rather than a 0870 and my query is dealt with in minutes.

You seem to be the only person who "backs them up", nobody else has a good word to say. And as you know after my personal experiences with yourself and them, i certainly wouldnt reccomend them either.
Why not switch to a popular hosting company, surely you would get more work then???

 

[streetslocal]

You seem to be the only person who "backs them up
quote]
I can hand on heart say fasthosts are offering me exactly what i need at this moment in time.
If it aint broke and all that?

 

[Cleveregg]

I HATE THEM TOO....for the past few days, for a couple of hours a day I am unable to send/recieve email on any of my Fasthosts accounts.
It's unacceptable, especially when you get fobbed off with crap excuses or the old "we're having technical problems".

 

[GeekSRV]

I HATE THEM TOO....for the past few days, for a couple of hours a day I am unable to send/recieve email on any of my Fasthosts accounts.
It's unacceptable, especially when you get fobbed off with crap excuses or the old "we're having technical problems".

Time to move?

 

[Cleveregg]

It seems like such a hassle though, we really should but you know how it is, getting round to it...never liked Fasthosts, thought because they were a big player the service would be good, how wrong we were!!!

 

[GeekSRV]

It seems like such a hassle though, we really should but you know how it is, getting round to it...never liked Fasthosts, thought because they were a big player the service would be good, how wrong we were!!!

Moving can be made quiet easy, often hosts will help you move.