Finding A Host That Cares

By: Jane Fulton Smart
Published: May 14, 2005     Updated: May 16, 2005

This was one of the hardest things to do for me and I thought I would share my experiences with you.

Wow! I got my website done just the way I wanted it. I now needed to find a host to host 'My Perfect' website. I thought, 'How hard can this be? The hard part was getting my site built'. Well, the experience didn't turn out to be that easy......

Now remember, I was a 'Fresh' newbie. I didn't know what a Control Panel really was, and had never seen one or operated one. I had only been using a PC for 4wks!

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I started looking for 'Reasonable' hosting. At this time I was only interested in what it would cost. I found a host that I thought was 'Reasonable'. At least it was one of the better priced ones. :-)

Secret--I didn't even know how much space was given to me. They listed it at 50MB. How much was that? I didn't have a clue, but figured it was enough for me. It was, when I first started.

I won't mention their name in this article. I went to their site and sign-up for a 50MB space for a website, paid my money and was anxious to get started. I couldn't wait to see "My Site" on the internet!

I went to the control panel and tried to upload my site. (They had their own FTP). Well, I wasted about 4 days and then decided to email my host and ask for help. After another 3 days of waiting for a reply, I was very disappointed when I got the reply. They told me that they had a manual--use it! Guess what? I had already tried that. I couldn't understand the 'techy' talk. I emailed them back and told them that I didn't understand what the manual was talking about, that I was a newbie. After another 3 days, they replied with, 'That's the only help we offer.' I emailed back and asked for my money back. After another 3 days, they emailed me back and told me that I couldn't get a refund! Well, why not? I had paid my money, but couldn't use the space I had paid for!

One thing I did learn, when I first came on the internet, was how to go about getting your money back, if you had been involved with fraud. I went to: That is the Federal Trade Commission URL. I filed a complaint about the company and waited.

Well, in about 2 days, I received an email from the hosting company that they were giving a full refund of the money I had paid.

I then began my search, once again, for a host. I stumbled on my current host by accident. There was an ad in a newsletter, talking about a host. It also said they offered a Free site to start with. When I emailed the guy running the ad (Gary, my angel), he told me that I needed to pay for hosting, to be considered serious online. I told him about the experiences I had had with other hosts. He informed me that I could take a look at the control panel, before I decided to purchase hosting and that he would be my mentor through this process.

I took a look at the control panel and found that it didn't look that hard, so I signed up for hosting. Gary was there every step of the way. Without him, I would be pulling my hair out! After my site was on the net for about 1 month, Gary got sick and I didn't want to put a lot of pressure on him. I started emailing my host, Dan, when I had a problem.

The first email I sent to Dan, included the fact that I was a newbie and this was my first experience with a website. I soon found out that Dan was my second angel. He would tell me how to do something. If I didn't understand what he was saying to me (because of the jargon), he would go in and do it for me. I admit that I didn't learn much when he did it himself, but when I had a little Free time, I would go to the manual and try it over and over, until I could do it for myself.

Because of the problems I encountered with hosting and the one person I found to helpme, I decided to start my own hosting company and load it with features that I could have used as a new person just starting out. It had to be easy to use and I wanted it loaded with benefits that you didn't have to go searching for. My solution? Have a look: .

Be careful when choosing a paid host. Make sure that they know you are a newbie and will need help. If they don't have the time or won't take the time to help you, then hosting with them is a waste of your money.

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