the hostorian (& his reviews!) » Microsoft hosting

1&1 Internet UK – Consumer complaints and comments, facts, and company profile

Hostorian — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:32:50 +0000

Summary

1&1 claim to be the world’s number 1 web host and the fastest growing web hosting company. According to their “About 1&1″ page, 1&1′s global community is 7.46 million people strong with 2,500 new customers signing up every day.

Website: Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet UK website

Quick Facts

Number of domains: 9.82 million registered domains, and over 2.7 million websites
Services: Domain registration, Email hosting, Linux hosting, Microsoft hosting, VPS hosting, Managed Server hosting, Root Server hosting, Windows Server hosting, “eShop hosting,” Microsoft Sharepoint hosting
Location: 1&1 Internet Limited, Aquasulis House, 10-14 Bath Road, Slough, SL1 3SA, UK
Guarantees: 60-day money back guarantee, 99.99% uptime, no hidden charges
Contact information: Call 0871 641 21 21. Or visit the contact page on their website.

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet UK website

Products & Services

Domain registration, Email hosting, Linux hosting, Microsoft hosting, VPS hosting, Managed Server hosting, Root Server hosting, Windows Server hosting, “eShop hosting,” Microsoft Sharepoint hosting

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet UK website

Hostorian’s Review

Performance

Several customers of 1&1 Internet Ltd. UK have posted their reviews of their performance. Most, if not all, have a negative review of their performance.

From horror stories of how their servers seem to be down intermittently to how everything is slower than a drugged tortoise on occasions, the impression we get is not good.

Of course, some people report good things too, but it does shake your confidence in them overall.

Features

This is probably the only good thing about 1&1 Internet Ltd. UK and their web hosting packages. They are loaded with features.

But then so is every other hosting provider. In fact, most hosting providers let you host more domains in a single account.

They offer about £400 worth of software for free with their web hosting packages, and you can also get RatePoint for free with select business packages. You get 100 business cards for free when you sign up for their 1&1 Home package.

Support and Customer Care

Support and customer care seems to be a joke, in the words of many of their customers (who are now ex-customers and very happy about it). Some people switched hosting providers solely because of 1&1 Internet UK’s poor customer support.

In fact, they put you on hold for such long periods that it might be worth getting a speaker-phone just so you can continue doing other work while you are waiting for someone to answer the phone.

Not just that, it’s a battle to get them to understand the problem, and an even bigger battle to get them to solve it in a timely manner.

Cons

Canceling your account with them is very difficult, and requires you to fax a signed copy of your application to them.
Support is outsourced to a non-English speaking country, and not only is the accent difficult to understand, the support staff doesn’t seem to be competent either.
Because of their low prices, they are forced to share the same server among a lot of sites, and as a result the site performance is not up to the mark. Speeds are slow, and uptime is not good either.

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet UK website

Actual Customer Feedback

Awful, awful, awful service. Avoid these people like the plaque. I have customers who have registered domain names with one and one and releasing them to (better) other suppliers is a nightmare with .coms. The helpline is some far off country and the operators are difficult to understand especially when you require technical assistance.

Consequently my customers 1and1 domain and email account has NOT been running for 2 weeks. – Paul

Have now 6 domains with 1and1 uk and am very happy with the customer service and uptime, cant fault them yet – James Brabyn

I have bought an eshop from them and all I have to say is their online based program is so slow and you can not use any other things, they say you have 500mb but they don’t let you upload any thing to your space by any ftp or program other than their eshop which means you can only upload certain image files and that it.

Their customer service were alright in the begining but now no answer what so ever for a month or non at all for some of my posts.

I have to mention if you really want to go into truble then they are good at it. – Parkook

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet UK website

Verdict of This Review

Everything about 1&1 Internet Ltd. UK hosting is bad. May be a bit useful for registering cheap domains, but not good for hosting sites. Not recommended at all. Avoid at all costs.

Rating:

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet UK website

1&1 Internet Inc. – Consumer complaints and comments, facts, and company profile

Hostorian — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 11:22:10 +0000

Summary

Website: Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet Inc. website

Quick Facts

Number of domains: 9.82 million registered domains, and over 2.7 million websites
Services: Domain registration, Email hosting, Linux hosting, Microsoft hosting, VPS hosting, Managed Server hosting, Root Server hosting, Windows Server hosting, “eShop hosting,” Microsoft Sharepoint hosting
Location: Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania, USA
Guarantees: 60-day money back guarantee, 99.99% uptime, no hidden charges
Contact information: Call 1-877-GO-1AND1 (1-877-461-2631). Or visit the contact page on their website.

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet Inc. website

Products & Services

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet Inc. website

Hostorian’s Review

Performance

1&1 Internet’s performance, according to customer reports found all over the web, is not too impressive. Several people report long downtimes, some even up to five days!

While they do have impressive hardware and connectivity, they host SO many websites, it’s apparently taking a toll on performance.

Well, that might be the reason, or it could be something else, but a prospective customer would be better advised to look for another web host with better performance records.

Features

They do offer an impressive array of features, but then, so do most web hosts these days.

Oh wait! Actually, there are quite a few web hosts that offer MORE features than 1&1 Internet does. For example, these days, several web hosts offer unlimited domains on a single shared hosting account. But the marketing angels at 1&1 only offer from 1-5 domains on a single shared hosting account, depending on your account type.

With the exception of a couple of features, most features can be classified as either something that everyone offers, or something that no one needs. Methinks someone at 1&1 Internet Inc is just trying to bloat the feature list.

We don’t want features we don’t need. We want more value, better hosting, better performance, and better service.

Support and Customer Care

One word: Crooks!

Several people complain about 1&1 Internet Inc. continuing to charge their credit cards long after they cancel their accounts with them. Getting a refund may not be impossible, but it’s close. Be prepared to file a complaint with your credit card company AND change your credit card if you want to avoid getting rebilled.

I have also read accounts of 1&1 Internet Inc’s customer service people yelling at customers, calling them names, and hanging up on them.

In case a customer’s credit card fails to authorize for some reason, they send it to a collection agency before even contacting the customer to remedy the situation. This is very strange, considering it would be a lot cheaper and quicker for them to just inform the customer that there is a problem, and ask them to update their billing information. Not to mention the PR suicide they are committing.

Cons

Horrible customer service and rude customer service people.
A big portion of the customer support is outsourced to a non-English speaking country, which makes understanding them difficult.
Performance is very bad, and customers frequently experience downtime, despite their 99.99% uptime guarantee.

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet Inc. website

Actual Customer Feedback

If you are thinking of purchasing from 1&1 don’t do it! – Louis Lang

Filed complaint with Better Business Bureau. They already have and Unsatisfactory rating there. – Owner ( customerservice at clean-fill-wanted(dot)com )

My site has been down for 3 days with no support from 1and1 at all. Nobody will tell me what is going on. This company should be avoided at all costs. My site was intermittently down for 2 weeks prior to that. Please Please someone start a class action lawsuit. Google 1and1 and see millions of negative messages regarding 1and1. – Steve Tarnowski

1 and 1 is horrendous in every way! After transferring a domain to them and receiving confirmation from them that the transaction was completed, they sold the name to someone else without letting us know. They continued to bill us of course, and didn’t even give the promised and advertised promotional discount. This national campaign for the site lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they have still not corrected their mistake. The Better Business Bureau and Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office are investigating them, and so is the media. As an investigative journalist myself, I have been sharing my story with the print and broadcast community and my colleagues who are realizing how poorly this company conducts business. Hundreds of emails gone unanswered, phone calls dropped with no resolution, no support at all, and ethical issues are just the tip of the 1 and 1 iceburg. Caveat emptor! – Kelly

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet Inc. website

Verdict of This Review

Not impressive at all. Stay away from this company at all costs. In fact, if you don’t like someone, send them over to 1&1 for hosting their websites. Not recommended, if you are thinking of hosting your own sites with them.

Rating:

Click here to go to the official 1&1 Internet Inc. website