The Perfect Web Hosting Company? Part II

// February 6th, 2010 // blog

So, here’s where we left off…  I’m on the Justpages.com site and the virtual agent popped up when I tried to leave the site (see screenshot below) and she kept copying and pasting the same 3 discounts over and over no matter what I asked her. Here is a conversation I had with one of their virtual agents:

Connecting to Agent…

You have been connected to Megan

Megan Says: Hey Wait! We would hate to see you go without seeing what’s made us Award Winning Web Hosts, so just this once we would like to offer you a 20% discount on our unlimited hosting plan. To take advantage of this last minute offer just CLICK HERE

Megan Says: When you are ready just say “Hi” and we can get started….

You: I was wondering what the difference is between the basic and premium plans

Megan Says: Here at Just Host with our unlimited hosting plan you receive unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited email accounts and you can host unlimited domains.

Megan Says: We do also have a premium version of this you can checkout HERE,

Megan Says: For dedicated server solutions which you can customize to your own needs. Check these out CLICK HERE

You:Yes, I looked at those. However, the only difference I can see for the more expensive plan is the 3 free domains vs. the 1 free one with the basic. Is this the ONLY difference?

Megan Says: You can host unlimited domains on just one account.

You: why should I get the premium vs. the basic?

Megan Says: We have a premium package which you can view HERE, which also gives you unlimited disk space and unlimited bandwidth but with 2 more FREE domains!

As you can see, getting a different agent on a different day produced the same useless results. I could only see 1 difference between their basic plan and their premium plan – the number of free domain names. The basic plan offers 1 free domain per year. The premium offers 3 free – an annual savings of $10/yr/domain, so $20 savings per year over the basic account if you have 3 or more domains to host. HOWEVER, the plan COSTS $3.45/month ($41.40/year) and the premium plan costs $6.95/month ($83.40), so they are actually charging you MORE for those domains per year than if you just got the basic account and paid for the domains separately if that is the ONLY difference between those two accounts.

I couldn’t imagine justhost.com would so blatantly rip people off, so I tried to call customer service to ask about this discrepancy. I waited on hold for 5 minutes and 50 seconds and then hung up. I clicked their “chat” button, in hopes that it would route me to a different call center than the virtual agents. It seemed to route me to more specialized help where I had the following conversation with tech support, which was emailed to me in a transcript after the chat:

The following is a transcript of your chat session.
General Info
Chat start time Feb 5, 2010 3:49:37 PM EST
Chat end time Feb 5, 2010 3:56:09 PM EST
Duration (actual chatting time) 00:06:31
Operator Name Removed by Apryle
Chat Transcript
info: All our operators are currently assisting others customers. You are currently in position 1  Thank you for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.
info: You are now chatting with ‘Usher Abott’
Usher Abott: Welcome to Live Chat support, how may I help you?
Apryle: I was wondering if the 3 free domains
Apryle: are the only difference btw the basic and premium plans
Apryle: It’s tough to flip back and forth and compare.
Usher Abott: Yes, that’s the only difference
Apryle: I am also wondering if you know what the average hold time is before being able to speak with a representative.
Apryle: I am considering switching my clients over
Apryle: to a different host
Apryle: and I am considering Justhost
Usher Abott: The average hold time on chat is less than a minute
Apryle: yes, you were very prompt on chat but I am wondering what is like on the phone. thank you.
Apryle: I just waited on the phone for 5 minutes 50 seconds and then hung up and tried chat.
Usher Abott: The hold time for phone is bit high than chat, but its not the same all the time
Apryle: yes, I understand, that’s why I was hoping for an average wait-time. But it seems like you don’t know or are not supposed to provide that information.
Apryle: thanks.

So, I didn’t want to waste any additional time on this hosting company. I am very disappointed that they are overcharging for their domains and then calling them “FREE”. Despite it’s great reviews, JustHost’s website and customer service were really concerning; if they can’t answer questions about their own products to win me over as a customer, how are they going to answer my technical questions if I have a problem with my website hosting? Are they going to try to pull one over on me like with their “Premium” plan?

Verdict on Justhost.com: I will not switch to JustHost.com or recommend them until their customer service improves.

…when I continue, I’ll discuss the other hosting companies I looked at…

One Response to “The Perfect Web Hosting Company? Part II”

  1. Website Design: The Perfect Web Hosting Company? Part I | All Yours Solutions says:
    February 6, 2010 at 12:51 pm

    [...] I started with JustHost.com.  I went to their website and navigated between pages to compare plans.  When doing so, an obnoxious chat box poped up each time to entice me to puchase a plan immediately and “not leave the page” (despite me simply navigating BETWEEN pages of their site).  I figured, since I have an agent, I’ll just ask her the questions I was about to try to answer via their website.  She kept copying and pasting the same 3 discounts over and over no matter what I asked her.  She then admitted that she was a virtual agent and had no idea about their different plans.  I discontinued my chat and called their phone number to see if I received the same level of support from their phone. …to be continued (I know, the suspense is killer!)… [...]

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