HostGator.com Scam - A Warning From Past Memebers

[highlander]

Host Gator is a good outfit, but they have grown to be quite large. That in itself will tend to muck up communication. Some sound organization will help to pull them out.
IMHO

[alemcherry]

This incident was very unfortunate, but overall I hear a lot of positive feedback about hostgator, that most of the biggies.

[SecureServerTec]

not me. they are oversellers and if you start using all they have allocated for you they will suspend then terminate you.
Lots of them do this for "resource abuse" so there is no way you can actually use what you are allocated without being suspended for resource abuse. I know numerous high traffic sites who tried host gator because of the big bundle of bw and space but in time they found themselves terminated.
They should not even allocate the space if they cannot let anyone use it but I guess thats how overselling dirtbags operate.

There is no doubt about this, it is what hostgator does, they are a big overselling joke. Sure you wouldnt have no problems if you have a low traffic site but if you have just one site with decent traffic they will terminate you. They done this to sdddesign.biz and they only average about 50 users online at once.
But people should know better to deal with hostgator anyway, they are beginning ot get a rep for doing thsi. And alem you must have them mistaken for someone else because I have heard nothing but negative about hostgator. Like I said if you had some low traffic crap it wouldnt matter but if you have a site that remotely uses what you are allocated you will get screwed.

But that is ridiculous they done that, just another incident to prove the argument that they are a big joke. I guess thats why I got a server in the first place so crap like that cant happen. I currently have a server at rackmounted.com they are great guys and would never ever just go in and delete my stuff no matter what the reason. They dont care what I have as long as it is legal and stupid complains like the one that got you screwed just get forwarded to me.

I post gpl products that people try to sell elsewhere on my site for free as it is my right under the gpl and I get all kinds of stupid complaints and lawsuit threats when they dont even have a leg to stand on.

Rackmounted's shared hosting is www.serve.com I guarantee you that you wouldnt have that problem with them. As long as you have only legal content they dont care. They even support free speech websites unlike most other hosts.

[Unregistered]

Thanks for all the details. I won't allow Hostgator to put the bite on me. Any other providers who use thePlanet or who are associated with HostGator?

[trocobob]

actullay many members complaint from hostgator . i hope that they find solution to all his problems

[Helios32176]

HostGator is the worst hosting company ever. They took my website down in November 2006 without notice because they claimed my site used 11% of the CPU. The support department told me they would send me a .tar file of my site and a mysql export within one week which I told them was unacceptale because the site has paid advertisers (not Google Adsense) and I already had another dedicated server with PEER1 to move the site in question to immediately. After several hours of tying up their phone support, they finally relinquished and put the .tar file in an ftp for me to download. I told them cancel my account immediately and do not bill my credit card again.

OK, I had my site back up in several hours, and thought I was done with them for good, but they have continued to bill my credit card $29.95 per month since the incedent. I have called support and they said I needed to log into CPanel and cancel my account from there, however, they locked me out of Cpanel. I told them I was going to do a chargeback on the fraudulent billing and their representative stated they would file a judgment against me with the credit bureaus if I reversed the charges.

Here we are, now in April 2007 and they are still continuing to bill me for an account they cancelled and I have no recourse at this point but to do a chargeback through Bank of America for the 5 months they have billed me since I have not been on their service.

I have an impeccable credit rating and it is the absolute most dispicable act I've ever seen from an internet company since AOL pulled the same trick on me back in 1995.

I urge anybody reading this to never have any dealings with HostGator or you will seriously regret it.

[sitesavings]

If you had a custom $300 script made, you didn't bother to create your own backups even once?

Why does everyone always assume the hosting provider makes and keeps backups?

I agree they are completely wrong, and you should seek legal advice depending on the damages involved. However, you never once made backups yourself?

[Helios32176]

It's is July now and if you see my last post above, that HostGator was still charging my credit card months after they pulled my site... guess what? They are still charging my credit card !!!!! I just got another charge on 7/02/2007 !!!!

[Gene Steinberg]

not me. they are oversellers and if you start using all they have allocated for you they will suspend then terminate you.
Lots of them do this for "resource abuse" so there is no way you can actually use what you are allocated without being suspended for resource abuse. I know numerous high traffic sites who tried host gator because of the big bundle of bw and space but in time they found themselves terminated.
They should not even allocate the space if they cannot let anyone use it but I guess thats how overselling dirtbags operate.

There is no doubt about this, it is what hostgator does, they are a big overselling joke. Sure you wouldnt have no problems if you have a low traffic site but if you have just one site with decent traffic they will terminate you. They done this to sdddesign.biz and they only average about 50 users online at once.
But people should know better to deal with hostgator anyway, they are beginning ot get a rep for doing thsi. And alem you must have them mistaken for someone else because I have heard nothing but negative about hostgator. Like I said if you had some low traffic crap it wouldnt matter but if you have a site that remotely uses what you are allocated you will get screwed.

But that is ridiculous they done that, just another incident to prove the argument that they are a big joke. I guess thats why I got a server in the first place so crap like that cant happen. I currently have a server at rackmounted.com they are great guys and would never ever just go in and delete my stuff no matter what the reason. They dont care what I have as long as it is legal and stupid complains like the one that got you screwed just get forwarded to me.

I post gpl products that people try to sell elsewhere on my site for free as it is my right under the gpl and I get all kinds of stupid complaints and lawsuit threats when they dont even have a leg to stand on.

Rackmounted's shared hosting is www.serve.com I guarantee you that you wouldnt have that problem with them. As long as you have only legal content they dont care. They even support free speech websites unlike most other hosts.

I am not on HostGator, but I've been on other alleged "overselling" hosts, and I can tell you that the biggest problem is not so much with the offers, but the fact that exceptions are often buried in long terms of service that customers should, but don't, consult.

Here, for example, is what HostGator says, officially, about this:

7a.) Resource Usage
User may not:
a) Use 25% or more of system resources for longer then 90 seconds. There are numerous activities that could cause such problems; these include: CGI scripts, FTP, PHP, HTTP, etc.
b) Run stand-alone, unattended server-side processes at any point in time on the server. This includes any and all daemons, such as IRCD.
c) Run any type of web spider or indexer (including Google Cash / AdSpy) on shared servers.
d) Run any software that interfaces with an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) network.
e) Run any bit torrent application, tracker, or client. Please note that you may link to torrents off server, but may not host or store them.
f) Participate in any file-sharing/peer-to-peer activities
g) Run any gaming servers such as counter-strike, half-life, battlefield1942, etc
h) Run cron entries with intervals of less than 15 minutes

The issue of resource abuse simply means that you are hogging the RAM and/or CPU power of your server. That's the limit of any shared hosting plan, and it would come into play even if the absolute limits of disk storage and bandwidth aren't achieved.

Database-driven sites, such as message boards, blogs, etc., are the worst offenders. You add a few extra scripts or mods to the picture, and everything soars as soon as your site becomes popular.

In saying that, the cheap plans with lots of features are great ways to run small sites or to start your business. When things get to be a little too busy for shared, then you check a host's other options or move elsewhere.

But I would not condemn all hosts for premature suspension/termination without cause. There are usually reasons, and they're mostly valid.

Now about charging a customer for services after cancellation, if the host won't refund the charges, go to your bank and tell them what's going on. File a dispute. That should settle this in short order.

[MorePen]

what action did you take against the competitor? i am sorry to hear about your experience, nonetheless.....

[arslan220]

i think host gator is great company from where you got this scam.

[Jennifer]

No they are one of the most trusted hosts out there.

[willi123456]

they lie. on their sign up page it says cpanel is included in ALL vps accounts, but it isn't, they mislead you to take your money, forget them webkeepers is better

[fiberpools]

Thanks for all the details. I won't allow Hostgator to put the bite on me. who are associated with HostGator?

[DanielChew]

I believed this thread OPs is kinda mad as he have posted the same things all around the forum, according to his stories and I don't agree with the method that been practice in their company. Not basically target the indian work force but the 3rd party support from India is causing some problem but no doubts most of them is skillful.

Noted, your information and will bear in mind for this sharing.