Thread: 1&1 Hosting Review

I've both had domains and hosting with these guys before so I thought I'd put forward my review of my experience with their hosting services.

The account I signed up to had a bundle of nice features including a variety of website building and marketing management tools which were pretty helpful. Also, I recieved some free domain name registrations with the package I ordered so I was able to start my site up quickly and easily.

The hosting came with CPanel access which was good, though at times it was a little slow to access. However, their CPanel was clean and easy to navigate, which was a bonus.
Something I found really useful was the In2Site Live Dialogue that came with the package. It allows you to communicate with visitors to your site which came in handy on a number of occasions.
Another thing I found particularly useful was the basic CGI applications that were provided, which included guestbook and visitor counter. While they were a bit awkward to use, once they were tweaked with sufficiently, the result was how I wanted it.

Finally, the customer support was, well, not the best. I tend to look for quality customer service in a host and it wasn't provided. They were slow to reply to emails and when I called, they were unhelpful and inconsistent in their responses. They appeared to have no internal communication system!
Having said that, the prices were good (currently £3.99 a month for the business package) so you really do get what you pay for.

Positives

Free domain names
Large amount of features including email accounts, website building and marketing tools
Good uptime
Good price

Negatives

Awful customer service

I've recently ordered a shared package from them and then they said that they need up to 24 hours to review my order. The total amount was $17, so was pretty annoying to wait a full day because of "security reasons".
After 24 hours I've sent them a message and they said that they need more time, because... (I don't remember why, but I know that was a stupid reason).
After another 24 hours I've sent them another message and they asked me a scanned copy of my identity card. I have canceled the Paypal agreement with them, without using their hosting for a single minute.

I've been with 1and1.com for a few years and have about 25 domains with them. Aside from the numerous technical problems with their service, they are arrogant, thieving hostage takers.