Web Hosts Hash Out Fine Print
By Jay Lyman
February 22, 2005 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — There is rarely a shortage of criticism for Web hosting policies buried deep in service agreements that end up coming back to bite customers, or hosts themselves when they look to larger partners and providers to help run their business.Recent discussions on Web hosting forums highlighted the need for vigilance on the part of both hosting customers and Web hosts, which must also beware of unforeseen catches that can clumsy up smooth operation.The idea that the devil is indeed often in the details emerged as a hot topic of discussion this month when a WebHostingTalk (webhostingtalk.com) message thread highlighted supposedly hidden agendas in the sign-up form for resellers using Go Daddy (godaddy.com) or Wild West Domains (wildwestdomains.com).”They are harvesting information about your client to send them sales pitchs (sic) on additional products,” complained the original poster. “I confirmed this with WWD myself. The questions pertain to personal use of the domain, if they are selling stuff, etc. These questions are NOT marked optional but in fact are. This data collection is in spite of any services you may have declined to sell on their behalf.”The discussion starter, who claimed to be moving all 1,200 of his clients away from the domain companies, argued the practice was objectionable since customers were led to believe the answers were required although stood to gain nothing and lose a degree of privacy.There was some concurrence on the matter, and a later post expressed frustration over the domain sign-up process.”There are so many ads that many potential customers never make it through the sign-up process,” the post said. “I understand up-selling, but it has gotten ridiculous. We’ve been having to register domains for many people, as they get confused in the process.”Another poster pointed out the tedious, yet necessary endeavor of figuring out the best domain registration program, indicating it took him six months to evaluate the different possibilities.While there was some praise for the lesser-known domain provider eNom (enom.com), the overall discussion pointed out the need to research, review and realize the implications of provider policies and requirements.A second Web Hosting Talk discussion, and one that began last fall, was yet another horror story of a customer left hanging offline, but turned into a reminder that the fine print can be deceiving in the hosting business.Despite the complaining customer’s belief that his contract assured 100 percent uptime, the figure was subsequently adjusted to 89.9 percent by another poster, who indicated the true minimum uptime to qualify for a refund was far from 100 percent, based on the host’s policy. While one responding host indicated he would not dare guarantee 100 percent uptime because of the unknowns, such as acts of God or hackers, another post pointed out the AUP in question stipulated that refunds would be based on the uptime percentage, which below 89.9 percent earned a credit of half the monthly fee. The same poster also pointed to an apparent error in the AUP whereby the document stated, “In the event that your web site is not available for less than 100 percent,” highlighting the double negative wording.”Yuck, this is a classic example of why customers need to be more vigilant before they sign up with a host,” said the next post.A discussion on HostHideout (hosthideout.com) stressed the need for vigilance on the part of Web hosts themselves, who were advised to make a checklist to avoid fraudulent orders. “We were caught in depth (sic) for $400 because of fraudulent orders being placed, and had to do something quickly. So we made a checklist, and ever since, we have not had ONE fraudulent order since we have taken the necessary step,” said the original poster.The so-called “checklist” involved three key points: verifying the IP traces back to the location of the given address; calling to confirm the transaction with a Varilogix (varilogix.com) FraudCall account; and sending PayPal invoicing. For billing systems such as WHMAP, ModernBill, or Whois.Cart, the poster recommended integration of FraudCall, a geographic check of IP and given address, a look at the domain and confirmation through FraudCall.Finally, a thread on HostingDiscussion.com (hostingdiscussion.com) indicated that while Web hosts can automate and ease sign-ups with commonly-used order forms and scripts — WHMAP, Whois.Cart and ModernBill were mentioned — there was still a need for research and detailed application of them.”Even with the purchase of these control panels, you’ll probably still need to pay someone with experience with the software to install and configure it so it works for your site and doesn’t look out of place,” said a subsequent post in the discussion. “For that reason, I would recommend that you purchase a decent billing software package and then let someone with experience manage the installation and configuration.”
