What do you like most about Bluehost?

[Dave]

I wanted to start a thread where users can post their praises about Bluehost. I know there are those of us who are a little bitter about the little forum accident but lets cheer-up. I'll start.

I have moved from host to host for a few years. The last host I was with was very unstable. Just about every 3 months or so, my site would disappear and I would see the new start up page. Then the only way I could contact support was through email, And my email wouldn't work either. So I would email them from work and they would be treating me like I was a new customer. "Your site is ready, please replace the index with your index..." yada yada yada.. They would never look at my history and notice I was already a customer for more than a year. Turns out they were migrating sites to other machines and the script they used would fail once and a while leaving the customer with a new start page.

Another one had servers that just crashed all the time and I had to call them and ask them to please restart apache. Very annoying. Sometimes they would say they can't do that because it was a shared server. So I would hang up and call again and hope I would get someone who know what was going on or speak to a manager.

But those days ended when I finally found Bluehost. What I noticed right away was the fact that they called me to confirm my account. That was a nice touch because it showed that they wanted to make a connection with me. Sorta like a hand shake over the phone.

The second thing I noticed was that I had a lot more control of what I could do in the control panel. I was a little behind with regards to modern shared hosting so this was a real treat for me. I suddenly had a new toy to play with, not just some ftp space and a bill each month.

Another good thing about this company is that I can call them if I need help. I called them for help with my affiliate account one time and after I chose the technical support extension, a real person answered the phone after just a few rings. I was not placed on hold by a computer. And he seemed as if he had dropped everything he was doing to help me with my problem, You know, the sound of his voice was like, as if it was very urgent. He wanted to fix it urgently. You know? http://www.edenite.us/jeddi/d/9006-1/icon_rolleyes.gif Hard to explain, anyway usually the call center tends to be defensive when you tell them something is wrong, But he was the opposite, Quick to show understanding and eager to solve the problem. ok enough about that. Anyway great support so far. http://www.edenite.us/jeddi/d/9024-1/icon_thumright.gif

Some of the sites I host here are:

www.edenite.us
www.mtoliveco.com
www.playgroundplaces.com

NEXT...


~~~

Edit: Well now there are so many complaints on this public forum that it's getting ridicules. I feel embarrassed that I made this post now.:mad:
Please except my apology for the numerous problems you see here. I'm sure one day BH will get it together.

[BrandonK]

I wanted to start a thread where users can post their praises about Bluehost. I know there are those of us who are a little bitter about the little forum accident but lets cheer-up. I'll start.

I have moved from host to host for a few years. The last host I was with was very unstable. Just about every 3 months or so, my site would disappear and I would see the new start up page. Then the only way I could contact support was through email, And my email wouldn't work either. So I would email them from work and they would be treating me like I was a new customer. "Your site is ready, please replace the index with your index..." yada yada yada.. They would never look at my history and notice I was already a customer for more than a year. Turns out they were migrating sites to other machines and the script they used would fail once and a while leaving the customer with a new start page.

Another one had servers that just crashed all the time and I had to call them and ask them to please restart apache. Very annoying. Sometimes they would say they can't do that because it was a shared server. So I would hang up and call again and hope I would get someone who know what was going on or speak to a manager.

But those days ended when I finally found Bluehost. What I noticed right away was the fact that they called me to confirm my account. That was a nice touch because it showed that they wanted to make a connection with me. Sorta like a hand shake over the phone.

The second thing I noticed was that I had a lot more control of what I could do in the control panel. I was a little behind with regards to modern shared hosting so this was a real treat for me. I suddenly had a new toy to play with, not just some ftp space and a bill each month.

Another good thing about this company is that I can call them if I need help. I called them for help with my affiliate account one time and after I chose the technical support extension, a real person answered the phone after just a few rings. I was not placed on hold by a computer. And he seemed as if he had dropped everything he was doing to help me with my problem, You know, the sound of his voice was like, as if it was very urgent. He wanted to fix it urgently. You know? http://www.edenite.us/jeddi/d/9006-1/icon_rolleyes.gif Hard to explain, anyway usually the call center tends to be defensive when you tell them something is wrong, But he was the opposite, Quick to show understanding and eager to solve the problem. ok enough about that. Anyway great support so far. http://www.edenite.us/jeddi/d/9024-1/icon_thumright.gif

Some of the sites I host here are:

www.edenite.us
www.mtoliveco.com
www.playgroundplaces.com

NEXT...

Gee thanks a lot Dave.....now I have nothing to say but "....what he said." :p

You summed it up buddy! :D

[bruphoto]

I can't think of anything to add to what Dave already said :D

http://www.bruphoto.com/pics/mysig.png

[cajun]

Yes ... so true.
*the service*

[macgyver2]

The thing that's impressed me the most, so far, is how customers (on these forums, though presumably through other channels, too) were asking for Ruby on Rails/FastCGI support...now we have it. So this is kinda like an extension to what Dave said in that they listen to what the customers want and if it's feasible they do it.

[Taresa]

#1 for me so far has been the CP. I've never worked with such a cool CP! AnD I get shell access! How cool is that?! It's affordable, too. I wouldn't be here if it were over $10/month.

I don't mean to downplay support, but support isn't why I signed up or stayed on.

This is an interesting thread. In the MBA program I'm in, we talk about what qualifies you to operate in a particular market, and what wins you orders in that market. I wonder what the biggest order winner is for BH. If it's support, maybe their banner ads should showcase that more.

[JCsDesignz]

To be honest i dont know enough about hosts or hosting to say much as this is my first host BUT i can say that the support staff are VERY patient and helpful.

Within my first week i must have emailed them about 100 pretty dumb questions and the 100th was answered just as clearly and patiently as the 1st.

Ok so they probably rolled their eyes and logged off when they saw my mail address but at least they were polite when replying LMAO

[macgyver2]

To be honest i dont know enough about hosts or hosting to say much as this is my first host BUT i can say that the support staff are VERY patient and helpful.

Within my first week i must have emailed them about 100 pretty dumb questions and the 100th was answered just as clearly and patiently as the 100th.

Ok so they probably rolled their eyes and logged off when they saw my mail address but at least they were polite when replying LMAO
So you're the reason they set up these forums! ;)

[1darkangel]

I have not had many hosts but I really do like bluehost! You all covered it so well that it's kind of hard to add too. My first little piece of net was with my Internet Provider. They offered their customers some free space and limited bandwith. Of course we had no control panel and no control over much of what we could do outside of upload and delete files.
When I outgrew them a friend let me use some space on their server. They figured I could stay there as long as I needed and that maybe I would like their host enough to go with them. I tell you what my site was down more than up! There was even a 3 month span of downtime and her host never did give a valid reason or rush to fix it. They had awful support. So I ran off to find my own host that was dependable and not going to cost a fortune. After some research I decided that Bluehost was the way to go and have been ever so thankful I made that jump! Great service, great support and an good price! What more could you want?

[JCsDesignz]

So you're the reason they set up these forums! ;)

Of course i am. They set it up so i could bug you lot instead so they have time to work instead of just emailing me LMAO :D

Oh and that should have said 100th as patiently as the 1st LOL I had to edit my post :)

[jon3330]

The space for the price is the reason i am here plus the 5 addon domains.
Jon

[Marc]

I like the fact that you can actually talk to a real person.
I had to call my old host for a customer. It was nice they had a phone number to call but it would only take a message and create a help ticket.
Thank You:)

[Gizmo]

Cant really add anything else, apart from I like the speed of my site and quick response when I have done a support ticket.

[rjewett]

Bluehost is my fourth major hosting company in the last 10 years. I used to do some virtual hosting and I have built and maintained websites for both commercial and non-profit groups. Not static websites but PHP,MySQL with credit card transactions etc. so I have some experiences.

I came to Bluehost because the last hosting company updated their PHP configuration which caused a large portion of my business to stop working. They said this was done for security reasons and that my only alternative was to rewrite my code. Which I could have understood if they had sent me an email warning that the change was going to be made on a future date and giving me a chance to update my site. Bluehost gives you a private copy of the php.ini so you can manage the configuration locally.

I have only needed customer support once. They really have given us a lot of control of our web hosting. I have been able to find everything I need to solve my own problems. My previous hosting company updated my email outbound limit one day and put it at such a low level that my newsletter to my customers could not be sent out. They told me that this was done to prevent me spamming people and that they would not increase this limit, regardless of what proof I gave them that these were my customers and had opted into this list and were expecting the email. It took me two days to write the workaround.

When I moved my first site to Bluehost I ran into this problem in a different piece of code. I was getting ready to merge that workaround into my other website and decided to give support a try. They immediately increased my email limit telling me that my explanation for what I was trying to do convinced them I was not spamming anyone.

I have done a fair amount of reading the forums and FAQs and I just get the feeling that their focus is empowering me to control my own business and not throwing up roadblocks that blindside me. Sometimes support is more than just have people pick up the phone and answer silly questions.

[lyricallana]

I have hosted my Bands website with Blue Host for a really long time, The problem we had with other hosts was that the site would go down all the time. I can say in all this time with Blue Host, we do not have that problem anymore. Plus the customer service aspect of the site just sets it apart from other hosts out there. Not to mention the Owner truly rocks ! :) :D

[nirz]

Service seems great, although I've not encountered very many problems. I did have a little confusion about my email acting out of whack once, but I figured it out on my own.

Anyway, I like Bluehost and I recommend it to my customers.

[graniteg]

Thanks for all of the good vibes about BH!

I am new to BH, and currently have migrated only one of my 'personal interest' sites. Of greater urgency, however, is migrating the website of a non-profit organization where I am web-slave. We're having issues with mail lists (Mailman)and limited control/features (mySQL, blogging, surveying), not to mention exorbitant prices!

In order to convince the org to make the jump, I need some personal contacts with positive references of BH. The longer your experience with BH, the better. Anybody willing to talk to me briefly, and act as my witness for the board of my org?

thanx a MM.
Michelle
michelle@granitegroupsecurity.com

[3Tomboys]

I have been with several web hosts over the years and Blue Host is my favorite. I should note that I am a web site designer and have many clients with different web hosting needs. I see a lot of different hosts and BH is the best non-windows host I know so far.


I love the real people who answer the phone - no overseas phone support.
I love the add-on domains - it saves me money and is a selling point for customers who have more than one domain.
Great package and simple for my clients to set up - really the only choice they get is 1 or 2 year sign up and new or transferred domain. SIMPLE.
I love the control panel - I work with a lot of customers who have control panels that are confusing and worthless.
I like that my clients can set up their email forwarding through the webmail instead of having to give all of the employees access to the control panel.
I love the affiliate program. I have made several hundred dollars already just for signing my customers up with BH. Believe me, it would be worth it to me to sign them up with BH without the affiliate program. I don't have to deal with all of clients' web hosting problems because there are not many with BH.
I love that you don't have to call the afilliate program to get your payments (bad experience with another host)
Did I mention SUPPORT SUPPORT SUPPORT - fast phone support, great email support - they actually answer the questions. There's nothing more frustrating than spelling out a problem and then having support write back addressing only the first issue. BH support is great!
The sales team is helpful, too. When I have a client with a special need, sales takes the time to answer the questions honestly.
I live that BH is confident enough to open this forum - let's face it, it gives people a way to bash them if they have a bad experience. Not many hosts would risk that but I think that the BH customers are more satisfied with the service and support that other companies.
Billing is simple - I've had other hosting companies turn my account over to collections because I did not know that I had to cancel my account - when my other host tried to bill my old credit card number they couldn't and so instead of just closing my account, they billed it internally and then added some extra fees and then sent it off to collections. NICE. I'm still dealing with that one.
I love the fantastico - it makes setting up programs like Gallery and OpenRealty a snap - no permissions setting up and the like. LOVE IT.
Transferring and managing domains is easy through the domain manager.


Can't say enough! Thank you Blue Host.

Lynette
http://www.3tomboys.com

[vegasgwm]

sorry, i forget to quote graniteg;'s post:
"In order to convince the org to make the jump, I need some personal contacts with positive references of BH. The longer your experience with BH, the better. Anybody willing to talk to me briefly, and act as my witness for the board of my org?"

May I suggest compiling some of these posts for your board. These are NO so-called or fake "testimonials" that companies put up. These are real customers. And trust me, no host would put up a forum like this if they did not have an outstanding service like bluehost. I'm mostly impressed by the amount of control via the cp. In short: excellent service, unbeatable price, powerful control. (I have moved all my clients sites here. e.g. campbellsnyc.org)

[smiffy]

In order to convince the org to make the jump, I need some personal contacts with positive references of BH. The longer your experience with BH, the better.
I can tell you this much; I currently run multiple websites with a number of different hosts and I give Bluehost top marks.

From past experience, I learned the best way to evaluate a new host was to sign up and try them out and to do so with something you could walk away from without a second thought. It didn't matter the project, only that it would allow you to put the host to the test and should things go wrong, leave.

I've done this with a number of hosts. It may seem like a waste of money but the long-term savings are what count. It's a costly business, not to mention upsetting, walking away from an established website you have put time, effort and money into creating.

Bluehost was one of my 'test hosts' and to be honest, I was simply going through the motions of trying out another host.

Until I used the services! Before long I had put every script through it's paces and tried out almost every add-on available. Not only that, but I've added other domains and forums.

What else can I say? If I was to recommend a hosting service, it would be Bluehost.

[Deedette]

In this day and age of electronics, for some reason communications is not always effective. Bluehost has capitalized on this.. and acted as best as they can with the willingness to change for the better if they see the need. For all of their efforts, they still make it all so affordable. They have anticipated the needs, and actually done something about it to help us.
First you can log in from their home page, they give lots of info , like they are reading our minds:) , many choices at the control panel, so easy to move another website to theirs,and add more, all levels of talent in webmastering, can do what they need to here.. in a relatively short time. I am so happy to have found Bluehost. I typed in popular webhosting into google, and they were right up there. Thank you Bluehost, I am guessing that you as a group, communicate well with each other, to begin with.
Deedette

[nhgpga.org]

As most of you all ready said it is the people and their communications.

I remember setting up my account with Bluehost in their early days( I also was a 0catch customer first) but when I setup my account Matt called me personally and checked to make sure everything was OK. And this was from HOME!!! I even had his cell phone number at one point! To Bluehost the customer is #1

[jamesd116]

Well i see that this post is a few months old but i felt a need to post on it anywayz since positive comments sometimes are rare.
This is only my second host so i dont have much experience with hosting services the first being ipowerweb i very much enjoyed for 3 yrs of my learning exxperience of trying to do a website the only reason i transferred to BH is because of all of the extras such as the 50 dbs and all of the options with fantastico because at the time i signed up those were really the only major differences which ipowerweb didnt have either but i took a chance and switched without knowing much else but it was well worth it.

[Packleadr]

I love Blue Host for it's simplicity of use, even if you know nothing about Hosting or website management, you can always manage.

The server is rarely down compare to other's.

Lots of add-ons with Fantastico, and mostly free.

easy to use c-panel

and also, all the "great people" to help in the thread section. Hey someone have to give you a little praise.

Thank you Guy's and Girls.

--------------------------------
Success is within you!
http://www.home-business-and-more.com

[CountryCorner]

I really like Blue Host for their excellent customer service. I have never gotten off the phone after speaking with a member of the staff without having my issue resolved. I have always been treated with patience and respect. I have never been made to feel silly because I ask questions about things others in "web world" may think are common knowledge.
I am very happy with their hosting service and their excellent customer service. :)

Thanks,
Kelly
http://www.kellyscountrycorner.com
http://www.sleeplessnites.com (Lingerie)

[dvessel]

Bluehost is like eating a candy bar and this thread is like eating 20. :p Long live BH & cheers. :)

[Kristy]

I am here not because of all the extras (which are great) but I needed to have a site location that I could feel secure with. One that just isn't a fly by night company. If you have never had support from other places you can really appreciate the one they have here. Live people are wonderful, but more than that they actually know what they are doing. When life is good, it's good!

www.customscrewsandmore.com

[Joss]

Hey, this is the first hoster I ahve been with, and boy and I impressed...while I was searching for hosts, I thought I hit the jackpot when they were offering me 5Gb space 10Mb transfere etc...for ridiculous amounts of money.

But then by chance I found BlueHost and boy am I glad I should that ad!

From the start I have had no problems, everything is getting better and better as we go. Every couple of months there is a major upgrade in server space and bandwidth.
Yeah, there is a glitch every now and then, but it is fixed so quickly that hardly anyone notices it!

I am very impressed with how easy it was to setup, everything was well presented and good looking, it was like a well polished car that you could and would walk out of the store with, rather than having to wait a week after you handed over your plastic card details before you saw anything come about...

All I can say is the #1 hosting company I have ever seen is BlueHost.

And I must also say the personal email from Matt every once in a while is a welcome email in my box-no matter how long it is, and really the longer they are, the better (means that he is paying attention to the customers and their needs and not just the technology behind him). I also love him sending his email out on the bottom not just some random office email, I know I can get in contact with Matt easily if I have to, and that makes me feel good about the business.


Just again, I would like to say thanks to the BlueHost Management and also to the other members of this forum, I think everyone benefits greatly from your support and friendship.