Guarantees?

JBenedetti · #1 01-19-2006, 10:28 AM

Hi All,
OK, so I've read through the TOS many-a-time, and have hosted several sites here for around a year or so now, and have a lot of good things to say about HostGator so far. Am seriously considering a dedicated server for my clients here vs colocation elsewhere. But here's something that's been nagging at me for awhile now:

I've had my web studio since the mid-late 90s and have seen a whole bunch of what appeared to be rock solid web businesses (many of them hosts) go belly-up. Some hosts just up and shut down without notice, terminiating all connections (FTP, http, etc), and leaving everyone on their servers in a world of hurt.

I fully realize that no business (in their right mind) can guarantee that they will succeed. And believe me, I want to see you guys succeed. What guarantees -- in writing-- can Hostgator give us in the case that they go belly-up and decide to close up shop? Meaning, can you guarantee that clients, especially those with dedicated servers, will have some sort of warning period during which time we can move our client sites? If yes, what kind of warning period? Is this unreasonable to ask?

Hungry · #2 01-19-2006, 12:55 PM

....anxiously awaiting the answer to this one.

***GatorJay*** · #3 01-19-2006, 01:50 PM

We have no plans what-so-ever to go out of business at anytime in the near or future-future, if we ever did for any reason we would not just shut down, especially with the many thousands of customers we have. That is usually something only the smaller hosts can get away with.

We also host all of our servers at ThePlanet datacenter, so im sure if there was any reason we were going away you could have your box moved directly with ThePlanet or to one of there own boxes.

Serra · #4 01-19-2006, 05:29 PM

There is no guarentee that HG will not go out of business and disappear in the middle of the night. That is business. You just have to make sure that if that does happen, you have a fall back plan. Make sure you have backups of your files that are on the server and that you can restore them.

Beyond that, there is really little to worry about.

JBenedetti · #5 01-21-2006, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GatorJay

We have no plans what-so-ever to go out of business at anytime in the near or future-future, if we ever did for any reason we would not just shut down, especially with the many thousands of customers we have. That is usually something only the smaller hosts can get away with.

We also host all of our servers at ThePlanet datacenter, so im sure if there was any reason we were going away you could have your box moved directly with ThePlanet or to one of there own boxes.

Yes, I understand that you have no plans to go out of business-- few businesses do, until things go south. And you guys do seem established enough that it's unlikely you'll go into the tank. But I've seen lots of good businesses fail too, during the time that I've been in the internet industry. And yes, I do have a fallback plan. But the question was really more about guarantees: in the event that the unlikely does occur, would Hostgator guarantee its customers (esp resellers and/or those with dedicated servers) some sort of fair warning so that we can switch to Plan B and/or talk to the Planet about taking over for us? Then we could feel safe in sending you more and more business, which would, in turn, keep the aforementioned worst-case scenario from happening.

I realize you guys have no obligation to make such guarantees, and that it's a tad unrealistic for me to even ask. But you've suprised me with your quality before, so I thought it couldn't hurt to ask this question, which has been on my mind. I feel like such a guarantee, especially in this industry, would set you even farther ahead of a pack that you're already leading.

shanee86 · #6 01-22-2006, 02:58 AM

Like said above I don't think hostgator who has thousands of clients would do that and mostly smaller host go under. I seriously doubt hostgator will go anywere I think they have been around for a few years and they are a very big host I would worry not about that and if something did happen I am sure they would refund your money or something. But it is always good to have backups.

Serra · #7 01-22-2006, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBenedetti

I realize you guys have no obligation to make such guarantees, and that it's a tad unrealistic for me to even ask. But you've suprised me with your quality before, so I thought it couldn't hurt to ask this question, which has been on my mind. I feel like such a guarantee, especially in this industry, would set you even farther ahead of a pack that you're already leading.

It would also be a useless guarentee because if they went out of business, they wouldn't be around to guarentee anything. Not only that it would make them look like they are actually planning to go out of business.

If is far more likely that HG would be purchased by another company than go out of business.

khepri · #8 01-23-2006, 02:42 AM

Two cents.

Gotta agree with Serra (as usual)...

Stay backed up you don't need a guarantee...

JBenedetti · #9 01-23-2006, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serra

It would also be a useless guarentee because if they went out of business, they wouldn't be around to guarentee anything. Not only that it would make them look like they are actually planning to go out of business.

If is far more likely that HG would be purchased by another company than go out of business.

Point taken. If I was an admin I'd close the topic.