Host Gator supports my business

[Serra]

I have been with Host Gator for over a year now. In that time, but business has grown and Host Gator has been there to support me. I've moved from reseller hosting to dedicated hosting and my business is doing well because of of the quality of Host Gator's systems and support people.

I've read a lot about HG's support being poor and the support people not reading tickets. From what I've read, I got the impression that HG isn't doing a good job, but when I looked back at my tickets (over 70 of them), I was only able to find 4 where the support person didn't get it right the first time. Of course, I remember those 4 tickets the most, but I couldn't believe that HG only messed up 6% of the ticket and ALL of those were actually done properly in the end.

I'm currently hosting sites with three major hosting companies, two in CA and HG in Florida. When I put in support tickets at those other companies, I really miss HG. For example, last week I put in a ticket to get a SSL certificate installed on an account at another hosting company. It took a total of 5 working days for it to be installed, plus I had to follow up 4 times. On my HostGator account, I put in a ticket to get a SSL installed at 12:15AM on a Saturday and it was installed by 12:30am the same day!!! You can't argue with that!

I have never had any down time with HG in the whole time I've been here. There systems have been up 100% of the time.

Host Gator remains the best hosting service I can find. No host will ever be perfect, but Host Gator does it for me. I strongly recommend them to everyone from shared accounts to reseller to managed dedicated users.

For dedicated customers, HG's managed dedicated servers are easy to use, keep running and are perfect for users who need a little more power/rights but don't want to become an expert in Apache and Exim. Managed servers are a little more expensive than non-managed servers, but how many servers can you fix from you car on the express way over the phone?

[GatorJay]

Thank you for the great review Serra. But in addition to the review, all HostGator customers get to come to our forum and ask you a million questions free of charge! Can't beat that!

Hmm, maybe we should start charging for your support.

[Serra]

I've gone through some major changes in my HG accounts and I thought it was time to update my review of HostGator.

Things that impress me about HostGator:
1. Forum - This is one of the best forums ever.
2. Forum posts - HG does not remove posts from the forum that are negative in relation to HG. When I came to HG, I read all of the negative posts. (None of the positive ones) I wanted to know what people didn't like. When I was done reading them, I said, "I can live with those complaints".
3. Support - I'm current with three different hosting companies. All of them top in their fields. (for technical reasons I will not get into here). HG's support people are not perfect and they don't respond at the speed of light, but EVERY request I put in is handled quickly. With my other hosting companies, and they are top companies, I often wait 8-14 hours on EVERY ticket. Everyone complains about support, but I know for a fact that HG support is VERY good.
4. Prices - HG's prices are good in many areas. They don't hit me with a ton of other charges. (They are not the cheapest by any means, but if you want cheap, HG isn't what you are looking for anyway).
5. Dedicated Severs - Their Pro level server is unrivaled. You simply can't get a managed machine that good, with that level of support, for that price, any place.

Negative things about HostGator:
1. They are constantly behind the technology curve. They are NOT a cutting edge technology company. Everyone else has it before they do.
2. Options - When it comes to higher end system, their dedicated line is limited and has vastly inferior option packages available. The lack of "goodies" make their dedicated servers somewhat less attractive.
3. Planing, Planing, Planing - Its difficult to criticize a business that is as large as HostGator, as it is clear that they are successful, but some times it seems like they get lost in doing their business and forget to get ready for tomorrow. (See 1 and 2 above)
4. Brent - Brent, IMO, is the driving force behind HostGator. He is everything that is right and everything that is wrong with this company. His dedication to offering quality hosting is why HostGator is doing so well. I've only spoke with him briefly, but I left with the impression that he wants to get it right and that is important. (however, if Brent ever sells the company or quits, everyone should seriously consider leaving with him)

Edit: I just noticed I put Brent under "Negatives" about HostGator. Brent himself is not a negative, what I meant to say was that any negatives about HG fall squarely at Brent's feet, as the owner, he is the one with all of the responsibility.

Overall, I highly recommend HostGator for shared accounts and dedicated system. Its really all about support and HostGator does offer support beyond everything else. There will be glitches and problems, not everyone will be happy 100% of the time, but when it really matters, if you give them a chance, HostGator will meet anyone's expectations.