bad support

[port23user]

I have been doing websites for over 10 years and I signed up with HostGator back in 2005. Having my current issue, I thought I'd write a review so people know what to expect if they're signing up for HostGator. I started with a shared hosting package and am now using a reseller package.

I have two major priorities:
1. reliability
2. great support

I have been pretty satisfied with HostGator's reliability--if I weren't I would have switched hosts immediately. However, every now and then, I do experience problems, particularly with email. These normally aren't too big of a deal, but it's pretty annoying when I'm on the phone with support and they deny the fact that a problem exists. Conversations go like this:
me: "I have problems with IMAP....my email reader says that there's a server error"
support: "okay, let me check on that......nope, it's showing me that everything is configured correctly and that the email service is working. It must be a problem on your end."
me: "Actually, I've tried accessing my email on 5 different computers using 2 different internet connections and it gives me the same error. I don't think this is a problem on my end."
support: "well, everything seems to be working fine. There's nothing else I can do. You can email support@hostgator.com if you have any more questions."
I end up being so frustrated that I just leave it and it goes away after a few hours. It would be nice, though, if support were a little more proactive in figuring out exactly what my problem is and at least let me know that they're aware of the problem.

Number 2, support. When I first signed up with HostGator, I have to admit I was knocked off my feet by how great tech support was. No matter what time of the day it was, I never had to be on hold when I called in to tech support. Support was extremely helpful. However, the last few times I've had issues, the story was really different. Sometimes, I would have to wait 20 minutes on the phone before even getting to talk to somebody. Today, while I was on the phone with tech support, it seemed like he was helping other customers because I would say something, then there would be a pause, then he would say "sorry, I missed that." That's pretty annoying. Seems that that happens when I use Live Chat too because sometimes there are 10 minutes between responses.

I have an issue right now that brought down the entire website of my clients. Phone support agents don't have access to make the changes I need so I emailed this morning. Twelve hours later, my issue still isn't resolved. Meanwhile my client called me several times today because their business is completely out of service due to their website. I just called support and they told me an admin won't be able to get to fix it until the morning. I suspect that when this admin does get to it, they'll make another small change and tell me it's fixed while it actually isn't. Meanwhile I take all the heat from my clients.

Several times, I have been tempted to switch hosts because of another web host's "get 500gb of storage" but then I remember that I don't need the extra space. If I had the choice between a host with lots of space or a host with higher reliability and great customer service, I'd choose the latter. My experience lately is beginning to justify the costs of switching my hosting to another. I am launching a business that will be needing dedicated hosting in the next few months. I'd like to see some change in HostGator support; otherwise I'll be looking for a new host.

[GatorChrisN]

I really do apologize for the delays in response time over the last week. We have had a large number of tickets and chat requests that caused us to have a much longer than normal response time. We are working hard to get these tickets responded to and resolved and get our times down where they should be. Do you have a ticket number(s) we can look at to see why your issue(s) haven't been resolved yet? As you know from being a long-time Hostgator customer, the recent issues you have seen are not representative of our support standards. We value your business and will isolate and eliminate whatever issue(s) you have remaining.


Thank you for your continued business, we do appreciate it.

[port23user]

KJU-2685670 is the ticket number of my current issue.