Hey guys let me share the backstory, I never used godaddy because of their shady practices & if you ever search for a domain name and if anything unique is available then goodluck they will buy the domain and later sell it for higher price.

Anyway so I saw that a premium EMD (exact match domain) domain was available and whoever into seo knows how valuable it is. So I immediately opened up an account and bought the domain without thinking twice.

Next day, I got an email saying that your account has been locked and your domain has been compromised. I was like WTF! Then i raised a ticket, going back and forth on email and 2days later they unlocked my account but when I went to check my domain list, guess what? That domain I bought was refunded.

I never asked for an refund or anything they made their own rules, locked my account then gave me the refund and stole the domain from me lol. I was so excited about it that I even hired a webdev agency to start building up the website. Never using this platform that's for sure

I had a domain from Godaddy for a couple of years, then cancelled it.

A very short time later I had something of an emergency where I needed to get some information from an email in that domain's email.

I contacted Godaddy about reinstating the domain so I could get at the email, and they said sure, for over a thousand dollars because that was their new estimated value of the domain name now that I needed it. Nice extorsion business model.

Nice of them. I just dealt with the consequences of not having the information I needed, and vowed to tell everyone I could about it. So when I just saw an ad from them it inspired me to share my experience and help some of you find a less extorsion based business model company.

Edit: I'm just informing people of truths that I learned the hard way. I'm not interested if you think it's "my own fault" but feel free to be a flaming douche and pollute my otherwise good and useful PSA.

I want to share a recent experience with MXroute, especially for agencies or small businesses considering them for email hosting.

We were loyal customers for over 6 years, using their service to host normal B2B communication — both for ourselves and for several small business clients.

Recently, one of our sales employees made a mistake: after attending a trade show, they collected a list of hospitality contacts and began cold-emailing them. This was not authorized, and not how we normally operate. I took full responsibility the moment I found out and reached out to MXroute support to explain and try to recover data.

Their response? Immediate account termination and full deletion of all data, including unrelated client inboxes. No warning, no option to download data, and no dialogue. When I tried to discuss it calmly via support tickets, I received no reply — until I posted publicly. The tone of their response was aggressive and personal.

To make matters worse, when I replied to someone in their Reddit thread about my own situation, I was banned from the MXroute subreddit. Instead of professionalism or conversation, I was shut down and erased. That kind of authoritarian behavior should concern any business depending on them for critical communications.

They’ve repeatedly labeled us as “spammers,” but I want to be clear: we are not. One employee made a poor judgment call. What happened doesn’t represent our company or our clients.

If you’re considering MXroute: do it carefully. One internal mistake — even from a single rogue employee — can cost you all your data and most importantly your clients data..

Happy to answer questions for anyone going through a similar decision.

Just throwing this out there. Siteground is worth avoiding! Prices go up insanely after intro period and they do not make that clear at all. be sure you realize this!

I wanted to share my recent experience with Euronodes (euronodes.com) as a warning to anyone considering them as a VPS provider.

I accidentally upgraded my VPS on Euronodes because their control panel applies upgrades without any confirmation dialog.

Support restored my original CPU and RAM configuration, but I was told I would have to pay extra for the disk or risk data loss by shrinking it.

I left a 2-star Trustpilot review, explicitly acknowledging their good server performance and quick customer support. Link to the review.

Link to the emails following my review.

Their response? Five days to migrate my services before my account is closed.

They even sent a second email stating:

We dont have a problem with the content of the review: it's perfect and accurate

We have problem with rating: 2 stars is reserved for scams and over-promised companies where support doesnt even answer

Apparently, honest reviews are acceptable only if the company agrees with the rating.

I've backed up my data, updated my review, and am reporting the incident to Trustpilot.

Screenshots attached.

What's the point of good server performance if your hosting provider can terminate your account simply because you leave negative feedback?

Has anyone else experienced something like this?

I'm not a huge fan of the metal trays full of consumer hardware, but I understand it's what they do to achieve the pricepoint they offer.

I do not usually write an activist in the Reddit community, but today I decided to tell you my story of how to provide servers and domains "Bluehost" stole my money (180 euros), the domain I acquired, documents I uploaded to confirm my identity, my password, and a lot of my time and energy.

I'll try to shorten things and just give a summary. Also, I attach a recording (pictures) of my conversation and is their customer service that shows all the details and evidence for the things I write here. In addition, I would like to file a class action against them, if there are other casualties or people who can help in this matter, I would be happy if you would contact me on the subject - [email protected]. If you know of other communities and sites that I can publish my story, it will also be welcome.

Summary of my story:

Recently I started working on a new project and decided it was time to build the prototype website. I was looking for a server that ideally supports WordPress and after reading a few blogs I decided that Bluehost is the server that works best for me (I am convinced that all blogs have been written or funded by Bluehost themselves). I went to their website (www.bluehost.com) and registered the domain I'd like to purchase for my website. During registration I recorded the usual details that I enter when I use my Irish credit card including the residence address on which the bank account is registered. In the end, I completed the registration process successfully and was charged at my expense almost 180 euros. I was happy to receive email about the successful purchase the domain and the host from bluehost and I just wanted and wanted to start working on my website. It took about 5 minutes and I got the following email:

"

Your web hosting account for theXXXXXXXXXXXing.com has been deactivated, as of 04/25/2019.

(reason: suspicious activity on this account)

"

Since I just wanted to start working on my site, I went directly to the customer support on their site. Hoping that the problem could be addressed quickly. I tend to travel a lot in the world, so I thought that maybe the location from which I was connected seemed suspicious to me about my residential address.

I waited 5 minutes and got a service representative. I showed him the email I had received and he told me he was looking into it. A few minutes later he told me that they were asking me to photocopy an ID beside my name on a note + documents of the business. I explained to him that I wanted to send them my ID and that no one ever demanded such things when purchasing a server or a domain - and I have purchased over 20 domains in my life. It seemed suspicious to me.

After talking to him for a long time and explaining that he could not demand such a thing from me after they had charged my credit card, and that I also did not have any registered document for the business and that website should be just a prototype right now. So I asked him to cancel the domain so that I could demand it from another supplier and he told me in response that it was not possible. We agreed (dissatisfied with my side) that I would only be required to take a photocopy of my driver's license (back and front) beside a note with my full name. And he assured me full-time that this would be enough and I would not be required to speak further. In addition, I asked him explicitly to delete my documents afterwards.

We finished the conversation and after about a day and a half I received the following email:

"

Hello,

We need the Business license that supports the company details that are mentioned while registering to activate the account. We have received the driving license and that alone is not sufficient to activate the account. Please send us the Business license also so that we can help you to activate the account.

Thank you

Thank you,

Bluehost Suppor

"

With great fury, I turned directly to Bluehost's loyal service representatives again. Of course they did not help me. From the conversation with them, I realized that my documents were still there and they did not erase them from their server. I told the service representative that I had requested that they delete my documents immediately and he wrote to me, "Do not worry, your documents are safe with us." I wonder how he can tell me something like that after the service I got from them, he laughs at me or what?

I already understood that I was wasting my time and that I would prefer to publicly present the case and even go to court on this matter. Anyway, I asked them to cancel the charge on my credit card and the service representative said he would see what he could do about it ... I waited for an answer and then he asked me for the last 4 digits of my password. Of course I was surprised - do not they encrypt their passwords and can see their customers' passwords? What kind of thing? Anyway, I brought him the last 4 digits of my password and he claimed that they were not true ... What's more, when I tried to do "forgot my password" I found out that they had canceled the option from my account for the implementation of it. I asked the agent if he could send me an email and he said it was okay. I provided for him the code and he said it was not enough.I wondered - "So why did you send it to me?". I asked him if I could view the last 4 digits of my credit card and he said no.

In the end I finished the conversation with him, realized that I was wasting my time and that I would not get back anything - not my time, my domain, my money - and they stole my password and identification documents. It hurts to deal with such things, and I decided not to remain indifferent and to do something about it. I hope that additional victims will join me to the lawsuit.

I present to you the full conversation with the representatives of the service chronologically. I have hidden identifying details. All evidence is clearly presented here:

First conversation -

https://ibb.co/7WL7SS3

https://ibb.co/g9MMQVc

https://ibb.co/7rJn61P

https://ibb.co/nBKM96n

https://ibb.co/9bd3HKz

https://ibb.co/DVtpsBS

https://ibb.co/b53LGVf

https://ibb.co/fHM3SJK

https://ibb.co/VpXFqTK

https://ibb.co/GM1Rv21

https://ibb.co/2KfPmVd

Second conversation -

https://ibb.co/7R3TXhD

https://ibb.co/SttY2Q6

https://ibb.co/tDJPS0r

https://ibb.co/jhrXskM

https://ibb.co/ZY4Mprp

https://ibb.co/FVJNfgp

https://ibb.co/vDgZY4W

https://ibb.co/xfHBGxJ

https://ibb.co/cLy8Dhh

https://ibb.co/3fqskbq

https://ibb.co/85fWYYF

https://ibb.co/VCL9mNS

https://ibb.co/bPFQMB0

https://ibb.co/CBWWfzN

Just found out about this. Oracle offers free 24gig 4 core server for absolutely nothing. They've been doing it for a few years.

The only downsides -

1. its kind of a pain in the ass to configure, but gemini, chatgpt or claude can walk you through it. Have to set up subnets, set up vnic, etc.

2. You might need to enable "pay as you go" and provide a credit card, or you might not be able to get access without a message saying all available servers are taken. Enabling pay as you go doesn't mean you will be charged. Make sure you select "always free" configuration when setting it up.

I recommend setting up pay as you go before you try to configure a server because you will most likely run into available server being taken.

Hi, I've found a website that's illegally pirating my products and many others. It's ranked highly on google, and is there anyway to have it removed from the google search? Just in case its host ignores DMCA complains. I've never filed a DMCA complain either, so can anyone please tell me the basics of it?

A friend of mine created an account on OVH last week.

The goal was to purchase a VPS with 4 vCPUs, 8 GB RAM, and 75 GB disk space for a total of about €55/year.

He entered ALL his details, address, etc. into the account but the order was not processed but remained in “Validation.”

Reason: unknown... in fact, a customer service representative said that it was “randomly selected.”

Finally, the request for documents arrived and, lo and behold, in addition to his national ID card (officially issued by the government), they also wanted proof of address (*such as an electricity or gas bill)*🤐

Now... the point is this: he lives with his parents, so he doesn't have a bill in his name. What to do?

OVH, are you sure that the document request is valid in all cases? Wouldn't the official route be to use identification documents?

I don't know if you've ever been in a similar situation...

He is considering, given the impossibility of purchasing from OVH, to change hosting providers. Do you know of anything similar that you would recommend?

Just had the worst hosting experience of my life and want to warn anyone considering xCloud.

Their server had some kind of failure and I lost every website on my account including a site that was actively in final prep for launch. I contacted support to ask about restoring from a backup. Their answer: no backup exists, no recovery is possible. That's it. No compensation offer, no real explanation of what caused it, just "it's gone."

For a hosting company, having zero backup infrastructure that can protect a customer from total data loss is not a minor bug it's a fundamental failure of what you're paying them for. I lost weeks of work and a launch date because of it.

If you're currently on xCloud: export/back up everything yourself immediately, don't trust their infrastructure to protect you. If you're considering signing up: I'd look elsewhere.

Happy to answer questions if anyone else has been burned by them too.

I’m looking for advice on how to deploy a website while keeping my personal identity and information as private as possible.

What would be the recommended setup for:

• Domain registration

• Hosting/VPS

• DNS/Cloudflare

• Server deployment and management

Are there any providers or privacy practices you would recommend for this?

Thanks!

I already have some ideas since I also Google this question and just want more information from people. Thanks!

Hi,

This morning, I received an email from Server4You demanding payment of approximately €155,000 in overdue balance.

Background:

In 2022, I had rented a VPS from them for a website. However, they eventually canceled the service because the virtualization software used on that VPS was outdated and no longer supported.

Out of nowhere, I was hit with this email today: Screenshot (I censored the invoice numbers for privacy). The invoice list includes a total of 4,084 invoices, which seemed completely absurd to me.

I immediately opened a support ticket to address this issue, and their response was as follows:

Hello,

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, we discovered that our last email to you was sent due to a technical error. Our system was designed to only contact active customers with outstanding invoices and was simultaneously attempting to remove inactive customer accounts and delete their personal data.

Please ignore this message as it does not contain the content you were looking for. We regret the inconvenience caused and thank you for choosing us at the time.

After receiving that email, I requested confirmation once again that my account has no outstanding balance, given that my contract was canceled three years ago.

Their response was as follows:

Your data has already been completely deleted from our system and I can confirm that you have no outstanding invoices with us.

We would like to apologize again for the inconvenience caused.

If you have any further questions, we are always available to help.

I'm sharing this for anyone else who might have received a similar message or email from them.

Absolutely hilarious...

I used the service Hostpapa (hostpapa.com) for some cheap web hosting. It's a total scam.

They keep your credit card details and charge you after initial purchase for nonsense services that you don't need.

AVOID them! Don't use. Plenty of other services to use without the rip off.

Let me know if you've been scammed too and if you got your money back.

I keep seeing hosting companies launch AI website builder tool that claim you can create a full business website in minutes.

Curious if anyone here has tried one for a tea project or client site?

How was the:
- design quality
- SEO setup
- mobile responsiveness
- customisation flexibility

Would you actually use it over WordPress or Webflow?

So I left godaddy to siteground cause godaddy turned to garbage. Now siteground has done the same thing. There servers are not secure, there customer service is ok at best. Was great to start now they are like, I suggest you contact a developer about your issue and I am like, I am the developer. Its a blank cms with no pluggins that are out dated how is it that your stuff is getting injected constantly. These guys have really disappointed me, they sold out there security to securi so they removed all the useful security tools from the server. Anyone have a recomendation of where to go nexts cause these guys are crap.

I created a website for friends by using Sitely (formerly Sparkle). I've had my own website hosted by MidPhase for years, and over the years I've used Dreamweaver, Sandvox and other various tools to upload to it, or I can edit html myself.

But my friends know almost nothing about computers, and now they want to be able to update the site. It's for a restaurant menu that updates seasonally. They use a Windows computer, and Sitely is only for Mac. I was just going to buy them a hosting plan, but now the ordinary "domain plus hosting" I use for myself won't work.

How can I set this up for them?

I recently tried to change my email address in Steam.

However, Steam rejected my new email address.

I contacted Steam Support, and after some back-and-forth, they accepted my new email address.

However, they said it was a reluctant decision and that they strongly recommend using Gmail or Outlook.

I was very shocked, because I believed that anyone can use e-mail freely, as long as they follow the terms and conditions.

It seems to be a challenge to the free Internet culture.

I am not going to use Gmail or Outlook.

But are there any other users who have been asked to do so?

Let's say I want to create a website with some controversial content, like pornography or gory images, which hosting service should I use?

Just asking...

I invite all those who may have suffered from potentially unlawful actions by IONOS hosting to unite in filing a class action lawsuit against the company.

My Situation:

I was strongly disappointed after started using services from IONOS. I have not used their services for 1-2 years, yet I continue to receive payment requests for services I manually canceled long ago.

Despite contacting their support multiple times and explicitly requesting the cancellation of all active services, I have still been billed. The cancellation process is deliberately complicated, and support has been unhelpful, refusing to assist in English.

Even after repeated requests to cancel all payment obligations and provide a final invoice, I was required to recall multiple account numbers their system randomly generated, as they refused to verify debts by email. This has led to unnecessary financial losses and a significant waste of time. Many of my emails to their support remain unanswered, and my account is still not fully canceled.

If you have faced similar issues with IONOS, I encourage you to join forces and take legal action.

Do not believe Dreamhost's website about whois privacy for .us domains. The main reason I purchased with them is because they say "We'll provide you with features that other companies don't. Domain Privacy" which is a blatant lie to get you to register with them. They are even sending out a promo for FREE .us registration. Don't do it! There is NO privacy and you will get hammered with spam calls and emails. https://www.dreamhost.com/domains/us/

Hey friends!

I am trying to create a website that will document the next ten years of the United States' evolution but I don't want the US government to be able to bully the company to take down the webpage like @pple and G@@gle have done recently.

History must not be suppressed.

Now, I understand they can block the website with a national firewall through ISPs and that is fine. I just want the rest of the world to be able to see it and know what happened.

I would prefer somewhere not in Russia or its friends if possible....

Thanks for your collective wisdom.

SURVEY:

What is your monthly budget? • ⁠Where are you/your users located? Global • ⁠What kind of site are you hosting (Wordpress, phpBB, custom software, etc) or what is your use case? Custom Most likely but open-minded as my concerns are more for autonomy and digital sovereignty • ⁠Do you have a monthly traffic volume? Estimates are ok. Unknown, I wouldn't imagine I will be dealing with difficult to manage levels of traffic • ⁠If you’re looking at VPSes: Do you have experience administrating linux servers and infrastructure? I am and I do • ⁠Did you read the sidebar/check out the hosts listed there? I've personally vetted these companies and their services are a good fit for 99% of people. I have not yet. I will but I am unsure if it would include the specific issue at hand; however, I can be wrong 🤷‍♂️

The biggest spenders on AWS is

Netflix: $19 million Twitch: $15 million LinkedIn: $13 million Facebook: $11 million Turner Broadcasting: $10 million BBC: $9 million Baidu: $9 million ESPN: $8 million Adobe: $8 million Twitter: $7 million

That’s a amazing list of companies hosting on AWS!

So who do you think is the best hosting in the world?

Where do you think billion dollar sites host at?

It’s pretty clear right?

I've used Hostgator's services since 2007. I would say within 5 years, they hacked the hosting fees for all four of my accounts at least 5 or 6 times without notifying me. I decided to bite the bullet after the amount was charged after the first couple hikes because I didn't want to go through the hassle of finding the a new host. However, after the third time, I remember asking the customer service why they didn't notify me beforehand and their reply was that it was so that they wouldn't lose customers. Who the hell is running this company?

Now it's time to file taxes and I was looking for my invoices. I noticed that they upgraded the panel then wiped out years worth of invoice history. Who does this? Is this legal? They claim that they're working on it, but the history has been gone for WEEKS and IT IS TAX TIME. Why make this major upgrade around tax time if you can't ensure that the invoice information is there right away?

There's no way they can have experience backing up websites for decades, but don't know how to preserve this section. My guess is that they're trying to hide all of those price hikes they done all these years without warning, hoping that customers won't, or will forget to ask them to email the invoice history by e-mail.

What are the next steps because I can't let them get away with this.