[Update: I got a call from the VP of customer service and we chatted. It was a good call and he's totally cool. It doesn't change what happened, but I feel a bit better about them as a whole. They did exactly what ITX did: expand too fast. Too many clients, badly trained employees and not enough control will ruin service, plain and simple. They are refunding the remaining two months and we're done.]
And now, the whole sordid tale about InMotion Hosting (IMH). OMG, what a horrible, horrible company. How they have awards and an A+ BBB rating is a mystery – I assume they buy them. They are unashamedly bad in uptime, customer service and plain old HONESTY.
In March, we did a dumb thing and decided to pay them UP FRONT for the 6 months to get a discount. Even tho they’d had spotty service and multiple downtimes, we did the 6 month deal. I should’ve gone with my gut and left them then.
They lie about pretty much everything they do. They claim 99.9% uptime. Nope, it’s more like 99.6%. Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s equivalent to 2.68 HOURS of downtime per month. That adds up, my friends. And they don’t care one whit, either. They offer no refunds or compensation for any downtime because they think it’s not their fault since it’s “their provider”. Huh, well, I don’t PAY your provider, I PAY YOU. Assholes.
The spam that comes through their servers is amazing. I averaged 25+ comment spam per day (per SITE) w/ IMH. It immediately went down to around 5 per day with Wired Tree. Hmm. Coincidence? I think NOT.
Then there’s the horrible customer service and support. OMG. I don’t even know where to start with those people. They don’t listen to questions. They have no idea what they are doing, they just read from a script – nevermind if it’s the RIGHT script or not. And they won’t answer pointed questions at all, they tell you to call if you’re on chat and they’ll tell you to email when you call. Nice.
Then, best of all, and what has stoked my rage to the max is their flat out LIES about refunds when an account is cancelled. Their own TOS pages are conflicting, so the employees just take the stance that there are no refunds, ever. ORLY? Then what does this mean:
“Due to protection concerns, all account cancellations must be done via our official electronic cancellation form. Notifications of cancellation must be made 30 days prior to successive rebill period. InMotion Hosting reserves the right to deny, forfeit, or refuse refunds at any time if necessary. Third party cancellations are not accepted.”
Or on another page, how about this:
“Customers who have signed up on or after June 15, 2007 are eligible for 90 day money back guarantee. Customers who have signed up on June 14, 2007 or earlier are only eligible for a 30 day money back guarantee.”
Hmm, seems to me that IMH reserves the right to NOT GIVE REFUNDS at all. Bullshit.
So after filling out their rinky dink form and getting an email back informing me that I do not “qualify” for a refund, I go right back at them and file a BBB complaint as well. They relented and said they’ll cut me a check. We’ll see. I think it’s a stalling tactic, personally. If I get the whole amount of $78.96 I’ll pass out from shock.
Now, about that BBB rating for IMH. That is bullshit, my friends. IMH has had 47 complaints through the BBB. FORTY SEVEN!!! And that is an A+ business? Uh huh. Seven of those are for 2012. The BBB Online is only useful for looking at the complaints, as far as I’m concerned. Their ratings are clearly purchased by the business and have nothing to do with how the business actually behaves. Yah, nevermind the BBB ratings, they mean nothing, look at the complaints. You’ll find out the scoop there.
So, that’s the whole IMH story. I’ll fight tooth and nail to get the refund I deserve. I’ll update if I ever get it. Not holding my breath. In the meantime, do yourself a favour and DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY FOR ANYTHING EVER. It is a scam, they just want your money and it’s just plain crappy hosting. GoDaddy is the devil, but at least they keep their goddam servers up. Which is more than I can say for IMH.
Our new hosting company Wired Tree seems to have their shit together as well as having knowledgable, capable staff. I recommend them highly. And, btw, they have 8 BBB complaints in the last three years. Yet they only rank an “A”. Whatever. [As of Jan 2013, Wired Tree has had their advertised 99.9% uptime - probably more like 99.99%. There has been only a couple of brief outages over the six months we've been here. I am VERY PLEASED.]
