Web Host For Real? Three Cool Tricks to Weed out The Cheats

Separating quality web hosts from the incapable and the cheats can be very difficult - because they all put on the same face, make similar promises, and pretend to be just as reliable and qualified as the next guy.

Luckily for you, I've got three cool tricks that will separate the time wasters from the good guys, and make you smile.

At least that's the plan.

• Trick Number One: You're Not a Customer, But Play One on the Phone
  

Perhaps a little devious, but call up their tech support line, pretending to be a customer. See how long it takes for them to answer. Yes, they have confirmation questions to determine if you are actually a customer, but those don't come into play until someone picks up the line.

Be careful to call the tech support line not their sales or a generic number, which will answer quickly. If someone else [not tech support] asks for confirmation info, tell them you aren't comfortable giving out this information to someone other than tech support; insist, and they will give in.

Remember, web hosting scam companies, as well as the lousy & overworked, will have much longer wait times, if they pick up at all.

• Trick Number Two: The Rich Buyer Who Doesn't Give a Damn
  

Speak to their sales rep pretending to have a lot of money and not caring about price, but wanting "all the bells and whistles". Keep pushing for more add ons and extra services [which the agent will gladly give you, because most make commission off the sales], throwing out statements like "yeah, I just want the top of the line" and "is that the very best?" and "how many years can I get that for?"

Why? The number one trick unscrupulous web hosts use to scam customers out of their money is by "extra features" or "premium services." These are either features that you don't need that they sneakily tack on, or necessary features that should be standard [such as customer service that actually answers] but that you discover you must pay for after you are under contract.

Legitimate web hosts don't make money off of extras, which requires their "standard" service to be lacking. If your prospective host is offering a lot of extras, especially ones that seem like they should be standard, then run like hell - in the opposite direction.

• Trick Number Three: Robots, Be-Gone! We Want Humans!
  

Did you know that more and more of the corner cutters - those web hosts that you don't want to deal with - did you know that they are using artificial intelligence to power their online chat support? It's true. So how do you discern between A.I. [which is nothing like the movies] and a real live person? Who is probably working out of Hyderabad or Delhi, and doesn't necessarily speak good English? Or get little cultural references?

Well, there are a couple of tricks to tripping up A.I. First, ask complex, abstract questions, without any "keywords" - words that pertain to any aspect of your hosting. Steer clear of words like "billing" "not working" or "domain," so the algorithm won't be able to pick up on what you mean, or make a close guess.

Second, do the opposite - ask questions loaded with keywords that have nothing to do with the answer you want. Something like, "If I buy a new domain after I'm billed and after your 30 day money back guarantee, can still I transfer my other non-working domain's pages to my computer without accessing the CP panel, or not?" [This is a question about your "other" host, not the current one.]

If they give you a quick canned answer [say, detailing domain name transfer procedures], and repetition of the question doesn't give a more human, imperfect answer variety, then you know you're dealing with R2-D2 without brains.

• Bonus: Shortcut

To separate the scams from the legitimate companies: ask if they have an anytime money back guarantee. Too many hosts will pull off dirty or underhanded tricks, such as canceling your account after 30 days [the end of the money back guarantee] while keeping your money, saying you violated their terms of service, or just plain unauthorized billing. You never really know if one's going to do this or not, until it's too late.

Except with an anytime money back guarantee. Such a guarantee ensures your web host won't scam you, because they can't. It's just not profitable, taking your money, making you mad, then giving it back to you. Kind of dumb, actually.

So there you have it, three cool tricks - plus one bonus shortcut - to separating the web hosting scammers from the trustworthy. I hope you found this helpful.

And please, if you need hosting, check out this host.[page. com] They are top rated - with an anytime moneyback guarantee - but they also have the most [free] features, and currently the best
price of any legitimate host [as well as over $100 in free google/facebook ads].