When you’re shopping for web hosting, one of the key factors to consider is customer support. Sooner or later, everyone is going to need some help with their hosting situation. Therefore, it’s very important to choose a web hosting company that will provide quick and knowledgeable support.
Some of the things you’ll want to look for are 24 x 7 / 365 customer support. And we recommend you choose a company that offers phone, email, and live chat support options. Also, make sure you read some online reviews about the host you are considering to make sure the majority of people are satisfied with the support offered there.
In reality, even with a great hosting company, customer support can be a hit or miss situation. Most of their support staff may be highly qualified, but you might occasionally get a clunker. If you’re with a solid hosting company, these situations should be few and far between though and almost all of your issues should be taken care of quickly and professionally.
Here is an example of good customer support and one of poor support:
InMotion Hosting is consistently one of our highest rated web hosting companies. Recently, I needed a restore of some websites. I made a request to customer support and a few hours later I received the following responses and the sites were back up and running:
Hello Michael,
Thank you for contacting us.
I have gone ahead and restored your directory per your request.
I am forwarding this request on to our systems team to complete your request and restore your databases. They will send you another email once they have finished restoring your databases.If you need further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us as we are available to help 24/7.
Best Regards,
Eric D888-321-4678
757-416-6575 (Int’l)
NEW: 24×7 EMAIL and PHONE Technical Support
Hello Michael,
Thank you for contacting us. I have restored the requested databases from our last backups. Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance to you.
If you have any other questions, please contact us.
Best Regards,
Tim B.
888-321-4678
757-416-6575 (Int’l)
The above prompt customer support resolution is what we have typically been accustomed to with InMotion Hosting. Whether by email, chat, or phone, their support staff has proven to be very helpful.
Now, contrast that to later this year when the same situation occurred on my site on Fat Cow hosting. I contacted them via live chat to try and get help (edited for space):
Stevie: Hi Michael, My name is Stevie, how are you today?
Michael: Hi Stevie
Michael: Does Fat Cow have backup and restore available
Stevie: Yes, we will keep the back up of the files of the active account for 7 days.
Michael: My site just got messed up. Can I restore all my stuff to the way it was yesterday?
Stevie: May I place you on hold? I am going to test this for you right now and it should take about 4-5 minutes. I’ll be back as quickly as I can.
Michael: ok
Stevie: Thank you for your patience. I am still looking into your issue. Can you please hold for another 2 to 3 minutes?
Michael: I guess so
Stevie: I appreciate your patience. I am researching on the issue but I will return in 4-5 minutes with some more information.
Stevie: Thank you for holding.
Stevie: Per your request, I have restored the website files to the folder ‘backup’.
Michael: How about database files?
Michael: Looks like the data from my site is missing.
Stevie: We keep the backup of database files for last three days.
Michael: These need to be restored as well.
Stevie: May I place you on hold for 4 or 5 minutes, while I check this for you?
Michael: yes
Stevie: If you want to have the backup of database, then we need to forward your issue to the technical specialists.
Michael: Okay. Let’s do that.
Stevie: Could you please provide me the database name which you wish to have the backup?
Michael: I don’t have the name at this moment. Can’t they just restore whatever databases I had as of yesterday?
Stevie: You can restore the database from your end.
Michael: How?
Stevie: In order to restore the database, please follow the steps given below:
(list of steps was given)
Stevie: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?
Michael: I’m not seeing a restore option?
Michael: What happens after I click the Select button?
Stevie: May I place you on hold for 4 or 5 minutes, while I check this for you?
Michael: Sigh, okay
Michael: It looks like the above process will back up databases, but I need to restore.
Stevie: Yes, it will backup the database.
Michael: I know. But how do I restore?
Stevie: You need to download the backup of the database and restore it to the database later.
Stevie: Did you receive my last message?
Michael: HOW
After being put on hold FIVE times and obviously dealing with someone who had either not been properly trained or just could not comprehend what was required, I ended the chat session and later wound up having to rebuild the site myself. Even more annoying, the above chat conversation took place after they tried to upsell me some extra backup service. Unfortunately, we found this was typical of support at Fat Cow.
The bottom line is, performance, features, and value are critical factors in selecting web hosting. But don’t forget about customer support. If you choose a web hosting company providing quality support, you’ll be very happy when the time comes you need to contact them for help.
Click the following link to see our list of top rated web hosting providers.
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