Blog Archive
- June 2010 (1)
- March 2010 (2)
- December 2009 (2)
- November 2009 (1)
- October 2009 (5)
- July 2009 (4)
- June 2009 (3)
Recent Posts
- 31 Domain Name Questions Regarding BlueHost/HostMonster
- 10 Under-The-Radar Webmaster Tools That You Don't Want To Miss!
- BlueHost vs HostGator - Who is BIGGER?
- WebHostingPad SCAM
- Step By Step Guide On Signing Up With HostGator
- LunarPages vs HostGator - Why I Moved To Host Gator
- PayPal Sucks! PayPal Will Even Limit Verified Accounts!
- BlueHost Promotions and Offers - Get $108 OFF & Over $215 Credits
- BlueHost vs HostMonster - Which One Is Better?
- Example of BlueHost Hosted Sites
July 2009
BlueHost Upgrades CentOS, Ruby on Rails, GCC and ImageMagick
I've been informed by BlueHost that they will be upgrading my server to the following in the next 72 hours.
CentOS 4.7 to CentOS 5.3.
Ruby on Rails (version unknown)
GCC 4.1.2
ImageMagick 6.2.8
BlueHost is great because they always keep their software up to date! They also put in the effort to develope SimpleScripts to replace Fantastico so that all their customers can enjoy new upgrades to their free scripts immediately after they are released. As I say, they are always the leader in the web hosting industry.
LunarPages Starter Plan ($2.95/month). Worth The Money?
LunarPages introduced a new plan known as
the Starter Plan in
July 2009, making the total of shared hosting plans to 3, i.e. Starter, Basic
& Business. The plan is cheaply priced at only $2.95/month. While I have mentioned that the Business plan is overpriced and
not required by most of us in my LunarPages
review, what about the new Starter plan? Should one consider using it?
| Monthly Pricing | Starter | Basic | Hatchling* |
| 12 Month | $2.95 | $8.95 | $6.95 |
| 24 Month | $2.95 | $6.95 | $5.95 |
| 36 Month | - | - | $4.95 |
If you compared the Starter plan with HostGator's Hatchling plan, you will notice that the Hatchling plan is indeed very expensive. HostGator is more like a premium hosting provider when you look at their pricing.
| Features | Starter | Basic | Hatchling* |
| Domains/Websites Allowed | 1 | Unlimited | 1 |
| Disk Space/Storage | 5 GB | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Data Transfer/Bandwidth | 50 GB | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Domain Name | $19.95/year | Free | Free |
| MySQL Database | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Phone Support | No | Yes | Yes |
But if you look at the features, it tells a lot more. While there are "limits" to the disk space and bandwidth, I would say that 5GB and 50GB is really more than enough for 90% of us. But the real limitation is the domains allowed per account! This is a traditional 1 domain per account hosting which means you can't host more than 1 website with it! I will never recommend anyone to pick this kind of account anymore because this is something in the past. In "modern" hosting, we should always pick a multiple domain hosting account (with at least 5 websites per account if it is not unlimited).
What is even worst is the number of MySQL databases included! There is only 1! That would means all free scripts listed under "Free Web Scripts" such as WordPress, b2Evolution, SMF Forum, Joomla, Drupal, etc are simply bullshit because you can only install one of them! The installer of the Fantastico scripts library won't work with just 1 MySQL database. UNLESS you know how to install them manually so all of them shared the same database, you won't be able to install more than 1 script. But you will end up having a database so huge that it looks like an overloaded train in India.
It is ok not to have phone support because many international customers won't be calling in due to phone call charges and the language barrier. Since they are providing very good email support, it will be sufficient.
The domain name fee or $19.95/year is significantly overpriced! But that is not a big problem as well because you can simply register your domain name for less than $10 at GoDaddy. All you need to do is to change the DNS server setting at GoDaddy to point to LunarPages.
Conclusions
The pricing of $2.95 is very cheap. The "limited" bandwidth, "limited" disk space, pricey domain name and the lack of phone support is not a problem. The problem is that it allows only 1 website hosted. And the BIGGEST problem is it provides only 1 MySQL database! Unless these are upgraded, I won't be recommending them to you. So stick with their Basic Plan instead. Read my LunarPages review to learn more about it. Or you may want to learn more about BlueHost.
HostMonster Double Discount! Get An Extra $72 OFF From Their Already Discounted Price! No Coupon Required
HostMonster is currently running a $5.95 promotion! But do not sign up with them yet because that's not the cheapest price! The cheapest promotion price is $3.95/month! A further $2 discount per month (or up to $72 for 3 years)!
Do You Want To Pay $5.95/month?
Or Do You Want To Pay $3.95/month?
Which offer do you want? $5.95 or $3.95? :)
How Do You Activate The $3.95/month Pricing? Do You Need Any Coupon Code?
To activate the $3.95/month pricing, simply follow this link. That's it! No coupon codes required!
I do suggest you to read my HostMonster review before you sign up with them so I can tell you the "biggest secret" about them. You may want to choose BlueHost instead of HostMonster.
I Asked For A Refund From BlueHost! Do They Really Offer Money Back Guarantee?
All web host promise you a money back guarantee. But the question is how many of them really keep their promises? Some of them will make it very difficult for you to ask for a refund. Some will tell you that you are not qualify for a refund because of some funny reasons. Some will take weeks or months to process your refund. Some will only give you a partial refund.
How do BlueHost fare in their money back guarantee? Well, as a reviewer, this is an important thing for me to experience myself first hand so I can let you know.
Do They Make It Difficult For You To Ask For A Refund?
Well, it is just too easy. When you are in BlueHost helpdesk, all you need to do is open a ticket and you will see the "Cancelations" request available in the form! They are not hiding the cancelation form. They even show it to everyone using the ticket system.
There is nothing fancy in the form either. Unlike other host, they will usually ask you for a reason, ask you to reconsider staying with them or even lure you by giving you more offers and discounts. BlueHost is plain and simple, it is just a normal support ticket. You just need to enter 4 items - your email address, your full name, your domain name and a message.
What's Next After Submitting The Cancelation Form?
BlueHost cancelation request are processed by the billing department. They promise to process your your refund request in 1 working day. Billing department are not working 24/7 like the technical support department but they work long enough to serve you.
Monday - Friday 6 AM - 9 PM (MST)
Saturday 8 AM - 8 PM (MST)
Sunday Closed
So please don't expect someone to reply to you if it is Sunday or in the midnight!
I submited my request within working hours and so within half an hour, I received the following reply from Robin.
To cancel your account and have a refund issued, please verify you are the account's owner by replying with the password on the account or the last four digits of the credit card -- this is for security purposes.
When a cancellation is processed, we delete all of the content from the account. This includes all emails, files and databases, and once they have been deleted, there is no possibility of restoration. I know you probably haven't had time to upload anything, but we do need you to please confirm you have backed up all necessary files before we process the cancellation.
Thank you,
Robin
Billing
888-401-4678
This email is interesting because it is not a canned reply. Robin wrote, "I know you probably haven't had time to upload anything..." which means he did notice that I asked for a refund within 24 hours without uploading anything! I felt guilty to sign up just to ask for a refund!
So I replied with the last 4 digits of my credit card number. The next email didn't come back in 30 minutes but in 2 hours. The email is titled "BLUEHOST.COM CREDIT COMPLETE".
So that's it? That's it? Yeah, that's it. Everything's done. Cancelation completed and money refunded. This is really an exceptional experience. BlueHost is really keeping their promise on their money back guarantee.
Waiting For My Money Back In My Credit Card Statement
While credit card purchases appear in our statement only 1 to 3 days after the transaction, so as with refunds. And for my case, both my purchase transaction and cancelation transaction actually appeared in the same day! LOL.
My purchase and cancelation was done on 20 June (Saturday) and the transactions was reflected in my credit card on 22 June (Monday), which is pretty fast seeing Sunday is a holiday.
If you eyes are sharp enough, you may notice that I have another transaction of $142.20 from BlueHost again on 24 June. Why? Because feeling guilty, I went back to repurchase a new account after my cancelation request! I will use the new account to show you more about BlueHost later.
Summary and Conclusion
If you haven't know it yet, BlueHost offer a 30 day money back guarantee in which within 30 days after you account is opened, you are qualify for a full refund. If you are taking their free domain name offer and registered a new domain when you sign up, then a $10 domain registration fee might be deducted from the refund depending on which day you ask for a refund.
If you asked for a refund within 3 days (72 hours), the $10 domain fee will not be deducted because the domain registrar allows you to release a domain name back to the registry in 3 days. But after that, you will have to pay the $10 fee but you will still own the domain name for the rest of the year. You can even host it with another web host such as HostGator. All you need to do is just to change the DNS configuration of your domain name in BlueHost control panel all by yourself.
EVEN if you cancel your account after 30 days, you will still receive a pro-rated refund! That means if you sign up for 24 months and cancel after using the service for 10 months, you will STILL receive 14 months worth of the hosting fee in your refund! This is really a good business practice.
As you can see, BlueHost money back guarantee is not an empty promise.
Related:
- Have you read my detail BlueHost Hosting
Review?
- Have you watch my video on
signing
up with BlueHost (3 min)?
