My Experience with KnownHost

[PWO]

Just wanted to give my experience with KnownHost. After taking some great advise from members in this thread (http://www.vbulletin-faq.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13220)I (and I am still going to) decided to change Hosts for various reasons. I went with KnownHost after reading how great they were here. Well my relationship with them last about 24 hours.

I first had a live chat with a representative where we discussed a couple presale questions. My main concern being the transferring of my entire website to its new location. The rep told me that KnownHost would take care of it and that sold me on them. After buying the service and opening a ticket to get the site transferred I was told the transferring couldn't be done because the Cpanels weren't the same. How was I suppose to now that, they were both Cpanels. So I had to do it alone with no support and experience ever transferring a web site or setting up a VPS.

The Tech support was very bad. The person (I wont say any names) in support sent me directions that didn't match what I was seeing. If there were 10 steps only the first 3 would be right to what I was seeing on the screen. I replied with questions and basically got the same answers from before that didn't help then, so why would then help now?

KnownHost might be a good a host (according to some here) but they need to keep in mind we are not all experts like they are. I love to see how this would translate in my profession. I would tell my clients, here's your paperwork now go talk to the judge yourself.

They should do more to help their customers and ensure they are satisfied. And in hosting I can't think of a better way to satisfy their customers then by helping them set up their website/server.

My 2 cents.

[Peggy]

I am so sorry that you had a bad experience getting started with Knownhost.

I feel bad now.. :(

[PWO]

I am so sorry that you had a bad experience getting started with Knownhost.

I feel bad now.. :(

You shouldn't feel bad. You gave me great advise, it just didn't work out with them. They may be good for you because your an expert in these sorts of things. As for me I need a more helpful Host.

[Peggy]

I hope you were able to get your $ back.

[PWO]

I hope you were able to get your $ back.

Of course. They have a 30 money back guarantee.

[Peggy]

fantastic.

[KH-Paul]

PWO,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience with us and would like to clarify couple things if you don't mind.

As listed on our site and as was mentioned in the sales chat we do offer full migration assistance as long as control panel on both system matches and full account backup functionality is available on the source system. You've purchased a VPS with cPanel with us and, as such, in order for us to migrate the data from another system cPanel needs to be installed there. Sorry but if control panel doesn’t match we cannot assist with complete data transfer as in case of such migration everything would be custom and such migration needs to be done by the person who is the most familiar with data structure on the original system. During the cancellation process you've said that it should be made clear what cPanel is. I think we do deliver this information well – we even have a link to cPanel/WHM demo from on our site and as such customer can follow the demo link to check if control panel is the same or not if customer doesn’t know for sure what is running on the source system. I apologize but we do not have information about all possible account configurations available with every hosting provider in this world. During the sales chat you've said "yahoo had cpanel" and, I believe this is where all this confusion started from.

As for support – I checked all 3 your tickets, all 3 were replied in full in timely manner. First ticket was about the migration request which can't be handled by us due to differences in the control panel and then continued with information about new account creation, second ticket was created in regards to the hosting package creation and what kind of limits needs to be set, how to translate gigabytes into megabytes, etc. And the 3rd ticket was created with billing with a request to cancel the account. All 3 tickets were answered promptly and with great details. If you experienced some specific problems during the package or account creation process it will be appreciate if details about specific errors / warnings will be provided so support team can work with you to iron things out and get your account running on the VPS.

Again, my apologizes to hear we weren't a good fit for your needs, hope you will be able to find good home for your site(s).

Regards,
Paul

[Peggy]

Thank you Paul for posting.

Just my .2 cents...
I think the confusion came with the cPanel discussion. Most people equate the word 'cpanel' with a control panel, not with the product name cPanel.

Being very new to the world of hosting, when asked if he had cpanel, he of course said yes, yahoo has a cpanel, thinking that you meant a control panel, not cPanel.

Perhaps this should be clarified on the Knownhost site, or at least when talking to potential customers?

[PWO]

PWO,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience with us and would like to clarify couple things if you don't mind.

As listed on our site and as was mentioned in the sales chat we do offer full migration assistance as long as control panel on both system matches and full account backup functionality is available on the source system. You've purchased a VPS with cPanel with us and, as such, in order for us to migrate the data from another system cPanel needs to be installed there. Sorry but if control panel doesn’t match we cannot assist with complete data transfer as in case of such migration everything would be custom and such migration needs to be done by the person who is the most familiar with data structure on the original system. During the cancellation process you've said that it should be made clear what cPanel is. I think we do deliver this information well – we even have a link to cPanel/WHM demo from on our site and as such customer can follow the demo link to check if control panel is the same or not if customer doesn’t know for sure what is running on the source system. I apologize but we do not have information about all possible account configurations available with every hosting provider in this world. During the sales chat you've said "yahoo had cpanel" and, I believe this is where all this confusion started from.

As for support – I checked all 3 your tickets, all 3 were replied in full in timely manner. First ticket was about the migration request which can't be handled by us due to differences in the control panel and then continued with information about new account creation, second ticket was created in regards to the hosting package creation and what kind of limits needs to be set, how to translate gigabytes into megabytes, etc. And the 3rd ticket was created with billing with a request to cancel the account. All 3 tickets were answered promptly and with great details. If you experienced some specific problems during the package or account creation process it will be appreciate if details about specific errors / warnings will be provided so support team can work with you to iron things out and get your account running on the VPS.

Again, my apologizes to hear we weren't a good fit for your needs, hope you will be able to find good home for your site(s).

Regards,
Paul

KH-Pual, Cpanel aside, the "help" I received from the tech support was not very good. The step by step directions were for an older or different version of the WHM that I was looking at. Out of the ten steps in the mail that was sent to me, only the first 3 were right. At step 4 it started telling me to do something that wasn't on the screen. Updating the directions would be great for future customers.

You mention 3 tickets, well I just counted my e-mails and there were 16 total sent back and fourth. If the question wasn't answer by e-mail 2 or 3 don't you think there is a problem? I know nothing about transferring servers and needed my hand held through the process and your tech support refused to give me the help I needed. The support e-mails were just for setting up WHM, and then what? How do I get my site transferred, how do I get the domain pointed to the new I.P or would I have needed another 16 e-mails to get each one answered?

As I said earlier, I'm sure your a great Host but I was not happy with the service.

[MadMax1228]

I am very surprised to hear this and sorry for your experience. I have had nothing but excellent support from KH since day 1. I have made many errors being new to VPS and all, but the support team has been professional and timely in their responses.

Many question can be answered in the KnowHost Forums without the need for support tickets. I use it all the time to get leads on where to go for answers and play catch with the smart folks.

This may not be your experience, but it is mine:

One thing I have noticed as a new guy to the world of managing forums is a tendency to blame a site or host when more clarification is all that is needed. I have overreacted on several occasions, only to walk away for a bit, and come back calm.....only to find my answer staring me in the face. I have also had folks overreact on me, post a flaming thread on my forums.......only to find the answer a little later.

[Dave A]

I've had a few hosts who won't shift a db, so KH-Paul, you're not alone. I was reading about the problem of transferring off a free Yahoo? (was it) hosting package and the lack of backup facilities, and I could see it coming.

I think part of the problem here is that after a while "the basics" of setting up db based sites seem easy.

Now the job itself is not that difficult. Pull the db, load onto new server, same with the files via FTP, re-setup your email accounts, set up a CRON job or 2, change the DNS pointing to the new host and 24-48 hours later all done, right? OK. Maybe run an update script to fire everything up on the new server, and fix the odd bug - but nothing too serious.

Except there are people who are running forum sites on free/start up packages for whom that last paragraph means something between gibberish and *Nightmare*

On the flip side, for the new host offering transfer, this is way more PT than shipping a full account backup file. Technically unchallenging, but waaay more time consuming. What we also need to understand is that hosting is about understanding something totally different from site scripts such as vB. (This, by the way, is where Siteground was quite good - their support knows the vB scripts intimately and moved me really quickly despite the lack of an account backup option. It's just that their servers are oversold and overloaded).

Here's my read. There are start-up specialists who are weak on server prowess, and there are server stars who are weak on handling folks in the early stages of the website game - probably mostly because they aren't used to getting those kinds of questions and walking people through it.

Knownhost falls in the category of server stars. I've been through a fair number of hosts - these guys' servers rock. And their support is great on the server side stuff. And that is what I want, need and truly appreciate.

I don't have a clue how to set up a reverse DNS lookup. Only got a vague idea of what that might be, even. These guys didn't blink an eye - just got it done!
Change the domain name of the nameserver on my VPS? I'm going "there's a namserver on a VPS?" Childsplay for them.
UNIX is a mystery to me. These guys and gals play it like a harp.

We need to understand our roles. Knownhost to me is about professional hosting for professional* webmasters. It's a partnership and frankly, I'm quite happy with that.

PWO - just the fact that you're looking to move onto a VPS shows you are fairly serious. But you're going to have to learn how to look after your end. I know it looks like a steep curve, but if KH increases their prices or their server service drops because they're looking after stuff we don't really need them to, I don't think I'm the only one here who is going to be a little pissed off. For what KH gives, they are good value. You'll pay a heck of a lot more for the same speed plus nappy wipes elsewhere, if it is even available. Harsh, maybe. But in a few months time if you keep working at it, you'll understand where I'm coming from.

* or at least a fairly competent amateur ;)

[MadMax1228]

Nice post Dave....lots to think about there.

My last host took me from Go Daddy (Peggy's Favorite) and set me up with cPanel, got me running, and then did not seem to have a clue when it came to managing the server. KH has been a gift for me, as I can now focus on SEO and my Store rather than continuous errors as I have discussed at length here. As a result of my increased focus, my revenues are up 360% in August over July and we are going to attempt 100% revenue growth each month through December 31...very aggressive, but definitely achieveable now that we are focused on the business.



Thanks!

[Peggy]

My last host took me from Go Daddy (Peggy's Favorite)
:tongue:

[MadMax1228]

1 hour and 19 minutes. I had you pegged for 45 minutes or less.:D

[Peggy]

only cuz I was busy elsewhere :p

[Mike54]

PWO, I'm genuinely sorry to hear of your experiences with KnownHost. The service and support I've had from them has been exemplary, from my initial sales contact to the last support ticket I opened.

I hope you get your site settled in somewhere you will be comfortable.