Goodbye Dreamhost - hello Bluehost...

Well, it`s been 3 days and I still haven`t heard from either tech-support, or even more surprisingly...from sales! All I wanted to do was sign-up with DH, but they use Google Checkout (instead of Paypal) on initial sign-up. I sent Google a scan of my Driver`s License, and they confirmed everything was ok within 12 hours. But I couldn`t sign up to my `pending` DH account because my domain was already in their system (`domain name already exists` error message). And of course, the only way to make a payment at this stage is via Paypal or mail (which is not actually allowed on initial sign-up). It felt like I was on acid. Hope I`m making sense...

Anyway, I signed up with Bluehost and they called me to confirm it was indeed me signing up and thanked me for my business...7 minutes after I paid! Not bad at all. I migrated my site within 9 hours (nameserver change, domain transfer, etc) and I`m up and running like nothing happened. If DH wasn`t so bad, Bluehost probably wouldn`t look so good. But then again, DH indeed looks bad because Bluehost actually works. I don`t mind technical problems, but it`s another thing to have no response whatsoever to a `sales` request (you know, someone sitting there with a credit card, ready to give you money). Whew! Sorry for the rant...

I`d just like to say thank you to those on this forum who kindly/promptly responded earlier with advice and suggestions. You guys are doing `their` f***ing job! Either way, thanks for listening.

Take care. Cheers!

I take it search engines are too complicated for you? There are plenty of decent hosts out there, but Bluehost/Hostmonster isn't one of them. It doesn't take much research to figure that out.

The first thing I'll point out, since you couldn't make it through a whole post without getting censored by the word filter, is that Bluehost is probably one of the only hosts on the planet that will terminate your account for profanity, even if it's from a blog comment, forum post, etc...

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Profanity. Profanity or profane subject matter in the site content and in the domain name are prohibited.

Second of all, they seem to be known for having just about the lowest CPU limits in the business... so good luck with that.

In other words, as long as you have a static site and don't use any bad words (even if your mommy lets you swear!), you should do just great with your new host. tongue

Google Checkout's gotta be the *least* convenient way to sign up around here. With all the complaints I hear (and no compliments), I'm surprised DreamHost doesn't better explain the process or stop using it altogether.

-Scott

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Google Checkout's gotta be the *least* convenient way to sign up around here. With all the complaints I hear (and no compliments), I'm surprised DreamHost doesn't better explain the process or stop using it altogether.

I share those sentiments 100%. If I worked at Dreamhost that's actually the first thing I'd set about changing. Google Checkout is fail, Paypal is win. I have no clue as to why they don't accept Paypal from the outset. I can only assume it's to do with people wanting refunds - perhaps money is lost on a Paypal refund process or something?

As for Bluehost - you'll be back here in a month Robot wink

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In reply to:
I share those sentiments 100%. If I worked at Dreamhost that's actually the first thing I'd set about changing. Google Checkout is fail, Paypal is win. I have no clue as to why they don't accept Paypal from the outset. I can only assume it's to do with people wanting refunds - perhaps money is lost on a Paypal refund process or something?

I think Dreamhost uses Google Checkout as their solution for fraud detection for select foreign countries.

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As for Bluehost - you'll be back here in a month Robot

I use them as host for my static backup sites.

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Agreed 100%.

DH is worth the wait but 9 times out of 10 the wait was due to Google Checkout and not actually Dreamhost.

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I have no clue as to why they don't accept Paypal from the outset.

From what I've seen, it's way cheaper to accept Google Checkout... and with companies like Dreamhost bringing in over $1M/month, the tiniest of percentages can equal a huge pile of cash.

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I can only assume it's to do with people wanting refunds

I'm pretty sure PayPal tends to side with merchants when it comes to "virtual" goods, so you're pretty much screwed (as a buyer) with PayPal when disputing those types of charges.

One guess would be that PayPal has a higher fraud percentage, but who knows. I've seen a lot more PayPal phishing than Google phishing. ;)

Not so bad with physical goods, where you can protect yourself by only shipping to confirmed addresses.

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You guys are doing `their` f***ing job!

You better not use that language on your own web sites while they're on Bluehost's Utah Mormon servers! Read the TOS where it forbids "obscene language"...

Say what you will about DreamHost, but they DO believe in your right to say f**k, or anything else that legal in California / The U.S.A. on your own web sites.

Goodbye Dreamhost - hello Bluehost...