Don't Back Down

So I'm trying to look into some hosting options. My current host, Total Choice Hosting, does a reasonable job, has a decent plan, but their support is lacking. They have the technology, they just don't have the attitude. Or rather, they do have the attitude. It's quite common for me to submit a request, at which point I'm informed that the support desk doesn't support that sort of thing. Since I know they do, I ask for the ticket to be escalated, at which point I'm told that, after reviewing the ticket, they have decided to escalate it. Then I start over with the level 2 tech, and eventually it seems to get ironed out.

It shouldn't be that hard. I appreciate that maybe they have had a bad day. But this has happened more than once. Maybe this person just doesn't know what they are doing. I don't know. So I'm looking.

I looked at Hosting Matters and I have to say that I like their offerings, and their responses have been excellent. The only problem is that the resources included are, well, tiny. You're expected to buy other plans to resell, which in itself isn't a big deal, but it increases the complexity. So I kept looking.

I checked out TekTonic because of Peter's comments about his migration. I have to say that their services seem good, though I don't know if I'm ready for a VPS (I'd sure like one though). Their response time has been excellent, though I do realize that's just sales, so it may change. So they're still in the running.

The other site, that I really really wanted to like, is Site5. Their response time was decent, but not great. Still, I can live with that, as long as they are competent. So I asked some questions. One of the questions had to do with secure POP3 access. The sales rep told me (and I'm quoting here): "Unfortunately they've written their own POP daemon that does not yet support SSL or similar." This is the reason they don't support it. Because the provider of their software doesn't. Fair enough, but it didn't make sense to me. So I checked.

Sure thing, the software vendor supports it. So I asked again, and this time received a completely different response (from the same person): "The...implantation of SSL is cumbersome & pathetic to say the least--hence the reason why we do not advertise it and do not support it." To begin with, I'm not sure that I want to have it implanted. But that's really another issue. The more important one is that he flat-out told me they didn't have it, then backed up and decided to change his story. I understand that this may be a sales guy, but come on - to flat out lie, in an arena when you can easily be caught? That's just wrong and I won't put up with that sort of thing. Looks like Site5 is out of the running.

So at the moment, TekTonic is looking like the front-runner. Anyone else have any suggestions? Please keep them somewhat useful - rather than saying "This host rocks!" or "They blow!", give me something. Tell me why you like them (or dislike them), as well as some idea of the experience(s) you've had and how long you've been with them.

Update: TekTonic doesn't appear to offer private-label name servers (ie, ns1.cxliv.org), so they're moved back a notch for the time being. I've also gone back to checking another provider that I had somewhat dismissed earlier, HostGator. I like, though perhaps won't use, the telephone support. And their response time (as well as their responses) have thus far been excellent. I'll keep you posted.

Update: As directed by Peter, I contacted the support department at Site5 directly, rather than depending on the salesperson. I've worked with salespeople, and while there are surely some decent ones, I hate it when they are incompetent and lie to try and cover their tracks. Still, the features are there, so I guess that puts them back in the race.

Update: I'm currently leaning towards HostGator, but I also responded privately to Bill's comment, so we'll see where that leads as well. I think it's safe to say that a VDS/VPS is safely off the table for the moment, as I just don't think that I have the admin skills to handle it. Reseller account (somewhere), here I come!

Finally: I made some more inquiries with both Site5 and Tektonic. While I liked Tektonic, the answers were good, the response was fast, I just didn't have the same feeling with them. Can't explain it really. Perhaps because they are the new(er) kid on the block. So I went with Site5. Account is up now (amazingly fast), waiting on the name servers to propagate before doing much more. The specs at Dreamhost are really impressive - but almost too much so. Makes me wonder if they can really support those numbers. Should be interesting to see.

Footnote: And TCH? I wrote Bill almost immediately after his comment (now 24 hours ago). Haven't heard a peep. This is the sort of thing that turned me off of TCH - you want to talk, let's talk. Instead, it seems more and more like they are all talk and nothing more. Interestingly, a couple of questions I submitted this afternoon to help with the name server switch were answered incredibly fast, which was nice. So who knows the story? I sure don't. I just figured I didn't want to be wondering when I was providing to others, you know? I'll keep you updated on Site5. Thanks for the comments.