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General discussion

Avoid 1&1 hosting service

Nov 26, 2005 10:52PM PST

Just wanted to share a horrible experince i've had with 1&1 hosting. I've been trying to cancel for several months and I'm still getting charged. The service quality is poor and the customer service is horrible. Just needed to vent.

Discussion is locked

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Mixed reviews
Feb 16, 2006 5:59AM PST

Our company has been using a managed server at 1&1 for about 18 months now and have mixed feelings about them. We like the features they offer and the user friendly admin control panel, which along with the price make it a compelling choice. However, we also have 25 email accounts set there and have experienced annoying instability for the last year. Like the previous comments, emails have recently been delayed from hours to up to a day. Since email is a primary form of communication for us, it is quite disruptive. Considering that email is a commodity service now, I don't understand why they have so much trouble with it.

In addition, there are apparently many 1&1 customers who are known spammers, which can prevent our corporate emails from reaching external addresses (like our customers) because their email filters/blocks emails coming from 1&1 addresses (known to listed on many a blacklist).

So, if DNS propogation wasn't so lengthy and painful, I would switch us over to another vendor. However, the thought of switching to a vendor with potentially the same problems is holding me back from switching right now.

For now, I'm just wishing they get their act together.

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(NT) GET THE STRAIGHT DOPE ON 1&1.

Here is the straight dope. 1&1 is simply the best. For those of you that got free accounts, free domains, or free hosting through them - and did not pay after 3 month free introductory period.. quit your complaining.

Sure - you might have to wait on the phone 30 minutes for a real person to help you out - but when they do - THEY DO.

I had recently purchased 3 domain names, using their automatic domain purchasing system which them bills my credit card. I recieved a warning via email that it did not go through. I double checked my banking records, and ensured the money had been transfered to my business VISA account, and then phoned them letting them know the accounts were available (this was due to a 2 day payment time frame in processing VISA payments).. regardless - they then billed me accordingly - where in which i recieve updated billing notifications and statements bi-weekly.

I use them for my CGI, PHP, & ColdFusion server technologies... and have yet to have a problem.

http://www.hawleywood.com has been in business for 6 years, and I have been across north america in my projects and experiences. I have dealt with top-notch design and hosting companies alike. I look at all of the expenses involved when operating my own business in Alberta. A successful one, albeit - what $$ it takes to achieve my goals is always on my mind - as a keen spending habit - will result in a keen saving habit.

The same applies to big and small business's alike. If you spend foolishly - you will recieve a foolish resolve.

Regardless of peoples biased and angered views - most after recieving final notice of domain lock status due to non payment or non contact - these people resort to giving the worlds BIGGEST and FASTEST GROWING web host company with a bad rap.

Think about microsoft - or Ford.. or GM.. or any big company - you are bound to have bad experiences.

Does that stop us from using their goods? No one is happy all the time.

The straight dope is check out my site - i use and harness 1&1 servers for everything i do on the web from email to http to ftp to nntp to you name it.. i have dedicated and shared servers through them.

I am telling you - I have NO problems.

have a specific inquiry you want to talk about in person? please dont hesitate in contacting me, J. Hawley personally at info@hawleywood.com

I will gladly de-mystify the bunk experiences of people here and will let you know how my experiences with 1&1 over the past year and a half have been my most worry-free and easiest hosting experience EVER.

i am not a reseller - but i do use my 1&1 servers for my client work - i have no affilation with them.

Just a bit cheesed that people dont see 1&1 for who they are. The Best.

Sincerely,

J. Hawley
Hawleywood Interactive
http://www.hawleywood.com

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Your Site!!!
Feb 19, 2006 7:01AM PST

Dear J. Hawley

I don't know what to say but it seems that i can't see your website is it down or is it something wrong with my internet provider?

So i gues you were saying something that your site is always running.

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Hawleywood.com ?

Seems to be running if you ask me - there was a time a week or so ago - i was playing with my DNS - but that is with my registrar - who is not 1&1..

Sorry to bust your bubble!

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CURIOUS
May 24, 2008 12:58AM PDT

Do you still think 1&1 is the best?
I would have made the same statement you did in 2006. Now however, wouldn't even rate them a 1.

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Horrible Horrible Business
Jul 6, 2009 11:48AM PDT

Like others on this thread I was also sent to collections (without my knowledge) for a pre-paid hosting account that I was rung through the ringer when trying to cancel. Instead of just closing my account when I canceled the account, they sent me to collections. I found out about the collection over a year later when I was trying to qualify for a mortgage. My credit was spotless and my FICO was above 800 prior to this issue. Needless to say this sunk my FICO into the 500's and lenders now don't want to touch me because I have this $30 collection on my credit history. I've spent over two weeks on the phone and writing letters and emails with 1and1 and NCO (the credit agency) trying to resolve the issue with no luck. I'm now working with an attorney to try to get this resolved.

BE WARNED before doing business with 1and1. 1and1 makes it extremely difficult to close your accounts and when you do close your account, they refer you to collections. Please consider that by doing business with 1and1 your credit will be affected which makes it impossible for you to ever by a car, house, or get any type of a loan because of their extremely aggressive policies.

For all you 1and1'ers who monitor and read these threads, these aggressive collections policies on pre-paid accounts have real impact on people. Your customer support is overly rigid and unhelpful, your policies are absurd and anti-consumer, and you've trained your customer service representatives justify your actions and to hide behind onerous fine print and T&C's.

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Never give them your name
Feb 13, 2006 12:35AM PST

It's natural that *some* people are not going to get screwed over, and you see them above. But it is also clear that many people have. There are enough solid hosts out there that this is not a chance worth taking.

They charged me for services they did not provide, saying that they changed my agreement. When I did not pay (I was not billed--they just tried to charge a credit card that had expired several years ago), they sent it to collections.

After wasting months trying to get them to reverse the charges and pull the billing back from the collections agency, and after they failed to make corrections when requested by the Better Business Bureau, I just caved and paid to protect my credit rating.

I blogged about my experieces (http://alex.halavais.net/?p=1196) and found that a lot of others had been through the same thing.

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Murphy's Law?

"It's natural that *some* people are not going to get screwed over, and you see them above."

you have to admit however - they do host over 5 MILLION WEBSITES and have over 1 MILLION clientelle.

Im sure the *ones* who do get screwed over take it to complain here. Lets estimate on the LOW side that 1 million customers minus how many complaints here.. = not enough to deem 1&1 a *once in while* good service providing company. DUH.

Name or not - i guess you get what you paid for - is there a reason behind an old credit card still on account? I mean - did you cancel the card before the account? or did you cancel the account before the card.. and if so - how was the number still left on their web based system..

DUH.

Walk placidly amidst the haste and noise..

TTFN

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Huh?
Apr 18, 2012 6:08AM PDT

It doesn't matter if they have a billion hosting accounts, they way they act is inexcusable in my eyes. No other company could get away with they way they treat their "customers" ... they are no better than the scammers out there as far as I am concerned. It took me a dozen emails and almost a month to finally cancel ... even then they wouldn't just bill the contract amount at my request so I could pay it all and be done. Seemed to get alot of pleasure out of dragging it out and making it as hard as possible. DUH? Do you work for them, because you sound like them.

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1and1 Hosting (Un)-Service
Oct 14, 2006 2:47AM PDT

Just wanted to add my horrible 1and1 hosting experience to all the others. My email service was down for 3 days, impacting my business. Responses from their London Tech Support told me that they fixed the problem, and I wouldn't have any more problems. Now when I try to log in I receive an error message stating that the server can't find my email address.
I'm trying to cancel the service, but am being put into their never-ending loop that doesn't allow you to cancel.
Sound familiar to anyone?

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Be careful of 1&1 practices
Dec 12, 2006 2:34AM PST

I live in Germany...got suckered into signing up with a free agent. He spoke good English, but no one else at customer service seems to. Now my bills are going up with no explanation or any statements. They only work by direct deduction from bank account. Whatever you do, do not let them do that. They remind me T-mobile...could they be related?

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1&1 is Horrible Hosting
Oct 9, 2007 2:53AM PDT

Two extremely bad experiences with 1&1 hosting in the past month.

1) Have been using a MSSQL database for an ecommerce website for over 2 months. Last Friday the database disappeared. Called 1&1. They said that I never had a database setup under that account. It's been 4 days and the issue isn't resolved.

2) Add an additional account to my 1&1 account. I selected a Windows hosting package, which was what my current package also was. I did this to separate one of my websites so it wouldn't have any conflict with existing sites. Once I signed up for the windows account, they switched both accounts to Linux accounts. Then support said that I never had a windows account and that it would take 30 days to switch back. They also said that all files and database had been deleted. Once they finally moved me back to a windows account (5 days later), all my files were back.

The provide the WORST service ever!

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not so sure
Jan 8, 2008 1:01AM PST

I have had a successful site with them for well over a year and recently purchased a new one for another customer. I pay up front for a year at a time and I have not had issues. I have seen downtimes in the middle of the night but they are in EU and it is early morning there so I am able toget someone on the phone and vebt about the downtime I my sites are having.

Granted I have yet to try and cancel my account but in regards to that read the contracts.
You have to submit in writing (who does this anymore?) that you want to cancel. I would send it registered mail, then email them then tell your credit card company that you want all payments stopped if they attempt to hit it.
It is cumbersome but all online accounts are that way. They want to make it difficult so you say, Heck with it, I'll just deal with them.

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1&1 says customer loyalty doesn't matter
Jan 17, 2008 1:23AM PST

I have decided to report my bad experience with 1&1 here, particularly since Hawleywood writes:
?Im sure the *ones* who do get screwed over take it to complain here. Lets estimate on the LOW side that 1 million customers minus how many complaints here.. = not enough to deem 1&1 a *once in while* good service providing company. DUH.?

And I am sure there are also many, many more who don?t complain. And, ("DUH") insulting our intelligence - for lodging legitimate complaints & trying to keep fellow consumers informed and aware - is in poor taste & is not going to increase Hawleywood's clientele.
And ? despite the comment that ?1&1 is simply the best.? - Hawleywood no longer uses their services. Interesting...

Anyway, here is the gist of my - all too familiar -experience:
This is for a recent CC declined payment for 2 additional domains I believed I had cancelled 6 months ago. The customer service rep. I eventually spoke to even had electronic records of my cancellation attempts ? one which was successful.
Her unprofessional & condescending tone was the antithesis of quality customer service. It was obvious she was getting a great deal of pleasure from what she considered was my subservient position to her autocratic role. She stated that ?it is not 1&1's policy to consider each customer and their history? with 1&1. She told me that it was inconsequential that I have paid for my primary subscription up until May 2008 & have been an up-to-date subscriber since 2004. All 1&1 is interested in is obtaining the approx. $12 for the cancelled domains + $18 for collection fees from me. Until I do, I cannot access my primary domain, photos, programs, web files or email.
This level & type of 'service' is not at all conducive to retaining or acquiring customers.
But with over 1 million (?happy??) customers, maybe they think they don?t need to worry.

If you have (unfortunately) recently subscribed to 1&1, please be aware that their email reminders, warnings, invoices and advertising may come from any of the following addresses - to avoid having them ending up in your spam bucket:
announce@1and1.com / 1&1 Internet Team / 1&1 BestBuy Special Offer / support@1and1.com / 1&1 Internet Inc. / 1&1 Affiliate News / 1&1 Affiliate Team

There are probably others?(that went to my spam folder).

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Research Might Have Helped Here
Jan 18, 2008 3:44AM PST
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1&1
Oct 12, 2008 12:57AM PDT

I have been a 1&1 customer for years. I have a resellers account and host numberous websites with them. Their uptime over those years has been the best I've ever experienced and I have a service that monitors the uptime for me, constantly pinging my pages to check for downtime. The couple of times I've contacted customer service, they've been very friendly and knowledgeable and helped me solve issues quickly.

Recently, the server my account was on started having problems. I always assumed that they had backups to ALL their servers and ALL site content. Apparently, this is not the case. As my sites were offline for a day. I wrote an email to customer service and within 24 hours, got a reply, stating that the server my account was on had issues, was going to be replaced, and all data would be transferred to the new server. This was in process and would be resolved soon. I was instructed to call or write a particular department and I would be given credit for the downtime, which I did.

Today, checking my email, there were multiple notices from my service that the sites were down, up, and down again. I checked a couple of sites and they were offline. I checked later, and two of the websites were back up, but others were not. Which is strange because you would assume they would all be either on or off.

I've had websites online for many MANY years and with the host I was on before this, I could be offline for days, and even weeks. 1&1 has, up until recently, been the most reliable web hosting company I've ever been with in nearly 20 years. And their prices can't be beat. I'm willing to give them a little slack because computers do go down. Of course, time is money, and if the situation does not right itself soon, or even gets worse, then I will be shopping for the next best deal.

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Filed complaint with BBB
May 21, 2008 12:37AM PDT

I have been a customer for 2 plus years with 1and1 hosting 5 of my sites. In that 2 years they have had 3 major outages that lasted 24plus hours. The last straw was on 4/29/08 when my site/customers experience intermittent downtime which lasted until 5/13/08 when my sites were COMPLETELY down for 5 days. On 5/19 they came back up but have been experiencing intermittent downtime ever since. On 5/21 I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau since their customer relations department was unwilling to communicate with me. A company should not be allowed to operate this way.

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DITTO
May 24, 2008 1:03AM PDT

I have been with them for 3+ years and host 9 e-commerce sites with them. Their customer service is now in the toilet. My sites have been down more than up in the last 2+ weeks and I cannot get anywhere with their tech support in the Phillipines. I would avoid 1&1 like the plaque. Now I have to try and find a reliable hosting company and am not sure where to begin.
You should publish the contact info for the BBB to make it easier for everyone else to report them as well.

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Thanks
Jun 19, 2008 4:46PM PDT

Got useful info here! Thanks for warnings and exp share!

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thanks
Jun 19, 2008 4:47PM PDT

Got iseful info here! Thanks for warning and exp share!

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1 & 1 doing better at customer service
Nov 8, 2008 5:28AM PST

As an update to my earlier posting about a recent experience, they did switch out servers and had our websites up within hours. I spoke with a very nice customer service rep who referred me to an email to write to about credit. I received an email that said I would get one free month credited to my account for the problems. I was only down on all sites less that 24 hours. I also got numerous email requests to take special surveys to rate their customer service and I could write anything I wanted, not just tick pre-selected easy questions. I did so.

I feel now in the wake of this that 1 & 1 is trying to do all they can to regain what they had years ago, the reputation of being #1. It's tough when you get so big so fast. My experience was for the most part positive and my sites have been up perfectly since. This was the only down time problem I've had with my years with the company.

Compared to the well known host I had prior to this who was a nightmare to work with, could not be reached, and would leave servers crashed for a month, at much higher prices, 1 & 1 is still my host of choice.

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1&1 Should I Proceed
Nov 19, 2008 11:48PM PST

You've recently posted on the 1&1 review board. I am looking to start a website and sought to use 1&1 has my web host.

What attracts me to 1&1 is the fact that it's well recognized, and because I am a beginner it's also beneficial that it offers free web development. They also offer forum set up and Chat forums. Do you think it's a wise choice for me to sign up?

Many people stated having billing problems but I am opting to buy a prepaid debit card which has no link to me to sign up. Based on your experiences do you think 1&1 is the right choice for me?

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Re: 1&1 Should I Proceed
Nov 20, 2008 12:31AM PST

I'll admit that I was surprised to read the list of problems that so many have had with 1&1. I've been with them for years and this was the first problem I had had and they handled it quickly, professionally, with solid backup and credited me not a day but a month for the trouble. Their packages are very inexpensive and they offer great web developement tools at no cost, and others at low cost.

Remember, they are a discount host so expect everything that may go with that. You do pay for top service and I can't promise that 1&1 will be a problem free hosting service for you. All I can do is share my experience which seems to be far less problematic than some of the others here. Also remember, 1&1 has thousands of happy customers, and those here are those that apparently did not get what they expected.

I hope this has helped you with your decision. Whatever you do, be forward with 1&1 if there is a problem, but also be nice. Customer service personel tend to shut down if yelled at. And if it doesn't work out, move to another company.

Good luck,

rw

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Service packs and updates - never applied!
Nov 22, 2010 1:46PM PST

These paople have no idea what a good service should look like. I posted this article just recently and today I decided to look around if I'm the only one having these issues.

http://www.pcyoutrust.com/OneAndOne.aspx

It's totally unacceptable and wrong that they want the customers to switch to the same MS Business Package, all the details are in the article that I mentioned above. And all these troubles are just because they never install any updates or service packs to their servers! It's a question of a few seconds to switch a package from .NET 2.0 to 3.5 and even to .NET 4.0 if they installed the appropriate packages and service packs. IIS can easily do that per application. Instead, I have to move a few gigs of data, and the most terrible - recreate all email accounts and other stuff from scratch on the new server! In addition all discounts, etc., associated with the current account will not be propagated to the new one! These lazy guys are something special! If I knew that almost a year ago when I bought their service I'd avoid that for sure.

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Finally got a response from 1and1's support!
Feb 3, 2011 1:56AM PST

need to cancel your 1and1 account? see below (from 1and1 correspondence) for details!

If you wish to cancel your 1&1 package, feature, or domain please visit https://cancel.1and1.com and use your Customer ID and password to login.

At the end of the process you will need to activate your request. In order to do so, you will receive an e-mail message with a special link which you will need to click to complete the process.

If you do not receive the e-mail with the confirmation link e-mail within a few hours of completing the cancellation, please notify us ASAP.

Please note that if you do not receive this e-mail and click on the link within (7) seven days of the request, your cancellation request will not complete and your services will remain active.

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No bad experiences for me
Mar 26, 2011 6:28AM PDT

I have used 1&1 for about 6 months and have been pleased with them. I guess it's because I haven't tried to cancel and stop paying them. I like the way their site is set up. It's easy to design your own stuff and I've been very happy.

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1 & 1 hosting
Apr 1, 2011 5:22PM PDT

It becomes really irritating when the services provided are not as per your requirement and when you try to get rid of it then also you are unable to do it.

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Letter just sent to trading standards UK
Apr 1, 2011 9:01PM PDT

Dear Trading Standards

I wish to complain about the unfair practices of 1&1internet, a registrar of domain names.

Their system is designed so that it is very difficult to cancel a domain name, which they then continue to charge for annually. I have already been charged for several years after I had ceased using a domain name.

This is because they use recurrent billing but fail to communicate to customers that their domain name is up for renewal. They may send emails out to email addresses that are no longer functioning because the domain name is no longer being used. They will not send out letters when there is no reply to the emails that are bounced back.

Here is a catalogue of some of the people who have been affected by their terrible practices and underhand tactics: http://www.grumbletext.co.uk/vt.php?t=1242

I run West Sussex Humanists on www.westsussexhumanists.org.uk. This domain name is registered with 1&1internet. I also have another domain name which I thought I had cancelled www.sussexideas.co.uk but which I have just been billed for again, without any prior warning.

1&1internet are threatening to freeze my www.westsussexhumanists.org.uk domain name unless I pay this bill for www.sussexideas.co.uk. They have also said they will add

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AGREE
Aug 1, 2011 6:22AM PDT

Oh I just called 1and1 Billing department asking why do they charge me while I am 100% sure that my cancellation is RELEVANT. then the Billing department lady was so arrogant! Hey dude, i am your customer. She was talking like scolding me. I was sooo mad!
And the Bill dept told me that It's because I cancelled it online, WELL If cancelling it online won't work then DON'T MAKE IT AVAILABLE.

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Just Try and End Your Contract ... No Hope.
Sep 9, 2011 2:52AM PDT

Cheap, NOT cheerful, rude unhelpful staff. Try and end your
contract, no hope, so difficult to get in touch to do it. Premium phone line
that costs YOU to end the contract. I was kept on hold several times until I
hung up then cancelled my direct debit. They then handed me over to a debt
collection agency, all for £4.99.



I had to pay £40 to get them off my back and save my good
credit record. I have now issued a small claims court summons against them to
get my money back.



Not a nice company. Keep Clear, pay a bit more and get a lot
more.