I cancelled my 1&1 account some months ago and moved the domain to a better host (in my case, Vidahost) I suggest you do the same – or, better still, don’t sign up with this company in the first place.

4/10 because, in spite of their faults, I never actually had any downtime from 1&1.

I’m a web developer and usually work on bespoke applications which require setups which can only be provided by dedicated servers. My clients will usually get one or more dedicated servers to host their sites on so I support a fair few with 1&1.

You should understand when you order a dedicated server from 1&1, it is likely to have been taken from another customer who has ended their contract so there’s no telling when the hardware will give up. However I’ve only ever had one disk failure and no other hardware problems of any kind. Uptime is usually very good to excellent.

Technical support for dedicated servers is quite good. It’s available 24/7 (although not free phone) and usually fairly quick to get through to them. Where they fall down (and in a BIG way) is with their incredibly poor customer service and billing department staff. Just about any cockup you can imagine, they’ve probably done it, including my favourite one, cancelling the wrong server and wiping a live production server.

So why am I with them? They are cheap as chips while still offering all the functionality/performance my clients require. They aren’t just a bit cheaper for dedicated servers but quite a lot cheaper. Similarly priced competitors have plenty of hidden costs, 1&1 don’t.

i have already paid up till next May as i believe that much in them.

I also have linked them to my website as a thanks for a discount on my Yearly Payment.

Done some tutorials for some of the tasks:

1) Cancel auto renewal of domain
http://affiliate4travel.co.uk/2008/12/cancel-auto-renewal-of-1and1-domain.html

2) Set up blogger / blogspot with custom domain
http://affiliate4travel.co.uk/2009/01/custom-blogger-domain-using-1and1.html

3) Transferring domain to 1&1 (shock, horror!)

http://affiliate4travel.co.uk/2009/01/transferring-couk-domain-with-nominet.html

Changing web-hosts is a hassle – but after being pushed a little too far by 1and1, I decided that enough was enough. After doing some research I found a superb web-host who charge half as much as I was paying with 1and1; I’m completely shocked how much better a host can be.

I dislike 1and1 for the following reasons:

* billing errors
I’ve had emails and billing responses sent to me in error – requesting I pay x-amount of money. Responses have sometimes been completely unintelligible half-complete replies to other customer’s queries. I got to the point where I had absolutely no confidence in the company at all.
* unexplained downtime
There have been times when I’ve been unable to access my webspace / website, and databases associated with my account; unluckily for me this occurred while I was demoing a site to a client. I received no apology or explanation from 1and1; rather than own up, their policy seems to be to hope customers won’t notice.
* automatic account locking
At one stage I was unable to make a payment because the billing departments IT system was down. Subsequently my account, was locked and sent to a debt recovery agent, making all my domains and sites unavailable for nearly a week.
* no flexibility
To get anything more than basic hosting, expensive upgrades are needed. The level of functionality vs. cost often seems arbitrary; for example – why should I pay over £72 pounds a year extra just to receive SSH access?
* no follow up to complaints
I’ve sent complaints on numerous occasions and not received responses. When I have received replies, they’ve been ‘stock’ replies – standard templates. They don’t listen and it’s impossible to speak to anyone who can actually help. Everything is run according to scripts.
* automatic rebilling
I cancel my account – they respond; not by refunding me the money I’m owed, but by re-billing me for each domain previously registered, using brand-new two year contracts!

I sound like I’m ranting – and I suppose I am. I’m just deeply dissatisfied with this company – and still slightly shocked that they can get away with such levels of incompetence.

Avoid 1and1 like the plague – there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

Poor performance, very poor support & customer service.

I am still being charged for items on the contract which I cancelled over six months ago.

Personally, I wouldn’t touch them ever again – I don’t expect to be held to ransom by a company I paid to provide a service that is available better and just as cheaply elsewhere.