WebHost4Life’s “Promotional Pricing”: Beware The Bait-And-Switch!
WebHost4Life, my former ASP.NET Web Service Provider, and their “promotional pricing,” has turned me from a loyal, happy customer to a totally dissatisfied ex-customer.
In short, Web Host 4 Life would rather lose a current customer than extend the same price to him they’re willing to charge to potential customers: A classic business mistake that speaks volumes about a company and its lack of respect for its patrons.
I had used WHFL to do my shared Windows hosting for 3+ years. For my needs — a low-traffic site I primarily use for e-mail and customer demos — their cost and features were great. I paid about $120 per year and I got good value in return.
Then I renewed my account over the weekend, and I noticed that, in spite of advertising a $9.95 per month rate for my plan and no setup fee (which wouldn’t apply to me anyway, since I was renewing my plan), I was being charged $153.40.
That was $34 more than the price they advertised all over the site, and the price I had been paying. It also marked a 33% increase in price — the kind of increase that usually only the government and insurance companies have the gonads to demand.
I opened a support ticket asking them to either explain what services I added that accounted for the increase, to reduce my charge to their advertised price or to cancel my order.
The reply I got back stated, in short, they had upgraded their servers, network and trunks, so I would have to pay more. Yes, the prices I saw were for new customers, but new customers only; renewals were at full price.
So I repeated my demand: Charge me the introductory rate or lose my business. Choose between losing $34, which you wouldn’t get from a new customer anyway, and $120. Choose between making a loyal customer happy by extending to him the same price you are willing to charge others, or choose to make him despise your company and its business practices by using the old bait-and-switch.
Sure enough, WH4L refused to give me the discount. They also threatened to not refund my money for the renewal; but, my counter-threat of contacting their merchant services provider, the IC3 and suing civilly got that attitude turned around quickly.
What galls me in this is that I was, truly, a big fan of WH4L. I did like their service and I thought they were the best discount ASP.NET provider for the money, period.
But promotional pricing, to me, is deceitful; and worse, if you aren’t willing to make that the price for everyone, you are basically broadcasting, at the top of your lungs, that customer loyalty means nothing to you, that you’re ready to lose happy customers to gain new ones, and that you’re not above changing the deal on someone after he’s gotten on board with you.
Those business practices are despicable, in my opinion. I therefore cannot recommend Web Host 4 Life to anyone. They sound good on paper, and for the first year, you’ll get a good deal.
But after that, be prepared to pack your bags, because Web Host 4 Life won’t treat you the same. And that really is a shame.
