6 Month & Final Review: Ripple Host (RippleHost.com)

[MMiz]

Hello,

This is an update to this thread (http://www.hosthideout.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=495) , the mods might want to merge them. Please note that all information that has been posted in my first post will not be re-posted, I will only be posting changes in this post.

I've had a domain hosted at RippleHost for six months now and thought I would come back and share a review. Two weeks ago I moved my domains over to the current host who I am extremely pleased with. I no longer have domains at RippleHost.

I currently have two domains hosted with them that can by privately verified by contacting me via this forums Email or PM feature.

Background:
RippleHost is owned by the same guy (Alan) who owns SplashHost.com. Started in December of 2002, they have only been in business for about six months. They are located in the NAC data-center. They currently offer one plan of paid service along with one plan of free service

Services: C - Average
See First post

Customer Support: E - Nearly Non-Existent
Customer support is handled via their support forums / main site. All support is handled this way, and no email / help-desk / phone support is offered. I had multiple issues while with them, server down-time, mail problems, all which were posted to their forums. In some cases I waited for other members to post and did not re-post. Many issues went unresolved, and there was no communication between the support staff and customers.

Their mail servers were blacklisted by AOL and other large organizations. They made no attempt to correct the problems. Even when sending to places that didn't block the address, it took upwards of 15-30 minutes. I guess this is what happens when you pay only $5 a year.

Alan's response on the forums is often short and often harsh and rude. His customer service skills are lacking on the RippleHost.com forums / site.


Network: D - Far Below Average
NAC seems to have problems related to emergency procedures, or a complete lack of them. Power outages and network failures seemed to plague the service during the time I was with them.

Value: D+ - Below Average
I don't see any value in these as an hosting account. Reliability is horrible, support is horrible, uptime is horrible, and the mail rarely can get through.


Overall: D - Below Average
This company now has fallen into the "Too good to be true" category. I have no use for any of their services, and had a negative experience with them for a period of two or three months after I wrote my first review. I thought I would give Alan time to get things in order, but no such attempt was made.

My initial positive experience is now utterly negative.

[NexDog]

Well, you can't complain about their support system as you must have known they only had forum support.

[MMiz]

Originally posted by NexDog:

Well, you can't complain about their support system as you must have known they only had forum support.

Im not complaining about their support system. Im complaint about the lack of response. Quite a few companies just have forums, and many rely on forums for a majority of their support, but there was NO support provided in the RippleHost forums.

The issues I brought up were not "How do you do this, that?" but were "Mail servers are blocked, and the servers are down". And there were no responses or updates :(

-Matt

[inogenius]

I can only say, you get what you pay for. If you were expecting a great, quality service for 4.99 a year, then I'd say "you're crazy man." Sorry, sorry, I just watched Old School.

[MMiz]

Originally posted by inogenius:

I can only say, you get what you pay for. If you were expecting a great, quality service for 4.99 a year, then I'd say "you're crazy man." Sorry, sorry, I just watched Old School.

I totally understand :) I didnt have an important name on their server, and maintained an account with a host who Ive been completely satisfied with (PriorityColo). I didnt expect much, and first was shocked when there were a few accounts on the server, but as more got added the level of service dropped significantly.

[Steve]

Still a good review, although now your saying that they got worse but half the decent hosts don't even charge less than 4.99 a month let alone a year :P eh they're trying just like everyone out there :P

[inogenius]

Originally posted by MMiz:

I totally understand :) I didnt have an important name on their server, and maintained an account with a host who Ive been completely satisfied with (PriorityColo). I didnt expect much, and first was shocked when there were a few accounts on the server, but as more got added the level of service dropped significantly.

In the long run, RippleHost could actually work out well. As they get more and more customers it could basically run itself on just customer support. However, the initial beginnings are going to take a lot of work from Alan. I dont' know if I could justify doing it for the small return it offers.

[NexDog]

It's obvious that RippleHost are trying to do the httpme thing. But the secret to their success is Aussie_Bob's fantastic PR skills, the originality and a great tech team who are forum posting madmen with style. :)

[MMiz]

Originally posted by inogenius:

In the long run, RippleHost could actually work out well. As they get more and more customers it could basically run itself on just customer support. However, the initial beginnings are going to take a lot of work from Alan. I dont' know if I could justify doing it for the small return it offers.

The forum is actually self-supporting for the most part. It reached the point a long time ago. The problem is many issues can not be handled via the forum. I cant restart servers, work to get the servers unblocked from spam lists, and try to control load issues. This is stuff a web host should be doing, but Alan did not.

-Matt

[net-trend]

Originally posted by MMiz:

This is stuff a web host should be doing, but Alan did not.


Alan may be trying to be a superhero, he has Splashhost to run and Ripplehost as well and he's doing it primarily by himself [one would assume]. I'm sure he cares more about customers on Splashost than those on Ripplehost.

[Operator]

Originally posted by net-trend:

Alan may be trying to be a superhero, he has Splashhost to run and Ripplehost as well and he's doing it primarily by himself [one would assume]. I'm sure he cares more about customers on Splashost than those on Ripplehost.
Hm..not to long ago I saw him posting a "Help Wanted" thread in WebHostingTalk.
It's obvious he cares more about Splash Host than those on Ripplehost:
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65117&highlight=Splash+Host

[UH-Matt]

If he doesnt have the time or resources to support Ripplehost then it shouldnt be run, regardless of the price. There is no excuse for leaving mailserver blacklisted without fixing the issue etc.

[NexDog]

Yea, that is ridiculous. If we get a mail IP listed in SPEWS (and if you have 20 odd servers, its going to happen too often), that listing lasts for a few hours. First bounce we hear about, the mail IP is changed on confirmation at SPEWS. I've posted the info on how to do it at WHT a few times to peple battling with relays like SPEWS, but it seems those hosts are clueless and had no idea what I was talking about. I'm no sysadmin, but the concept of recompiling the kernel with NAT and postrouting through IPTABLES is not a difficult one. :rolleyes:

[MMiz]

See, I really hope people dont get me wrong. Seeing NexDog and others reply, some of the most respectable members in the Web Hosting community worries me. My review is not a personal attack on Alan. Nor is it an attack on his administration skills, customer service skills, any other other personal trait. My negative review is solely in respect to the way in which RippleHost is run, the quality of service, and the customer support I was given while with RippleHost.

I know its kind of hard for some to draw the distinction between the two companies, RippleHost and SplashHost, Alan owning both, but I see them as two totally separate companies, and Alan has made that clear distinction.

I signed up for a $10 a year host and got a 50% off because of how early I signed up. I didnt even use the account besides a single HTML file and a single email account. Thats it. Can you imagine how dissapointed I would have been if I actually expected it to be a great host? If I actually hosted a page of any importance? But I didnt post about that. I didnt post about how they wrecked my business (the one I dont have), lost me millions of dollars (again I never had), and made me want to just go torch a car. I never posted any of that. Why? Because I dont feel that way. I feel my review was a very objective review of the services I received, and I feel I can backup all my claims with evidence.

Thats just my experience, others may have different ones.

-Matt

[Alan]

Let me just explain a couple of things.

Ripplehost is just meant to be an alternative to people who normally use free hosting. The $10 means you dont need to have banners on your site. Would you expect to get technical support from a free host? No you wouldnt.

I believe our reliability is actually quite good. Yes there were a few network/power issues in the past but things have been much better since.

Splash Host and Ripple Host are completely different. Please dont think the service you get at ripplehost is anything like what you would get at splash host. I wouldnt evern consider ripplehost a service, its more like a product you are getting.

I would say value has improved also, we now offer twice as much bandwidth as we use to.

[Alan]

Im also considering looking for someone to browse the forum and look for issues that may actually need to be fixed by an admin who would then report them back to me. Do you think that would work? any volunteers? :)

[markblair]

Originally posted by Alan:

Im also considering looking for someone to browse the forum and look for issues that may actually need to be fixed by an admin who would then report them back to me. Do you think that would work? any volunteers? :)

If you are looking for help, post the opening here (http://www.hosthideout.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=48). ;)

[datums]

I think part of the review should consider pricing.
What was your expectation of the service?
Did RippleHost set the right expectation.

Personally $5/yr I would probably use it for storage or for a personal site.

I would expect delayed support. And for $5/yr how could you really complain about downtime.

It's like signing up with 1and1 for free, then trying to complain about the service.

I think the Customers Expectation has to be set when they visit your site and sign up. Then many of these negative reviews would not stand.

[LP-Trel]

From what I am hearing here, price vs. service is a very very good value.

Just my humble opinion though.. ;)