I’ve recently (around 2 weeks ago) shifted host. The main reason for doing so is due to the poor uptime of my previous host. That was not all, the loading time of the server is totally horrendous. I’ve tried optimizing to the best of my ability but the time taken to simply get a response from the server itself is way too long. That plus the free time I had since my examinations were finally over, resulted in the shift to a new host.
I search long and hard, looking for a host that is affordable and reliable. No point paying a dollar a month and then the server shuts down after a month. Reading forums and other people’s reviews, I decided to give SharkSpace webhosting a try. SharkSpace started in the year 2004, so I guess they do have some experience in this field. Their pricing is fantastically reasonable as well. To add on, they have an ongoing 50% off life discount that is currently available for certain plans. I’ll review the host based on first impression, my experience so far with their support and of course whether the server is performing for the price or the promises they made.
If you visit their site, you will be greeted with a pleasant web design. The colours are good and their mascot is cute. It is an animal (a shark) therefore it gets bonus points (since I like polar bears and they are animal as well). Â Why is a web design important for a web hosting company? Firstly, it is the first impression it gives people. If you’re greeted with a design that is merely text and nothing else, would you even want to try the host out? First impression means a lot in business and for everyone. A good first impression in this case would convince a buyer to try out the service. A bad impression would simply put him off even with the numerous good reviews by people. SharkSpace has no problem in this department and the first impression they give me is fantastic.
Hosting plans are neatly presented, information on the webhost are detailed and sufficient. Everything was great in terms of design and presentation. With that said, I had to use the live support for some queries regarding the host and other payment issues. The live support might be a problem for some, especially those living in the time zone totally opposite to that of their main headquarters. This is simply because they only operate during usual office hours (8 am to 5 pm Central Time and is closed on Sunday) This meant that it is opened from around 11 pm to 7 am for me, Singapore. Therefore it was hard to communicate with their sales support at the start and I didn’t really feel like submitting a ticket for the trivial matters I had in mind so I just waited during one of the fridays to ask.
Their live support is fantastic. As in I didn’t have any major issues so far so whatever I’ve asked are simple questions but they are adequately answered and I’m always left satisfied when I close the window. Staff are polite and helpful, and I must definitely say patient for I asked several questions over and over again because I was rather cautious and worried for it is my first time shifting host and stuff. I did try their ticket support for some issue regarding the host background and stuff and they replied within 20 mins? (They say ticket would be replied within an hour and their current average support time is 10 mins) Something to take note was that the ticket sent was flagged (by myself) as low priority and still it got answered really quickly. Hmm, that is something really really good. Oh and their ticket support (technical department) is opened 24/7, meaning they will help you within an hour or much much less.
With that said I finally purchased a plan and started moving my stuff from my previous webhost over. The account creation was instant as soon as you pay the money. I receive the email regarding my account information within seconds after the payment by credit card was done. Everything went very smoothly. Transferring was fast and the uploading speed etc were great. For my internet connection to upload at around 100kb/s was amazing. cPanel was provided (even though I do not use much of it) and is a bonus for all. Fantastico is fantastic even if I didn’t use it. As in I’m just stating a general statement because cPanel is by far my most preferred control panel.
Uptime up till now is at 100% and of course things looks fantastic. The future is bright and I believe I’ll be back with another review by year end (not end month cause I think I’ll give it more time) and in that review I’ll be positive and happy. I’ll rate the host on their plans and pricing when I feel that I’ve been long enough with the host because some host promises so much yet they give so little or simply close down the next day. SharkSpace doesn’t seem to fit into that category but still I believe time will be an evidence to whatever I’ll be stating in future. For now, I rate the service and the hosting so far a 8.5/10. A 1.0 taken off because of live support not being 24/7 and a 0.5 because nobody is perfect.
Link to Host: SharkSpace Webhosting
Avoid using sharkspace at all costs. All costs. The risk you take is far greater than any benefit that could come from it.
Sharkspace is the worst hosting company on the planet. Just 2 days ago, sharkspace’s owner and Darwin Awards candidate, Scott Jones, deleted my entire account of over 50 domains, including several client business sites, non-profit organizations, etc. This includes all database information, subscriber mailing list databases with tens of thousands of members, etc. Accident? No. He did this on purpose. I have been a long paying customer of this company, not to mention all of the other long paying customers that I had referred to them. They are making a killing off of me, and this is their answer. I estimate that Mr. Jones will be seeking employment in another field when this situation comes to a close.
Please, if you have any data on sharkspace’s servers, move it IMMEDIATELY. Do not allow yourself to be victimized by this company.
I’ll try to get a response from their side and get back to you. For me so far everything has been great. I’m very sorry for what happened to you though, if what you said is completely true that is.
It seems like this is a totally one sided and bias story.
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=946928
For those concerned about the situation.
No, it isn’t. This is 100% truth. The owner, Scott Jones, is making up lies to try and cover his ass. This guy is a discicable human being. They have completely lost all of our user info, email subscriber databases, etc. They claim to have given us this info, but they have not. I and several of my clients are filing with the state attorney general of wisconsin, as well as filing civil suits for loss of intellectual property. You can contact me personally if you want more info. But the person who posts as “sharkspace” all over the web is actually Scott Jones, owner of Sharkspace LLC. He will not admit who he is, instead claiming he is “just a tech guy”. Any doubts to his complete lack of morals and credibility can be cleared up by looking at what he’s been writing on that webhosting brotherhood forum. He actually thinks that he’s conducting a court trial in that forum, posting what he claims are personal emails from me (that would be very ethical, wouldn’t it?), etc.
This was the former clients exact ticket,
“1) Remove my credit card info from this account. Your interface will not allow me to.
2) A charge has been made to my card as of 5/5/2010 without my permission. This money is to be returned immediately. If it is not returned as of noon on saturday, I am filing fraud charges with my bank.
As already made clear, I have no intent to continue paying sharkspace for service after the way I have been treated by them. ”
The payment was then refunded and account canceled since it was overdue. We are currently going to file a lawsuit against this former client for providing false information and slander. All information is documented. Backups were provided and he has his sites online from the backups.
As clearly stated in our terms of service http://www.sharkspace.com/termsofservice.html the former clients contract was broken when the refund request was processed:
4. Delinquent Accounts.
SharkSpace may temporarily deny service or terminate this Agreement upon failure of Customer to pay charges when due. Such termination or denial will not relieve Customer of responsibility for the payment of all accrued service fees, and any collection fees to which SharkSpace may be entitled under this Agreement or under applicable law.
P.S. Scott Jones Sharkspace LLC? Still has not delivered to us the intellectual property that he has destroyed purposefully. He has delivered to us: 3 links to the exact same file (2 in the same email), claiming they were all different links to different files, a 228kb zip file, containing none of our data. Later, when pressed, he sent a 4th link which led to a larger file that contained only basic db structure to our 5 databases, with none of our actual data in them. All he had to do was allow us to save our own data, which he refused. He thwarted his own employes from allowing us to do this several times.
Scott Jones, you are a liar. Do you really want to start posting fake info online? Do YOU really want to go down this road? I would think long and hard before doing that. We both know that would be very disadvantageous for you. Here you are, making threats in public, then retreating to your little hole and posting on message boards, accusing your customers of doing whatever you just did. You are a dispicable human being. If you want to print anything online, print this. Not your fairy tale stories.
Scott Jones, owner of Sharkspace LLC webhosting is threatening to sue people now for exposing him for what he is and what he has done. He is doing this as retalition because he’s already been made aware that several of my clients are filing civil suits against him and his rogue company. Rest easy, Scott Jones, rest easy.
i think you should keep yourself from launching personal attacks. In such cases you should be objective and provide evidence for whichever statement you say. I followed the thread till it was closed and it seems as if you avoided some of the questions. What we need now is evidence else whatever you say is baseless talk.
Not to say that I’m supporting whichever side but seriously the way you’re arguing your case ain’t gaining you support nor is it helping your cause.