DreamHost Bills Web Hosting Customers Years in Advance by Mistake

The DreamHost web hosting company has encountered a billing error and has billed hundreds of customers for as much as 2 years in advance, with debits/charges up to $400 in some cases.

We are currently aware of some billing inaccuracies which we will be resolving later today. All of these issues will be resolved, and any billing errors corrected. We sincerely apologize for any hassle this has created.

Read more about the billing error and resolution from DreamHost | Big discussion at Digg.com | Dreamhost Review

In some lovely irony, Amy Armitage (her job is to sell web hosting) from Lunarpages tells us why web hosts suck. And she doesn’t give just a few reasons, but 60 reasons. Apparently, web hosts really have a lot of room to improve. The reasons go from not at all uncommon (constantly having to repeat information, lost backups) to a bit inappropriate for younger readers (let’s just say that BBB doesn’t just stand for Better Business Bureau).

To say the least, the post’s reasons are honest and not at all censored. It’s not too common to see the phrase “FOREIGN SUCKY!!!” on a corporate blog, but that is what helps make Lunarpages unique.

Many web hosts are following Lunarpages’ philosophy and trying to be more casual about the image they try to portray to customers and partners. Many companies have chosen to do this and it often seems to work out for the better. For example, the CEO of Automattic (the company that runs WordPress.com) has the title ‘Band Manager’. Elsewhere in the hosting industry, Site5 has given all of the members of their management team codenames (I like Jackson Six - that has a good ring to it). Dreamhost frequently posts awfully laid back and candid blog posts.

So why be casual? Probably because it makes for happier customers and happier employees. They appreciate it when companies are candid and speak in the everyday speak. As long as the companies can get serious when they need to, and all of the companies mentioned can, they’ll be seeing continued success.

After nearly 6 years with a “Web 1.0″ design, Dreamhost Web Hosting has just released their new version of their control panel. The new version looks very slick and give everybody another reason to look at their current hosting plan. Direct Link: https://panel.dreamhost.com/

The writer of this post at 5tags.com gives these thoughts on the new control panel:

I have only been with Dreamhost for just over 1 year but you could oviously tell that their old control panel was designed in the early 21st century. It just looked so Web 1.0. After heading over to my https://panel.dreamhost.com/ I quickly discovered that Dreamhost has upgraded their control panel look and feel.

Source: digg.com