I had a paid site that I have been trying to rebuild today with no luck. I called their technical support and was told too bad its not working and that it was my problem as I never had a website set up, yet I had one with them for four months! Any advice?

John Runer

John, that's really too bad! But not at all shocking considering how pathetic customer service is in some industries these days...what company was it you were dealing with? If you were paying them then don't you have an account name or number you can refer them to so they can assist you?

As to free options - I'm not sure if there are any that are completely free and don't have ads on them - I mean, I believe you have to pay for hosting...if I'm wrong someone please jump in here. But, I know alot of our members use Microsoft Office Live websites to create their business sites on their own.

__________________

I use MS Office Live Basic and it comes ad-free other than a tiny Microsoft Logo at the bottom of the page.

__________________
Rebecka Melson ~ Virtual Business Services

I know GoDaddy sometimes offers free hosting with Google ads on the top of the page...but GoDaddy's customer service is probably just as bad. I've quit doing business with them, anyway.

__________________
Brianna Young, VA and Graphic Artist
www.virtualsolutionsadmin.com
"It's not the piano that makes beautiful music. It's the person sitting AT the piano!"

I have tried to look at the MS Live option, however I keep getting page not found. I will not state the name of the poor web host on the forum but you can pm me. I cancelled as they are more concerned about billing then helping me their customer! This was the second website I tried with them and they were even worse the second time. What ever happened to the customer is your paycheck philosophy?

John Runer

Hmmm, Not sure what link you're clicking but MS Office Live looks fine to me http://officelive.microsoft.com/

__________________

I use Netfirms as my hosting company. They do offer free hosting but place ads on the site. So I have paid hosting but its only $5 per month. Their customer service is awesome!!! I cannot say enough about them. They are so helpful and I never have to wait very long at all. When I first put my site up, I called them every day for a week. Each time they were courteous and so helpful. I don't know what I would've done sometimes. One time I uploaded my site to the wrong folder and they moved it to the proper folder for me. Otherwise, my website was not showing up. It was just showing up as an error. (not a good message for prospective clients to be getting)

Anyway, as I have mentioned on this forum before, my biggest pet peeve when it comes to business is poor and inadequate customer service. I hate getting the run around. But, with Netfirms, I have never felt anything but well taken care of. I would do a commercial for them if I could!!!

__________________
Shari Sultana
Online Business Manager (marketing for retail ecommerce)

My cousin in Australia has a small web hosting business. He is hosting my site for $25 AUD per year. Which is about $22 USD PER YEAR, yes you heard right.

Now I'm not sure if he is just giving me "mates rates" or if that is standard but I can ask him if there are other's interested. You are restricted to the size but he hosts my site just fine and I have room for more if I wish.

__________________
~ Danielle ~

I provide hosting but not free I'm sorry. However, it's not that expensive and I'm happy to negotiate a good rate for VAs. See www.acswebservices.com for details. I took up doing my own hosting a few years ago after having some bad deals with others. I found a guy I was happy with but he found me always keeping him very busy by passing new business to him (more unhappy customers from elsewhere) so he ended up renting me a server so I could have control. That's great because I can have a new site up within an hour or two but it also means I'm addicted :-)

I'm also a domain reseller for the same reasons.

Cheers,

Of course, our forums here offer hosting for just $5 monthly and ONLY to virtual assistants. It's only $55 U.S. for the year when paid in advance - BUT I do believe John is asking about a do it yourself design and hosting system all in one....

Check for our members only hosting info here.

__________________