Score
Category	Score	Stars
Overall	10/10
Price	10/10
Features	10/10
Support	10/10
Uptime	10/10

I am running a news site for the NE region of the Netherlands. On average around 10.000 readers visit this site and, as it contains lots of pictures, this automatically means lots data traffic. So I decided to look for a web host, that could handle this amount of data and still would not ask too many $$. I ended up with Powweb, who offered 5 GB/day and later even 10 GB/day for $ 7.77/month. At first all went well , but all of a sudden they added a new rule tot heir TOS: not more than 32.500 requests per hour. This almost immediately led to my site being suspended for several hours to almost a day. As this rule did not apply at the closing of the contract, I protested. I got answers that sounded much like the English version of ?Befehl ist Befehl? and nothing changed. After a lot of trouble I decided to look for a more reliable host and thought I found one: Midphase.com. They even offered UNMETERED bandwith for $ 7.95/month. So, to be sure, I specifically asked if 600 GB/Month would pose a problem an they answered it certainly would not. Well, soon I found out what UNMETERED meant ! After having used only 60 GB, my site was suspended. (If it was UNMETERED, they have to tell me what they do not count!) Soon I found out, that I was supposed to call (from Europe!) or mail to obtain more bandwith. Subsequently I was given 200 GB bandwith, so ?again- not the 600 GBI was promised. Then the next problem arose ! All of a sudden my site was suspended AGAIN ! Now, because of using more than 10 % or their server capacity. It seemed this was the fine print that was not mentioned on their web site front page! They advised me to change tot virtual hosting, costing TEN times more than their shared hosting plan! But when I asked, if using a lot of their server capacity would not cause problems, it appeared, that this would also be the case with their virtual hosting service! Dedicated hosting, which they advised next, would cost me TWENTY times more than what I paid when I joined, and then there are better and cheaper options. Then the server went off line several times. It took hours to repair the problem, causing frustration among my readers. Then the server HDU crashed. Believe it or not: it cost them more than ONE DAY and SIX HOURS to solve this problem. And when the server went back on line, I could not believe my eyes ! The restored a incomplete backup, which was almost three weeks old. I had to spend hours and hours to correct this mess! Their help desk is a nightmare. Try to get in contact with them! After the usual routine of typing menue numbers, you are put on hold for at least 15 minutes. If you in the meantime like to listen to early seventies porn movie background music, you will be pleased to hear, that?s what they play, apart from the usual ?All our ?are busy right now? (etc.)?messages every minute. Very frustrating, especially when calling long distance! Then only thing they were able to do is to mention their TOS rules. But the Midphase misery was not over yet ! Finally, my web site was suspended definitely, and 10.000 people were searching for it in vain every day. Fortunately I was so much fed up with the Midphase ?service?, that I had already rented a dedicated server in the Netherlands for half the cost, Midphase asked for theirs. I asked for a refund and one of their managers promised to pay back the money I paid. That was several weeks ago?and not a cent has appeared on my bank account up to now? D Stolwijk U S Media The Netherlands