I was wondering how long do most users consider good response time from a webhost ? Is it 10, 20, 30 or 1 hr ?

Why are we all running towards unlimited hosting even though we all know it doesn't exist realistically ?

Share your opinions.

I would say, maximum reply time to a customer should not be more than 30mins, as some time it happens with the service provider a lot of chats in one time due to some issues, so 30min would be fine.

I believe that it will be reasonable to read company's TOS first of all before to make any final order.. Nowadays many web hosts offering unlimited hosting plans.

Originally Posted by internet_rules

I would say, maximum reply time to a customer should not be more than 30mins

Why would "reply time" be a indicator of being "good", automated "ticket" system "reply" in seconds, but it doesn't mean the problem will be resolved and quicker.

Originally Posted by internet_rules

as some time it happens with the service provider a lot of chats in one time due to some issues, so 30min would be fine.

Actually a "good host" would be one where such issues either do not occur or a dealt with before customers complain.

Originally Posted by chrishirst

Actually a "good host" would be one where such issues either do not occur or a dealt with before customers complain.

Some customers who are not having technical knowledge, it often happens they do something wrong in their website and come for an support,.

So, every site can’t be monitored every time, so, its not only depend upon a good host, it also depend upon a customer who should properly manage their own website.

Some customers who are not having technical knowledge, it often happens they do something wrong in their website and come for an support,.

Sure! Ive just spent the better part of FIVE hours emailing back and forth trying to solve a problem where a client is uploading changes to their website and the changes are not appearing on the website. So we go through the "clear browser cache" etc etc. And when I finally get the whole story it turns out he had lost the FTP password, so instead of simply changing the ftp password, he created a new FTP account which of course creates a sub-folder of the same name.
So now he is uploading files into this folder and not the root.
NOW had he explained this from the outset I could have solved in about FIVE minutes.

However the issues I am refering to are server-wide issues which affect all users ie:

with the service provider a lot of chats in one time due to some issues,

Sure there are unexpected problems, but if you are "on the ball" they can be solved with minimum or no fuss at all.

I think responding to tickets is easy either via auto responder or by staff, its the quality of response towards resolving the customers issue at hand in shorter time is important ?

I still cant seem to understand the new trend for last few years of getting Bigger > wanting more > more space, more bandwidth even though average user, uses about 5 gb or less.
I myself have only 10 gb of data on my personal pc, cant seem to imagine the need to get more for less.

Is it new age of greed ?

well I think Server Monitoring, Software Installations i.e providing all the essential software and modules as well as the software licenses required for the users to build a fully functional website, Security and Software Updates, Backup and Restoration, 24/7 Customer Technical Support are some of the essential point which must not be ignored by a web host.

I suppose that time depends on the problem or issue you are having with your web hosting account or web site.
And there is no the best average time of issue solving.

Originally Posted by SiberForum

I suppose that time depends on the problem or issue you are having with your web hosting account or web site.
And there is no the best average time of issue solving.

Agreed, but sometime hosting companies has be to quick in solving any type of issues, this increase trust of the customer.

That really depends on the type of ticket and its urgency and type of case.

abuse cases should be handled very fastly.

Normal issue can be handeled within 1 day.

and sever or downtime prob in 1-2 hours

To become more web host–oriented read independent web hosting reviews that are known to be of high quality and the most up-to-date.

Reliability makes a host good or bad, if a host is reliable and their customer support is quick then you should go for it.

Choosing the right kind of web hosting service can be a very daunting task!
I think that customer support service makes web host good.

I believe that you should look at your current usage and double it at least, triple is even better because coming half way through the month and running out of bandwidth is probable the worst thing you can do for your website.

Check on the disk space allocation, bandwidth, security features, traffic flow, e-mail storage capacity, and the kind of multiple domain accounts.

The best features for the best price, reliabilty and support. I think

Also, it helps to choose a host that maybe has an active support forum where other users can help.

Originally Posted by theophile

The best features for the best price, reliabilty and support. I think

The most important things I consider in selecting a good host are as follows.
Stability over time.
Fair pricing.
No ridiculous overselling.(No Unlimited plans)
A reasonable refund policy if they are at fault.
User friedly customer support
Some flexibility in their policies.
Honesty and some sincerity in their work.

I assume that responsive, knowledgeable and helpful support makes a web host good.. Of course there are many factors that influence on web host's quality like server stability, pricing, etc.