Affordable Web Hosting and Design by Total Hosting

So you've just transfered your website to Total Hosting from another web hosting company. First, let me welcome you into our family.

We would like to take a few minutes to address a common issue that clients experience when transferring to a new web host.

The web hosting to client relationship has more in common with the relationship you have with your cable TV provider than you think.

Customers choose to terminate their relationship with web hosting companies for various reasons.  It may be as simple as they no longer have a need for the service.  They may have found a more aggressively priced hosting plan with another hosting provider (like ours).  They could also be leaving because they are unsatisfied with the service.  Regardless of the reason, how you, as the customer,  terminate the relationship is very important.

When you sign up with a web hosting company, one of the many things that you consent to is the company's policies and "terms of use".  One of these terms is usually the "cancellation policy".  This policy outlines exactly what the hosting company is looking for in order to cancel your account.  This may seem like simple stuff but consider what the hosting company is looking at.

- First, the number one misconception that faces Web Hosting companies is that customers will switch to another hosting company and not tell their old company. From my experience customers will "assume" that the old hosting company can "see" when a customer makes a switch.  This is simply not true.  We relate this to a customer's relationship with the cable company.  If you switch your service from a cable TV provider to a satellite TV provider and you do not tell the cable company that you have switched, they will continue to provide you the service and of course, bill you every month.

-  Second, in order to cancel a hosting account, the hosting company wants to ensure that they are doing exactly what the "customer" intends.  The "customer" is the person(s) that is on file with the hosting company who is authorized to make changes to the account.  This is why in most cases the hosting company will require that all cancellations be submitted in writing and that there be some sort of "verification" information in the request.  This most often is done by including the main account password.

- Lastly, the web hosting company wants a little information.  The cancellation request is obviously not something that the hosting company wants to hear.  It is an opportunity though to hear what the customer has to say.  If the customer is unhappy, what changes can be made to satisfy their customers in the future? Feedback from customers will help a web hosting company make changes to pricing, policies or hosting plans to ensure their current customers are happy and also to attract new customers.

As a customer, it is important to become familiar with your web hosting company's cancellation policies and all of the "terms of use" for that matter.  The proper and professional closing of an account is just as important as the opening of a new one, to you and the web hosting company. 

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