Why you should Avoid using Advanced Internet Technologies (AIT) for Web Hosting Service

For the last three years, my site has been hosted with Advanced Internet Technologies, Inc. Though there were problems with the service throughout that time, including overcharges and poor customer service, the hassle of switching hosts and having my site down for several days would mean potentially losing customers and disappointing my regular visitors. So I did what most AIT customers do, and what I believe AIT has come to rely on: I put up with it.

During the three year span, I was quite often frustrated with the difficulty of finding answers to my questions in the support material provided. This material was often incomplete and in some cases completely lacking. A beginner, with their first website would be absolutely lost. The problem that finally caused me to switch companies was their idea of 24/7 customer support.

At AIT, good customer service means that you can expect to wait on hold for no less than 20 minutes with every call, and more often than not, then be transferred to a voicemail system which is unreliable at best. I suppose it should not be a surprise that the technical support lines were almost always occupied, since I was likely not the only one having problems with my service.

On one particularly frustrating occasion, while contesting a bill, I was told that they had no record of a call that I made, and so would be made to pay for a service I had canceled. This was after speaking with a representative who transferred me to the voicemail of the person with whom I left my message. I was actually forced to fax them a copy of my phone bill to serve as evidence that I had called. This matter is still being contested. It is apparent that their policy is to make cancellations of service difficult and expensive.

In my experience, the underlying policy at AIT is focused on plausible deniability, using their ticket service (also unreliable), as a means to put the burden of customer support on the customer (yes, the irony of paying money for the privilege of helping myself struck me on more than one occasion). Several of my trouble tickets went unanswered, forcing me to get local help to find the answers to my questions. Any customer expecting to be contacted by a support representative at a time that is convenient for the customer will most likely be as disappointed as I was.

When I envision efficient customer support, I imagine that this would also require that Service Representatives would return phone calls. One several occasions I asked for someone to call me so I could speak with a live person and get real-time answers to my questions and guidance through fixing certain problems. On more than one occasion I had scheduled a time for their service representative to contact me and they did not. I was forced to again contact them to get action.

When I finally canceled my service with this company, they asked me what reasons I had for leaving, and I told them politely, but sternly that I had found a company that provided more reliable service, better customer support, more space and more features for a third of what I was paying AIT. As I described my problems and reasons for canceling, I was amazed that the representative in charge of cancellations actually started debating the validity of my experience with their company, calling into doubt that these problems even happened. I told her that her understanding of these reasons was a moot point as I was through with this service.

When I finally made my decision clear, they offered me a deal, a last ditch attempt to keep my patronage, stating that they "were authorized to offer a special plan for customers who have been with them for so long," a plan which offered more space and would have reduced my monthly payments from $37.95 to $7.95. I cannot tell you how honored I was to know that for the last three years I was overpaying each month by $30.00 for less space (that is a dollar a day)!

As a professional web designer and website owner, with three years experience dealing with this company, I would recommend that anyone interested in headaches, long hours of troubleshooting, sitting on hold, waiting by the phone and one's email inbox for response on customer support questions, billing disputes, expensive unreliable service, would do well to use AIT, they seem to have the market cornered on these problems: award-winning customer dissatisfaction.

In the mean time, I intend to use a more reliable company for my service and to inform everyone that I meet involved in this industry about my experience with this company.

If you have had similar problems with this company, I would like to hear from you. Feel free to contact me at this address: