1and1 reviews

They're OK but wouldn't recommend them for total beginners

My client has been using 1and1 for two years now. They wanted to build a radio website and chose 1and1 from the wide choice of hosting companies. So far, they haven’t regretted that decision.

Server uptime and speed are okay. They also provide dedicated phone support assistance, although they’re not overly generous with hosting features. Their control panel is not standard or user-friendly. The chat or mail support option is particularly difficult to find. Even though starting packages are very affordable, some hidden/unexpected costs sometimes pop up. Contracts are automatically renewed: something which isn’t clearly mentioned at the beginning. Cancelling a contract is more complicated than necessary. They accept cancellations via phone, control panel, letter, or email. However, the service is not ended until they’ve issued a written confirmation.

I would say that 1and1 still has room for improvement. Its interface is outdated and confusing, while customer support is hit-and-miss. I would recommend this provider for small businesses and professionals, but not for total beginners.

Best website host in Europe

1&1 IONOS is one of the most recognisable and well known European based hosting providers and offers affordable website hosting services that are packed with features.

Their customer support service is second to none and in fact one member of their Twitter support team went above and beyond to support me following database issues at their end. He ensured that my website was up and running again within a couple of hours and then checked in with me on a regular basis following the incident to ensure that everything was working as I expected.

The personal consultant that has been assigned to me is also extremely supportive and will answer any queries or questions that I send to him within 24 hours.

You are also provided with support and tools and services to develop your online presence and advice about how to make your website more secure.

I always recommend 1&1 IONOS hosting to my clients due to its reliability and the fact that they are a well established and experienced hosting provider. 1&1 IONOS has been around for over 30 years and has adapted to changes within the hosting market and constantly offers new services.

Keep up the good work 1&1 IONOS and I look forward to seeing your future developments.

Biggest Pro: Value for money

My experience with IONOS by 1&1

In this review I would like to share my experience with the hosting service IONOS by 1&1. I’ve known this company for quite a long time, because I host 5 different websites with them.

It’s a bit difficult for beginners to use, as the necessary features are hidden, even though they are provided. Features like connecting your domain to your website are present—you just have to know where to find them. If you want to upload your website and it has a few pages, you have to drag every single page to the website as you can’t add the whole folder at one time. Customer service could also be speedier, as it takes quite a bit of time for them to answer calls. However, they’re very knowledgeable and can help you with any issues you have.

There are also several good things about their service. For example, it is very easy to buy a domain, which is relatively cheap and the whole plan is also very affordable. It’s reliable, which is a big plus. If you buy a domain, you also get an email address with your website as the ending (info@xxx.de) for free.

All in one I think I like the service, because it does what it’s supposed to do and it’s very affordable for everyone. But if you are a beginner, I don’t think it’s the best host to go with, because there are just too many features and you can easily get confused.

Biggest Pro: reliable
Biggest Con: confusing

Thumbs up for 1&1 hosting

I have been using 1&1 hosting for over a year now and the support staff have come through everytime I had contacted them. Like every other web hosting company you never know how they would respond or handle an issue when called upon. I can say that 1&1 hosting have good customer support as they are willing to help you through the steps you will need to from setting up your website in the server to installing the plugin that your web site may require.
I have good background in IT and usually would require little help with setting up my website on server, but there are times when I just couldn't find my way around these are the time I have contact 1&1 support. In one of those times I was updating my product's page and after doing every thing right, at least so I taught, I previewed the updated product's page and the result "error 500 internal server error". This error is a nightmare if anyone have come accross it as simply put it show blank page. After trying everything by my book, including restoring back to last working version, the product's page still shows blank with http erorr 500. I contacted 1&1 support and this was resolved in less time than I expected.
I highly recommend 1&1 hosting to all because they have good knowledge and are willing to resolve your queries in less time. Thumbs up for 1&1 host and keep up the good work

My Email of Frustration to 1&1 Web Hosting

To whom it may concern,

My current problem is that my Amazon Ads are not loading in 2nd, 3rd, 4th pages. When you go to my site www.dndgear.com the Home/Landing page usually loads the ads first time around, but when you go to any of the other pages the ads don't load, and on top of that when you return to the Home page the ads don't load.

I've been having major issues with 1&1 as I made my 3rd phone call for support. The first phone call the person I spoke with help me quickly solve the problem. It had to do with my using Microsoft Edge web browser and it being glitchy, and generally incompatible with 1&1 platform. I must say that I didn't see anywhere in your advertising that I would need to use Google Chrome to build my website...it would have been nice to know that after spending countless hours trying to build my website with a browser that is incompatible.

Phone calls two and three were in regard to my current problem. Call 2 must have gotten lost in cyberspace as I didn't get a call back and it had been 5 days! WTF I realize it was the labor day weekend but that means my website was down over the Labor Day weekend and I lost a crucial buying time on my website! You advertise 24/7 support and I didn't get any of that 24/7 support causing me to lose money...as you can imagine that doesn't make me happy one bit!

Now, today 9/6, I see an email was sent that my case has been accepted...well I should hope so now after nearly a week of being dead in the water! I need to have this issue resolve today. Otherwise, I'm going to Host Gator, according to The Lazy *** Stoner they are top notch and take care of their people. I need help and support so give me some now.

Biggest Pro: load time is fast
Biggest Con: real support is nearly non-existant...they answer the phone barely speak english listens but it's like talking to yourself

Total Confustion

This company does have tech support but often they act confused and bewildered after you explain in very basic terms what you want to do. For example. There is no way to easily cancel a contract. You have to type in a secret subdomain cancel.1and1.com which is explained no where on their site. Then you get messages like "Contract cannot be cancelled as parts of it are in the process of cancellation. To review or revoke your existing cancellation please click here". After clicking that you get " Cancellation Status There are no current cancellations." !!!! TOTAL CONFUSION. Also when using FTP programs I got disconnected frequently. It took hours to do simple things like uploading or editing files. Even if they offer package deals , don't take them , it is not worth it.

Biggest Pro: cheap
Biggest Con: Tech support is often confused and doesn't know the answer or can't explain it clearly.

Difficult to cancel!

Our group moved off of 1and1 to go to a different hosting company that offered a website building system that was more appropriate to our needs. For the most part, when we were with 1and1, they did a decent job.

However, canceling was a NIGHTMARE! To confirm the cancellation, I had to call in and talk with a live person - the process can't be totally completed online. That's where the problems occurred.

I would call in and get transferred to the cancellations department. I'd stay on hold for 20+ minutes listening to music with no idea how many callers are ahead of me. I'd give up and try later in the day, hoping to find a time when they were less busy.

The third time I called, I actually got connected to cancellations - briefly. I could hear their agents talking in the background and I could hear someone breathing, but I got no response to repeating "hello? hello?"

Finally on the fifth time I got through, after 15 minutes. It took another 10 minutes to actually cancel the account.

During this process I tried using their call-back feature. The people who called lacked communication skills - I could barely understand them. Fortunately, the cancellation agent was understandable, but after wasting so much time I was not in the best of moods.

The website and dashboard are not the easiest to follow.

Biggest Pro: Price
Biggest Con: Difficult to cancel

I received cold calls and spam emails immediately

After 3 days, I've gotten cold calls and 'web design companies' spamming in my inbox! I've purchased a few domain names over the past few years. 1and1 has been my recent purchase, and in the beginning, everything went off without a hitch. My order was simple - it was a custom domain name pointing to a wordpress site.

First, it started with the cold call. She offered to sell me a 1 year trial and was touting how active her 'Tech Support in the Philippines' were. She told me how great they were, but they don't have twitter support or live chat support. She was then about to bill me but I had to continue to rephrase that I am not ready to make a decision just yet. Incredibly frustrating!

But then the spam emails came in! These spam emails I'm getting are all written like a how hobbyist would write a craigslist ad. They offer a web designer, shows a link to proof, and always come out of nowhere. They're still trickling in!

In summary, 1and1 works as a product. But I've never seen such spam from buying from the other services I purchase from (BlueHost, GoDaddy, Dreamhost, GoGator.) It's only been a few days and I am very upset. I'm strongly considering cancelling the service and getting my money. No one should pay for a service and have them sell your information away to a third party.

Biggest Pro: Easy to set up
Biggest Con: cold calls, email spam, bad customer support

Expect gross incompetence

I added the ecommerce package to my plan and cancelled it 10 minutes later, after finding out that I could add PayPal buttons for free. They charged me $159.10, a year in advance, that I had to fight to get back. When my band took the money back from the nonresponsive morons, they deleted my entire account. I wrote them and they never even gave me the courtesy of an email back. They cost me my website that I had spent several days building, plus all the business I lost as a result.

Biggest Pro: cheap
Biggest Con: Incompetence, Ignorance, Malice

NO CUSTOMER SUPPORT

No one can offer any help with even the very smallest issue. They put you on hold until you hang up. That is their customer support - to be put on hold until you just give up. PLEASE DO NOT GIVE YOURSELF THIS HEADACHE - look for some other company to host your web page!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Biggest Pro: you actually cannot understand their tech support people when they are telling you they cannot help you
Biggest Con: NO ONE CAN HELP AND NO ONE ANSWERS THE PHONE EXCEPT TO PUT YOU ON HOLD