Complaints

This profile includes complaints for HostPapa Inc's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  HostPapa Inc

  102 - 5063 North Service Road Burlington, ON L7L 5H6

  
• 

  HostPapa Inc

  1623 Military Road #1013 Niagara Falls, NY 14304

• 

  Host Papa, Inc.

  1623 Military Road #1013 Niagara Falls, NY 14304

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:22/02/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because there is no guarantee that in the not too distant future I (and other customers) will not be "**** *******" by their means of shutting down our websites because of external factors beyond our control.  First of all the hosting company should be ensuring their processes are secure and implementing whatever is necessary to ensure safety and immunity from hackers etc.  I, as a consumer, am very aware and conscious of hackers so in addition, from the get to I paid EXTRA MONEY to install a plugin for added security to prevent hacking into my site and an ultimate "phishing" taking place if hijacked.

  What guarantee do I as a consumer have that I will not once again be **** ******* as the upswing and growth in hacking continues to grow?  If and when my site becomes a business operation and source of income, what then?

  They recommended the installation of a free plugin to hide my signin page - which I have installed and activated.  This still does not deter efforts of hackers and bots to try and hack my site - so what changes?

  Information that I have obtained shows that there are well over 100 similar instances of customer complaints.  When I saw these numbers I immediately thought of the possibility of a class action lawsuit as being a viable action.

  I have no control over traffic.  If HostPapa's servers are being overworked, then is it not their responsibility to upgrade their servers to handle the number(s) of customers they have signed up?  Why should I pay for their customer base increase of numbers and therefor traffic?
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ***** *******

  problem, not the users.
  
  Frankly there may be excess traffic of some sort, but it's nothing to do with customer usage. A snapshot of activities shows that in the last 7 days there were 1.5 thousand attempts to hack/access my website that were blocked. That is activity outside of the consumer's control and one for which the hosting company is responsible for maintaining. I personally have paid for my own extra protection to prevent hacking.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 26/02/2024

  Dear *****,
  
  My name is Nicolae and I am the Customer Happiness Manager here at HostPapa Inc. Your case has been resigned from the Solutions Department over to the Customer Experience side.
  
  I want to extend our sincerest apologies for the situation experienced and thanks for taking the time to share your concerns regarding our shared web hosting services. I understand that situations like these can be deeply frustrating, and it is certainly never our intention to make any of our valued customers feel inconvenienced or overlooked. I am writing to you today to provide clarity on the issues you've encountered and to explore solutions that could help us move forward in a positive direction.
  
  Firstly, let's address the essence of shared web hosting, which is the service framework within which your blog resides. Shared hosting is designed so that numerous websites can efficiently share the resources of a single server. These resources include memory (RAM), processor time (CPU), and disk input/output (IO), among others. It's a bit like living in an apartment building; every tenant has their space, but the utilities are communal. Each plan comes with an allocation that ensures your website can run smoothly while also maintaining equitable access for all users on the server.
  
  Upon reviewing the server audits, we found that your account was flagged on January 25th due to an unusually high level of physical memory utilization (PMEM), with 53 instances recorded over the past seven days from that date. Parallel to this finding, as you astutely indicated in your complaint, there has been a recent uptick in what you termed "excess traffic of some sort." This correlated uptick suggests that the spike in memory usage might well be attributed to increased traffic or bot activities on your site, a detail you have also touched upon in this complaint.
  
  Concerning the increase in usage, it's important to clarify that while we celebrate the growth and popularity your website is experiencing, the responsibility for its management rests with the website administrators (the customer). As a web hosting provider, we are not accountable for the type of traffic your website attracts, whether it is legitimate visitors or malicious entities.
  
  What we are able to do, though, is suggest practical measures to alleviate such risks, just as my colleague from the Solutions Department recommended. We are here to assist you through these challenging scenarios whenever you reach out to us. While we are wholeheartedly committed to supporting each and every website we host, the logistics of directly managing millions of websites are not feasible and lie beyond the scope of services provided by a web hosting company.
  
  In regards to the suspension, I assure you, that our Solutions department's outreach to flagged accounts, such as in your case, is always with the goal of resolving the issue with minimal disruption to you and your website. In cases where communication is challenging or a cooperative solution seems out of reach, suspending an account is a measure taken to shield the shared environment from potential performance hindrances. When your account was suspended on February 22nd, it was with the intention of limiting the knock-on effects on other customers sharing the server resources. We believe in transparent communication and regret any trouble this decision caused you.
  
  Upon your complaint, we promptly reinstated your account on February 23rd as an immediate gesture to remedy the situation and demonstrate our commitment to your satisfaction.
  
  Regarding the unauthorized login attempts and bot hits on your website, I want to acknowledge your proactive steps to install extra protection, which is indeed commendable. While we provide baseline protection against malware, administering security measures specific to your website's login forms and mitigating unwanted bot traffic is within the realm of website administration. As you mentioned, you have observed a substantial number of blocked access attempts; this indicates that your security measures are operational. Still, we understand such activity can be concerning.
  
  To enhance your website's defense against these unauthorized attempts, we advise implementing a plugin such as '*** Hide Login' for ********* (https://*********.***************************), which effectively conceals the login page from automated scripts and bad actors. This is a precaution that significantly reduces the likelihood of brute-force attacks on your website. Additionally, monitoring and managing the impact of bot traffic via your cPanel, and strategically blocking IPs when necessary, can further fortify your website's integrity.
  
  In light of the clarified circumstances around the resource overuse and subsequent account suspension, we believe an upgrade to your hosting plan would not be necessary at this juncture, provided that the aforementioned guidelines are observed and the traffic surge does not repeat itself. Should you require any assistance with these technical recommendations, please do not hesitate to let us know.
  
  Understanding the importance of trust in our relationship, I want to address your refund request. Our 30-day money-back guarantee is a testament to our confidence in the quality and reliability of our services. However, as per the terms of service, we are unable to issue refunds outside of this guarantee period. For the recent billing cycle - paid on January 20th, 2024 - given the proximity of your complaint to the invoice date and given that we have taken steps to address the issues and prevent a recurrence, we would uphold our policy in this instance. While we are unable to fulfill your refund request, please rest assured that our priority remains to ensure you have the necessary resources for the prosperity of your website and ventures.
  
  In conclusion, we are deeply committed to not just maintaining but also enhancing the satisfaction and success of customers like yourself. To facilitate direct correspondence, I have initiated an internal support ticket and concurrently dispatched this exact message to you, ensuring you have a reliable channel to me. Should you have any further questions or concerns, do not hesitate to reach out - our team is keen to provide the assistance you require.
  
  Your experience as our customer is of the utmost importance, and we are here to support you in every way possible.
  
  Have a great day ahead, *****!
  
  Nicolae
  Customer Happiness Manager
  HostPapa Inc.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 29/02/2024

  Hello *****,
  
  Thank you for your response and for sharing your concerns with us. It's clear that the issues you've encountered have led to significant frustration, and I want to express our sincerest apologies for any distress this situation has caused. Our primary goal is to ensure that all our customers feel supported and satisfied with our services.
  
  I understand that you feel the challenges facing your website are the result of actions beyond your control, and I appreciate the efforts you've made to enhance your website's security, including investing in additional security measures. However, it's important to clarify the shared responsibilities involved in managing a website hosted on a shared web hosting platform.
  
  In a shared hosting environment, the traffic to individual websites and the security measures implemented on those sites fall under the website owner's purview. While HostPapa is dedicated to providing a secure and high-performance hosting environment, we are not able to regulate or predict the traffic any website may receive, whether it's from legitimate visitors or malicious entities.
  
  We are genuinely pleased to see your project grow and succeed, and it's indeed exciting when a website starts attracting more attention. However, this growth often necessitates more resources than initially anticipated. It is the responsibility of each website owner to assess their resource needs and ensure that their hosting plan is adequately equipped to handle their website's demands. If a site's requirements exceed the resources of the current plan, an upgrade to a more suitable hosting plan is the logical next step. This approach is consistent across the web hosting industry, especially within shared hosting infrastructures, where resource allocation is designed to ensure fairness and optimal performance for all users on the server.
  
  Concerning our server capacity and the perceived impact on your website's operation, please allow me to offer some clarity. Our servers are routinely upgraded and scaled to accommodate growth and the increasing demands of our hosted customers. This scaling is a complex process, aimed at ensuring optimal performance across all sites. When individual websites experience surges in traffic or fall victim to targeted hacking attempts, these incidents are not indicative of server incapacity but rather the unpredictable nature of hosting websites accessible to the public.
  
  Regarding the ongoing security concerns you've mentioned, such as the unauthorized attempts to access your website, it's worth noting that maintaining high levels of website security is a multifaceted endeavor that extends beyond the scope of hosting services. While we provide the infrastructure and security features for it, the nature of web security demands ongoing diligence from website owners as well. Implementing additional security plugins, as you have done, is a commendable step in this ongoing process.
  
  We understand that you've encountered a situation where you feel "**** *******" by circumstances that seem beyond your control. Please know that it is never our intention to place our customers in such a position. Our policies and recommendations are designed with the aim of providing a fair, secure, and high-performing hosting environment for all our customers.
  
  In addition to all of these, I invite you to have a look at our Terms of Service here - https://*********************** - under 6.  ACCEPTABLE USE - 6.3 - Disruptive Uses (a,d,e) to better understand these policies.
  
  We take your feedback very seriously, and it informs us how we can improve our services and communications. While I note your reservations about further technical discussions, please rest assured that our customer support and technical teams remain at your disposal, should you require any assistance or choose to revisit any aspects of your hosting services with us.
  
  Lastly, we respect your decisions regarding how you choose to proceed with your hosting arrangements, and we want to assure you of our best intentions at all times. Our focus remains on supporting your success and security in the digital space.
  
  Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. We are committed to continually reviewing and improving our processes and communication to better help you and all our customers.
  
  Have a great day ahead, *****!
  
  Regards,
  
  Nicolae
  Customer Happiness Manager
  HostPapa Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:13/09/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because the refund has been miscalculated (twice now), to Host Papa's advantage. 

  I paid $286.20 plus tax of 14.31 for this billing period, totalling $300.51, not $193.95 as Host Papa mis-calculated.
  
  My refund as of the date of cancellation (Sept 13, 2023) should be $285.43 . This is $300.51 (amount paid in July) x 1041/1096 (number of days used/ total number of days in plan).
  
  Host Papa calculated the amount I paid as $193.95, not $300.51 - this is a significant difference. When I contacted them with this info, I received no reply.

  Once BBB was involved, I received a second email from Nicolae, offering (again) a lower refund than the amount that would be fair.

  I have received $184.22 in refund to date, so the amount that would actually be a fair refund is $101.21
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ********* *****

  nd the tech support upsell (cost $125) failed to solve my issue.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 18/09/2023

  Hello *********,
  
  My name is Nicolae, and I am the Customer Happiness Manager here at HostPapa Inc.
  
  I would like to begin by expressing our sincerest apologies for any troubles experienced on your end as a result of this resource usage situation. Please know that it was not our intention to create any hassle or difficulties for you, as we’re only here to make sure you have everything you need for you and your project to succeed.
  
  In regard to the situation experienced, we strive to provide the highest quality service possible and are sorry that your experience fell short of your expectations.
  
  To guarantee a steady and uninterrupted service for all customers, it is necessary to place limits on the use of available resources in a shared web hosting environment. These limitations aren't put in place to purposely cause discomfort to you; rather, they're there to ensure that no single account on the server causes a slowdown for the other websites hosted in the same environment. This is a common practice in the industry and essential for providing a fair and balanced service.
  
  We take these matters very seriously since they affect not just you but everyone who uses the same shared web hosting environment. One customer's account using too many server resources might negatively affect the experience for everyone else. We want to provide a stable hosting environment with reliable email and other services, and to that end, there are some resource limits implemented.
  
  We deeply care about the satisfaction of each and every one of our clients, and it is for this reason that we have established these policies. We sincerely apologize if this has caused any difficulty. Please be aware that our resource usage is expressly outlined in our Terms of Service, and the characteristics and assigned resources for each of our services and plans are fully described on our website.
  
  Concerning the refund, I can see that my colleagues from the Billing Department have addressed this matter on Ticket #******* - Cancellation Request; however, you were not satisfied with the amount being refunded.
  
  I will follow up with you via Ticket #******* once I analyze the situation, and I’m sure we’ll find a satisfactory solution.
  
  Have a great day ahead, *********!
  
  Regards,
  
  Nicolae
  HostPapa Inc.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 19/09/2023

  Hello *********,
  Thank you for taking the time to get back to me!
  I have reviewed the entire situation once more and below you can see my findings:
  1. In February you renewed your web hosting service at $155.88 per year.
  2. In July you upgraded your web hosting service to PRO at $286.20 for 3 years.
  We have credited the initial plan towards the upgrade for a total of $92.25. As a result, you have only paid $193.95 for the new hosting service, which was the total we used for the first refund we issued.
  Yesterday we issued a refund for the amount we credited for the initial plan as well - $92.25. 
  Those funds will be available in your account in the next few days. I would also like to add here that we have issued two separate refunds, one to your ****** account, and one to your credit card, since multiple payment methods were used. 
  Since the $92.25 was marked as an account credit on the invoice, it is not possible to refund it from the payment processor, however, we found some workarounds to refund the amount.
  As a result, the amount refunded as of today is:
  $184.22 + $92.95 = $277.17
  The amount you are quoting includes the amount paid for taxes, however, they are not refundable as the taxes have already been collected by the CRA.
  Although we can only refund the amount paid for the service, which was $193.95, and the amount we credited for the initial plan, which was $92.95, we would be more than happy to make a one-time exception and refund the difference.
  $285.43 - $277.17 = $8.26
  This refund has now been issued and it should arrive in your account in the next few days.
  In light of the above, let me know if you have further questions or concerns!
  Have a great day ahead, *********!

  Customer Answer

  Date: 19/09/2023

  
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ********* *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:18/07/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  **** ********nt -- even websites that are not causing the surge in I/O -- several times already.
  
  Each time they try to make me upgrade to the next most expensive tier. I researched this, and saw they have done the same to many other existing customers, which leaves a lot of rightful complaints, as it seems like a ****** *** ****** tactic practiced by HostPapa to increase their Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).
  
  At the same time they refuse to prorate/refund the cost of hosting so the client can transfer elsewhere -- they say we have only 30 days from the date of renewal to do this. I've offered them several times to give me a few weeks to transfer my account to many other willing hosts who don't have seemingly artificially low I/O limits to "gotcha" clients. But they continue to insist that I upgrade - or basically remove my websites. Then what did I pay $600 for "business" unlimited hosting? I've been waiting for the leadership to respond to this complaint.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 25/07/2023

  Hi ****,

  Thank you for your feedback.

  Once we’ve received this BBB Complaint and based on our initial investigations, we've found that your account has indeed experienced multiple IO faults. An IO fault occurs when the number of input/output operations on a server surpasses the allotted quota. Essentially, these faults indicate that your account is performing too many operations, which may lead to slower load times and reduced server performance.

  A more detailed investigation into the server logs revealed that the IO faults are largely linked to specific processes on your websites, including the admin-****.php, **-cron.php, and index.php files within the ********* installations of your various domains. These files are commonly associated with frequent or resource-heavy operations, which aligns with the noted IO faults.

  *** ********** ****** ****************************
  *************************************************************************
  * ****        * **          * *** * ****** * ***** * ***** * **** * *** *
  *************************************************************************
  * ***** ***** * ***** ***** * *  * *      * *    * *    * *    * *  *
  * ***** ***** * ***** ***** * *  * *      * *    * *    * *    * *  *
  * ***** ***** * ***** ***** * *  * *      * *    * *    * *    * *  *
  * ***** ***** * ***** ***** * **  * *      * *    * *    * *    * *  *
  * ***** ***** * ***** ***** * *  * *      * *    * *    * *    * *  *
  * ***** ***** * ***** ***** * *  * *      * *    * *    * *    * *  *
  * ***** ***** * ***** ***** * *  * *      * *    * *    * *    * *  *
  * ***** ***** * ***** ***** * *  * *      * *    * *    * *    * *  *
  * ***** ***** * ***** ***** * *  * *      * *    * *    * *    * *  *
  * ***** ***** * ***** ***** * *  * *      * *    * *    * *    * *  *
  *************************************************************************

  
  Even though our terms of service and our website cover thoroughly the available resources for our plans, to address this issue, on Jul/19/2023 we have taken the following steps to optimize your websites:

  
  - Replaced **-Cron With Real ****** Cron Jobs: *********'s built-in **-Cron task scheduler is known for its frequent hits which can consume a lot of server resources. By replacing **-Cron with a real ****** cron job, we've created a more efficient scheduling system that significantly reduces the server load ( https://******************************************************************* )

  - Decreased Heartbeat Frequency: We've adjusted the ********* Heartbeat API frequency to execute at longer intervals (300 seconds). The Heartbeat API can create multiple **** requests which can consume resources, hence increasing the interval between each request helps to alleviate this ( https://************************************************************* )

  While these optimizations should’ve helped toward resolving the situation, more faults were reported therefore, on Jul/25/2023 we concluded that the most effective way to halt the issues you've been facing with resource constraints, given your current utilization, is to upgrade your account to one of our newer web hosting plans.

  In light of this, we've carried out an upgrade from your previous Business plan to our newer *** *** Hosting Plan. 

  This upgrade has been performed at no immediate extra charge, and when it comes to resource limits, it provides almost twice the amount previously allocated to your Business plan.

  This move will make certain that your account will not be flagged due to resource usage surges or IO faults, among other potential issues, under current utilization patterns.

  It's my sincere hope that I've met your expectations in resolving this issue. Please know that this represents a one-of-a-kind gesture of goodwill to show how committed we are to maintaining what we hope will be a long-term relationship.

  I’ve just followed up with this resolution via Ticket #******* - accounts suspended, please let us know within the ticket should you need any further information or if you have any questions concerning this.

  
  Have a great day ahead, ****!

  -

  *******

  Customer Happiness Manager

  HostPapa Inc.