I am a sucker for the "you get what you pay for" principal. I go for cheap hosting and ineveitably I end up getting a crap service.

A lot of people rely on me for advice in these things and in the past I suggested VistaPages as a good host. I'm sorry, someone hit me. That was when I just thought I was getting a good deal and I hadn't had a few things happen over the last 4 weeks:

• around 1000 records mysteriously disapper from a database
• a week later a different complete database vanish
• a domain disappear from the list of hosted domains (yesterday)

Each of these incidents, especially the second:

• has cost me many hours trying to convince the support people that I didn't delete the stuff.
• seen me wait countless more for them to get back to me with stupid, inane and useless suggestions (or accusations)
• spend even more hours fixing what they broke
• be proven right that it was nothing that I did (but fail to get an explanation from them)

So when you read their "Top 10 Reasons to Pick VistaPages!", don't believe a word of it...it is bullshit - especially the "customer satisfaction".

I have gone from being an affilliate trying to get business for them, to suggesting people stay right away from VistaPages.

[UPDATE] If you can read this it means you are viewing my site on a new hosting service.  I would rather lose the money I have paid Vista Pages than have to go through another disappearing data ordeal.  They even censored a comment I made in the public forum and banned me from using it.

To me that just shows they are trying to hide a critical problem with their servers.

You are probably wondering: if they are so bad, why do I keep mentioning VistaPages (or Vista Pages) - Search engines...come on down.