What a ripoff!!!

Zascar

My dad got a guy he knows / does business with, do do a new website for him last year. The site looks ok but I was not happy, I thought it was very expensive for what it was, the seo was crap, and the back end cms was terrible.

Anyway, dad has just got a bill from him for €300 for "1 years Hosting". Even though I had my own hosting which I was using fine, he insisted I move it to his servers. He uses the same host as me (One of the major Irish ones) - I just have a standard Linux but he has a VPS account. I know how much these VPS packages cost, and how he can think he can charge this amount for a tiny brochure website that gets a minuscule amount of hits is beyond me.

Is this standard practice to rip people off like this? What is the normal amount companies charge clients for hosting a little site?

Eoin

Not defending him but:

Even though I had my own hosting which I was using fine, he insisted I move it to his servers.

If he wrote his own CMS, then it would probably need to be on his server, or he would have to give your dad the code, which I would never do as a developer.

Anyway - hosting talk isn't allowed here. But if you're with a big Irish host yourself, then you know how much it costs to host a little site.

Dades

Was there a contract? i.e. Was there a hosting cost agreed with him at the outset?

If not I don't see why you can't (or get your dad to) question that invoice.

Pixelcraft

was it purely hosting or did it include a maintenance contract?

Zascar

Just hosting

Jason_Rickard

He may not have spelled out there was a maintenance contract but perhaps its implied little updates would be made on his behalf (Since he has no knowledge of that or he would have created it himself).

Is the bill for the year gone by or is it for next year?

Zascar

Well know because a few little updates we got him to do he charged us for already. Like adding a menu item or changing something around on the front page.

This is just for hosting. I assume the bill is for next year, in advance.

p

It's a bit sneaky, however, it's not unusual to charge a little bit more for hosting. Lets' say the hosting costs 50 euro, that's just the charge of the hosting company. It doesn't include any time spend doing any work on the hosting. e..g if your dad wants a new email account, upgrading any software or CMSs, if the server goes down etc... If he spends half a day doing anything over the course of the year (which isn't unreasonable) then he's just covering his costs.

However, having said all that. This type of thing should be laid out in the initial agreement and not be a surprise cost that's sprung on you.

Eoin

He's charging for that stuff, despite charging for a CMS that let your dad do it himself?

I'd absolutely query the hosting bill.

Jason_Rickard

It seems you are being given the option though to either pay for the year ahead or move it elsewhere.

Think €300 is on the very expensive side if it is strictly hosting but not a rip off. I think it seems even more expensive due to the current exchange rate to the dollar.

Someone mentioned it earlier, the webhost many times isn't interested as much in the little guy (little profit and consume the most time) so they set a pricey plan with loads of bandwidth and storage that is a bargain for a bigger site but less so for someone like your father.

Dades

You can get hosting for a small site (with DB features) for circa €50 a year.

€300 is taking the piss. The guys is either pocketing the extra or paying way over the odds for the type of site involved.

Axwell

Dades wrote: »

You can get hosting for a small site (with DB features) for circa €50 a year.

€300 is taking the piss. The guys is either pocketing the extra or paying way over the odds for the type of site involved.

That would be on a shared server though, hes stated above its on a VPS which would be a bit dearer for the year. Still nowhere near €300 though for the hosting alone.

Jason_Rickard

Axwell wrote: »

That would be on a shared server though, hes stated above its on a VPS which would be a bit dearer for the year.

Thats the thing. Maybe they limit the number of sites or type etc.

Still not a value but goes some way to explain.

NickNolte

€300 is too expensive. I'm assuming that the developer has other sites on the VPS. Unless your dad's site is consuming all the VPS resources (which I doubt) then he's paying way over the odds. Is the developer including an SSL cert renewal with it or anything? What kind of traffic is the site getting? Are there any special hosting requirements that might be pushing the cost up?

D.W

Seems VERY expensive to me but again it depends on what kind of package is being offered/charged for. I'm no expert in this field at all but web Designers often will make their "residual income" via hosting through providing a service for people that are not au-fait with hosting set up, costs etc.. You seem to be so advise as from previous posters would be to question exactly what you are paying for and take it from there.

BostonB

Zascar wrote: »

My dad got a guy he knows / does business with, do do a new website for him last year. The site looks ok but I was not happy, I thought it was very expensive for what it was, the seo was crap, and the back end cms was terrible.

Anyway, dad has just got a bill from him for €300 for "1 years Hosting". Even though I had my own hosting which I was using fine, he insisted I move it to his servers. He uses the same host as me (One of the major Irish ones) - I just have a standard Linux but he has a VPS account. I know how much these VPS packages cost, and how he can think he can charge this amount for a tiny brochure website that gets a minuscule amount of hits is beyond me.

Is this standard practice to rip people off like this? What is the normal amount companies charge clients for hosting a little site?

Curious if its a tiny brochure website why you didn't do it?