Finally, a Constructive Response from Bluehost

Yesterday I wrote about a spectacularly unpleasant and unhelpful message I received in response to a query I sent to my web host, Bluehost, on Jan. 22. (The response arrived yesterday, 11 days after my query.)

Here’s an update — someone there in possession of both a brain and manners (Brandon West, Level 2 support) finally responded to me with an answer to my problem.

On the technical side, Bluehost customers should note that they can, in fact, access Bluehost’s shared SSL for secure login to add-on domains.

Unfortunately their Level 1 support people seem utterly unaware of this fact, and will insist that it’s not possible. (Note that shared SSL is something different from buying an SSL certificate for your domain — a service they may try to sell you and which you may not need, so look out.)

Regarding the delay, thoughtlessness, and condescension I’d experienced from Bluehost support earlier, Brandon said this…

“We apologize for the delay in initial response. Unfortunately, with the new year, we saw a dramatic and unexpected increase in sales and support requests. We are actively hiring and training new staff and doing all we can to provide the best customer support, but have been playing catch-up in some areas, such as support tickets, where demand has caused us to fall behind. We are continually more well-equipped to handle the current demand and hope to provide and maintain more timely responses, as we have in the past.

“We do our best to create a pleasant support experience. Unfortunately, as is the nature of people, some of our staff are more well versed in word-sensitive responses than others. I am not making an excuse, as I can understand the perception of BlueHost received by our initial response, and our goal is to be superior to the experience. I have brought this ticket to the attention of my immediate supervisor, for quality control.”

It’s good that he acknowledged the problem and apologized.

That said, I’m underwhelmed by his explanation for the long delay, and for Bluehost’s Level 1 support staff’s lack of understanding of (or interest in) my question — which led to me receiving bad information with a bad attitude.

While I thanked Brandon for providing a solution to my technical question, I also let him know that this experience left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. Bluehost’s hosting service has proven reliable and reasonably priced, so for now I’ll stick with them because I don’t feel like going through the hassle of moving my sites and wrangling a refund.

But I am keeping my eyes open for other options. If they treat me this way once more, I’m gone.