So back in November 2013 1and 1 contacted me to tell me they would be physically moving my server from one data centre to another:
In the email on the 3rd November they advised signing up for 1and1 Professional Backup. They advised that the backup service would be free for two months and would automatically be cancelled afterwards (see below):
I have highlighted the important part at the bottom and here it is a bit closer:
It was not automatically cancelled and in the intervening 7 months I have been charged £49 per month (exc VAT) adding up to £343. Maybe I should have noticed sooner but foolishly I had trusted them. I phoned today to complain and they graciously cancelled the backup service so I would no longer be charged going forward.
Now I reckon most people in my position would expect a refund at this point especially considering that my usage of their backup service every month was zero gigabytes but Charlie at 1and1 was having none of that.
On the topic of the server move:
- One and One were bringing the server down for at least 4 hours making 99.9% uptime difficult to achieve
- One and one offered no compensation for the downtime so charges that month were the same as usual
- One and one after the move stated:
Of course, we will assist you if you experience any problems. Please
contact our server team, 24/7 at 0844 335 1211 (Option 4) or e-mail us at:
server247@1and1.co.uk.
I emailed them as their DNS servers were no longer accessible from the new location. I have never received a reply to that email.
Conclusion: 1and1 Professional Backup is not such a professional choice.
The servers at FastHosts with double the memory for the same price as the 1and1 servers are now looking like a better choice.
