Rackspace Rock!

I've been looking for another hosting provider now for a while as I'm currently with 1&1. And whilst I've had no problems with 1&1, their servers are located in Germany which has implications for the search engines. And as my main site is a dot.com and not a .co.uk then I need Google to see that I am a UK based site.

However, the problem is that moving my site is a bit daunting for the technically challenged like me. So the hunt was on for a hosting provider that had servers located in the UK and who has a telephone support line where I could speak to real people who speak English, in the UK. Not as easy as you may think.

There are tons of hosting providers out there but actually not that many that offer telephone support. And even less that cater for people with no technical ability. However, a friend recommended Rackspace as their tagline is "Fanatical Support".

Anyway; I give them a call (the phone was answered on 2nd ring) and a very friendly helpful, non-condescending sales person talked to me and discussed what I wanted. She basically asked me a lot of questions and really got to know my business. She then said she would have a written proposal prepared for me that afternoon. Great. Sure enough the proposal came through a few hours later followed by a call to see if I had received it. She then scheduled in a conference call between herself, a technical bod and myself for the next morning.

So the next morning came and the call went very well. They answered all of my queries immediately and I agreed to sign up. Once I did sign up I got an email from my new account manager and my account support team (how cool is that?!). Followed by a phone call from my new account manager to give me a demonstration of their back-end.

So it's now a couple of weeks later and UKOffer.com is now happily hosted at Rackspace. To be honest I've only had to call their technical support line a couple of times, mainly because I haven't a clue what I'm doing. But the refreshing thing is when I do call them (which I can 24/7/365 via a freephone number that gets answered within 5 rings; no waiting 30 minutes to get through to an Indian call centre with these guys) they are the most friendly, helpful support staff I have ever encountered in *any* industry. Nothing is too much trouble, no questions are too stupid and they absolutely bend over backwards to help you in any way they can.

Sure; Rackspace aren't a budget hosting company, so expect to may more than the likes of 1&1. But in my mind I just can't put a price on their support as it truly is fanatical.

What I'm listening to right now: Chemical Brothers - "Block Rockin' Beats"