Today I moved my website from PowWeb AT LAST.

I feel like an emotionally abused girlfriend moving out of the apartment. My original problems with PowWeb started in 2009, when they changed a bunch of stuff and everything slowed down. They were unable to help me with even basic support. By 2010, things had improved, and my search for a better webhost had been fruitless, so I renewed at the best value package.

Little did I realize that they were charging me an extra $45/year to list me in their community directories, a "service" that I never would have authorized. When Eri got the second bill in 2011, she thought it was just a one-year renewal.

This year we discovered the problem. PowWeb's renewal fee was double the introductory price, and it destroyed my credit card balance. Then we found the "Directory Listing" fees. Then we couldn't reconcile the past credit card statements with PowWeb's invoices. They agreed to refund the charges and stop the directory listings, and I renewed for the shortest term so that I could have some time to find a better webhost.

THEN they charged me for the original two-year renewal on my new credit card.

I found a better host: A Small Orange. They don't have an "unlimited" plan -- but nobody does, really. They're just honest about it. They also don't charge me for configuration stuff, like SSH access, or "directory listings": they charge me by the amount of space I use.

The final insult -- the "you don't know how to be happy" as I run out the door, clutching my suitcase -- was that PowWeb didn't even use cPanel. I've got to backup, transfer, and reconfigure everything by hand.

Which is progressing pretty well, obviously, if you can read this.

I hope PowWeb enjoys the $90 they scammed out of me for useless stuff. They'll never see another penny from me.