Recommend Internet Host?

[Hammerhead]

Ok, I know we covered this just a little while back, but things have changed since I posted last and I'm on the lookout for another host again. The problem with a lot of internet providers is that they look great on paper until you find out that some little thing is a "violation of their terms of service."

Here's the executive summary:
Need 'ix host for a Vbulletin installation that has 7500 members, a number of which are dormant accounts and need to be purged by mass email, presuming that 20% of which will be DOA meaning that there will be a lot of bouncebacks until this last step is completed.

Here's the longer story.

For over five years WaltherForums has been hosted at GoDaddy. Over that span of time, I think I've sent a maximum of about ten mass mailings (2 per year) to everyone who registered on the forums to alert them to various changes in policy or system maintenance. The trick is that if there were any bounceback messages, I never saw them because they were trapped by the spam filter.

Fast forward to this past week when I moved the installation to HostMonster and sent out a mass email informing all members that the system was back up and running.

Because there were "a lot" (unspecified by the host) of bounceback messages that allegedly threatened their server, they shut down my hosting account without any warning or the courtesy of a call to even let me know that I had done something wrong. They just assumed I was a spammer and fukt me. Lucky I happened to have been in my office to see the email they sent about the suspension, but for something allegedly so serious, a phone conversation would be called for. We finally got the account reinstated, but now I'm left with a situation where I need to purge the old email addresses, but they will only let me send them out in batches of 100 per hour.

Let's do the math... 7500 users divided by 100 messages per hour is 75 hours that they're expecting me to sit in front of my machine and click the "next batch" button. That's TWO WEEKS. Absurd. They claim this is so that I don't "flood" their server, but they're not forthcoming with what the maximum number of bouncebacks would be a problem.

Here I am, with two hosting accounts in my name, with at least four more to come in the next few weeks, and I've never in my life had such hassles nor have been treated so badly by a company that I'm trying to give business to.

I have to read between the lines that this is simply BS and the "abuse department" is just getting juiced up on petty power. Clearly they're not in customer relations or sales. Suffice to say an email is going out to the owner of the company about how I've been treated as a customer.

So, I'm looking for a host that will understand the situation and not put the screws to me when I'm simply trying to do exactly what we both want - prevent spam and purge disinterested users by a one-time purge. Heck, I'm even willing to do it at the rate of 1000 per hour over the course of an entire day.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

[macjoe53]

You mean short of buying your own server set up, domain name and static IP addresses?

If you make money off your site then you should weigh the cost hosting your own. I would suggest talking to an IT professional and explaining exactly what you want to do and get a cost estimate (add 15% to the estimate just in case something you forgot to discuss increases the cost), and then find an ISP to provide the hardwire from your computer to the internet.

This may be a viable solution for you.

Note: I'm not an IT professional. I did however set up an operation like I described for a printing company using a Macserver to host three website, our company email and a FTP server. We never had any problems.

[Hammerhead]

No, it's not a 'commercial' venture. Just a community like ClubStogie. So spending the chenga for a dedicated server is out of the question.