hallo,

I'm looking for shared webspace that I can test before I pay. Is there any hoster who provides this?

You will find many companies that offer a 30 day money guarantee if you are not satisfied.

Yeah most hosts prefer to offer a money back guarantee than a free trial as the former demonstrates that the customer is serious and it also avoids the bad PR associated with having to disconnect someone's web site if they don't pay before the end of their trial period.

so there is no hoster with a non-prepaid trial period?

I'm not saying there aren't any, just that its more likely that you will see a money back guarantee. Why is paying up front such a big deal? Have you being stung before and not gotten your money back?

Though I will pause to offer a warning on Money-back Guarantees. Most hosts will not issue a money back guarantee if your site busts certain bandwidth limits during your trial period, this prevents them being taken advantage of by sites which have a very short lifespan, ie: sites promoting an upcoming event.

If a domain name is included free in the deal, then expect to be charged the normal rate for the domain name if you cancel your hosting plan during the money back guarantee period. Often a domain name can cost as much as 2-3 months hosting fees, which is often the amount you are asked to prepay. So consumer advice: if you do take up a money-back guarantee, decline the offer of any free domain names, software or services included in the package as incentives.

We offer a 30 day free trial to our PHP5 Web Hosting - Bronze Package

Just use the voucher code

1MONTHFREE


Thanks

Smudge-it can I refer you to this post:
http://www.freeforums.com/showthread.php?t=12108

I say that we get a group of folks together, just thinking outside of the box here, and we pick a group of unbiased testers and we put our services to the test. We generally don't give service away, but in the name of science i say give the people what they want.

I am with a company called Hostraptor.co.uk , who offer a 30 day money back gaurentee. When I signed up - this time last year - they were providing 50% on shared hosting for three months.

They have been extremely helpful, especially with support. I would personally recommend them.

have you ever tried an american hosting co before?

I'd be open to having independent testing and reviews done on my hosting services, but with due respect, I'd be uncomfortable picking independents from this forum. Whilst "Dave Hivelocity QC" myself and many other have declared interests, there are lots of people who don't and who seem to be "professional pluggers"

I also think you'd have loads of web hosts keen to sign-up and relatively few independent reviewers - you'd probably find you were creating a monster job for the independent reviewers.

And for the record I've used American Hosts before, I used Interland briefly. I acquired a reseller business which was using Interland and it took me a few months to transfer all the sites onto my own platform.

I have one problem with using a US host and that's Data Protection. As an EU business/organization its illegal for us to transfer and store personal data outside the EU unless the data subject gives their express permission or the US company is a member of the Safe Harbor scheme (few are). There is also one school of thought which suggests the Patriot Acts have made the Safe Harbor scheme null and void.