Whenever I look into a new product or idea or service I do a Google search on “company name” and “sucks.” Or “product name” and “sucks.” Replace “sucks” with “problem” or “bad customer service” and try again.
Here’s an example of a company that’s losing tons of potential customers: Dreamhost. It also is an example of how the word-of-mouth network works. Jeremiah Owyang works at Hitachi Data Systems. I’ve gotten to know him and know he’s a pretty level-headed guy. Doesn’t link to the latest fad or hot post from Digg. Does his homework, etc etc.
Anyway, he came to a presentation I gave to a few people this morning. Afterward he came up and explained how Dreamhost was screwing a friend of his and is totally non-responsive. He wrote it up on his blog.
If you’re considering hosting services I’d recommend you read this post about Dreamhost first. Pretty bad customer service.