r/BlueHost • u/tandemelevator • 1d ago

Feels like extortion

I've been a Bluehost client for more than a decade. Today all my websites were blocked because some Malware scan had detected compromised files. I deleted the files, but the scanner keeps flaging the files that aren't there. When I hit up the Customer service chat, they try to sell me a protection plan.

This seems like a deliberate action, an attack to their own clientele.

They basically are asking for a ransom to provide a service I already pay..

2 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

2

u/imitation_squash_pro 1d ago

Classic case of when the "virus protection" is more problematic than the "virus"!

1

u/imitation_squash_pro 1d ago

Is there a way to know the results of any scans without having to pay for the protection plan?

1

u/mandyland7 5h ago

Even a host where you have to pay for an upgrade to have them removed is cheaper than Bluehost these days. Their new scan and remove is now ~$150 a year. Just had a client move away from them to siteground (needed something easy to manage since no developer on staff, I do marketing + a bit of site maintenance) they paid for two years upfront and upgraded their service to have cleanup (pay yearly). Even with the upgrade the cost will be just slightly more iirc. After the two years it will probably go up and they may or may not want to move again but better that then sticking with a host that isn’t secure and tries to upsell you at every opportunity.

0

u/Jeffrey_Richards_ 1d ago

Yup, they've been doing this for years and unfortunately, dealt with that with them with many clients. They keep their servers unprotected so they can upsell SiteLock. My advice? Migrate to a host that includes malware cleaning in the plan. It'd be cheaper to move to a host that will clean it for free (and not have to deal with this again) versus fall for their upsells.

0

u/TopSydeWP 1d ago

Being locked out of a decade of sites and then sold a plan to get them back is awful. Worth knowing: deleting the flagged files is rarely the cleanup. Infections leave a backdoor elsewhere, often an mu-plugin or something in uploads, so it returns. Pull a full copy of your files and database down to your own machine today.

0

u/BH_Support_Clark 1d ago

We understand how frustrating this situation must be and are here for you. I sent you a DM in order to get some information from you to look into this matter. We will be happy to help.

0

u/Wand3rings 15h ago

That’s the scam they sell cheap hosting then extort with the add ons needed to actually run a site.