We've been working with a client who, via some previous "web designer", had been signed up for hosting with some little rinky-dink hosting ISP with a typical mish-mash of features and services and a throw-back home grown management interface. When we came on the account to rebuild the site in MT the client had just re-signed with the ISP on an annual contract.

It turns out that they were actually re-signing with Interland. Cool. Or so you'd think. The assumption -- or the hope -- would be that Interland takes the list of customers and then convert them over to their big professionally run system. Especially so with this rickety old thing that the client was on.

Not so. Not even close. In fact what seems to happen is that Interland sends out the bill and enters the customer name in their billing database along with an indicator of what old ISP system they are on, and that's it.

So when the customer logs on to the Interland admin interface and tries to do something with their account, they can't get past the billing stuff and a crazy-making how-to demo that won't go away no matter how many times you click the "stop showing me this" box.

A lot of rummaging around on the Interland site will never uncover what you need to do to deal with your account. The assumption they make is that you know who your (client's) previous ISP and where the old management interface for that system is (we didn't and neither did the client). A lot more rummaging around will uncover a phone number and then a lot of waiting gets you a reponse that says (a) your old admin interface is 'here' (a URL is provided) and (b) go away and don't bother us because you're not really an Interland customer. (Implied, "we just bought your account and contract and now collect the money, but otherwise you're on your own.)

How strange. Interland has grown based on reasonable quality if not actually high-quality service, and now their growth is fueled by acquisition of the customer lists of smaller firms. Unfortunately Interland doesn't seem to understand that they also acquire some responsibility to those customers. If they keep being so off-hand with their customers, these acquisitions will start to fuel their decline.

Interland used to a fast horse in the hosting ISP race, but -- right now at least -- Interland is pulling up lame.