Hostgator is an amazing Web host you can go with. However, if for some reason, HostGator didn’t meet your expectations, you can always ask for a refund and cancel your HostGator account.
We will see all the things you should know about the HostGator refund and their cancellation process.
There are some of the preparations you need to do before you cancel HostGator hosting. When you put the cancel request, the account will be canceled within 24 hours. In some cases, it only takes an hour.
Once your account is canceled, you won’t be able to use the hosting. It means you won’t have access to cPanel. HostGator tells you to backup all the services before you make the changes.
So, here are a couple of things to do before canceling the hosting service.
4 things to do Before you Cancel HostGator Account
1. Backup Your Site
The first thing is to take the backup of your account. You surely don’t want to lose the data. So, you need to have a backup. Download the backup on your computer or you can add it in cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox. You can use any of the cloud platforms you like. Once you have the backup, you need to check if the backup is of the same size.
Most people make a big mistake here. They only backup the files. This is one of the mistakes you should never make. You need to take the database backup as well as email backup. If you don’t back up the database, you won’t be able to make the site live. So, make sure you have it.
If you’re using WordPress, you can use plugins like Updraft Plus to take the backup in cloud storage. Please note that whatever plugin you use, make sure that it takes a complete backup (files, DB, content) and allows you to either download them or directly upload the backup to cloud storage. As you can’t keep it on HostGator’s server, it will be deleted.
2. Transferring the Website
You need to make sure that you have transferred the website. We recommend you change the name servers too. Once the nameserver is pointing to the new website, you can cancel the current hosting.
We recommend you not to transfer the domain name to another registrar as of now. Transferring domain names will invite transfer charges. It will also renew the domain for one year. So, it is better to transfer the domain when it is about to expire. You can then plan to change the domain name. If you don’t want to use it anywhere and nor want to renew, make sure you have auto-renewal turned off. We will surely see how to do it as we move further.
3. Choosing the Hosting
Now, it’s time to choose the hosting.
As mentioned earlier, if you don’t have chosen any hosting yet, you can go with DreamHost for an affordable price and good overall, or you can go with Bluehost.
We are suggesting these two services keeping in mind that you didn’t like the HostGator service. So, you will not face any problems with any of these.
Bluehost provides better features as compared to HostGator whereas DreamHost is mostly popular for its transparent pricing the prices remain the same for life (no increased renewal fees).
Bluehost also offers a free domain name.
So, if you want better speed, and better-hosting services overall, DreamHost will be the right choice for you.
If you have a huge amount of data and multiple websites, you should go with DreamHost. They provide you free migration services on all the accounts. Transfering a huge number of websites is a huge task. It not only consumes a lot of time but will also require effort. You can either hire someone to do it for you or you can go with DreamHost.
Please note that you will need an active cPanel if you want them to transfer the website for you. So, don’t cancel the account before completing the transfer unless you’re about to hit the deadline of 45 days.
4. Know the Time
This might sound confusing but you need to know when you bought the hosting. All the hosting providers including HostGator give a limited-time money-back guarantee. To be precise, they have a 45-day money-back guarantee. So, if you cancel your account within 45 days, you can surely get a refund.
However, if you cancel it after the time frame, you will not get the money. So, in such a case, instead of canceling your account, you should stop the auto-renew and keep it as it is. We will see more about it later on and tell you the exact steps to do it.
HostGator Money Back Guarantee
HostGator has 45 days money-back guarantee where if you’re not satisfied with their hosting, you can have your money back.
But, there are certain terms that you need to know. We will understand the policy in depth.
- The first thing to know is the valid products. The hosting moneyback only applies to the hosting account. The servers (dedicated), domains, and extra addons or services are not eligible for the refund. If your hosting package has a free domain, you will have to pay for the domain. In simpler words, a total of $17.99 will be deducted from the refund amount. Surely, you can keep the domain with that.
- The guarantee is only valid for the first package purchased from the account. Also, if you paid with a money order, bank transfer, or check, you aren’t eligible for the refund.
- You won’t get a refund for the HostGator $0.01 hosting.
These are the main things to consider when you’re about to get a refund. However, these are not the ONLY things to consider. Here are some other terms.
- You won’t get the money back if your account is terminated or suspended.
- You must ask for a refund within 45 days.
- It will take up to 48 hours to cancel your account and up to 7 days to get the money back.
- If you already have a hosting account at HostGator, you’re not eligible for the refund.
- The refund is only applicable to the hosting package. They charge you some transaction fees.
- As mentioned, you won’t get a refund for any custom software or services.
- The 45 days money back is only eligible if you brought it from Hostgator.com. There are various other country-level domains. The period might be different for them. So, you need to keep in mind those things.
How to Get HostGator Refund?
Let’s get into the procedure to get a refund. It’s easy and won’t take you long to complete the entire process.
Here are the steps to follow after you log in to your account.
Open your Dashboard and head over to the Hosting tab from the menu.
Inside it, you will see the complete list of hosting. In our case, you will only see the current hosting.
Click on the Manage button below it and it will take you to the settings.
Head over to the billing tab and you will see the option to cancel your account. Just click on the cancel button.
It will take you to the Cancellation Form.
Fill up the cancellation form. They will ask you for the services you wish to cancel and why you want to cancel it. Select the relevant option from the drop-down.
Before you hit the submit button, you can add one line in the comment section. The form has an additional comment section, you can request the refund in the section.
It will take you to another page. Here, you can start the live chat and talk with the real representative if you’re facing any problems. They will solve the problem if it’s possible. So, you can surely talk to them if you want. It’s completely optional. If you don’t want to talk to them, you can just hit the cancel button. You will see the button with the text “No thanks, cancel my account” and you will be done. Again, make sure you have a proper backup of your website.
Soon as you hit it, you will get a confirmation email about the rest of the things. You can also reply to it if you have further doubts or want to know something.
Refund Process of HostGator
The refund process will be smoothly completed for most people. They say it will take up to 2 weeks that is 15 days to refund the money. However, it will be credited to your account in 2 days (for most people). You should wait for 15 days at least. If you still haven’t got a refund, you can contact their billing team. You can do it from the support section. You can either use the live chat or support tickets.
The refund method is PayPal or credit card whichever is applicable. You can choose the method from the account itself.
If there wasn’t anything mentioned about the refund in the confirmation email, they might have not got your request. In such a case, you just need to reply to the hosting cancellation email saying you want a refund. In just a couple of hours, one of the support team members will reply with the refund confirmation. So, just in case, you forgot to mention the refund while applying for cancellation, you can do this. There is nothing to worry about the refund. If your hosting package was less than 45 days old, you will surely get a refund.
If you didn’t get any confirmation after filling up the form, you should contact them via chat or support to ask about your request. Maybe, there was some problem with the confirmation and the form wasn’t sent. So, better ask them via support.
Once you got the confirmation about the refund. We suggest you wait for 15 days before you contact the support. In case, they have some problems regarding your payment method, they will contact you. So, just sit back and relax.
You will have to check the PayPal/Bank account by yourself.
Stopping the AutoRenewal
You don’t necessarily need to cancel your hosting account. Let’s assume, it’s been more than 45 days. Now, even if you cancel the hosting, you won’t get the money back. It’s like canceling your account and getting nothing in return.
So, what’s the solution in this case? Well, you shouldn’t cancel the account.
Instead, what you can do is stop the auto-renewal process. This will not cancel the package and you will continue enjoying it until it gets expired.
You can use it for side projects or you can use it as hosting for testing websites before final deployment. There could be many possible ways of using it.
So, you might be wondering how to stop the auto-renewal, right?
Just like HostGator account cancellation, it’s easy.
Head over to your dashboard. Inside it, you can go to the Hosting tab. There will be an option to manage hostings. Just like we did in the cancellation part.
You will see the option to stop auto-renewal from there. If not, you can click on settings and stop the auto-renewal. You can also contact the support if you need any help.
The same steps apply for domain auto-renewal.
Most of the hosting companies keep the auto-renewal on to make your work easier and faster. So, if you don’t want to use it further or you want to change the company, you can surely stop the auto-renewal option.
Final Words
To conclude, this was all about the HostGator cancellation procedure and HostGator Refund. We saw the entire process of how to cancel the HostGator account and get a refund.
If you have exceeded 45 days, you can just stop the auto-renewal instead of canceling the account.
Lastly, it is your choice to make. You can either keep it or you can also cancel it. If it’s less than 45 days old, you can surely ask for a refund.
Which is the next hosting you’re planning to migrate to? Do let us know in the comment section.
