This is a quick reminder of what support is included in your monthly hosting fees — and what isn't.
Two different types of support
There are two separate kinds of support in play:
- Web hosting support
- Website support
They're related, but they are not the same thing.
What your hosting fee includes
Provision of your hosting account
As you know, we provide some of the fastest web hosting in the UK using the latest technology. Keeping our servers online 24/7, well-maintained, and secure — and providing you with a high-performance platform — is included in your hosting fee.
Web hosting support
Support is included for server-level issues, including:
- Server software or hardware errors
- Network issues
- Email functionality issues at the server level (not problems inside your email app/program)
WordPress update monitoring
- Daily scans for outdated WordPress core, themes, and plugins
- Updating of plugins/themes where available (Note: Premium plugins/themes require an active licence to update)
General advice for your site
We don't charge for general guidance and best-practice advice — we're happy to help.
24/7 access to support
You have access to a knowledgeable support team as part of your hosting.
What your hosting fee does NOT include
Website support (billable)
Any work my team or I do on your website or business is billed. This includes:
- Fixing anything broken on the site, adding/updating content, or adding new functionality
- Researching, testing, or recommending plugins
- General edits, design changes, or development work
- Maintenance beyond standard hosting (e.g., security/malware scans, cleaning hacked sites, or managing third-party requirements like SEO, DNS records, and API keys)
To be clear: you're not paying only for software — you're paying for our team's time and expertise. If my staff are working on your business, that time is billable.
How our billing and tracking works
We want our billing to be as fair and transparent as possible. To achieve this, our support system uses built-in timers that our team runs while actively working on your request.
- By-the-minute tracking: We bill at a per-minute rate. While we do have a small 5-minute minimum per task, this is significantly better for you than the one-hour minimum that most companies charge!
- Clear references: Every invoice will clearly state the Support Ticket Number so you can easily cross-reference the work with your records.
- Automated Invoicing: Invoices are automatically generated and checked. They are usually sent immediately after a task is finished, or at the end of the week for ongoing projects.
Clarification: errors caused by plugin/theme updates
We check your website daily and apply updates provided by the authors. If an update causes errors on your site, those errors are due to changes made by the third-party author. If we need to investigate, diagnose, and correct issues after an update, that time will be charged.
Setting up email apps on your devices (billable)
In 99.99% of cases, email issues are caused by settings in third-party apps, device configurations, or routers. Support for configuring these apps is billable. We provide the correct mail server connection settings free of charge so you can configure your apps yourself. If you need us to step in and do it for you, we will bill for that time.
That's it. As always, I want to stay clear and transparent so we all know where we stand. I have provided some quick direct links below to the terms of service sections that cover these details.
Services included in hosting fees:
https://3001web.com/terms-of-service/#pp-toc-d1ngv54u67tw-anchor-21
Services not included in hosting fees:
https://3001web.com/terms-of-service/#pp-toc-d1ngv54u67tw-anchor-22
How paid and free support works:
https://3001web.com/terms-of-service/#pp-toc-d1ngv54u67tw-anchor-23