Feb 19, 2009 : Fasthosts to Offshore Support

📅 February 19, 2009 - Budget web hosting provider Fasthosts (fasthosts.co.uk 👉 Total Reviews: 11
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👈 Official Responses: 0) will soon replace its UK customer service team with offshore call centers in Romania and the Phillipines, according to a report by The Register.

According to a Fasthosts statement issued to The Register, up to 38 employees are scheduled to be laid off at Fasthosts' Gloucester, UK headquarters.

The staff handled support for Fasthosts' direct customers, while its reseller hosting customers will continue to be served from the UK.

The web host called the job losses "regrettable," but stressed that offshoring its customer service operation "will further improve customer experience" and position the company "to better serve its hundreds of thousands of customers".

Fasthosts said the offshoring will align the web host with other companies owned by its parent company, 1&1 Internet.

There are also ongoing rumours inside Fasthosts that the web host's servers will also be moved offshore, according to The Register's sources.

The company has not confirmed these rumours, starting instead that it "continues to operate at its state of the art facilities in Gloucester, and does not envisage moving any other operational functions overseas."

Fasthosts has a less than flattering reputation for its customer service after encountering a few technical issues.

Last April, the company suffered a major outage, leaving many of its dedicated servers offline for at least up to eight hours.

Before that, in November 2007 it changed the passwords of its customers without any warning after its servers were hacked, preventing many people from being able to access their sites for several days.

Fasthosts has entered a statutory consultation period of several weeks with the 38 employees whose jobs are being cut.

The company says it will try "to secure redeployment within the group wherever possible."