I agree, and some people will hate on that. I've had very good luck with them and for shared hosting would recommend them to anyone.
Can't agree with you more, I've never had a single issue with host gator!I love hostgator. So easy to use. Never had any issues with it. Hook it up with an FTP client and its golden.
Rackspace has epic support. It's not the cheapest but it is the best. Also don't forget their Slicehost offerings. $20 for the cheap slice which can handle some shit. I can't praise Rackspace enough.
Fatcow has been working fine for me. Support is amazing.