A client just signed up. I tried to visit his web site to see if it were already online and a page with the following words were shown:

Account for
domain
clientsdomain.com
has been
suspended

I think I will accept him but I'm not sure. Knowing that he has been suspended by another host worries me. He could have been treated bad by that host, or he did something wrong. Would you accept him?

Thanks
John

Could have just not paid that host. It really isn't a concern of yours as to the circumstances surrounding the posting (or should I say would not be a concern of mine).

If all else fails, you can always cancel him out as well.

SIGN HIM UP!

I would certainly perform extra checks on the account to ensure everything looks ok.

A call back confirmation could include a question about the suspension while confirming the phone number is correct. If the account is ok they probably wont have a problem explaining the general circumstances around the suspension.

Yeah I would not sweat that at all. Hell - it may just be a rude trick his past host plays on accounts that cancel for the last few days they have the domain.

I'd take the business and just monitor like you normally do for your own TOS.

Thanks for the input. I don't know how serious this host is. At the bottom of their page is a row of keywords for the search engines -they were obviously intended to be invisible but they choosed a wrong colour lol. Well, we'll see :D

John

Contact the host and find out what happened there?

I wouldn't sign him up. He could be suspended for spam or childporn...

A hosting client is suspended for a reason. I would think that no host suspends a client arbitrarily risking losing the customer. I'd certainly ask questions to find out why he was suspended.

Vito

StarGate, aren't you being a bit rash jumping to conclusions presuming he had child porn??

Honestly- I would accept him, as long as you get your first payment. With this you shouldn't have a lot to worry about.
If he constantly pays on time - why not accept him?
If you're REALLY worried - contact his previous host.

Possibly they were a bit like U***H***** and didn't like the client. They could have also been like U*-H******.
Both of these places out right bashed customers, talked bad about them and just didn't care.
The clients weren't doing ANYTHING wrong in my oppinion nor other peoples on this board. But both those hosts just didn't care less.
Possibly the guys ex-host was like one of these two?? :confused:



>>I've blanked out the two hosts names because I don't think it is fair honestly. Want more info? PM me, I'll be glad to give out lots more :D

Just to re-assure you I had an account I was running once suspended, it wasn't cause I was doing anything so horrible, just that I was using to many resources from my php and mysql script.

Maybe he had a dispute with his former host and hence he has to move hosts? There are a lot of reasons and non-payment could be another one.

Being suspended means nothing. Perhaps the host is just lazy. Maybe instead of removing the account they suspended it.

Way back when I had 3 sites with Interland. I moved to a new host and for a YEAR the Interland IP resolved to the old sites.

Probably nothing more than bad server management.

I wouldn't worry, just ask the person about it.

I had an account a few years ago with a host that put a similar message on my account when i cancelled my account with them.

Turning a blind eye to things you find while confirming an order sort of makes the confirmation process a waste of time and money. I'm surprised to see so many posts quick to blame the host or the client but only a few with the simple logic that says "hey just ask". I think you looked at the site for a reason which was smart. I would recommend following up on your findings....

"As long as he pays" can be dangerous if he also runs scripts or sends emails that place your other clients at risk...

Good luck regardless what decision you make ;)

I screen all new accounts and look at the order IP and Useragent submitting the order. A courtesy call to a new customer is never out of line in my opionion. I agree with Deb, simply ask the customer about that and then make a value judgement on if you want him as a customer or not.

Best regards,
Frank Rietta

Originally posted by Deb
Turning a blind eye to things you find while confirming an order sort of makes the confirmation process a waste of time and money. I'm surprised to see so many posts quick to blame the host or the client but only a few with the simple logic that says "hey just ask". I think you looked at the site for a reason which was smart. I would recommend following up on your findings....

"As long as he pays" can be dangerous if he also runs scripts or sends emails that place your other clients at risk...

Good luck regardless what decision you make ;)


heh, I only meant that was the first place to be calm about ;)
True after you can have him put scripts and up and this and that - but you can always cancel, but if he don't pay - then that is a risk taker .

Thanks for your advice. He used his credit card and there seems to be no problem with payment. So I'll just monitor his account to see if anything unusual happens.

John

At risk of pointing out the obvious...ask the customer why he was suspended. ;)

--Tina

It's threads like this that reaffirm something I've always known, and that is that women are smarter than men. Period.

As usual, Deb's approach is the sensible and correct one, IMO. So is Tina's.

The "sign up now and ask questions later" mentality is what gets so many hosts in trouble down the line. Remember, "due dilligence" should extend beyond only ensuring that you get paid.


<edit>
whoops, looks like Vito got it too.

Oh well, there goes another theory out the window...
</edit>

.

Heh...I didn't see Deb's posts. Very interesting! I think men and women just think things through differently...not smarter or better...just differently.

Originally posted by AffordableHost
Heh...I didn't see Deb's posts. Very interesting! I think men and women just think things through differently...not smarter or better...just differently.


Yas know AffordableHost, I personally think Stomp442 has a bit of the ole whisky in her, don't yas think? :D j/k


Honestly - there aint a need for a sexist remark like that. :rolleyes:
People think things differently - like AffordableHost. Now honestly, I would not have ANY troubles or problems accepting a client like that, I'd just be careful and weary - yes I'd probably ask them but I would put it on my "To Do" list at the very top and shift all the other important things down a notch - who would?
It's just woman think with lines and men think with pictures (It's true) ........ meaning if we don't see a picture we'll find it harder to understand and "cope" with.

Don't believe me? Visit your local doctors and ask to see the local Psychiatrist ...... you'll see ;)

Originally posted by nogi
Thanks for your advice. He used his credit card and there seems to be no problem with payment. So I'll just monitor his account to see if anything unusual happens.

John
There's no "right" or "wrong" thing to do here. But I would keep an eye on that account. ;)

There's no "right" or "wrong" thing to do here. But I would keep an eye on that account.

I asked the client but didn't get any clear answer. The reason should be that Frontpage Extensions weren't fully supported :confused: so he only had his site with them for one week. So I'll, of course, keep an eye on that account :)

John

Well that's entirely possible. We've had more than a few signups due to that exact reason - that their previous host didn't support FP, or had some old version that wasn't any use to them.

Worth keeping an eye on them, but this thread doesn't raise any red flags as far as I can see.

Greg Moore

Accept him. He could have been suspened for any number of reasons. Maybe he ran out of bandwidth etc