That is the question :D

What do the majority of webhosts do? Have automated scripts, or are you like me and prefer to do it manually?

Every one of my accounts is hand-crafted. :D

Ya you run into some problems with automated setup, fraud propabley being one of the biggest

Everything in our ordering process is automated EXCEPT the actual setting up of the new account. I want either myself or one of my staff to go over the order and make sure nothing is suspicious or incorrect. I think automatic account setup is just too risky.

--Tina

Originally posted by alchiba
Every one of my accounts is hand-crafted. :D
Ed sets up web hosting accounts by hand, one at a time, just like his father did, and his father's father did before him (web hosting company was started in 1811). Sure he could do it faster, but the natural flavor would be lost...

/tangent (and I agree with Tina)

I think the one time when it clearly makes sense to have automated setup scripts is when payment is being received via Paypal.

Whatever problems people might have had with them in the past, I would be very surprised if anyone here could do a better job of fraud screening than Paypal does.

We have found that overseas Credit Card fraud is the biggest
problem with automatic signups.

Autosetup by norhtwest all the way.

Not only does it save me a lot of time, but in this time of "i want it all and I want it now" customers do not want to wait until I get back in the office.

They sign up at 4 am and want to be uploading and viewing their site at 4.05 am

Yes, arguably not all of them, but I have found that an automated setup script greatly increased sales.

Originally posted by cperciva
I think the one time when it clearly makes sense to have automated setup scripts is when payment is being received via Paypal.

Whatever problems people might have had with them in the past, I would be very surprised if anyone here could do a better job of fraud screening than Paypal does.

Just wondering, even though paypal do have fraud prevention, its still doesn't prevent chargebacks 100%.

I was thinking of making paypal automated, but as everyone else points out, there is still this fraud issue.

Chargebacks are always a possibility when accepting a credit card payment. We do extensive screening on credit cards entered into our system, which is why our fraud rates are so low (A Gardner Group studay pegged online fraud around 2.6%, whereas our rate is around .5%)


I would also use the countries on our site as a guide. If a country isn't on there, but someone wants to pay from there, it should raise a flag.

As an FYI, we have just added AMEX/Discover.