Alright, first off, I usually like to handle things like this internally, but this one has me stumped and would like a few opinions.

I have one customer who is delinquent in payments. He's a large customer and has been "okay" in our correspondences as far as politeness and patience. So, he is deliquent to the tune of $xxx.

Now, he has said that he can not pay his invoice and would like 2 of his accounts re-activated (as he has sold them) and for me to make him a good price. I have stood firm in telling him that his accounts will be reactivated when his total balance due has been paid. That's not the tricky part :D

The tricky part is, is that "2 other people", have signed up for hosting with different sites and have paid their signup invoices in full. However, 1 of the payments originally came from the first customer. I did inquire as to why the payment came from the first customer, and am now convinced they are the same person. Their emails to me are approximately 5mins apart, all the time.

Now, the third customer, who actually paid their invoice from a seperate PayPal account, has written a couple emails to me and their impatience and demeanor are deja-vu-like to the first customer.

So, this is my problem :). I have "3 customers", 1 who refuses to pay because he has no money, and 1 paying customer, and 1 customer being paid out of the pocket of the first customer. And I believe that all 3 customers are the same person.

What would you do?

Kill the account thats not paying, if you have proof that they are 1 person and payments are all from him, suspend until you get an answer.

Oh, the client that is not paying has had his accounts turned-off for quite sometime, but am still pursuing payment as it is not just a few dollars.

I guess my dilemma is, if I am wrong about them being the same person, I could potentially lose 2 new (perfectly good) customers.

Well if you can't 100% prove they are the same person then continue the accounts that are paying as long as they pay and suspend the accounts that aren't paying, as if they are actually 3 different customers. Not sure what else you could do without full proof as you wouldn't want to cause a problem with the other clients if they aren't the same person.

This is not an unusual occurance for designers. I don't do reseller accounts, but have preferred relationships with designers.

For whatever reason, they get in a financial bind and can't pay their account in full. For most accounts I never allow an account to go more than 30 days before cut-off (late notice at 7 days, warning at 15, suspension (with $45 reactivation fee) at 30 days.).

Once accounts get suspended, money free's up, but not allways all of it. I allow the designer to pick and choose which accounts to catch up. Often their personal and friends sites stay down, and their customers get reactivated. On more than one occasion I've been able to retain the designers (and his customers) business that way.

If it is a single person posing as three you might have some integrity/character issues to wrestle with, but if it is a person struggling to make good on their promises to their customers you might consider some arrangements where everyone wins.

Not exactly the same circumstances but similar enough to see how it "might" be dealt with.

Bob

Thanks Greg and Pickles for the suggestions. As Greg stated, I will have to treat them as 3 seperate customers until I have proof otherwise.

The problem I see with your suggestion Pickles (not that I am shooting it down, I will consider it), is that I believe this customer simply wants to open a few accounts, as they have databases, and he wants to sell the sites. I don't believe that he will be back once he gets the few sites open that he wants.

Just 'slip up' when emailing him, use one of the other names or send an email to him at one of the other addresses.

Hmmm...interesting take on it :D That could work. I'll have to wait until he's settled in. I think he knows I'm suspicious after enquiring about the payment from the other account.

Do you not have their phone number from when they signed up? Also, check the whois information with their domains.

Yeah I have their phone numbers, but the first one never worked, so it would be tough to determine. The first customer has been with us for nearly a year and always paid through PayPal as a Verified PayPal user, so there wasn't really a need to call him for verification.

Can you check the email headers to see if the mail is being sent from the same computer?

Oooh...I like that, I'm surprised I didn't think of it sooner.

/me runs off to check :D

Jay Suds - This is for you :beer: - you're a genius. The 2 people are the same person :) and the one that paid their invoice on their own is a from a different machine, so new customer.


Thanks very much. I don't know why I didn't think of it, but that's great.

Another problem solved. :)

Good thing you didn't can them!

Yup, very good thing. Now, I just need to figure out how I am going to handle the 2 for 1 person :)

Is the IP in the emails from all 3 of them the same?

No, just in 2 of them

When someone signs up through Modernbill doesn't it show their IP as well? That might have told you as well. Doesn't mean one person can't have 2 computers though.

If I have a customer with 2 accounts, and he pays for one and doesn't pay for the other, I only suspend the one. As long as account #2 stays paid I treat them as if the accounts were seperate people. So as long as customer 2 and 3 are paid up, then don't sweat it, if customer 1 doesn't pay he doesn't pay and leave him suspended, if 2 and 3 cancel because of it then they cancel.

That sounds like the best route to go Gary. We'll see how much the issue gets pressed about the suspended accounts though :)

Kind of odd he's paying for one and not the other though.

Do you charge a reactivation fee?

If all else fails cut him a deal for a partial payoff, my motto is some money is better than no money :D

Originally posted by hometownhosting
When someone signs up through Modernbill doesn't it show their IP as well? That might have told you as well. Doesn't mean one person can't have 2 computers though.

They were not from the same IP address, however, the FraudGuardian report did raise some red flags on other aspects!

Originally posted by Dixiesys
If all else fails cut him a deal for a partial payoff, my motto is some money is better than no money :D hehe

Great motto!!!! :D

Originally posted by The DareDevil
Do you charge a reactivation fee?

There are interest charges on overdue balances, and the reactivation fee is complete payment of any outstanding balances. Once it becomes clear that no payment is forthcoming, they go to collections.


Gary - I agree that some money is better than no money, but will see what happens first. I've already offered to work out a payment plan, interest free, whereby he can make small payments to pay off the balance and get his accounts open and so far my offers have been refused.

Well they gotta meet you half-way if they want to get a break.

Originally posted by VanHost
Gary - I agree that some money is better than no money, but will see what happens first. I've already offered to work out a payment plan, interest free, whereby he can make small payments to pay off the balance and get his accounts open and so far my offers have been refused. What is his reasoning?

His reasoning is that he is short on money and can't afford it. Hence why I offered him a payment plan.

I don't believe myself to be an unreasonable person, and understand that things do come up and people find themselves short on funds. I don't mind trying to work things out with people and have in the past quite successfully.

If it's in the $xxx range and he's saying he can't pay and refusing to arrange terms then why not bring in an outside collection agency?

That will be the next option Laws. However, due to the fact that he is an international customer, that may be difficult so I am trying to solve this through more ammicable terms.

Also, I don't much like sending people to collections unless absolutely neccessary. I like to exhaust all other options first.

you might just want to set a deadline, and inform him that if he doesn't pay up in maybe 60 days, you will terminate his accounts and delete all his files. it may help if the client wants to keep his sites. or else it would be clear to you that he doesn't care about the sites much, and it would probably be better to send it to a collection agency.

just my 2 cents, but hope it helps. :)

I would set a deadline. If he can not pay, and refuses your offer then you have every right to give him a deadline. Tell him he has 30 days or 15 days or what ever if he does not pay all files will be deleted.

You have to stand firm and not let people push you around! Says you been in busienss for 2 years, and I assume you got where you are by standing up for your self and your company!

Originally posted by Torith
You have to stand firm and not let people push you around! Says you been in busienss for 2 years, and I assume you got where you are by standing up for your self and your company!

Sorry, I hope I'm not being misundestood. The problem was simply what to do about the multiple personalities :D, not about the collections. You're right, I do need to stand firm, and I believe that I have done so in a reasonable way. I like to think that the 2 year celebration is just the beginning and will be around for many more to come :)

Treat the "2 people" like 2 seperate customers unless you are 100% positive they are indeed the same person making the order.

If you can guarantee this is true, then I would send him a nice email explaining that you are aware of the two accounts in your system and would like to know his intention with the original (overdue) account.

See what he says once he realizes you have "found out" about his scheme.

Do not threaten to suspend the second account. Wait to see his response first. Ask him directly and bluntly. Do you intend to pay the overdue charge on the first account? If he says yes, then arrange a payment schedule. Tell him that the new account is subject to prompt payment according to the agreed schedule.

If he says no or misses a payment as agreed, then suspend both accounts.

mrzippy - Well, it happened today. I can finally confirm that two of the customers, without a doubt, that they are the same person.

How can you be so sure? You ask...

I just logged on to the server the new customer is located on to check some things. I was going through the reseller reports (the second customer signed up for a reseller account) and ALL of the accounts that were suspended on the delinquent account are now being hosted on the reseller account of the new person.

Thanks to all who helped, I do believe I know what my recourse will be now :)

:cartman:

I'll bet the guy thought he was being nice and sneaky, too.. Won't he be surprised when he finds his websites suspended!

lol. Some people, eh? :rolleyes:

Good luck! Let us know what happens. There hasn't been an mchost thread for a while, so some of us are starving for a good story.

:D

Nice job!

Keep us updated :D

Originally posted by mrzippy
Good luck! Let us know what happens. There hasn't been an mchost thread for a while, so some of us are starving for a good story.

:D

Hehehe....understood. I will certainly keep you posted. This guy seems pretty creative, so the excuse library could be quite extensive :D

Okay, well for those (ahem, mrzippy) that would like a mchost-like story, please read-on. I will write accordingly without lieing or embelishing :)

We need names for these people. Therefore, the first customer who was delinquent on their payments will be know as ABC. The new customer, the one that setup the reseller account will be known as XYZ.

I sent an email to ABC to let him know that I knew ABC and XYZ were the same person and that all accounts were now suspended until a payment schedule was worked out. I had, politely, expressed my disapproval of his sneakiness and manipulation and stated he needed to contact me to get his sites back on.

So, after I suspended XYZ's reseller account and all accounts under it (approx. 12hrs prior to these events) I get an email. From who? Nope, XYZ did not email me about the unfounded suspension of his accounts. ABC sends me an email stating that he is now hosted by XYZ's hosting company and that I need to open them up again so he could transfer them.

I told him I would happily re-open his accounts upon payment receipt. He stated that because he spent so much over the past 6 months, I should just let him have them. I told him that he ordered and received a service, and that he now needs to pay for that service.

At any rate, I could continue, but I don't want to type everything out :) To make a long story short, we settled on 75% of his total balance oweing. Half was paid promptly today in order to get "some" of his sites back up. The other half is due 1 week from now and will get all of his sites open again in order to transfer them to the reseller account.

Odd, I know, but what can you do? :D As everyone (including myself) has stated, some money is better than no money.

something > nothing

You at least got something :)

Actually, that's better then I expected to see happen.

Certainly was a clever excuse though.. a new hosting company.. hahaha. good one. Nice guy not so bright.

It will be interesting to see if he pays the remainder of the money owed, as agreed.. and also if he sticks around (keeps the reseller account) after it's all over. lol. He might just turn into a decent customer, since now he knows you won't just screw him over even though he tried to do it to you.

:) BTW - thanks for posting! :cool:

Originally posted by mrzippy
It will be interesting to see if he pays the remainder of the money owed, as agreed.. and also if he sticks around (keeps the reseller account) after it's all over. lol. He might just turn into a decent customer, since now he knows you won't just screw him over even though he tried to do it to you.

:) BTW - thanks for posting! :cool:

I've thought about that, and I have to say I will be surprised if he does pay up. However, he has already "moved" his sites once :D so everything is up in the air.

Besides, at this point, I'm not even thinking about it. I get married in 6 days, honeymoon starts in 11 days and I'm just going with the flow :cool:

You're most welcome for the post. It's nice when things work out and can be entertaining at the same time :D

Originally posted by VanHost
I get married in 6 days, honeymoon starts in 11 days and I'm just going with the flow :cool:

Woot woot! Congrats! :beer: :banana:

Thanks very much. The stag was on Saturday, still kind of recovering :)

Note: For all those bachelors (or anyone really) that drink...DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT ever let someone buy you a Prarie Fire. :(

Yuck (http://thecocktailpage.com/show.phtml/cocktail/752)

I wish it was a dash of tobasco. It was about half and half, and it was a 2oz shot glass....very yuck! :D