I pay some of hosts thru paypal subscriptions

when I change banks or credit cards with paypal, it cancels my subscriptions automatically

I have now had 2 hosts just suspend my account when the dues date came,

Shouldn't they send a resubscribe link or an invoice?

Right now one host sent me a message

/////////////////
from our billing your hosting expired on this month pleae backup all your data after the your end of month date.

your sites will be suspended
/////////////////////

umm, I didn't say I wanted to cancel hosting, so I have emailed them 3 times saying send me an invoice and a new subscription link

Its been over a week with no response

When you cancel your subscription it's best to tell your host first before cancelling it.

Because the host might thought you are trying to get away with it.

when you remove a credit card from paypal it cancels all the subscriptions without warning, at least any warning I saw

I chose not to pay with paypal subscriptions, wouldn't they have to invoice me?

This happened to a customer of mine recently, but he did what I would consider to be the responsible thing. He contacted us immediately letting us know what had happened and asked for a payment link. He did not wait until the time for payment came around to address the situation.

When persons are automatically billed on a recurring basis it is not standard procedure to send out invoices, so it really was up to you to contact the webhost in a timely manner and make arrangements to reactivate your subscription.

isn't it just standard business procedure to invoice someone when they owe money

Every host runs their business in their own way. Some probably don't invoice you because subscriptions is automatic so they may think you don't need a reminder.

PayPal's subscription cancellation when switching CCs can be a pain - We've used PayPal since we started, and always follow up with customers once a subscription is cancelled, as 9/10 times, it's just because they changed a CC on their account and do not want to leave. Some hosts have to learn about how to keep customers :). We also follow up all cancellations to find out why someone is leaving.

And there is an option in paypal that allows you to change the CC associated with the subscriptions... Just add a new card, change the card associated and remove the old one...

Well I will remember that next time,

my point was that some hosts don't act like real businesses they act like kids

Does any company you deal with not invoice you for debts, can you imagine if the phone company just turned off peoples phones without sending a bill.

When persons are automatically billed on a recurring basis it is not standard procedure to send out invoices, so it really was up to you to contact the webhost in a timely manner and make arrangements to reactivate your subscription.

See I wouldn't buy my next reseller account from you. I am the customer, I shouldn't have to work to send you money. I have like 5-6 reseller accounts, I am involved in doing stuff , and working a lot.

I like to just receive my bills and pay them, not do some companys billing for them, so I can pay them.

We usally send invoices to our costumers, cause our billing script does that but lets take other point of view, if you are on a billing cicle it is certainly easier to your host not to send the invoince, same with phone company if you are paying directly from your bank account... they do send the invoice but they bill the account if you do get it or not...

I would think (wow this is a long time ago) that it would be in a company's best interest to invoice no matter how the client pays. With e-billing systems there's no cost as far as postage goes etc and so there's really no reason not to invoice monthly. It helps with book keeping for taxes etc. Plus, it gives customers a chance to file invoices for their tax records as well. I was a reseller for a company called...hmmm... semi-server I think.. anyway, Paypal cancelled my subscription for the same reason and the guy sent me a notice that he should be billing me to set me back up (the hosting itself had not yet been cancelled because my due date had not yet arrived). So I left and went to another company. I don't need the hassle or rudeness. I'm a customer sending you money. If you want my business, you need to provide normal services with courtesy. Sending a monthly invoice is a normal business practice and sending cancellation notices without bothering to follow normal business practice is... to me... a reason to leave and quickly. If you're not going to act like a business, why should I give you my business?

I would think both sides have a point here but would mostly agree with ferret77 here in that the host should not disconnect the user for this but the problem lies with the hosts a) billing system and their b) lack there-of overseeing it. It's just plain laziness! Most host's just set their default to x days and let the system automatically cancel the accounts; why would you allow the computer to have the final say with your customer?

While I have this set as well, we extend the deadline than that which is stipulated on our TOS and follow up with the customer to verify that yes, in fact they do want to cancel their account; this helps for the host as well as we can see why he is leaving and we can possibly correct the issue or win him back (if we wan't to); sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't.

Now as to the other side, If I were the customer I would try and contact the host prior to the payment date and let them know what is going on to make other arrangements.

just my $.02

Well, to answer your main question, yes they should invoice you. Although ClientEXEC (My Client Software) automatically invoices them each month. The client has complete control over the invoices and whatnots. I set it all up to do everything for me, except for activate the accounts.

So basically first off don't go with a host unless they have good software, because the more powerful software then the better the service in my opinion.

Also, don't go with a host that can't spell. If that is an exact quote from a host, that is just really sad. You can tell it is run by a bunch of kids wanting a buck.

Originally posted by ferret77

See I wouldn't buy my next reseller account from you. I am the customer, I shouldn't have to work to send you money. I have like 5-6 reseller accounts, I am involved in doing stuff , and working a lot.


ferret77, please do not be so quick to take offense, but instead take the time to read the post carefully. You would have realized that I said standard procedure. What do I mean by this? I am referring to a particular way of handling matters that has become commonplace/the accepted way of doing things. I have used a number of web hosting providers, and while some do send out invoices, I find that most do not, hence my statement. Knowing this to be the case, had I been in your situation, I would have most likely contacted the webhost before any problems arose.

I most certainly agree with you that an invoice, or at the very least a reminder, should be sent out to customers at the beginning of the billing cycle. I was not disputing that in my post.

Originally posted by SterkDATA

Also, don't go with a host that can't spell. If that is an exact quote from a host, that is just really sad. You can tell it is run by a bunch of kids wanting a buck.

Which quote are you referring to? I'm not sure how exactly that relates to any of the posts I have seen in this thread.

Moni-q I am not realy taking offense, I just disagree with you

so it really was up to you to contact the webhost in a timely manner and make arrangements to reactivate your subscription.

I think when I am paying for a service, its not up to me to really do anything except send the money.

At this point I have emailed twice and called once, and filled 2 support tickets on the matter and have yet to receive a response

So even if I was a little wrong by screwing up the subscription, there has been plenty of chances to fix it

My accounts with this host have maybe 50 websites on them, around 10 of them are client sites.

Should I start contacting people to move them?

Originally posted by Moni-Q
Which quote are you referring to? I'm not sure how exactly that relates to any of the posts I have seen in this thread.
The quote of the e-mail in the first thread:

/////////////////
from our billing your hosting expired on this month pleae backup all your data after the your end of month date.

your sites will be suspended
/////////////////////

Originally posted by ferret77
Moni-q I am not realy taking offense, I just disagree with you



I think when I am paying for a service, its not up to me to really do anything except send the money.

At this point I have emailed twice and called once, and filled 2 support tickets on the matter and have yet to receive a response

So even if I was a little wrong by screwing up the subscription, there has been plenty of chances to fix it

My accounts with this host have maybe 50 websites on them, around 10 of them are client sites.

Should I start contacting people to move them?

They should have really contacted you by now. As you said, youve given them enough time/opportunity to straighten it out. So they have no excuse for this kind of conduct (unless your emails to them were in any way rude or abusive).

ok now they have takend time to suspend my access to whm

but they still have not sent an invoice

but they say as soon as I pay I can have access, but they won't send me a bill. or tell me how much I owe

And I have a client who needs some minor adjustment on his site, but I don't remember his password, and since I don't have access to whm .....

If you have attemtped to contact them by both the ticket system and by phone to resolve the payment issue and they have not responded other than suspending your access then it is probably time to move on.

-Matthew

Originally posted by ferret77

At this point I have emailed twice and called once, and filled 2 support tickets on the matter and have yet to receive a response

So even if I was a little wrong by screwing up the subscription, there has been plenty of chances to fix it

My accounts with this host have maybe 50 websites on them, around 10 of them are client sites.

Should I start contacting people to move them?


Well, clearly there is a problem! Every host handles billing, invoicing abit differently too so you wont get a straight answer.