Hello Guys,

Well I have a customer with a dedicated server. Now, I gave him a hour setup upon payment. Now, we did not notice the server he Bought we out of stock so this gave us a big issue.

So we gave him a better server with better ram and hdd then what he ordered. So a few days pass by and then he asks us for our Monthly Special on a free reload to Windows 2k3. Well evidently he did not read our Deal. If he bought the server that the deal was for, then he could of got it. So he started getting mad so just to stop him from getting mad we gave him the free reload.

Since we gave him a Extra 512MB ram because the Setup time was not meet, we gave him a Decision. Reload, and remove the 512MB ram. Or Keep the OS he has now and the 512MB ram. Well he wanted the reload, so we just gave him the 512MB ram with the windows.

A week after the reload he submits a ticket saying the connection died. So i talked to him and he told me "He disabled the Connection" on accident. Now, we was going to charge him 60$ to fix it but we lowered it to 20$ as per his request that is was to much.

So we keep the invoice open for 20$ at Feb 16. Well he hasn't paid it yet, and today was his server payment. Now, we shut the server down today since the 20$ invoice was not paid and we were going to Send everything to the Collection Agencies tomorrow because we know for a fact we wasn't going to pay today.

So he said me a Message saying he told me on Sign up it would only be for a month. Now, he didn't tell us in the ordering system via Comment. Now, he is saying he will Contact Authorities if we send him the collection and he also said he will not pay a cent even if the bill comes.

Now I am here asking, what should we do? This is the first person to have did this and we are wondering, Should we submit it to Collection Agencies or Just Leave him be?

I think it depends how much you need his money. If he`s such a pain then be thankful he`s gone and forget the whole episode.

Customers like that are unreasonable and are better hosting with somebody else.

What you do will seperate you from the other hosts here.

But remember, some customers you just can't please. At the same time I think you should hire someone whom is familiar in customer service so you don't come here everytime a customer complains.


John

I wouldn't waste your time with a collections agency as they take about 50% if they recover anything. I have sent a couple colo clients to collections and only one ever got the money recovered. I would just write it off as a learning experience and beware the warning signs in the future.

most customers are hard to deal with, especially with a issue like that. I dont see how he would still be mad if you gave him something better tho, other then the downtime he may have experienced.

Basically I asked here just for reference for other situations like this that I know will come.

Thanks for the replies. I will drop his, and decline any more business he might try and do with me. Its not so much about the money, its the way he treated my staff was what I was looking at.

Anything over 300 Will go to the collection Agencies, So I have decided.

If anyone treats your staff constantly like crap, its time to send them packing.

I'd just send him to collections for his additude. People don't know how much crap hosts have to put up with.
my 2c

I'd just send him to collections for his additude. People don't know how much crap hosts have to put up with.
my 2c

What crap do hosts have to go through?

So he said me a Message saying he told me on Sign up it would only be for a month. Now, he didn't tell us in the ordering system via Comment. Now, he is saying he will Contact Authorities if we send him the collection and he also said he will not pay a cent even if the bill comes.

I would tell him that YOU are the one who will be contacting the "authorities" if he doesn't pay his bill. Regardless of whether or not he wants another month of service, he still owes you the $20 that he agreed to pay for the work that you did. Also, if he can't provide documentation that he requested the service for only one month, and he didn't give you any cancellation notice, then he is liable for the next bill.

I would send the collection agency provided you have all the paper work and contract, but not take the matter into court. You provided a good service and stuck to your promise, he should stick to his.....

I'd write off the $20 and be glad he's gone. Its just not worth your time to chase $20 i understand the fact you cant let everyone get away with it but you have got some monry from him i presume, just cut your losses. Your gonna loose sometimes in any industry.

return his money and send him to hell :uzi:

If anyone treats your staff constantly like crap, its time to send them packing.

Exactly. No one deserves that disrespect, and regardless of how much they are paying... get rid of them, it'll save you time and stress in the long run.

Always get rid of them in a nice way of course... refund, wish them the best of luck, etc.

I would tell him that YOU are the one who will be contacting the "authorities" if he doesn't pay his bill. Regardless of whether or not he wants another month of service, he still owes you the $20 that he agreed to pay for the work that you did. Also, if he can't provide documentation that he requested the service for only one month, and he didn't give you any cancellation notice, then he is liable for the next bill.

Don't you just love it when people either threaten to sue or call the "authorities". Classic :D

Thanks for all the great replies.

But me and my staff decided let him go ahead with w/e he does. We don't want a bad rep before we even hit the net as we are strictly private (Well not any more now that I have posted here) But I do agree that in any case no one on my staff should be disrespected as we did nothing but lose money just helping this customer out.

return his money and send him to hell :uzi:

I don't think I will refund him as he already used a whole month of service.


What crap do hosts have to go through?


Actually in my opinion, hosting company's (That are not new as in month old) have it rough. New company tend to have less load, less customers so its easy support.

But when you grow on in customer, more and more tickets come in making it harder to keep everything on track.

As a Host myself I think you did the best thing for your future reputation. If you ever hear anything about this guys agian. Explain the story and how you gave him the money and let some thing go. They will see this guy was in the wrong and it will look good for you.

As a everyday person I think jerks like that need to be tought that threatening to tell the authorities and thinking no one can touch them is not going to work. I hope he trys the with his credit card company or someone else down the line who will put him in his place

I think I'd walk away from the $20. Is it really worth all that stress, hassle and possible retaliation from the former client?

On the other hand, I have a question about the setup/upgrade. You weren't able to set him up with what he ordered so you gave him a free 512 RAM upgrade...then you threatened to take it back because he wanted a free reload which came with the deal he originally ordered?

--Tina

No, He ordered a Server that was not on the deal. But since we didnt have that server in stock we gave him the server that the deal was for. He submited a reload, and we told him that he is not on the correct deal that the server was for. But we gave him a choice, Remove the 512MB ram and get a reload or Keep his current OS and RAM. But, he decided to go with the reload so we allowed him to keep the extra ram.

In no way did we threaten him.

It sounds like two parties here who are...immature or maybe inexperienced? Your best bet is just to forget about it. Collecting on 20$ isn't even worth it and good luck trying to find a respectable collections agency to do this for you.