Hey all, I have a quick question for you...

I currently rent a "reseller account" from a company. I don't actually resell accounts but I have a few accounts set up for my family and I.

The company I have been renting from hasn't sent any invoices since December and I haven't been paying it due to this. (half is my fault and I accept that).

I recently received notice from them that if my account has been suspended and will be terminated (along with all backups) within 48 hours if the fees aren't paid (almost $100 worth). I've been trying to work with him, I've even paid 2 of the invoices yet fall about $40 short with promise to pay him over the next week.

He is still going to terminate and delete all information if I don't pay by noon tomorrow.

Is there any legalities to this since I'm the propietary owner of the information stored on those accounts?

Shouldn't I at least be able to legally force him to give me the information on the accounts? I'm fine with him not reinstating the accounts until full payment is reached, but I would like my files sent to me until this can be reached.

Any suggestions?

you left out what 'suspended' means. do you have any access to your data at all?

without knowing the host and seeing their TOS, it's hard to say.

but, based on most host's TOS, you're .... up a creek unless you pony up.

i'd say it's more than 'half' your fault, you should have contacted them after not receiving your bill as you normally do. do you not pay your cable bill if they accidentally don't bill you for 3 months and expect your cable to still work? nope.

it's unfortunate that the host is, apparently, not willing to work with you in regards to payment.. but you're dealing with a small business, not a large entity that can technically afford to let someone carry a balance while working out a payment plan.

i don't mean to sound like a jerk, but let's be realistic here.

Ok, I accept "more than half" as you say. By "suspended" I mean I have no access to the data that is stored on their servers.

I'd rather not mention who it is due to the fact that this company roams these forums regularly.

I'm not trying to down the company. They are a great company, but I'd like to have access to my data. Being the "OWNER" of the data, they should at least let me have access to my property. I'm not asking them to keep hosting (which is what I'm behind on payment for.) THey can keep the accounts suspended by all rights until I catch up on payments.

If this were a landlord/tennant issue, The landlord could lock me out of the house I'm renting, but they cannot stop you from gathering your things. Make sense?

I just would like to know of there are Proprietary rights to the info in cases like this.

Thanks for your reply.

I'd rather not mention who it is due to the fact that this company roams these forums regularly.
Why not mention them? There is this saying about oil and a wheel that squeaks....
I might be new around these parts, but my guess would be if the company was revealed it might motivate them to at least provide you with a backup of your data if they still have it. It would show some friendly customer service on their part. Especially if the reason that you have not been receiving invoices is/was a problem with their billing system.
You find out why you haven't received a bill since December? Or any other notices about your account being over due?

Just remember there is 2 sides to the story and the company concerned shouldn't be put on trail as most companies would do the same if moneys are outstanding. It is easy to grab your data when you have access.

In the case of a landlord locking you out. Well no pay no access to your goods.

Simple solution - pay up

Jimmy its ok, you can pay next week for your hamburger today,lol
kidding,
as a consumer, You must lookat at thier TOS and hope you didnt violate any part of it.
later

Ok, I accept "more than half" as you say. By "suspended" I mean I have no access to the data that is stored on their servers.

I'd rather not mention who it is due to the fact that this company roams these forums regularly.

I'm not trying to down the company. They are a great company, but I'd like to have access to my data. Being the "OWNER" of the data, they should at least let me have access to my property. I'm not asking them to keep hosting (which is what I'm behind on payment for.) THey can keep the accounts suspended by all rights until I catch up on payments.

If this were a landlord/tennant issue, The landlord could lock me out of the house I'm renting, but they cannot stop you from gathering your things. Make sense?

I just would like to know of there are Proprietary rights to the info in cases like this.

Thanks for your reply.

Have you read the TOS agreement? and if so, does it mention anything about access to data or responsibilty to back-up data?

If it doesn't state any of those then, legally they should give you your data back. Would it stand up in court? Prob not.

The only way to win by the sounds of it is to pay the $40, you say you owe it anyway, so wouldn't you do the same?

As far as the billing is concerned, it's really bad that they didn't catch it any sooner, but it happens, bad management or billing software. To sum it up, You didn't pay, they noticed, you got caught. pay $$ be happy :P Hope it works out for you!

Do you need a loan :) Let me know :) (Hope free non-hosting help is allowed) hehehe

But overall - you are at a fault...you are liable to the bills. :(

Hmmmm

Easiest, quickest option, pay up, dig up data & move on.

However,
Somebody (but obviously not me) might suggest you offer the OS $40, subject to you being given 'prior access for 24 hours' to enable the retrivel of 'your data'.
You would need to honour such an arrangement, but you could flex your options on time frame a little, once you have your data.

Now that lanlord analogy - !

It SHOULD be more a case of your locked out & your photo copies of your driving licence/passport etc. are locked in.
ie. You should have the original/data back up.
'So easy to say in hindsite' - but it realy is essential to keep back ups.

If you have not allready done so, let you host know that you were a little nieve, and do not have any back ups, he might be a bit 'softer' if you play the 'newbie card'.

If I was the host I might actualy be a bit more helpful, & encourage the customer to 'move on' elsewhere.

I hope something in my comments may help.

Wow, that's incredible, holding website data hostage to squeeze out a few extra bucks from a client. What web host is this? It's their fault for not keeping on top of their accounting/book-keeping, they should at least give you a NET30 invoice before suspending anything.

Wow, that's incredible, holding website data hostage to squeeze out a few extra bucks from a client. .

$40 = $40 or do you do charity?