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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Posts
    70

    Invoicing and Bills issue (scenario)

    Hi there, I would like to put all your web hosts through a scenario, please try to look at it from an unbiased point of view.

    Scenario:

    You failed to bill a client for 4 years. The client wants to switch the domain out from your hosting business because they are growing out of your service. You registered the domain for them. You just realize that you haven't billed this client for 4 years.

    Do you
    1) Charge the client 4 years worth of hosting before giving the domain over? Please explain.
    2) Other. Please explain.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    6,616
    Its a 50/50. You should of billed but then again he should of noticed. I would suggest asking the client to comprimise and say pay 6 months worth. How much is the 4 years worth of hosting?
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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Posts
    193
    1.) I would absolutely definetely, 100% hand the domain over straight away.

    2.) I would not try to charge the client for the 4 years of missed billing. At the end of the day the client didnt recieve an invoice - so didnt pay for anything. Asking them now would be unfair and would not put my business in a good light at all. However, I would contact them and inform them of the mistake - reminding them when their next billing period is.

    But, to be honest I think I would notice if I hadnt billed a customer for 4 years.......
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  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Quad Cities, Iowa
    Posts
    1,606
    Unbiased Opinions:

    • I would hold the client accountable, as well as the host. What did client think when they weren't being billed for 4 years?
    • As a host, it would partially be my fault (however the client could of contacted me letting me know they weren't receiving invoices). I would probably charge for 25% of the hosting fee and all 4 years of the domain registration.
    • As a client, I would offer to pay all I owed. I wouldn't feel right not footing a bill I accrued.
    • As a Host - I would of never let the scenario happen in the first place.
    • As a client - I have had to contact companies in the past about failing to bill me, and I would happily do it again if they forgot. I like to stay on top of my bills.
    Last edited by HostRefugee-Vince; 05-16-2007 at 05:40 PM.
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  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Location
    Paradise
    Posts
    12,052
    does he paid for the domain? or do you offer it as part of your hosting package?

    If he the domain registration was susceptible of being charged, and he didn't paid it, I would charge only for the domain renewal of this 4 years and will let him go away with it.
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  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    New Jersey
    Posts
    851
    I would not charge client in any condition for my failure to bill him. I think you should take up the loss and straight away give his domain.
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  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Allen, TX
    Posts
    17
    In my opinion, it would have been my fault for overlooking the billing issue. As long as the domain name is current (if it isnt, I would bill for it only) I would push the domain name to the client.

    Good luck with your host.
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  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    791
    Dang...that's nasty.

    I really don't think I could bring myself to bill the customer. I would most definitely let them know that I know they've been getting a free ride, but really...it would be my fault. Perhaps they're as nice as Vince and would offer to pay up, but I doubt it.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Quad Cities, Iowa
    Posts
    1,606
    Quote Originally Posted by hostingpuppy View Post
    Perhaps they're as nice as Vince and would offer to pay up, but I doubt it.

    I doubt most people would offer to pay the full price either. It's just a principal of mine, if I use the service knowing I should have been billed...I feel obligated to keep my end of the agreement.

    My unbiased opinions above are only speculation. I have never not billed a client. Honestly, my decisions would be made on a case-by-case basis. I would definently not want to keep the client from doing business, but at the same time I would want some compensation (at least partially) for the costs I incurred to provide the service.
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  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    EU - east side
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    21,920
    A negotiated fee would be fair IMO. Customers are not always after what's fair though. It is worth considering the value (positive and negative) of the publicity he could make you after leaving (which is why I would probably be willing to just let him go). After all, your business has survived without his money so far. I trust it will do so in the future as well.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    West Michigan, USA
    Posts
    9,687
    I wouldn't charge him. I once realized I hadn't charge a client for hosting in over a year. I sent out an invoice for the next year's worth of services and suspended the account after he hadn't paid within a week. I wouldn't charge him for the time I neglected to invoice him though.

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  12. #12
    If you have not invoiced him ,Why Should he pay really ?

    Send him an email explaining and that you will now need to charge him for future hosting /domains.
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  13. #13
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Surrey BC
    Posts
    1,343
    Well 4 years is a bit much to "NOT" notice you were not being invoiced for a service you were using all this time and kept it quite. I can see if the client wasn't invoice for 6 months or so and just writing it off but 4 years is too much.

    I'd contact them and tell them to pay up for say two years and full amount for the domain renewals. Since in reality they never paid for the service or the domain they don't really own it.

    If they are sincere they will pay up, if all they wanted was a free ride by not notifying you about not being invoiced, they won't pay or make any excuses to get out of paying.


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  14. #14
    Why should they pay up if the company was so inept as not to notice a client not paying for 4 years , I mean really How do you not notice a client that isn't paying for 4 years ?

    If your small then you should be on top of it all and if your bigger then your staff should.

    You can't ask a client to pay for the past hosting, Only from now on.
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  15. #15
    I would simply explain the situation to the client and give him/her the option since it wouldn't have been his fault in the first place. As much as I'd hate to see a client go, I would also like him/her to be smiling when he/she leaves.
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  16. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    New York, NY
    Posts
    4,618
    I would write the last 4 years off as a loss, and start billing him from this point. Although you're well within your rights to bill him for the time, it really wouldn't be fair, since you weren't invoicing him. We had a similar situation recently, and wrote off over $2000 on a service that we forgot to bill a client on for over a year.
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  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    London, England
    Posts
    427
    This is interesting. Never been in such a situation.

    However I would think it's best to forget it. Start billing him from this point onwards and make sure the same mistake doesn't happen again
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  18. #18
    I'd do my best to try and collect at least some of it, but I wouldn't expect much. If you're on good terms with the client in general, it can't hurt to ask for at least the past year. If you know they're difficult to deal with or if you've never actually spoken with them before, you're better off just dropping it. No point in spending more time on something that's already lost.
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  19. #19
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    INDIA
    Posts
    142
    i perfer to talk to my client in this case and ask him to pay if he wants to or pay some portion. If he says no i have no other option to hand over the domain to him as it would be mind mistake.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Posts
    367
    I'd email the client and bill the client at cost if it was a small amount (ie. less than $50) or at the very least bill for the last invoice and release the name.

    You could also just bill for the loss of registrar fees since you never gained any profit by offering a "free" domain.

    What type of customer is this?
    What is the value of hosting for the four-year period?

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    551
    The client should not have to pay. It's not the client's responsibility to notice they did not receive an invoice and request one. They probably deal with many different suppliers, and likely do not keep track of people who should be billing them who haven't. The same with my company -- I pay invoices as soon as I receive them, but I don't keep track of who I should be expecting an invoice from.

    The client may be a big one and assumed the invoices were being sent to the accounts payable and were being taken care of, which is why they would have never thought to ask for an invoice.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Philadelphia
    Posts
    2,278
    Personally, I would suggest giving the client all of the information (admitting that you forgot to bill him/her) and if they wish not to make payment you completely understand and will hand over their domain. This gives both parties the chance to make an ethical and logical decision.

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Posts
    70
    Quote Originally Posted by Xous View Post
    I'd email the client and bill the client at cost if it was a small amount (ie. less than $50) or at the very least bill for the last invoice and release the name.

    You could also just bill for the loss of registrar fees since you never gained any profit by offering a "free" domain.

    What type of customer is this?
    What is the value of hosting for the four-year period?
    The customer is a small firm. They have been with hosting for 10 years with the same people. The last four years of hosting is worth about 600$ CAD.

    I might just let it go.

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Posts
    359
    If I were the customer, I would expect the company to make me pay in full. I would be appreciative, in light of the circumstance, if the host would cut me a break though. I can't imagine that a company like The Planet, for example, would just say "oh well". I would expect them to bill me in full and they probably would.
    Last edited by sonixi; 05-21-2007 at 04:24 PM.

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