Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Running a Web Hosting Business : Account before payment?

[mhale]

I had a client today who made an order but refused to pay until I setup his account and transfer all his accounts from his old host over. I told him I can not create the account until payment is recieved, so he said nevermind then. Do you think it is a good idea to setup accounts before payment is recieved? What would you have done in this situation?

[Hostorb]

No way would I set the account up until payment was received.
Sounds like a scam to me.

[webwired]

I've gotten burned from setting them up, even buying their domain name... then never receiving payment. So in my opinion, no, don't do it.

[Lesli]

I would have politely said, "Sorry, but it's against policy to provide services before payment is received" and let them go elsewhere if this did not suit - especially since this person was asking you to transfer the site files for them.

The only two reasons I can think of for someone asking for this are:

1) they've been burned before, and so don't want to prepay and lose their money again
2) they're trying to scam you

[Martie]

You did the right thing for sure!
NEVER set up an account before payment is received.

[brockf]

Hmm, could you not just cancel their account in about 20 seconds if they didn't pay?

[mhale]

No. They want me to setup their account and transfer all of their old accounts over and get everything up and running. Then they basically want to decide if they like my service or not :/

[Lesli]

At what point would you cancel the account: 20 seconds after creation? A few days? Also, this is extra work that has to be done: you have to monitor the accounts to see which ones are on trial period, cancel the ones that aren't or send invoices, and all that. And even so, you're going to find people who complain that you cancelled their account for no reason if they don't pay.

There are pluses or minuses to either decision - but for me (and for most people here, judging by the replies) the potential pros of providing a free trial period are outweighed by the potential cons.

If you have someone who wants to decide whether they like your service or not, they can transfer over one account and be your hosting customer for a month or two or however long they wish to evaluate the value of your service before moving their other accounts over.

[Binx]

I agree with everyone here. Protect yourself from being burned. Also, if you have a 30 day money back guarantee, you could tell the guy he has nothing to lose by trying your service for a month.

[mhale]

I told him that but I don't think it's encouraging him. That is why I feel it may be a really bad idea.

[Tina J]

Never ever ever ever ever setup accounts without payment.

Ever.

--Tina

[Acsiak - Andrew]

Like the others say, don't do it.

You don't need or want the hassle, do you?
Many people get burned by scammers like these, so what if he is legit and all - he could at least trust your 30 day money back guarantee?

If you are desperate for his service, do it - otherwise I'd stay away from him.
Never setup accounts before payment, totally bad in the long run.

[mhale]

I'm far from desperate for his service. hehe I'm not going to do it unless he pays first. Thanks for the advise everyone!

[ddent]

Personally (and this is just me), I would happily set people up before receiving payment, though I would not pay for their domain name costs. Why? Unless you are close to your bw limit for your server already, there is no actual cost to you. It also generates good will.

EDIT: In terms of how it works with the domain name, either they deal with it themselves or I give them a subdomain of a 3 character domain I keep around for the purpose.

[bonnmac]

Well, I do setup accts prior to payment if the order is for check/money order. But I state in my tos that acct will be suspended/deleted if payment is not recieved within a time limit. Now I know this could just open me up to abuse but it could also open up to a client who for whatever reason can't or doesn't want to pay via credit card. Or they don't feel comfortable posting their bank info with paypal. I think it just gives a good rapore with your clients.

However I will not purchase a domain name for them.