Always check Terms of Use

[brian]

I had a number of reseller accounts with a particular provider, but as part of my consolidation of my reseller accounts, I gave notice to close these once I'd propagated my sites out.

With most webhost providers, that would have been the end of it - the accounts would have been closed and billing stopped.

However, it turns out this particular company actually had a 30 day cancellation clause, which meant they considered themselves entitled to charge and additional months billing.

And let's just say this wasn't for a small amount either - enough to lease a few servers. So I was naturally unhappy about this.

At the end of the day, I could simply issue a chargeback on any such charge, and although the likelihood would be that I would be able to successfully contest such a charge without my signature or a delivery proof. I don;t think that's a good way to do business.

So after an exchange of emails I offered to simply downgrade my accounts with them and use the imminent billing as advance payment for them for the next few months, and they have accepted.

While it's not ideal for either of us, it certainly has underlined that I absolutely need to be more careful in reading Terms of Use in future.

[monaghan]

Although it does seem common, to my thinking it does seem a bit odd to force the customer to pay beyond their current payment period. I can understand this where there's a special order involved or a larger value item like a dedicated server where there may be longer contracts in place

For a run of the mill reseller's account then surely there's no financial penalty for the host from their provider and it's pure greed

We're fortunate that we rarely loose a customer, but on the odd occasion we loose a customer (usually because they need something we're not in a position to provide), then we tend to leave the account active for a few days longer than necessary to ensure the customer's service remains up during their transfer process even if it goes into the next billing cycle (obviously we'd need to bill or terminate if this was an ADSL line or dedicated).

[triumph]

That is pretty sorry. Those kinds of policies can only potentially alienate customers as you try to squeeze people. If you have issues with people canceling quickly, then implement a set-up fee, not some kind of penalty for cancelation even with no period contract.

[ninikins]

Sorry to hear your experience, Brian. I've had trouble not reading terms of service before - it's so important.

[Nightracer]

Strange indeed. There is no reason they would need 30 days notice for this, and I have not heard of this happening before.

I have never read small print from my hosting company.. Im thinking I should start now..