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View Full Version : Please Fix The Billing System!



flyer
12-14-2004, 09:25 PM
Please take this as constructive criticism.

I just found out one of my accounts is down, as in "this site has been suspended". I wondered why, since I know it's way under the bandwidth and disk space limits, and have not been told of any problems. I put in a help ticket, and was told it was suspended because I hadn't responded to renewal notices (which I never got).

At first I thought I had screwed up and let the account lapse, since I didn't remember exactly when I created the account.

Imagine my delight when I checked my records and discovered that this account was created in June, I paid for a year, and a bit less than half of my time has been used, yet the sites I had in that account are gone, all for not paying for a renewal that's not due for another 6 months! Plus the receipt says "subscription", which to me sounds like something that is automatically charged to my card when it is due, so unless my credit card doesn't work on the renewal day, I shouldn't have to do anything to keep the account going.

Assuming that renewal notice was sent to me (I never saw it), that means the system is sending these notes at the wrong time, and worse, action is being taken although the account isn't really overdue. Maybe the suspension part is automated, too.

In the past I've gotten billing notices about accounts that I had closed months earlier, another sign that something is wrong with the notification part of the billing process.

Anyway, I just wanted to point this out, since I've had no other problems in the year and a half I've been here, and wouldn't want others to wind up in the same situation, either getting renewal notices for old closed accounts or having current accounts in good standing suspended. Thanks.

Also, does "subscription" mean the account will be automatically rebilled to the card?

And is there a way I can look up the renewal dates of my other accounts on the system, just to make sure they don't expire?

Jeff
12-14-2004, 10:25 PM
Flyer, in our opinion, there is no "fixing" to do. Due to circumstances beyond HostPC's control, the billing system changed in August. Records on transactions prior to that time are incomplete because of the haste of this transition. The vast majority are correct. Yours was not correct and you were suspended by mistake, which I corrected 34 minutes after you posted your ticket when you responded with detail of your account situation. As you will no doubt understand from the circumstances of the transition, mistakes were introduced into the process for reasons beyond the control of HostPC. I'm sure Joe will apologize for this one in your ticket, as I do.

You can read the details of the transition here.
http://www.hostpc.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1324

Because of the timing of your subscription, you haven't gotten to experience the current system yet. From the customer feedback we've received, the new billing system is superior to the old one.

Joe is better equipped than I am to address your questions and I will bring this thread to his attention.

Joe
12-15-2004, 01:03 AM
I've followed up in your helpdesk ticket. I've included your original orderform from the original account creation on 12/12/2003 which was paid through our former processor Paysystems. It had not been renewed.

The order you're quoting from September 04 was for 3 different domains - you never let us know that you had included this seperate domain under that account and that it should have been cancelled on the original servers.

Anyway, lets follow and resolve this through your helpdesk ticket where I've pasted the complete order details.

Joe