Best of the ISP-Lists

A Deal They Can't Refuse

Members of the ISP-Webhosting list discuss the rare problem of customers' nonpayment of webhosting fees. Unlike Internet access, where delinquent customers can switch on a whim, a webhosting client cannot afford not to pay.

[April 12, 2001]

On the ISP-Webhosting list in March, MK queried,

"For the first time since we've started doing web hosting, a client has decided not to pay. It's been 150 days since last payment. How do you guys handle a hosting client that doesn't pay? What do you do about their email?"

A number of respondents argued that patience is no virtue:

[RB advised] "Shut the site down. You've been too patient. We have a policy of zero tolerance with late payers. When we don't get paid, we can't pay our bills, so we usually just shut the site down if they're thirty days past due. That's easy enough to do by just redirecting the site to your homepage."

[WW agreed] "Personally, I would have completely deleted the account after 45-60 days. Two weeks past the missed payment date, I would have shut off the site and disabled their ability to download email. You've been more than patient with them."

[PF added] "We shut the site down once they're sixty days past due. We erase the files thirty days after that."

Others suggested ways of dealing with incoming email:

[DH suggested] "For their email, just remove the MX record."

[WW added] "Continue to allow the email to come in, but disable their password."

Still others suggested that the customer should not be allowed to reconnect:

[FJ offered] "If he wants back in, tell him that for an equitable reconnect fee, you'll be happy to oblige. And then there's the matter of a significant deposit going forward to protect you from future losses. Accounts that don't pay are merely a drain of your resources. Don't need 'em and don't want 'em."

[AK agreed] "The biggest problem with late payers is that they never change."

—End