osunix Posted August 28, 2004 Posted August 28, 2004 Last night as I was attempting to send e-mail, I got a message from my local server saying the connection was refused. Whaaaat? So I go to my site and see the account suspended page in its place. Again I think WTF? So I attempt to contact a tech via IM (AOL, Yahoo, and the php pop-up window) and received nothing in reply. I opened three tickets one to "abuse" on to"billing" and one to "tech support" looking for some explanation why my site was down. I received a reply from Sujit saying my account was suspended due to billing issues. So I dig through and find that I hadn't updated my CCard expiration date. Totally my bad; this morning I submitted payment and sent the receipt number back through the help ticket (after re-opening it). Now I admit it was my fault for allowing the card info to lapse. But, according to the FAQ's on the TCH site, this should have happened: Failed Credit CardsEffective 4-2-2003 recurring billings that fail to bill for 3 days, will attempt to bill every other day for a maximum of 10 tries. With each attempt you will be notified of such failure via e-mail. I never received any such info. I have kept my e-mail contact info current just to help prevent such being blinsided by issues like this. Can anyone offer some explanation why this happened? As it stands now, I'm waiting for my account to be unsuspended, and I'm a bit frustrated and disappointed by this whole series of events.
TCH-Michelle Posted August 28, 2004 Posted August 28, 2004 I understand your frustration with billing issues. This quote " Failed Credit CardsEffective 4-2-2003 recurring billings that fail to bill for 3 days, will attempt to bill every other day for a maximum of 10 tries. With each attempt you will be notified of such failure via e-mail. " Only applies to billing through 2checkout. Your billing was not through them.
osunix Posted August 28, 2004 Author Posted August 28, 2004 So this is what will happen should this occur in the future then since my account is with 2checkout now? Thanks for the prompt attention too.
Deverill Posted August 28, 2004 Posted August 28, 2004 This is why it's important for us all to keep our information up to date on our accounts when we get new credit cards, etc. The same thing happens to me with Columbia House CDs and my electric bill when the bank sends me a new card... it's bad that the late fees are added by these places, but it is my fault for not updating my info. At least TCH doesn't charge us late fees. I recommend keeping a calendar and every time you use a card for a reocurring bill, write the name of the company in the space on the calendar for the day your current card expires so when that day gets here you can look at the calendar and know who you have to tell about the new date. It's a little too organized for some folks tastes but it will help you keep up with all your accounts whether TCH or otherwise.
silica Posted August 28, 2004 Posted August 28, 2004 It would seem like a relatively trivial task for TCH to generate an email reminder near the expiration of the term, reminding the subscriber to check their credit card data. The return to TCH in terms of administration from not having to close/reopen accounts, respond to help tickets, etc. could justify the hassle of setting up a reminder system. Rock Sign
osunix Posted August 28, 2004 Author Posted August 28, 2004 Silica, I agree. However, my lapse was due to the third party (as I understand it) billing service never sending me anything either. I don't fault TCH at all for my own mistake. However, some kind of notification prior to suspending the account would seem to have been in order. Luckily the site isn't mission critical in any sense, if it had been I'd probably be a lot more upset about the whole thing. As it stands, I'll chalk it up to a lesson learned.
boxturt Posted August 28, 2004 Posted August 28, 2004 Now might be a good time for us to be shown where we actually can update our information please. Thank you
TCH-Michelle Posted August 28, 2004 Posted August 28, 2004 Depending on what company your billing is through there are different ways to update your billing. If you do not know who your billing is through just open a help desk ticket at the link at the top of the page and we can tell you how to update it. For 2Checkout: Customer service number: 1-877-294-0273 Web site: https://www.2checkout.com/cgi-bin/urec.2c For PaySystems: Customer service number: 1-888-751-0744 Web site: http://auth.paysystems.com/cardholder/ If your account is not billed by either of these two please open a helpdesk ticket and we can let you know how to update it.
silica Posted August 28, 2004 Posted August 28, 2004 I had to search my file of emails to find the original order. Lucky, I did, because my credit card expires in Sept and my renewal is in Oct Anyway, serendiptiously my new credit card arrived in mail today, so all is updated. I'm so glad this topic came up, because the same thing would have happened to me. Just this week, I received a postcard from XM Radio, informing me that the credit card I used for my subscripton was about to expire. That is the kind of reminder to which I am referring, whether it would be initiated by TCH or the billing company makes no difference to me.
Head Guru Posted August 29, 2004 Posted August 29, 2004 Thanks for your concern about our billing system. I will be the first to admit that our billing system is not 100%, however you really left out some of the facts. Firstly, your credit card was "declined" on 3/28/2004. Start: 12/29/2003 Last: 3/28/2004 8:56:38 PM 1st Attempt: 201: The transaction was declined 2nd Attempt: 201: The transaction was declined 3rd Attempt: 201: The transaction was declined You were sent 3 emails about the issue (to your @yahoo account) and your site should have been put into suspend on the 3rd email. However, for reasons unknown your site remained online for well over 6 months without payment. SO you paid for 3 months of service and got 9 months of hosting We have started a complete audit of all our accounts and it was determined that your account was online even though payment was never received. Considering you were sent 3 emails well over 6 months ago and never responded and you were behind 6 months in payments we suspended your site. We do not send snail mail and we do not make phone calls. We are a budget hosting service and there is not any room in a margins to do so. One final note. We did not even ask you for the 6 months of service rendered to you free of charge, and you never offered. Your post should have read "The agony of loosing 6 months of billing". Bill
osunix Posted August 30, 2004 Author Posted August 30, 2004 Mr Kish, I did not intend to insinuate that I was slighted in the least bit. I have admitted I was the one at fault here several times. I believe you when you say the e-mails were sent. If I had received them, I would have responded to them. The fact is, if they did arrive, they were most likely caught by spam filtering. At least that's my best guess. I have no explanation, but I can tell you they were never seen or read by me. I did not expect a phone call or snail mail either. I expected contact via email, which again, I did not receive. As for the amount owed, I fully expected to be charged for any back payments owed. Charge my account now, you have the info. I was sent a bill for one month, and that's what was paid. My main concern at that moment was getting the site back online. If you would have contacted me personally instead of in this forum I would have said the same thing. Your insinuations that I was, or am, trying to get something for nothing are disappointing, to say the least, sir. Throughout this posting I have repeatedly admitted fault. The issue I had was why the emails were never sent. You have said they were. Fine; that's all I was wanting to know. Your own billing dept responded to my Help Desk ticket by saying that the service doing my billing has not sent out e-mails recently. Between that and the fact I never received them, I assumed something had gone awry. Once again, I fully take responsibility for the errors. For some reason you have taken that as an invitation to attack me personally. If you wuld like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact me by email at josh@osunix.com or osunix@gmail.com or joshmking@yahoo.com. If you prefer, do a whois on my domain and call me anytime after 1600 CDT. In closing, I would like to once again reiterate my severe disappointment with the way this has turned out. Josh
Deverill Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 Josh, Surely you must see why Bill felt it necessary to reply as he did considering you brought it out in public in a way that implied fault by TCH. By making a public post saying, in essence, that "TCH said it would email and it didn't", you were blindsided by it, and your are frustrated and disappointed by it, you not only made it open to discussion but you also, by your actions, demanded a reply. I'm sorry you were suspended but it sounds like you got a bargain. This is why I personally recommend to people to discuss billing issues in the helpdesk system. That way, what happens in billing stays in billing. When it is brought out in the open it's not fair to expect Bill or any TCH staff person to sit back and keep quiet about things that so drastically affect business as reputation does.
Head Guru Posted August 30, 2004 Posted August 30, 2004 Josh, I simply replied to your posting on these forums with the facts. Not once did I attack you personally. Glad we got things worked out and your site is back online. Bill
osunix Posted August 30, 2004 Author Posted August 30, 2004 OK, well maybe I did take to wrong. Sometimes it's hard to tell online exactly what someone meant. Regardless, as far as I am concerned this matter is closed. I understand TCH may feel slighted by the loss of profits (justifiably so), and I know I have my own opinions on the matter. The offer to send me a bill for the lost payments is still open. Anything that will put this silliness to rest is fine by me. In closing, I would say that I agree reputation is of top importance in business. For the record, outside of this incident TCH has been outstanding as a host. I hope the billing issues are all ironed out now and you can move onward and upward.
Head Guru Posted August 31, 2004 Posted August 31, 2004 All is well that ends well. I am glad to have you on board as a customer. I meant no harm in my reply. Bill (Thread Closed)
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