Hostgator de-activated my account. Is this normal practice?

[webhostserving]

Without any notice my ftp/cpanel/websites went down this week. All websites were having the very professionnal and pretty "account is suspended - contact billing" mention.

The reason : their billing system was having problems generating my invoices, so I didn't get billed for the last month in my account. Yeah I was beginning to wonder, was just about to call them... But hey, they could at least have sended me just a small notice for non-paiement. It was their fault after all.

Their handling of the situation: no excuses at all, they were formal : no reactivation before i have paid. The girl over the phone refused to contact the billing departement to inform them i have paid. I had to did it myself. Reaction time was very slow overall.

It took more than 4 hours for re-activation, 2.5 hours after my invoice was paid and after I had contacted the billing depart.

What do you think. Is this good practice ?







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[Dynash]

pay the bill. you also get charged a $10 fee for not paying on time, even if it's a problem on their side, it's happened to me before.
wrong forum too.

 

[T^2]

Doesn't matter if it's normal practice or not. When you signed up to their service you agreed to their TOS and AUP and any other terms they set out, which you have to abide by.

Not the way I would do things, but that's me.

 

[ephasenetworks]

Larger the company, the more rigid they become. Obviously they should have given you a warning but again its up to their discretion.

If you want that personal touch, i'd look for a reliable host thats medium sized.

 

[WebUnleashed]

Look it is bad practice, but if you read their TOS you'll see they do that.
It's your obligation to read the TOS before you sign up.
Just be careful next time you choose a host.

 

[gatorbrent]

Hello,


I'm the owner of hostgator and I was hoping I could shed some light on this. Our system will email the address on file three different times asking for payment before an account is ever suspended.

You will receive these emails throughout the 10 day grace period we have before an account is suspended for past due payment. Please pay invoices on time and you will never be suspended for owing money.


Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Jan]

Welcome to FWS Brent :wave:

 

[Cam.]

It's nice to see owners of huge companies posting on hosting forums and actually interacting with customers

 

[Dynash]

yeah, on WHT i found it strange most of the owners was posting job offers, not someone on the companys behalf. i guess that's what makes these businesses so big.

 

[Darknight]

Hello,


I'm the owner of hostgator and I was hoping I could shed some light on this. Our system will email the address on file three different times asking for payment before an account is ever suspended.

You will receive these emails throughout the 10 day grace period we have before an account is suspended for past due payment. Please pay invoices on time and you will never be suspended for owing money.


Please let me know if you have any questions.

The OP states they never recived your billing invoice/reminder because you had a billing issue. Not that he had recived a invoice and failed to pay.. :confused4
Wondering if you even read the post?

The reason : their billing system was having problems generating my invoices, so I didn't get billed for the last month in my account. Yeah I was beginning to wonder, was just about to call them... But hey, they could at least have sended me just a small notice for non-paiement. It was their fault after all.

So it is that that needs some clearing up, Not the fact of your policy on billing..

And welcome - Good to see some large companys still having interaction with public.

 

[Jan]

yeah, on WHT i found it strange most of the owners was posting job offers, not someone on the companys behalf.

They do here too