Hey,

Just wondering what sort of time frames others use when it comes to suspending accounts due to non-payment? (talking shared hosting here)

In my experience, nothing gets someone to pay quicker, but it's something I would prefer to avoid as it sometimes generates a little animosity in clients.

Joel

Wow I haven't logged in here for a while, (24-10-2006) but in reference to this we give 7-10 days advance notice. This is ample time I believe all large clients are on their own contracts so they have differing terms.

We had a good one, we suspended a client that issued 3 chargebacks and then tried to transfer a domain name away after they were suspended. Now they are wondering why they are suspended after our staff informed them that their sites/domains are suspended for issuing these chargebacks.

They claim it's poor business practice to suspend accounts that perform chargebacks, but they know they were in the wrong because they tried to transfer away and it took them 3 days to communicate with the staff member.

Obtaining domain names, hosting accounts issuing a chargeback by claiming you did not authorise it then trying to transfer it away who's guilty?

Ah some people and the joys of webhosting.

We have a fairly strict 10 day rule. On the eleventh day the site gets suspended and a $10 fee is applied to the users invoice.

We use WHMCS and it would be nice to be able to set suspension ranges for different payment frequencies. I would like to be able to set yearly accounts to 14 days and monthly to 7 days.

I fail to understand a customer that gets the same invoice every month yet always pays late every month. A couple of monthly clients I had to implemented a manual 1 day suspension policy. If their money hadn't hit our account by the morning after the invoice due date it was suspended. After a few months of this they agreed to pay by credit card and it gets paid on the due date every month now as we control the timing of the payment.

Would say 7 days max and I do agree suspending an account and taking the site offline is the quickest way to ensure payment.

I understand what you're saying Joel about generating some animosity in clients by suspending their overdue accounts, but hey, you have bills to pay too!
To be honest I have been way too lenient with several of my long standing clients & they generally play on this however there comes a time in all businesses when you need to tighten the reins no matter what your clients think about the new attitude/no tolerance policy - whatever you want to call it - at the end of the day you are running a business and they need to either fall in line or move on & try their luck with someone else!

My clients receive plenty of notice when invoices are due. An invoice is generated 21 days (3 weeks) before the due date, a reminder is sent 7 days before the due date, the first overdue notice is sent 3 days after the due date, a 2nd reminder is sent 6 days after the due date and another one at 10 days. Late fees of $5.50 are added on the 14th day & a notice of intention to suspend the account is also sent, then suspension occurs on the 15th day.

If a client contacts me before the due date and requests an extension & offers a reasonable explanation why then I will grant it. It's no different than an electricity or phone bill, we're all running a business and clients need to be aware that we are no different to any other business. The TOS clearly outline what is expected of the client.

Don't feel guilty or put up with any nonsense if you need to suspend an account, if they don't have the decency to contact you before the due date & ask for an extension then why should you show them any leniency. Stick to your guns & operate within your own TOS.

Cheers
Ros

Thanks for the replies, good to know it happens to everyone
It's only the occasional customer, most are great and pay on time.

A summary of our billing policy is:

1. Tax Invoice Issued to Billing Email Address - 14 days before due date/domain renewal required
2. Invoice Reminder Sent - 1 day after due date
3. Late Fee Applied and Invoice Reissued - 5 days after due date
4. Second Overdue Reminder Sent - 6 days after due date
5. Account suspended - 7 days after due date
6. Third Overdue Reminder Sent - 14 days after due date
7. Account Terminated - 30 days after due date
More Details: www.spiritconnect.com.au/legal/billing-policy/

Can that all be auto done within whmcs spirit? If so I need to get off modernbill...

For us, all large contracts are 30 days from receipt of invoice and then it's manual chasing up from there (some companies have hell long internal expenditure approval, GR/IR and payment processes and always struggle to make the 30 days) - we don't usually suspend or apply late fees to any of these. Everyone else is 10 days past due and suspended with prior notices etc.

Yep, pretty much. I have to say that this is a great feature of WHMCS in terms of managing overdue accounts, generating the invoices, and adding overdue fees.