Overdue hosting payments - how long before you suspend their account?

[leroy30]

Hey guys,

I know there are many freelancers around here that offer web hosting services as a small compliment to their design services.

I was just wondering what is the normal procedure for customers that don't pay in this situation?

The reason I ask is I have this one client that is billed in advance but have 30-days to pay the invoice (monthly invoicing). They usually take about 45 days to pay it and I have to chase them EVERY month. I know many major web hosting companies symply pull the plug temporarily if the payment is overdue but I don't know if this is standard procedure? How much should you give these people?

 

[DHDdirect]

Hey Leroy

I have had the same issue before. It is certainly frustrating because you shouldn't have to chase customers, I would assume they aren't that late on their electric bill.

I have found it got a bit better after I setup an automatic billing system. It will send an invoice out two weeks in advance, three days in advance, and one day in advance. After that the invoices change with an overdue message that is sent two days overdue. After a week overdue it resends the invoice with a message stating over due with pending cancellation.

The majority of the time the invoice is paid by this time. It seems like a lot of invoices but it keeps the invoice on the minds of the customers. After the pending invoice I would give it another three days at least before I cancel. Since so much warning was previouosly sent I feel that it wouldn't be required to notify of the cancellation.

I hope that helps.

 

[leroy30]

Thanks for the advice! Do you use an automated system available on the market or a custom one you wrote yourself? Just wondering because I've been thinking about setting mine up that way too... I haven't got the time to write my own so I've been looking around for something I can purchase but it's always hard to make a decision when you don't know anyone who's used them before.

I was looking at ClientExec or something like that, that I could customise the look and roll it out with my new website that's coming soon.

Wish there was more time in a day! lol

 

[HTML Egg]

I know some of the larger hosting sites don't cut service for up to 6 months, but they charge ridiculously amount of late fees and often times, the customer simply forgot. I would suggest sending reminder emails before the payment is due, and then maybe every other day when the payment is late. I think 2 months is a reasonable period.

 

[XeHSean]

We give our clients a 5-day grace period before we suspend an account for an overdue invoice

 

[HostColor]

There should be granted a grace period. WE use to do 30 days, but then changed to 7 days. Some long term customers get special treatment however.

 

[computerGeek]

actually, the hassle is just at the beginning.. it will get better after a while.

 

[stach14]

Keep in mind customers are like gold in todays industry. I personally don't take anyone offline unless the are completely ignoring me. I give them all the time they need as long as they are working with me. You don't gain nothing but turning them off and them leaving for another host. But each situation is a unique one. It changes if they are abusing services, resource abuser, ignore my contact attempts, etc. But you have to way the worth of just cutting them loose and getting nothing or maybe working with them and collecting, just getting it late.

 

[MarkR]

I am usually pretty lenient as it doesn't necessarily cost me money to keep their site up as long as they eventually pay. If they completely ignored me though and they ignored many attempts to contact them I'd consider 30 days enough time.

 

[pingpipe]

Unfortunately some clients will try to take advantage of your generosity, and will delay payment later and later. Allowing 15 days on a monthly invoice seems a bit excessive, and will become more of a concern as you add more clients.Many small to medium sized hosting companies use WHMCS software to help manage their client base, it's inexpensive and super easy to learn. You could move to this and automate your invoicing, and automatically charge your client's credit card for service, You can inform your clients that you are moving to auto-billing so they will not have to worry about forgetting to pay every month.