Billing, explained
We’re preparing for our once a month billing run, and since I’ve gotten in the habit of posting I thought I’d take some time to expand on the processes that we go through, and when we do what.
DrakNet’s monthly billing cycle runs once a month, every month, on the 25th, so if you’re monthly, or quarterly, or semi-annual your card on file will be hit around midnight central time as soon as the calendar hits the 25th. We run on 28 day cycles just like the moon, so your deadline to pay will be 28 days after that.
Now, what you need to understand is that there are two sets of dates, your invoice date and due date, and your package renewal date. On the 25th, the system takes a look at every package and when it renews, and if the package renewal date falls within that 28 day time frame, it will be put on the invoice. So, for example, your package renews on May 5th - it will be on tonight’s invoice of April 25th, and if you don’t pay it by May 5th, you’re using services that you haven’t paid for because come May 5th, your services are being utilized without having been paid for.
Since billing is one of my least favorite things to do and orders come in at all times of the month, that 28 days is the time you have to get that account in order if your card is declined or if you have refused to put a card on file. The due date listed on your invoice is your absolute deadline - since all packages that would have been on the 25th invoice would have had to renew within that 28 day time frame, by the time that 28 days is up we know that everyone who is outstanding is using services that they have, for whatever reason, chosen not to pay for. On your due date or very soon after, you are suspended until those service are paid for.
Now, we do have a pretty hefty warning system - we have standard reminders that go out whenever we try your card and it is declined again, or when we check to see who hasn’t paid. At two weeks before the deadline, we send you an email letting you know that you’re within two weeks of being suspended. We also try to get one out at 72, 48, and 24 hours (though sometimes you’ll only get one of those if we’re busy) to let you know that imminent doom is approaching. On your due date or within one or two days after, your account is suspended completely - your files are maintained, your system is maintained, but it is taken offline and your mail system will not accept mail. We email you and let you know you have seven days before you’re terminated, with a timestamp.
If you don’t pay within those seven days, your site is nuked. A backup may be maintained as we clean them out periodically and irregularly, but we don’t guarantee that and you shouldn’t depend on it. Once you stop paying and your account is terminated, you’re terminated and this eventually includes backups. If you want to come back, you need to open a completely new account and pay for the time that you used and didn’t pay for, as well as the new fees for the new account. If we hold the registration on the domain, we put the domain name up for sale as abandoned as an attempt to recoup the fees we lost.
It’s extremely important that you make sure that your email in your billing area is up to date so you will get these emails - we don’t call people to beg them for money. Since you have access to your billing area, we feel its your responsibility to keep that information up to date, and we do take the extra time to send you emails outlining exactly what the risk is when you don’t pay.
Annual hosting accounts (and the soon to be launched biennial accounts) are handled differently because of the history of irregular payment on these accounts. A lot of people forget when they’re due, or forget when they are coming up, or forget to maintain their card, information, or email and then are shocked when their account is suspended. Sometimes people wanted to cancel, and yet by the time they are invoiced for 28 days, it’s outside the 30 day cancellation (which applies to the package, not the invoice date). Because these accounts have a larger payment, sometimes 28 days isn’t long enough when people forget, so we elongated the grace period after averaging out how much time people would say they needed when they were late.
3 months before annual accounts are due, we will run the invoice that will coincide with the exact due date of the package renewal. If there is a card on file, it is charged. If it is decline, you will get reminders once a month and then as you get towards the deadline, the notices will follow the pattern laid out above for the monthly accounts.
Tags: billing
