The new definition of "insane"

[Steve]

Okay, I'm trying to calm down and clear my head as I write this...because the level of frustration that I'm currently experiencing most likely cannot be measured...that's how high it is.

Somebody please tell me that I'm not the only one who thinks this is insane:

Near the the middle of November, I started having some problems with my credit card. Certain things wouldn't go through, while other things would.

On November 21, my monthly invoice was due.
HostGator tries to bill my credit card, but due to the ongoing problems, it gets declined.
Ten days later, the account is suspended.

No problem so far because that's the company policy and is completely understandable.

A few days after the account was suspended, the credit card company finally managed to find out what was wrong and fixed it. My credit card was now working again. Just in time too because two days later I had to go away for nearly a month.

While I was gone, my account remained suspended because I completely forgot about it before I left. I got back on December 27, and the very next day I paid my bill with PayPal to bring the account back to active status.

A few days later, I get an e-mail saying my bill was due and needed to be paid. I just ignored the e-mail because I figured it was a glitch in the system. A few days later, my account is again suspended. This bring us to today.

A few minutes ago I sent an e-mail to the billing department, asking why my account was suspended. I mentioned the fact that on December 28 I had made a payment by PayPal, and this should cover me until January 28.

I got a reply from "Tim", who said that my account was suspended due to an unpaid invoice.

Huh?

So I wrote back saying that I paid $24.95 via PayPal on December 28. Therefore my account should be fine until January 28.

His reply: "You now have an outstanding invoice issued on 12/29/2004."

So...even though I paid on December 28, now I have a brand new invoice for December 29? Why?

"When you made payment, it did NOT bring your account active through January, rather covered the cost of the site from 11/21 through December."

So I wrote back...

"Covered the cost of what? The account was SUSPENDED from December 1 to December 27. Are you telling me that I have to pay for those 27 days even though I was locked out of my account?"

His reply: "Yes."

At this point I'm beginning to get furious. So I write back:

"Are you joking? Why would a customer have to pay for something that was NOT USABLE? Are you telling me that if I allowed my account to remain suspended from December 2004 until December 2005, that you would expect me to pay for one year of hosting, even though my web site was completely inaccessible?"

His reply: "That's correct. "

So there you have it...the new definition of "insane".

For those of you that were considering signing up with HostGator...all I can say is...good luck...you'll need it.

For those of you currently WITH HostGator...well...good luck to you as well.

As for me...I'm off to find a hosting company where the business is run by sane individuals living in the world of reality.

[GatorBrent]

This is not a review and bills need to be paid. I'm moving this to another forum...

[programmer]

It depends which way you look at it; I see where HG is coming from, though.

I'd just pay for the extra month and be done with it. The services are too good to throw away like that.

[amartins]

Hi,

Originally Posted by Steve

"Are you joking? Why would a customer have to pay for something that was NOT USABLE? Are you telling me that if I allowed my account to remain suspended from December 2004 until December 2005, that you would expect me to pay for one year of hosting, even though my web site was completely inaccessible?"

I don't think they would allow it to go suspended for so long.

Lets say you look at this from a real world perspective. You expect to let your membership fees of a healthclub or something of the sort go into arrears a month, your rights as a member be suspended but even so the healthclub kept your locker and whatever was in it... didn't take on a new customer that wanted your slot...

Would you realisticly expect to restart payments when you felt like it (or remembered to) not paying for the month you skipped?

Antonio.

[David]

I think another definition of insane would be thinking that you don't have to pay for your account. Antonio has a good point. I don't think you would have to worry about your scenario though, as the account would be removed long before then unless I am mistaken.

David

[LandonCowling]

It was the company billing date, you should have thought about that before hand to be safe