Who's To Blame?

[HairyCornflake]

I've tried typing this three times and still comes out as an epic - apols. Anyway, my question is;

How many times do you need to tell a webhost that you wish to cancel an account before it sinks - only for them to still take the direct debit?

On the 30th I Opened A Ticket
I am confirming that {Webhost} have deactivated this account and will only bill for domain renewals."

They Respond on 31/3/06 With
Thanks for the ticket. I'm not sure what you are telling us. Do you wish to cancel the 'account' The 'account' is still active.

It's Me Again To Them on 31/3/06
I had to move host to another provider 2 weeks ago because they hosted asp2. I did complete an enquiry form (to confirm is {WEBHOST} could accommodate asp.net) but never received a response.

I only wish {WEBHOST} to bill for domain renewals.
############################

Surely, this is black and white. However, they take the debit on the 4th on the grounds that I hadn't responded to a ticket from them asking if I would like a month's free hosting! Why would I need this, I quite clearly stated they didn't have what I wanted.

Naturally I asked them to return the debit on 5/4/06. A day later they respond with "No problem, the account is being cancelled as I write and all data will be deleted shortly."

I checked my invoices with them on 11/4 and it's still there, I open another ticket and get "Yes the refund has already been organised and will be with you in a few days."

The 'refund' landed in my account on the 19th. This, in my opinion, is a game of 'chase the host'?

The reason for all this is, on 13th April I receive a letter from the banks saying I'd gone overdrawn and was being charged £30. It's only £30 - but it's the principle.

Whilst it wasn't their unauthorised withdrawal that caused it, it certainly contributed - as did the 'delay' in returning. The {Webhosts} aren't admitting fault because it wasn't their withdrawal that caused the overdraft issue.

Is it me being dumb, or is this poor form from the host?

[apondonet]

My 2 cents:

Host you domain and website separately. That way switching to a new web-host is a breeze, and if you don't have the money to renew a 'yearly' web-hosting contract, at least you will have your domain name intact and 'hassle free'. Many hosting services offer you both (Domain & Website Hosting) rolled in one. That's convenient but can become a real pain when leaving the hosting service.

As for moving from one host to another; research your potential host thoroughly first vis-a-vis your current and future needs before plunging into a contract or something similar.

Insufficient fund Bank charges can be a pain especially if you are on a tight budget.

Good Luck!

[HairyCornflake]

Cheers apondonet

I've tried a year's upfront just to be let down by poor service (lesson learnt).

The bank bit could have been topped up - just didn't expect it to take my wonderful ex-hosts that long to respond.

They really don't have any heart....

Cheers

[km8]

Originally Posted by HairyCornflake They Respond on 31/3/06 With Thanks for the ticket. I'm not sure what you are telling us. Do you wish to cancel the 'account' The 'account' is still active. It's Me Again To Them on 31/3/06 I had to move host to another provider 2 weeks ago because they hosted asp2. I did complete an enquiry form (to confirm is {WEBHOST} could accommodate asp.net) but never received a response. ... Surely, this is black and white.

Black, White and a goodly chunk of Grey, I'd say.
You didn't answer their question - "Do you wish to cancel the account".
Straight question - needs a straight answer. Instead you told them some guff about another webhost.

Even your first ticket to them was a bit ambiguous - were you asking them to cancel or asking them to confirm that they had cancelled? I don't know, and clearly they didn't either.

No offence, but you did ask. The answer to your question is generally 'Once, provided you do it clearly'.

[HairyCornflake]

Agreed, that bit was.

However, the day before...

On the 30th I Opened A Ticket I am confirming that {Webhost} have deactivated this account and will only bill for domain renewals."

Also, the bit missed off the bottom of your last quote.

I only wish {WEBHOST} to bill for domain renewals. ############################

No offence, but you did ask.

Grateful for a response!

They've since opened another ticket and said "there's nothing they can do for me".

What I didn't add was their response on 31st asking if I'd wanted a month's free hosting if I'd consider - this bit says to me that the penny had dropped and out came the enticing bit?

[km8]

Fair enough.
But the problem still remains.

Did you want them to cancel the account? (Don't refer me to your earlier posts - I've read them and none of them answer that question).

Did you ask them to cancel the account?

If you did, what's with the "I only wish {WEBHOST} to bill for domain renewals" bit? Maybe 'account' means something different to you and to them?

Or did you mean you only wanted them to cancel one or more services and not the entire account?

What did they subsequently DD you for?

Neither I nor they would have to ask any of these questions if you stated clearly what you wanted them to do.

I'm not taking sides here - I just don't know what you wanted them to do.
I still feel that they probably didn't either - and, from what I've seen of the correspondence, I don't blame them.

I'm often on the other side of this fence where people give ambiguous instructions and get upset if I don't guess correctly what they wanted.

[HairyCornflake]

Did you want them to cancel the account?

Yes, and from what I can see, they were told three times. The reason I re-quoted is so that you left out the part which was attached to that ticket and formed probably the main part of my argument. Also, anyone reading can easily follow the path rather than having to scroll up and down.

Did you ask them to cancel the account? If you did, what's with the "I only wish {WEBHOST} to bill for domain renewals" bit? Maybe 'account' means something different to you and to them?

No, I only had a reseller account and I bought my domain names through them. By informing them I only wanted them to bill for domain names twice coupled with "hey, I'm not using your hosting - and haven't done for two weeks" was, I felt, transparent. Add the Deactivated bit and the month's free hosting means they knew.

Neither I nor they would have to ask any of these questions if you stated clearly what you wanted them to do.

Thought I had But that's why I posted, to make sure it was/was not me that was at fault.

Anyway km8, thanks for responding - appreciated.

[futureweb]

LOL

On a lighter note your bank needs some kungfoo *read I am "Searches the house for statements":
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi...,24632#reclaim