Domain Reconnection Charge

[neweb]

I provide domain and hosting to my customers along with web design.

Over the past 6 months I have had real issues with clients not paying there domain and hosting charges within the 30 days of invoice so I suspend the account on the 31st day.

I also warn them that there is a reconnection charge of €35 if there domain is suspended. This is automatically added to the account on suspension.

My question is:
Are there any other designers out their doing the same or is this an unfair charge!!!


I was thinking of dropping the charge as it causes disputes.
All feedback welcome.

 

[Geoff]

I'm not in your field, but just an idea, maybe you could offer to commute the charge if they sign up with your for direct debit...

I pay for my hosting on D/D and it's no big deal to me.

cheers,
Geoff.

 

[mneylon]

I'm not sure about the reconnection fee, but I'd have no issues with suspending accounts for non-payment

 

[link8r]

The €35 charge - whats this as a % of the cost?

Out of curiosity, do your clients ever give you a reason ?

We have a low number of sites hosted (just under 200) but we probably charge 3 or 4 times the market rate, but then we do everything for our clients - reset passwords, modify sites, help with everything - none of them want to move. So we're a bit slow to turn them off, even if they are 3 months late - but 3 months is extreme. Most of them are around 40 days late - a couple of friendly reminders does it.

But if you don' charge a lot, it's not worth it either!

Instead of turning them off, you can also suspend their account without turning off the site - deny them access to e-mail for a day - you'll get a call within an hour. Turning off their site is very public and embarrassing too!

 

[n3tFl0w]

Turning off their site is very public and embarrassing too!

100% agree with this but I'll go one further... The last people that did this to me, I moved my hosting from. It was their mistake and they barely apologised for it!

So if you are turning off sites... be ultra sure its the clients fault!

 

[neweb]

I'm not sure about the reconnection fee, but I'd have no issues with suspending accounts for non-payment

I have no problems suspending an account due to experience. As much as I hate to say it, the Irish have a reputation for holding back on the money. Getting paid is the biggest problem for most companies.

The €35 charge - whats this as a % of the cost?

I suppose you could say the charge is the fee for the time and effort it takes to get paid.

We have a low number of sites hosted (just under 200) but we probably charge 3 or 4 times the market rate, but then we do everything for our clients - reset passwords, modify sites, help with everything - none of them want to move. So we're a bit slow to turn them off, even if they are 3 months late - but 3 months is extreme. Most of them are around 40 days late - a couple of friendly reminders does it.

But if you don' charge a lot, it's not worth it either!

Same here, we do everything for our clients. So our hosting is above average also. I have a number of customers for over 6 years, I also have customers that have left and come back.

Instead of turning them off, you can also suspend their account without turning off the site - deny them access to e-mail for a day - you'll get a call within an hour. Turning off their site is very public and embarrassing too!

I have lots of customers who pay there bill on time. I have never cut them off so no issue with embarrassment.

Its not me embarrassing the customer, it’s the customer doing it to themselves.
As for cutting a customer off by mistake, its never happened and it never will with the system I have in place.

Invoice is issued, 10 days they get a reminder, 20 days another reminder, 25 days final reminder, 31 days account suspended.

Seems a bit hard I know but I'm not a charity. I make it my business to pay my providers within 10 days of Invoice issue. I can't achieve this if I am left waiting for money. Why should my providers have to wait.