Hosting Costs

Status
Not open for further replies.

cbf

New Member
We have a simple ecommerce site that went live in March 2010. We have just receive an invoice for ' Annual hosting and support fee for Jan 2011 to Dec 2011'.

The invoice is for over Euro 500.

Should the invoice be due for payment in March 2011?

Should 'hosting' and 'support' be listed seperately? Should support be optional? The original charge for hosting for 2010 was Euro 110.

Thanks
 

Forbairt

Teaching / Designing / Developing
Erm ... probably you should ask for a breakdown of the hosting / support fees and what exactly you're getting for that.

I've listed minimal support / hosting fees in the past on the one figure so up to you really whether you want them broken apart.

I would say find out what is included in the support ...

Upgrades of the system to the latest releases / patches ... take time and generally cause breakage that need fixing with plugin updates and so on ...

So I'd say just ask them if they can run you through what you're getting for that 500+ quid :)
 

link8r

New Member
The Payment terms should be made clear in the invoice, otherwise you could opt to adopt your own.

Should they be listed separately? Well, only if you ask for that. Remember that B2B transactions are based on a contract (forgetting a signed piece of a paper, a contract is any mutually understood and agreed on, well, contract). Therefore, if you accept it, then it is acceptable, there isn't a "right" or "wrong" answer.

But, I think you've a good point - support is a really broad term and it can be as wide or narrow as someone wishes to interpret it. This is the sticky thing about contracts - its not covered by consumer law. If you buy a consumer product, you get a host of automatic protections that contract law escapes. Everything is either in a contract or its out - by default. Therefore if it says support but doesn't clarify what support is, well there isn't a legal framework for web support to help you out.

I think you should seek a clear and understandable contract of what it is they are providing and what the limitations are - because it could be absolutely nothing.

Disclaimer: I am also a director in another company that offers website support (not hosting).
 

Byron

New Member
Ask for a readout of what you are going to get, to be honest, if they are going to allocate 10 hours support in the price, it is probably right. This is similar to what I do, I offer a price where a client can only get support from the Host (and pay extra for additional support) or a package including a few hours support (which about 40% use) for around twice the price.

If you are in doubt about something just ask, I personally wouldn't feel offended being asked by clients what they are getting, especially for 1/2 a grand.

Hope this helps!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top