Resold account refuses to pay

[MTDesigns]

I seem to be having a problem with a resold account. It's a non-profit organization that has at least the past 3 times withheld payment until the very last minute. This time, they have not paid at all. I've sent numerous emails to the director of the org, and have received replies saying that the person in charge will get back to me, but to no avail. In the past, I have had an issue over money with the person in charge, and cannot understand nor justify why they cannot send the money. Payment was due on their account last week, and I have paid for this month out of my pocket. I have sent at least 2 emails since then warning them that payment is overdue. I have also done some updates for them at the beginning of the month and have yet to see payment for that.

What would you do in this situation? I hate to remove their website...should I charge a late fee, and if so how much?

The next time I do any work for them, I will require payment up front.

Thanks so much for your advice!

Best always,

Joi~

[Deb]

Be sure to send notice before "doing" anything.... e.g. "If unpaid by x date a late fee of blah will be added" "If unpaid by x date the account will be disabled" and "If unpaid by x date and the account is disabled an additional fee will be charged for the reenabling of the account" etc etc...

Often times, as much as we all hate to do it, disabling the account is the fastest way to get their attention.

FutureQuest sends out an invoice 15 days prior to the due date and a deactivation notice 5 days after the due date which gives them an additional 5 days prior to deactivating the account. As long as the amount is paid within the first ten days after the due date no extra fees or account issues are experienced. E.g. a ten day grace period.

If the amount due is NOT paid by the 11th day the site is disabled...this usually results in the payment arriving in short order, however, there is also the $10 reactivation fee which covers the 'late fee' the 'time to disable the account' the time often spent 'explaining why the account is disabled' and the time spent to 'reactivate' the account.

For resellers another option is to change the accounts password 3 days after the due date... this allows the site to continue showing and the email to continue to be received but the client is now unable to check the email or visit the CNC/FTP/Telnet (if you provide them with this access) until the payment is made.

Invoice with note saying that if unpaid by x date account access will be disabled (pw change)

Day 4 Past Due - Change PW and send note explaining as such and that if still unpaid by x date the site will be deactivated and that there is a reactivation fee...

Day 11 Past Due - CHMOD the site to prevent it from being able to be viewed on the web....

If deactivation doesn't work let them know you'll be closing the account and everything will be deleted by x date.

When final date is reached..download the site (so you have a copy of it just in case) and submit a cancellation request with FutureQuest... ;)

Hopefully the above offers a couple of ideas that can be picked from. Often times people forget that the process of 'collecting' late payments cost just as much, if not more, than the amount owed... and we need to be careful not to allow that expense to get out of control... this is why it's best to "cut the site" within a timely manner after nonpayment rather than gathering more expenses with an uncertainty of payment ever arriving :/

Deb
- Then there is Guido....

[MTDesigns]

Thanks so much Deb...I have certainly given them enough advance notice. The last email I sent was the day after payment was due -- I told them that I needed to receive payment by today or the website would be terminated. The director contacted me today asking if I had heard from the person in charge...I haven't.

I will look over your list and decide what to do next. Thank you so much for your advice :).

Best always,

Joi~

[Matt]

Joi,

Is this a monthly or yearly payment? If yearly, how much advance notice was given? I'd consider 30 days a minimum before doing anything. If payment has been late in the past, I'd extend this to 45 days. If this organization is paying monthly, I'd revise the terms of agreement so that this organization pays yearly, which will reduce the frequency of having to deal with payment collection.

Some organizations have bureaucratic delays that are frustrating, but unavoidable. If you are on otherwise good terms with your client, "paying out of pocket" is sometimes an unfortunate reality necessary for maintaining good relations and demonstrating that you cater towards your clients' particular circumstances.

Always proceed carefully with sensitive matters like payment- Matt

[MTDesigns]

Thanks for your advice Matt...I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, I have a history with this organization not wanting to part with their money. So, instead of paying yearly (which would be cheaper for them), they chose to pay monthly (sent in quarterly payments).

I understand having to extend the time, but what if they choose not to pay after the extended deadline? I'm sorry to say that I don't trust them. From what I can see, the person in charge did not want to handle anything more with the website, and did not want to pay to have anything done. The website work was handed to someone else, and she was left to pay out of her own pocket for hosting. I guess she doesn't want to pay out of her pocket anymore. I do occasional updates, which I will be asking for payment upfront in the future...if there is one :).

I haven't heard back from them since this morning...I need to compose another email with some real deadlines...

Thanks again!

Best always,

Joi~

[Mandi]

I've also run into a few websites over the years that had their site not so much terminated, as turned "off" with a page that specifies that there is a problem with their web account, and they need to contact the admin immediately. Date it and/or specify that the issue is one of nonpayment for extra effect.

Depending on the value the nonprofit puts on their public image, this would seem to be another route of placing some pressure where pressure is needed.

I've had a couple clients who couldn't get their act in order either, it's very frustrating.

[MTDesigns]

Thanks Mandi! Yesterday I emailed the Director the new terms -- I gave them until December 1 for me to receive payment, or I would disable their account. They also owe me for making some changes on their account, which I also have not received.

Hopefully, I'll hear from them soon.

Thanks again!

Best always,

Joi~

[Deb]

Date it and/or specify that the issue is one of nonpayment for extra effect. This is often an issue that generates huge debates.

The repercussion of placing 'details' on a disabled account may, in some cases, bring more havoc than it's worth. I think it's important, if placing a temp page up, to make it as 'innocent and general' in nature as possible...

Deb
- I do not pretend to be an attorney on tv

[MTDesigns]

I personally wouldn't want personal information regarding my account shown to the Internet world...

Hmmm...I never imagined to be in this situation with this organization...

Best always,

Joi~

[MTDesigns]

if placing a temp page up, to make it as 'innocent and general' in nature as possible...

Any suggestion as to what this temp page might say....? :)

[Bob]

Originally posted by MTDesigns:
Any suggestion as to what this temp page might say....? :)
Hmmmmm... how about...

Forbidden

You don't have permission to access example.com on this server.- Bob ;)

[MTDesigns]

LOL...Thanx Bob :)! I was also looking for the how-to on chmoding the website and email so they cannot be accessed...as per Deb's suggestion, but cannot locate it (I'm not that familiar with chmoding...;) Also, if I do choose to chmod the website so noone can access it, can I still upload a temp page? Or would the temp page only be accessible if I deleted the whole website via FTP and uploading the temp page?

Thanx so much,

Joi~

[MTDesigns]

How about enabling a password on the www directory? Will the password box pop-up if anyone tries to access the website in any directory?

What would be the easiest way to disable their email...change passwords?

[Bob]

Hi again Joi,

Actually I may be facing the same situation in two weeks for one of my personal clients.

Placing a .htaccess file in the root directory for the site in question (/www I assume) that contains the following should do the job...

deny from all


-Bob :police:

[MTDesigns]

Thanx so much Bob...will this take care of disabling their email also, so they will not be able to access it but still receive it?

[Bob]

Joi,

Email is an entirely other deal and I honestly don't know of a method to block their access to sending email and still allow them to receive via password.

Which poses a big problem... If you change their password they can't send or receive email but email sent to them would still be received...

I would suggest that possibly using a filter of some sort (help Sheila) you could bounce all email. If you can accomplish that then changing the password would be an option AFAIAC.

If you can't block additional email from being received I would be very hesitant to change the password which would prevent them from accessing email that was still being received.

-Bob

- Here we go... Rock and a hard place :P -

[MTDesigns]

What if I change permissions in the email manager? I would just like to make it so they cannot check or send email from their domain account...emails could still be sent to their domain. I know they have access to other emails, so they wouldn't totally be cut off.

[Bob]

Originally posted by MTDesigns:
I would just like to make it so they cannot check or send email from their domain account...emails could still be sent to their domain. My concern with this aspect is the potential of a "supposed" vital email being sent to their domain address and them not being able to access it and as a result they lose "1000's of dollars" %) While a bounce would alert the sender that it was not received and therefore should take another route to contact them...

Anyway that would be my concern as I don't like lawyers myself :P

-Bob

[Jeff]

You could always change the password (so they couldn't send or check until they pay) but add an autoresponder that says "Sorry, your message could not be delivered. Please call us at (xxx) xxx-xxxx instead. We apologize for any inconvenience."

This would be a short term solution because obviously email would continue to accumulate on the server until the account was out of space, but for the short term (unlike a real bounce) it would preserve any non-essential email that they still would want to receive (like subscription renewal notices, etc.). I'd probably set spamassassin to 4 to reduce the amount of spam which accumulates too.

[sheila]

If you really want to bounce all email sent to a given domain, then create a Global Custom Filter as follows (Simple Filter):

bouncesaying "Your error message here." sh -c "exit 0"

(The above is a single line.)

This will cause all email to bounce. Use whatever error message you like in place of "Your error message here." Make sure to enclose it in quotes.

[MTDesigns]

Hi Sheila, and thank you. This will not stop access to their email (sending and reading), will it? Also, you sound a bit unsure that bouncing should be done...what's your opinion, if you don't mind me asking? :)

Thanx, Joi~

[sheila]

I think that Bob has a point...if someone sends an email to an address on that domain and doesn't realize that the recipient did not receive it (in fact, cannot receive it), there may be some serious complaints. At least if the sender gets a bounce message, they know to try and reach the recipient via some other means, if possible.

The mail delivery mechanism, which is what would bounce the messages back to the sender, is completely separate from the POP and SMTP access available to FutureQuest clients for checking their email and for sending outbound email. You would need to do as suggested earlier in this discussion, and change the email passwords, to prevent them from accessing or being able to send out email from this account.

[Evoir]

Honestly, I don't think you hvae to worry too much about it all. Simply disable their website and then send them an email notifying them that their website is down until full payment is made. I bet they'll cut you a check that day. I would also INSIST on annual payments from them, and begin billing them for the next year 60 days before the due date.

If you don't put your foot down, they will walk all over you. Good luck with it all!