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Journal tomhudson's Journal: ask a subset of slashdot ... 23

Journal by tomhudson

A couple of years ago, I developed a web site for a client. Last year, when it came time to renew the domain, etc., they wanted to know if I could "sort of hold off on it for a few months ..." I explained that it doesn't work like that - if you don't renew before the due date, it goes into a "holding pen" for a while, at which point it costs a lot more to renew ... and if you wait too long, you lose the right to redeem it, and anyone can snap it up.

Anyway, long story short, I paid for the renewal, and kept the site up. Months passed ... no word from them. Finally, it was time to renew again. I paid the renewal, and then turned off the email Sunday. I had turned off the rest of the site a few months ago, didn't hear a peep from them. I figure they're dead, they've gotten a year free from me, its enough, I'll find some other use for it ...

So today, wonder of wonders, I get a phone call - "Our email isn't working! We checked, and the domain's still good for another year." Well, duh! Of course its good for another year - I just paid for it - again.

This is an ongoing pattern and problem, and honestly, I'm tired of it. If I had let it lapse, some squatter would have grabbed it. Instead, they've gotten a free year of hosting.

I don't want to be mean, but at the same time, I'm kind of fed up with dealing with this sort of thing. I'm REALLY tempted to say "go find yourself another sucker." I can understand a few weeks, a few months, even ... but after 6 months, never mind a year ...

What would you do?

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  • and send them a bill, large with extras.
    • yeah

      unless you have an agreement to maintain the domain it's out of your hands.
      if you warned them and they said make it work, then bill them.
      If you don't want any part of it anymore than let them know.

      • They welched on their domain and hosting fees over a year ago. I've been nice about it, letting it slide for a year, but I figure "enough is enough."

        Now I know why they needed a new domain a couple of years ago :-)

  • Honestly, a .com costs less than $50 for five years through godaddy.com. Most decent registrars should be in this price range. Why are you even telling them to register for just one year to begin with? That aside, if you're going to continue on the annual plan, I would send them a first, second, and final notice. If they don't reply/pay by the date listed on the final notice, turn it off. If they're clients that are paying you a decent sum for something other than keeping their domains registered, you

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by RM6f9 ( 825298 )
      I know, somewhat crass to post a "me, too" or "ditto" - so call me crass, this is my recommendation as well.

    • I don't use godaddy, and it wasn't just for renewal, it was for hosting, etc. as well. The money isn't the point - they're just not worth the wasted mind space. I only renewed it the second time because I figure I might find some use for it at some future date.

      I had warned them over a year ago about the consequences of not renewing - including the high fees my registrar charges if you renew during the redemption period (I use them because they give good service, even if they cost more :-), , and that by

  • Charge them for 2 years worth of renewals and then double it. If they rely on those email addresses then they'll pay it without even thinking twice. Then force them to take over the DNS account at the registrar so you don't get stuck in the middle of it again.

    Oh, and tell me what the domain is so I can set a cron script to watch the renewal date on the domain so I can snatch it up and resell it back to them in the future :-)

    • "Oh, and tell me what the domain is so I can set a cron script to watch the renewal date on the domain so I can snatch it up and resell it back to them in the future :-)"

      I did some checking tonight, and it turns out that their previous domain was bought by someone in India - you know the type - they buy up lapsed domain names.

      You don't need a script - you can download the daily "hit parade" of lapsed domains via ftp - I have the link somewhere at the office - I'll post it when I find it.

  • ...if possible.
    You've gone above and beyond, and clearly deserve more than a cup of coffee for your patience.

    • Explaining it in terms of their business is asy - "When a customer doesn't pay you, do YOU wait a year to drop them? Didn't think so ..." p. We'll see what happens ...

      • I'd put it specifically within the terms of their business. If they're dental floss tycoons in Montana[1], talk about how you've given them a few miles worth of your finest, and now you're left with tooth decay.
        It's easy to see this whole domain thing and email as some immaterial abstraction. Putting it in their terms makes it less avoidable.

        [1]Frank Zappa reference.

        • I think the easiest metaphor is like phone numbers. If you don't pay your account, it lapses, and the phone company is free to assign the number to another client.

  • You did exactly the right thing, finally.

    If turning them off for non-payment gets their attention, then turn them off until they pay. It's very simple. If they stop paying their bill again, turn them off again. If you like the income, continue holding on to the domain in their name.

    If you truly just want to be shed of them or if they want to be rid of you, be completely straightforward and honest. Write up an estimate of what it will cost you to transfer their stuff to another hosting provider, and

    • You did exactly the right thing, finally.

      I think so too ...

      If turning them off for non-payment gets their attention, then turn them off until they pay. It's very simple. If they stop paying their bill again, turn them off again. If you like the income, continue holding on to the domain in their name.

      The problem is, this isn't the first time I've had to do this with them ...

      If you truly just want to be shed of them or if they want to be rid of you, be completely straightforward and honest. Write up a

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by plover ( 150551 ) *
        Send them a letter stating that the next time they fall one business day behind on their payments, you will shut their site down. If you want to definitely be done with them, add that upon non-payment you will express mail them their data on CD, and you will refuse to do any further business with them other than transfer ownership of the domain name for a set fee paid in advance. If you want to be hard-ass about it, add that these terms are no longer negotiable due to their previous non-payment history.

        • Don't worry - its not about the money. I haven't quit my day job as lead c programmer for an internet search engine :-) (sorry I can't name them - NDA - but you'd recognize them)

          I have a copy of the site on CD somewhere - I've had to turn it off for non-payment in the past ... even then, it took 3 months to collect (sigh).

          I think they'd be better off with a bare-bones account on some free hosting service. No domain to remember to renew, no hosting costs, etc.

  • Maybe a competitor can pay you on a regular basis to redirect to their website? :-)

    • You are *SO* evil ;-)

      I wouldn't do that. While it might be within the law*, it would be wrong ...

      *(they haven't paid for hosting in more than a year, and I turned the site off last fall, so we've ceased any sort of "business relationship" as far as I can see. I paid to renew it - twice - out of my own pocket. I only left their email running until last weekend as a courtesy - okay, as an act of pity)

  • ...my reply is pretty predictable and chiming in with others here:

    "I've renewed your domain twice, resulting in an amount of $amount plus $amount expenses, due immediately. Your e-mail works as soon as the money has arrived in my bank account."

    When you have the money:

    "Because of your repeatedly not paying in the past, your hosting contract with me expires in 30 days. I've already put the CD with your data in the mail. I will turn off everything, including web servers and mail, when the contract expires, so

    • Sounds fair, but I don't really want their money. If they're that hard up, they're better off with a free host somewhere. I turned the web site off last fall, even that didn't get a response ...

      Its only after I renewed it a second time, and got around to turning off the email access as well, so I could start playing around with ideas as to what to do to repurpose it, that they phone out of the blue with "why isn't our email working?"

      They lost a previous domain with another service - same story - didn't

      • Sounds fair, but I don't really want their money.

        Well, here comes my being German part. I'd charge them out of principle, even if it were for a few Euros only, and enforce that by law. First notice, second notice, final notice, Vollstreckbarer Titel. That's an enforcable German legal construct that says "those guys owe Dr. O $amount".

        The nice thing is this allows me to "sell" the charge to a collection company for a fraction of its value. There are lots of fine Russian collection companies around here, and

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