Billing

[matt5150]

We have been trying to update billing information (including name/company info) but the Host 9 system does not allow it. We then try live chat only to find out they can only help with sales AND they are rude...go figure! (not the first post on here regarding this) Now our account has been suspended, live chat blocked AND they have blocked us from calling their phone number - UNBELIEVABLE! All because we were upset that NOTHING was being done to help us - a $149.00 per month customer. Do you think we have a right to be upset?

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear this. Do you have a ticket ID related to this? I'll gladly look into it right away.

Also feel free to email me personally at ben@hostnine.com

Thank you

[matt5150]

Yes Ben it is: NSJ-251800 - I was trying to get help updating our billing information previous to being suspended. Live Chat wouldn't help us and we became extremely frustrated at the lack of support for an existing 149.00 per month customer, hence the harsh words as we were trying to keep our site live. Then Nick suspended the account this morning. We then tried to correspond with Nick because we could still not update the name/company associated with the credit card. Nick was extremely rude, called us belligerent, would not reply, blocked us from live chat AND blocked us from calling your listed number. This is absolutely absurd. First of all if you know that a loyal customer is trying to pay but is having issues with your system, you DO NOT suspend them anyway. Second you DO NOT block them from support/correspondence - what will we experience with the next issue that comes up? This is a frightening display of customer support and has us thinking of an alternative. Please advise. Thanks Ben!

[matt5150]

Yes there were overdue notices and we were trying to change billing info so that we could pay it. The way this whole issue was handled was ridiculous. We had to have another individual call in this morning and make the payment. We have our own customers and if they are overdue but we see there is an issue at hand, we do NOT suspend them if they are trying to resolve it. You are a hosting company and WE are your business. We are the people that keep you open and to be treated like that is inexcusable. And then to be dis-communicated? Especially for a customer who has been with you for the good part of a year and paying 149.00 per month.

[H9NickH]

Hello,

Just wanted to clarify a few points:
1) 3 overdue notices were sent prior to suspension
2) No attempt was made to contact us prior to the suspension date
3) No attempt was made to pay the invoice prior to the suspension date

Had you contacted us before the suspension date, we would have been more than happy to look into any potential payment issues that you were having. However, no contact was received from you, and the suspension was completed as per our policies - and as per the 3 notices that you were sent prior to such action.

You were blocked from our chat system because you were abusive and threatening to our staff members despite being told numerous times that our Sales Chat was unable to assist with a billing matter. They did not help you because they do not have access to do so - but they did refer you to the proper department that was able to assist you. You refused to contact our Billing Department via the proper methods. I apologize that you were frustrated by this, however, our Sales Chat staff members do not have access to the billing system and are unable to assist you. There is a notice displayed to all chat users prior to entering chat that specifically states that technical support and billing issues cannot be resolved via chat; it appears that was missed so I will definitely look into making it more prominent to avoid future confusion.

Our Billing Department works only standard business hours Monday-Friday 9-5 (like most companies) and is not available at 1:30 AM. I apologize for the confusion, however, this information is also listed on our website at http://www.hostnine.com/contact-us/

You claim that I refused to reply to your tickets and were "discommunicated", which is completely false. Once you did submit a ticket as you were requested by our sales staff, you received a personal response from me within 1 minute of your ticket submission. After you replied, you received another personal response from me within 15 minutes of your reply. Both replies were made on my own time. I think that, in itself, shows our commitment to our customers. What other company has staff members that work on their own time to ensure that critical issues are addressed in a timely manner?

I do see that you did make the payment and your server is back online at this time. In the future, I recommend contacting us when you receive overdue notices if you are having difficulty paying, as our Billing Department is more than happy to assist you with these concerns to avoid such negative action such as suspension.

If you have any other issues/concerns regarding this issue, or future issues, I welcome you to contact me personally at nickh@hostnine.com or email Ben at ben@hostnine.com

[matt5150]

Nick,

You have no customer appreciation skills and we are sorry your feelings were hurt. You will lose customers with responses such as yours. WE are the customer who is paying you...that is why you are in business. We were originally trying to resolve an issue that wasn't being resolved. You originally responded to our first inquiry with an extremely negative tone. When we responded telling you that your system would not allow us to change our billing information, you immediately stopped responding and blocked us from even calling your phone number. ABSURD!

The previous thread was closed after your again negative comment...see a pattern? You may want to follow Ben's lead as he has the customer service skills that you are severely lacking.

BTW, Nick, you STILL have not replied to our request as to why we cannot change the name/company in the billing information. Are you planning on addressing this or just ignoring/blocking us? That is the 149.00/month question.

Yes we are frustrated beyond belief...the issue at hand takes a second seat to how you have treated one of your loyal customers!

[H9NickH]

You have no customer appreciation skills and we are sorry your feelings were hurt.

Quite on the contrary, my feelings weren't hurt at all. Since this issue was made public without contacting us privately in an attempt to resolve it, I felt it was appropriate to defend HostNine against unclear and incomplete accusations about our service.

I appreciate the business of each and every customer that does business with us. However, when no payment is received, and no communication is made with us to let us know if an issue is present, despite 3 overdue notices and 10 days passing, we do suspend accounts. It would not be in the best financial interests of this company to allow customers to go on without paying and making no effort to communicate any issues with payment to us.

WE are the customer who is paying you...

That's the whole reason that this thread is here - you did not pay and your service was suspended.

We were originally trying to resolve an issue that wasn't being resolved.

You did NOT contact us until after you received notice your service was suspended. If you did contact us before your suspension date, please provide a Ticket ID, as I assure you that you would have received a response and your issue would have been resolved.

I treat each and every customer fairly. If any customer contacts the Billing Department well enough before the suspension date to say they're having issues paying or need extra time to pay, a reasonable extension will be granted in almost any case. However, if you don't communicate with us, we don't know that you're having an issue, and therefore cannot assist you.

You originally responded to our first inquiry with an extremely negative tone.

My initial reply to your ticket was, and I quote:
"If you are experiencing issues making a payment, please double-check that the card information on file with us is correct. Be sure that your card has a Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover logo on it, as we are only able to accept cards with these logos. We do not decline cards on our end, so if the card is still being refused though you have verified that the information is correct, it may be that your financial institution is denying the payment. In such a case, you will want to contact your card issuer for resolution."

I fail to see how that is negative in the slightest.

When we responded telling you that your system would not allow us to change our billing information, you immediately stopped responding

As stated previously, I was working on my own time when I responded to your ticket the first 2 times. I apologize that I was not around (on my own time still) to answer your ticket beyond that.

Are you planning on addressing this or just ignoring/blocking us?

If you want to resolve this matter, you need to open a ticket to the Billing Department. This forum is not where we resolve billing issues.

Yes we are frustrated beyond belief...

I apologize you're frustrated, however, the fact of the matter is you made NO attempt to contact us before the suspension date to resolve any payment issues. If you did, as you say, contact us before the suspension date, please provide a Ticket ID that shows this as I could not find one under your account. Your service was justly suspended due to non-payment and you made no attempt to contact us to notify us of issues. Your posts made it appear as though you had contacted us several times prior to suspension and didn't receive assistance. That couldn't be further from the truth. You ignored 3 overdue notices and waited until you were notified that your service was suspended before making ANY attempt to contact us.

I apologize you feel hurt by this but we have policies in place for a reason. You were sent 3 overdue notices, all of which warned you that failure to remit payment within 10 days after the due date would result in service suspension. You made absolutely no attempt to contact us until you were notified of service suspension.

I encourage you to look around at the policies of other dedicated server providers. Even with our provider directly at ThePlanet, at 10 days past due you would not only be suspended, but your entire dedicated server would have been terminated and your data lost for good. Our billing policy is EXTREMELY lenient - and not many companies allow their customers to go 10 days without paying before cutting them off.

This thread is closed. There are 2 sides to every story - and your side wasn't showing all the facts clearly. You've had your opportunity to present your side of the circumstances, and we've posted the other side of the story. If you have further questions, you have my email and you have Ben's email.