Client Asking for Refund

[Jako]

Here is the story.

A year ago I was making a server change, and a client of mine just signed up. Within a week he experienced some downtime due to the server switch. He paid for a full year upfront. After he had that brief period of downtime, he decided to cancel his hosting. About a month later he asked for a refund, I really don't remember what I said back, because it was almost a year ago.

A few days ago, I got an email from him asking for the refund again, keep in mind this whole incident took place last September, 11 months ago. What would you suggest I do?

 

[Jako]

I did not see this section, "Web Hosting Business and Legal Issues" can a mod or admin please move it there.

Thanks

 

[Marks]

Wow 11months ago and still requesting a refund... If he paid through Paypal he can't file a complaint because it is too old to go back then.

But it depends on your TOS, if you said No Refunds... then you don't have to refund him.. if you didn't state anything the best advice I can give you is to refund him the month(s) he did not use your service after cancelation.

Should make both sides happy and not cause any big issues for you and him .

 

[webfreak08]

I did not see this section, "Web Hosting Business and Legal Issues" can a mod or admin please move it there.

Thread moved!

 

[PVT-Jordan]

A policy that I chose to follow and implement in my business is that a customer should only pay for the service that he/she receives. If a customer pays for 12 months and cancels after 3, I will refund without being asked. I don't think it's right to try to get away with keeping money from a customer who paid for service that is not being rendered. This doesn't mean that I will give money back if somebody says: "Well, I changed my nameservers, but forgot to cancel". Sorry, but your account isn't closed until you cancel. That's just my policy. I don't know if that will help you and your situation at all.

 

[Jako]

Thanks Xcel, that helps, I agree with you on the refund, it was just weird not hearing from him, and then a year later he emails me asking about it.

 

[PVT-Jordan]

Glad I could help. Also, by simply giving him his money back, you could avoid potential legal action. Most people don't try to sue, but there are the occasional people who are so confident that they can win.

 

[ldcdc]

Most people don't try to sue, but there are the occasional people who are so confident that they can win.

I doubt the amount we're talking about would be enough motivation for this ex customer to go through all the hassle of suing. IMO this situation has to do more with ethics and avoiding potential bad press.

Jako, did you give him the refund the first time he asked for it? If not, why not?

 

[pmhoran]

As a customer ... and if the hosts TOS did not state otherwise ...

I would expect to have to give the host (normally) a 30 day notice of cancellation.

If the yearly amount paid was "a deal" over the monthly amount that would normally be charged ... I would expect to have to pay the regular monthly amount for each month used and THAT amount would be subtracted from the total I paid to determine my refund.

However ....

1. If I was a new customer and the downtime was within the first month or so
2. If the downtime was significant
3. If the downtime was out of my control
4. If I advised my webhost immediately that I was moving my sites due to the downtime experienced

I would expect a full refund of the monies paid. And sorry ... but ... I would not have expected to have to ask for a refund twice.

But that is just me
Peter

 

[Zachary McClung]

Now this leads me to think that maybe just maybe I ought to add a clause to the terms of service stating how long you have to ask for a refund. Personally, I think 11 months later is out of the question. Most host to provide 30 to 60 day MBG. It does not matter whether you left 3 months into the contract or 10 monhts in. If your going to wait nearly a year to ask for it, It no longer becomes my problem.

Which is one reason why we do not offer prepaid plans.

 

[pmhoran]

After he had that brief period of downtime, he decided to cancel his hosting. About a month later he asked for a refund,

But ... he apparently DID ask for a refund.

The thing that gets me .... if he cancelled his hosting ... the refund should have been automatic. A month later .. I guess when he found out it wasn't automatic ... he asked for the refund.

Personally I wouldn't care if it was 11 years down the road ... if I asked for the refund and I am still not receiving it ... I am going to keep on bugging them about it.

 

[PGZN]

You should set a policy in the terms of service. Ours is an automatic refund on all full months of unused service. No partial months are refunded. We still get alot of "I meant to quit a week ago and you just billed me" and "I haven't used your service in a long time, why did you bill me?" As if we are supposed to check all sites for bandwidth usage before automatic billing.