Your host may be coming for you!
When signing up for a host, many times you pay either with a credit card, paypal, or maybe automatic withdrawal from your bank. These are convenient, saving time on renewals and keeping track of all your different accounts.
Of course, you pay for convenience. One very prevalent consequence of using any type of automatic payment method, is the tendency of some hosts to bill whether you want hosting or not.
Automatic Payments.
In a previous post, I discussed my discovery of the authorization code. Let’s say you pay for hosting with a debit or credit card. There is a card number and a 3/4 digit number on the back of the card. Basically, once you give a host (or any merchant for that matter) your credit card information with that 3/4 digit code on the back, they are able to charge you indefinitey. It doesn’t matter if you cancel the card and get a new one.
Keep your money safe.
Knowing about the authorization code, I have avoided using credit/debit cards on the web. All my transactions go through Paypal. For added a protection, I do not link Paypal to my bank account. And, there is only enough in there to handle monthly expenses.
Well, with all these precautions, I no longer have the thousand dollar issues that were common in the past. However, a new problem has arisen. The arrival of the collection agency.
A new strategy.
Once hosts realized that they could no longer deduct from my accounts without notifying me or providing service, they decided to send collection agencies after me. It is this kind of behavior that shows the kind of disreputable operation that forced me to leave them in the first place.
It is probably the tough economic times combined with very lax banking practices that encourage this kind of behavior. The banks are ever so anxious to rack up overdraft fees, penalties, interest charges, over-balance surcharges, etc. And, you have hosts that are probably suffering from the slowing business.
It’s coming.
Be aware! If you do automatic payments and decide to cancel hosting, don’t be surprised if they send a collection agency after you!
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