Advice needed for a web hosting company debt

[jase5red]

Hi,

 

3 years ago my wife and I set up a small letting agents for family and friends and paid for a package of support from a recommended company specialising

in set up packages for small businesses in our field, inc 3 years support, web design, offering free uploads of properties etc etc.

 

After 1 year another company contacted us and explained if we wished to continue using the upload facility on our website then it would cost £29 extra a month

- after going back to the original supplier they informed us that it was still a good deal, but it was out of their hands.

 

After being telephoned on 3 separate occasions by the new company offering the new subscription service

we told them on each occasion we had no intention to subscribe and that we would not use the facility,

but it was explained that despite us not uploading new instructions we could still log in and edit existing details which were input during the first year of our original package.

 

Recently we were notified that our 'property search' page no longer had any existing information on,

but was directed to another random site.

 

We asked the existing company who we purchased the package from and they referred us to the new subscription company.

 

They told us that in order to rectify the problem they would need 24 months of unpaid subscription totalling in excess of £600.

 

We have never had any paperwork, nor correspondance informing us that the account was still active and they were still applying charges to the account.

 

What concerns me is that if we had not been notified of the mistake, how far would these charges have accumulated.

 

Obviously we have not acknowledged the debt, and would very much welcome any advice

 

- regards jase5red

[Conniff]

The most important part here is do you own the domain name, is it in your name or the website companies ?

 

I know you can't post links with only one post, but can you spell out your website url so we can take a look pse

[Fox Morris]

It would help if you can mention what company is offering the subscription service as the terms and conditions for Software as a Service (SaaS) can be a minefield.

Also, what are you looking to achieve? Avoid the debt, reclaim the website or something else?

[jase5red]

The most important part here is do you own the domain name, is it in your name or the website companies ?

 

I know you can't post links with only one post, but can you spell out your website url so we can take a look pse

 

Hi, thanks for response - we do own the domain name, we purchased through Namesco online, and renew it every 12 months - just been renewed ( ajlifestyles.co.uk ). We have been asked that if we contribute £260 upfront and renew our membership at £29 per month, they will waive any other existing charges - we don't believe we have any debt incurred as we told them on at least 3 occasions that we wanted to cancel from the onset of them introducing a subscription. No money has ever been requested, nor any correspondance received stating that we were on subscription nor any correspondance stating that we were supposedly owing such amounts. What I am asking is can we transfer our webhosting and ignore the debt, or are we obliged to pay such back payments, when we categorically have never entered into any agreements nor received any confirmation of such - many thanks

[Conniff]

Ok, so you own it which means you can't be coerced into renewing or paying anything that isn't contracted.

 

If you are certain there is no legal obligation, then just move. I, personally, would get a brown envelope from my local newsagent and send them a request, by recorded delivery, for all account information and copies of all the contracts where you have agreed 'with a signature' to be bound.

You could do the same thing but with a legal obligation for them to respond within 12 days by using a Subject Access Request at the maximum cost of £10.

 

I had a similar thing many years ago and just ignored it all and went my own way. It might be worth you looking at doing your own work and using a UK hosting company. The costs for a self run website can be around £12 per month, worth thinking about.

 

On another note. Nominet, (the UK registry), now allows registration and renewal of UK domains for periods between 1 and 10 years. It might be worth you thinking of the 10 years for safety and piece of mind so you will never lose your site.

[Fox Morris]

The domain is already registered in your name and it sounds like you have access to the registrar's control panel, so I wouldn't bother transferring to Nominet as it will just cost you more. The Nominet dispute procedure is available to all .uk domains, independent of registrar, so there's no real advantage to using Nominet direct.

 

The only argument that the service provider will have is that you (possibly) agreed to their terms of service by using their portal or perhaps by ticking a button when logging on. It's a good idea to get your hands on this as Conniff has outlined. It's highly unlikely the terms of service will specifically mention a price to pay per month but they often contain clauses allowing the service provider to invoice in arrears for missed payments/errors. If it doesn't then I wouldn't give moving host a second thought; if it does then you'll have to write to them outlining the fact that you told them you wanted to cancel the service, that they didn't invoice for a prolonged period and they didn't warn you or suspend access etc. You had every reason to believe the service you were getting was free and you therefore have valid reason to contest the payment.

 

One thing I would suggest is that you make sure all your property details are properly backed up in an open format, before the switch or the request for documentation is made. The service provider could suspend access at any time and having that data will save you and your web developer a considerable amount of time.

[Conniff]

You don't move to nominet, you get the subscription through the usual seller that has been used but can now get a 10 year renewal.

[Fox Morris]

You don't move to nominet, you get the subscription through the usual seller that has been used but can now get a 10 year renewal.

 

Thanks for the clarification. When you mentioned Nominet allowing 10 year registrations it looked like you were promoting a switch to them, which at £96 a year is not cheap!

 

UK domains come with a 90 day grace period after a lapsed renewal, so I wouldn't commit to a long term renewal on the grounds of security alone, but it may save some cash in the long run.

[jase5red]

Thanks we will end account and transfer - politely saying we cancelled it over the phone at the onset of being informed it would no longer be a subscription service - many thanks for the advice

[jase5red]

Hi it states the following on their website By signing in to this site, you are agreeing to our T&C of use, and the use of cookies for authentication purposes

 

However when you click on the terms and conditions on the homepage it doesn't do anything, so I assume that you cannot access them without signing in