I know that I am in the minority on this issue. Good business sense is to
not let things become personal, but it sounds like this guy wants to make it
personal. If the facts are as you present them then I would become the
aggressor on this issue.
First, what does your terms of service say about collection of past due
amounts - hopefully it says something about being able to recover collection
and attorney fees. Second, quit communicating with him directly tell him
you have turned the matter over to your attorney. Have your attorney
write a strongly worded letter to him about payment of the past due amount
and his uncalled for claims against you - include the cost of the attorney
writing the letter.
I do not agree that the data is his. He rents some amount of web space on
your hard drive - if he does not pay his rent he is not longer entitled to
that space. One other question - why are there any NetSol charges for
simply changing name servers?
Spending money on the attorney will likely be more expensive - but sometimes
it is the principle of the matter and it sounds like he is trying to bully
you.
CJS
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Kovacich" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2000 11:02 AM
Subject: Off Topic - termination of website, overdue account
: Sorry for the off-topic subject but I have an issue that came up of
importance
: to ISPs who host websites and it is domain registration related.
:
: We recently terminated an account who got hosting and dialup services from
us.
: Many friendly emails were sent, phone calls with promises to pay the
overdue
: accountand re-faxing the invoice, termination was the final remedy. I
thought as
: a service provider I have the right to do. No payment, no service. I feel
I am
: not obligated to provide or continue to provide internet services with a
: customer in bad standing. In the past when we lost a client to another
ISP, we
: have in the past assisted the process when the account was paid in full.
:
: Rather than paying the amount owing he decided to move the domain to
another
: ISP. We disabled FTP access and email access to the domain and dialup
access
: immediately upon finding out his desire to move the domain. We did not
hold back
: transfer of the domain, we responded within 12 hours after receiving the
request
: for transfer from Netsol as we were the administrative contact on the
domain.
:
: He claims since we terminated the account, we should pay for moving his
domain
: Netsol charges, and loss of business. By the way the site has been moved
for a
: week and the site is still unreachable at the new ISP. He claims that he
owns
: the data on our servers and we must allow him access so he or his new ISP
can
: download his site. Apparently he did not backup his own website. We were
not
: paid or contracted to any site design or backup his business data, just
hosting
: and dialup.
:
: He is now also claiming that we are responsible for reconstructed his
website
: for $5000 he says a contractor is charging and wants me to pay it. The
site was
: maybe a $300 or $400 site. I have talked to a lawyer but I'm also trying
to
: research this further in case this comes up again.
:
: He came into our showroom and was verbally abusive to me personally and
the
: business in front of two customers. I do not want to give him access to
our
: servers fearing he may attempt electronic abuse.
:
: Is the data sitting on our servers, property of the ex-client who is
trying to
: get out of paying $76.93. Are we responsible to give ex-clients access to
our
: servers. Are we as ISPs responsible to backup and make available whenever
: current or ex-clients want copies of their website ?
:
: I was willing to let his new ISP get FTP access once the account is paid
by
: certified cheque only, and that the ex-client sign a form stating both
parties
: are no longer under any financial obligation to one another. He refused to
sign,
: I refuse to give him FTP access.
:
: I do understand that ISPs cannot holdback domain transfers, we did not,
but are
: we also responsible to for ex-clients poor business practices of not
backing up
: their own website? I cannot believe a court of law is going to force ISPs
to
: keep files on all clients, in case the screw up and loose their data with
their
: new ISP. This is not common sense but stupidity unless I'm missing
something
: here. Sorry for the length of the post, your comments are welcome.
: --
: Thanks,
: Mike
:
:
:
