Billing procedures
Unlike most hosting companies these days, we still accept non-instant and non-automated methods of payment -- i.e., cheques and (in person, not by mail) cash. As a result, instead of simply requiring our clients to pay via credit card and then charging your credit card automatically every time a service is about to expire, we take the time to invoice you far enough in advance of expiry dates so that your payment will reach us in plenty of time to renew your services before they expire.
Below we lay out our billing policies and procedures so that you know exactly how we run our accounts-receivable department.
Billing schedule
Billing schedule for services expiring between the 1st and the 15th of the month, inclusive.
Example expiry date: 10 March. |
|---|
| January |
|---|
1
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
Bill | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29
| 30 | 31 | | | | |
| | February |
|---|
| | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Remind | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | | 12 | 13 | 14
Due | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26
| 27 | 28 | | | | |
| | March |
|---|
| | | | 1 | 2 | 3
Notice | 4 | | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
Expiry | 11 | | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17
Suspend | 18 | 19
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
|
Billing schedule for services expiring between the 16th and the end of the month, inclusive.
Example expiry date: 20 March. |
|---|
| February |
|---|
| | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
Bill | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26
| 27 | 28 | | | | |
| | March |
|---|
| | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
| 6 | 7 | 8
Remind | 9 | 10 | 11 | | 12 | 13
Notice | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17
Due | 18 | | 19 | 20
Expiry | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | | 26 | 27
Suspend | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
|
| Key |
|---|
| Bill: | Invoice sent on the 15th of the month. |
| Remind: | Reminder notice sent 21 days after billing if payment in full not yet received. |
| Due: | Payment officially due 30 days after billing date. (No notice sent on this date.) |
| Notice: | Expiry notice sent 7 days before expiry. |
| Expiry: | Service expires. Some or all services suspended. Suspension notice sent. |
| Suspend: | Any services not yet suspended are suspended on this date. (No notice sent on this date.) |
- Billing takes place once a month on the 15th, at least one month before the expiry date of a service. This means:
- For expiry dates between the 1st and the 15th, inclusive, billing will take place on the 15th of the month two months prior. For example, a service that expires on 10 March will be billed for on 15 January.
- For expiry dates between the 16th and the last day of the month, inclusive, billing will take place on the 15th of the month prior. For example, a service that expires on 20 March will be billed for on 15 February.
- A payment reminder will be issued approximately 21 days after invoicing in all cases, unless payment in full has been received by this date.
- Payment for an invoice is due 30 days after the invoice is issued (net 30).
- An expiry notice warning of the imminent expiry of services will be issued approximately 7 days before the expiry date. It is possible in some circumstances -- e.g., for expiry dates shortly after the 15th of the month -- that this expiry notice may be issued before the 30-day period for payment has elapsed.
- Ultimately, payment for a service must be made and clear on or before the expiry date of that service, regardless of any due date printed on the invoice or the "net 30" terms. In cases when a payment has been made before the expiry date but it has not cleared before the expiry date, NinerNet reserves the right to wait until payment has cleared before renewing services.
- If payment has not been received and cleared by the expiry date of the service, a suspension notice will be sent to the client and one of three things will happen depending on the nature of the service:
- Hosting expiry: Access to the control panel and (if applicable) FTP will be suspended, but the hosting will continue to work for a one-week grace period.
- Domain-registration expiry: Access to the control panel and (if applicable) FTP will be suspended, and the domain will cease to function. The domain is suspended by the domain registry, so we are unable to offer a grace period on domain-registration renewals.
- Virtual private server (VPS) expiry: All access to the VPS will be suspended, and the hosting will be suspended. The website, email and any other services hosted on the VPS will stop working.
- If payment has not been received and cleared by one week after the expiry of hosting services, the domain will cease to function.
- Accounts and/or domains are subject to deletion at any time after expiry, but are usually not deleted until about two months after expiry, assuming there has been no instruction to the contrary or no other contact from the client during that time. (Exception: Virtual private servers [VPS] will be decommissioned exactly seven [7] days after expiry. This is irreversible.)
- What happens to a domain registration when and after it expires is dependent on the policies and practices of the domain registry, which are beyond the control of NinerNet and subject to the terms of your domain registration agreement.
- For the purposes of new recurring services, the expiry date of the new service is set at 63 days after the service is set up, until such time as the initial invoice has been paid in full. At that point, the expiry date noted on the invoice comes into effect.
Billing terms
- All billing for recurring services takes place in advance of the service being provided.
- Billing takes place once a month on the 15th, at least one month before the expiry date of a service. This schedule (explained and illustrated in more detail above) is based on our accounts-receivable experience, and allows clients at least one full month to pay for services before they expire.
- New clients will generally be sent their initial invoice approximately one week after initial service provision, and this first invoice may be sent on a date other than the 15th of the month. However, subsequent invoices will be sent on the 15th of the month.
- In the case of multiple services with different expiry dates, we attempt to keep the number of invoices issued to a minimum. Therefore, in addition to adjusting hosting expiry dates to coincide with domain-registration expiry dates, we'll bill in accordance with the earliest expiry date, making an attempt to consolidate billing around expiry dates that are the closest together. For example, if a client who is billed annually has services that expire in March, October and November, we'll bill for all three services in the coming 12 months in advance of the October expiry date.
- We issue invoices for recurring services based on a quarterly schedule -- i.e., for a minimum of three months at a time.
- Other than for domain registrations, we will not accept payment for more than one year at a time.
- Payment for most domain registrations may be made up to ten years in advance. However, this is dependent on the policies of the domain registry, which we are bound to follow.
- Services which have not been paid for are subject to suspension without further notice once the period paid for has expired.
- Fees for expired hosting services continue to accrue after expiry until the service is cancelled by the client, or it is removed by NinerNet -- whichever comes first. These fees are payable before hosting is reinstated.
- Invoices payable in one of two currencies are based on our service rates in US dollars. Foreign exchange rates used in the calculation of the second currency are valid for 30 days. After 30 days, payments made in the second currency may be credited at either the rate of exchange on the invoice or at the current rate, at the discretion of NinerNet. What this means in practice is that, if there is a significant difference in the rate of exchange after the 30 days, NinerNet will use the rate that does not result in a loss to NinerNet based on our US-dollar rates.
- Payments of less than the full balance owing on an account are applied in the following order:
- First, to one-time services already provided, regardless of when the invoice for that service was issued,
- Then to fees for domain registrations which have already been renewed or registered, regardless of when the invoice for that service was issued,
- Then to services with the earliest expiry dates on the oldest invoice until that invoice has been paid in full,
- Then to services with the earliest expiry dates on newer invoices.
- In the event of repeated partial payments, NinerNet reserves the right to adjust the expiry date of hosting services to account for the ongoing shortfall.
- Any errors or omissions in invoicing must be reported to NinerNet within 30 days of the invoice date. If we don't hear from you within 30 days, the invoice will be considered correct.
- Hosting expiry and billing dates are based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is, for practical purposes, much the same as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Precise domain expiry dates are dependent on registry policies and practices, which differ and are beyond the control of NinerNet.
- On closing an account, a balance (credit or debit) of less than $10.00 is neither refundable nor payable.
Additional notes
- Accounts are subject to deletion at any time after expiry, but are usually not deleted until about two months after expiry, assuming there has been no instruction to the contrary or no other contact from the client during that time. (Exception: Virtual private servers [VPS] will be decommissioned exactly seven [7] days after expiry. This is irreversible.)
- Once deleted, all files, email and other data associated with the deleted domain are unrecoverable.
- Once deleted, any set-up fees associated with setting up a new domain are payable in order for hosting on the domain to be reinstated. However, once again, all data associated with a deleted domain are unrecoverable.
- Please whitelist the niner.net domain in your spam filter, if you use one, to ensure that you receive all invoices and other notices. Different email services and spam filters use different terminology for the whitelist, including "safelist", "allowed senders", etc. We cannot be responsible if you do not receive our invoices and other important notices if they are blocked by your spam filter.
- If you are sending payment via post, please allow a week to ten days for your payment to reach us, and another week for your payment to clear. This means you should not delay sending your payment for long after we send your invoice.
Example invoice
- This heading indicates that this is an invoice. Other possible headings include "credit note" and "statement".
- This is your five-character "client code". ("Client number" didn't seem to work considering there are no numbers in it.) It is useful to identify your payments.
- The "pay by" date is the date by which we suggest you make your payment to ensure that it arrives and clears in time to renew your services before they expire. Really, we're serious. Please don't wait until the day before your services expire!
- This "account summary" box gives you an overview of the state of your account with us, including payments since your last invoice. The last number indicates the total amount that you owe us, and may include previous invoices that are not yet paid, as well as the value of this invoice.
- This and the other green box with yellow lettering indicates the base currency of the invoice. This is usually either Canadian or US dollars.
- The "information" column usually shows the date on which the corresponding service will expire once this invoice is paid. (It is not your current expiry date!) In the case of services already provided or actions already taken, it will show the date on which the service or action was performed.
- This is the same as item 3. The ultimate due date for paying this invoice is, of course, the date on which your service expires. However, we emphasise again that this "recommended pay-by date" really is the date that by which we strongly suggest you pay this invoice to make sure there are no problems with renewing your services on time.
- This is your invoice number. It is comprised of your client code, the year of the invoice, and a serial number. This number is useful if you have a question about a particular invoice.
- This is the total owing for this invoice. If this is a credit note and not an invoice, it is the amount of the credit that has been applied to your account.
- If your invoice is also payable in another currency, you will see this grey box. This is the converted amount of this invoice only (item 9), not the total that may be owing on your account overall.
- This is general information about, and instructions for paying, your invoice. For full details and all the options available to you for paying your invoice (including banking information), please see the email to which this PDF invoice was attached.
