The part I don't get is... Somewhere along the line auhor got clients CC to out into linode... which then paid for all servers, instead of just client's server

The part I don't get is... Somewhere along the line auhor got clients CC to out into linode... which then paid for all servers, instead of just client's servers. And author didn't migrate his servers away. But then auhor complains that client didn't pay, and author didn't charge his CC. The situation may suck, but as author points out, he made a number of errors trusting client, and author made some additional errors as above. As author can still ssh to his servers, I'd say he migrates the sites away, and chaulk it up as a lesson learned. Not sure why Linode is the one talking the blame in this tale.