2 ms·

Not exactly. Some countries have laws in place that prevent a provider from removing service due to non-payment to a business. Instead they must follow a proces

Not exactly. Some countries have laws in place that prevent a provider from removing service due to non-payment to a business. Instead they must follow a process, including physical paper notices, before removing service. DO should have done something like that as well, just cutting off service because you sent some emails is kinda shitty.

onion2k 3y ago
DO should have done something like that as well, just cutting off service because you sent some emails is kinda shitty. DO should abide by the law of the country they operate in. If that means they can shut off services for non-payment then that's what they're entitled to do. By the sounds of it they gave plenty of warning and 30 days service they weren't getting paid for. Email is the expected form of business communication in 2023. I don't think any of the hosts I use even have my physical address. Maybe they could SMS me. I doubt they have my phone number either though. I would expect a billing warning notice when I SSH into the service though. Maybe that was in place for the 30 days before they shut the customer out. I certainly hope so.
- ghiculescu 3y ago
  I SSH'd plenty. There was no billing notice. I think that + allowing customers to add more than one credit card to an account are reasonable suggestions. Maybe they do that now - this was 7 years ago. I'm not trying to shirk responsibility though. We didn't, for example, pass the buck by telling our customers our site was offline because of DO.
  - greenpeas 3y ago
    How do you deal with customers that don't reply to email notifications and don't have a phone number on file? I can appreciate how terrible must have been to suddenly find all your servers shut down, and I understand how easy it is to set up billing and forget, especially with the day to day stress of running a startup, but what would you have done if you were DO? > our site was offline because of DO. Or maybe it's because of the bank that expired your credit card?
  - cuu508 3y ago
    You did describe them as "dodgy" though. Not proactively updating expired cards is dodgy. Supplying an unmonitored email address as a contact address is dodgy. Cutting service after non-payment, email warnings, and grace period is normal and expected.
- AndroTux 3y ago
  > I would expect a billing warning notice when I SSH into the service though. Maybe that was in place for the 30 days before they shut the customer out. I certainly hope so. I would not expect Digital Ocean to alter the MOTD configuration of my Linux box because I forget to check my emails. That would be an invasion of privacy in my opinion.
auggierose 3y ago
What countries are those?
scott_w 3y ago
These laws are usually for utilities providers to residential customers. The aim is to stop people in poverty freezing to death in winter, not to protect a business with poor operating practices.
huijzer 3y ago
> physical paper notices What is this? Germany?

onion2k 3y ago

DO should have done something like that as well, just cutting off service because you sent some emails is kinda shitty. DO should abide by the law of the country they operate in. If that means they can shut off services for non-payment then that's what they're entitled to do. By the sounds of it they gave plenty of warning and 30 days service they weren't getting paid for. Email is the expected form of business communication in 2023. I don't think any of the hosts I use even have my physical address. Maybe they could SMS me. I doubt they have my phone number either though. I would expect a billing warning notice when I SSH into the service though. Maybe that was in place for the 30 days before they shut the customer out. I certainly hope so.

ghiculescu 3y ago
I SSH'd plenty. There was no billing notice. I think that + allowing customers to add more than one credit card to an account are reasonable suggestions. Maybe they do that now - this was 7 years ago. I'm not trying to shirk responsibility though. We didn't, for example, pass the buck by telling our customers our site was offline because of DO.
- greenpeas 3y ago
  How do you deal with customers that don't reply to email notifications and don't have a phone number on file? I can appreciate how terrible must have been to suddenly find all your servers shut down, and I understand how easy it is to set up billing and forget, especially with the day to day stress of running a startup, but what would you have done if you were DO? > our site was offline because of DO. Or maybe it's because of the bank that expired your credit card?
- cuu508 3y ago
  You did describe them as "dodgy" though. Not proactively updating expired cards is dodgy. Supplying an unmonitored email address as a contact address is dodgy. Cutting service after non-payment, email warnings, and grace period is normal and expected.
AndroTux 3y ago
> I would expect a billing warning notice when I SSH into the service though. Maybe that was in place for the 30 days before they shut the customer out. I certainly hope so. I would not expect Digital Ocean to alter the MOTD configuration of my Linux box because I forget to check my emails. That would be an invasion of privacy in my opinion.

auggierose 3y ago

What countries are those?

scott_w 3y ago

These laws are usually for utilities providers to residential customers. The aim is to stop people in poverty freezing to death in winter, not to protect a business with poor operating practices.

huijzer 3y ago

> physical paper notices What is this? Germany?