Minthost still charging me after 2 years!

Protocol45

I shall try to explain this boring story best I can.

Back in 2009 I signed up to Minthost for my website, back when I had dreams of making a blog etc. Well after 2 months of not even making a site, I gave up.
I started to get emails from them saying I owe them £3. Honestly, I ignored it as I was transferring over to a new email address at the time and thought, I would get back to in later.
Now in 2011, I check my spam folder by chance and found an email from them asking for the £3. After investigation they have been charging me on a monthly basis since 2009. When I logged into their site it states I owe a balance of £90.

I dispute this for many reasons but the main ones are:
Granted, I may owe them £3 for last month with them perhaps (I honestly, can't remember the details of this over 2 years ago) but to charge me every single month, even though they suspended the service instantly because I didn't pay the £3.

It's like BT or Virgin cutting off my broadband due to lack of payment then having the cheek to keep totting up the monthly totals for a service I don't have but would pay for IF I had it.

I have emailed them about this last week, and even though the ticket is marked as urgent, I have yet to receive a reply.

My question is, finally, what do I do here? Just keep ignoring it?
Surely, they don't expect me to pay £90?

scheming_gypsy

if you signed up for a contract then you owe for the duration of the contract and any time after if you never cancelled it. Just like BT or Virgin would if you stopped paying them two months into a contract.

Protocol45

True, however, with the BT analogy, I would still have to have a phoneline. This minthost service was cancelled the day payment stopped. So charging me £3 a month for a service which doesn't work, doesn't seem right to me. If I was still using the service, or able to use it, fair enough.

texranger

Protocol45 wrote: »

I shall try to explain this boring story best I can.

Back in 2009 I signed up to Minthost for my website, back when I had dreams of making a blog etc. Well after 2 months of not even making a site, I gave up.
I started to get emails from them saying I owe them £3. Honestly, I ignored it as I was transferring over to a new email address at the time and thought, I would get back to in later.
Now in 2011, I check my spam folder by chance and found an email from them asking for the £3. After investigation they have been charging me on a monthly basis since 2009. When I logged into their site it states I owe a balance of £90.

I dispute this for many reasons but the main ones are:
Granted, I may owe them £3 for last month with them perhaps (I honestly, can't remember the details of this over 2 years ago) but to charge me every single month, even though they suspended the service instantly because I didn't pay the £3.

It's like BT or Virgin cutting off my broadband due to lack of payment then having the cheek to keep totting up the monthly totals for a service I don't have but would pay for IF I had it.

I have emailed them about this last week, and even though the ticket is marked as urgent, I have yet to receive a reply.

My question is, finally, what do I do here? Just keep ignoring it?
Surely, they don't expect me to pay £90?

with most hosts it is not just a case of oh i give give up and wont log into my account. decent hosts will be using WHMCS or CE which are automated managemnt systems and need any client to request cancellation of their hosting so the system will cancel; this and any invoices. i as a client you just leave them and move elsewhere without cancelling correctly as far as their system knows you are still hosting with them and will continue to invoice you. although most will suspend the host after an overdue period and then terminate the account, some may still issue invoices as you have not informed them that you want to cancel

Protocol45

Thanks for the info. I shall wait it out a while longer for a reply to them, but if they don't reply, I guess there isn't much I can do.

Brian1945

Protocol45 wrote: »

My question is, finally, what do I do here?

1) Cancel the contract.
2) Pay what you owe them.
3) In future remember that contracts run their course unless you cancel.

Protocol45

Run its course? 3 years? And its still not over. And I have tried to cancel, I remember them ignoring my request to cancel like my recent emails. Thats why I stopped payment.
I shall leave it as it is me thinks.

Hungerdunger

Protocol45 wrote: »

Run its course? 3 years? And its still not over. And I have tried to cancel, I remember them ignoring my request to cancel like my recent emails. Thats why I stopped payment.
I shall leave it as it is me thinks.

So why did you bother asking for advice here?

Protocol45

Because advice is free?

takeiteasy77

Bet your wishing you paid that £3 now...

manglesey25

Protocol45 wrote: »

even though they suspended the service instantly because I didn't pay the £3.

they don't expect me to pay £90?

If the service was suspended , why are they charging you for it?

If there is a contract requiring a minimum term, then you are both in breach because you didnt pay for the full term of the contract, and the supplier (by their own admission) has failed to provide the service under that contract.

If the contract requires payment of money during non performance of the supplier, then its a penalty and cannot be recovered.

The debt cannot be revived after a period of 6 years from the date you last acknlwledged it.