I originally signed up for web hosting, several years ago, with a company called i1internet.net, for $6.95/month, which was discounted to $152.90/year if I paid 2 years in advance. A few years later I received a charge appeared on my credit card statement from AndHosting LLC. Having no idea what the charge was for, I contacted them, and discovered they had bought out i1internet.
Several months ago I moved the website to a less expensive hosting service. I emailed andhosting to let them know they could cancel the account (or at least I think I did - they claim they never received such notice, and I can't find a copy of the "sent" message to prove I sent it.)
On Jan 20 I received an email message from LPC1, informing me I had a balance due of $152.90 and that I should please pay it immediately. Not know who LPC1 was, I almost deleted the email, supposing it was some kind of scam, but decided to email them and ask what the bill was for.
I got a reply from Tara Stephan explaining that the charge was web hosting (previously handled by andhosting), which renewed on 1/20/09. The $152.90 due was for renewal from 1/20/09 thru 1/20 (they were billing me because my credit card had expired, otherwise they would've just charged my card). I explained I had closed the account; Tara said no, they'd received no request to close it. I said okay, well go ahead and close it now. Tara said she is unable to make changes to the account while it was in "past due" status (it's now 1/22/09,2 days since I received the first notice), but she would be happy to close the account once the bill has been paid.
I balked at the idea of paying for 2 years of service I was not using, but she said unless I had cancelled 14 days prior to the renewal date I was obligated to pay, according to the terms of service.
She insists that the updated "Terms of Service" had been emailed to me by LPC1 last August, but I never got it. She went on and on about how it is my responsibility to have LPC1 "whitelisted" in my email service to be sure their email gets through, and if I didn't get it it's my own fault, and even if I didn't get the TOS, my use of their services (ie having files on their server) implies agreement to their conditions, even if they change.
Okay, I say, so just change the billing plan from a two year prepay to a month-by-month plan; I'll pay for another month, you have your 2 week notice and everybody's happy, right? Tara says no, the billing cycle cannot be changed, and I am legally bound to pay for the coming 2 years. Further, no refunds are given for unused time on a plan, no matter how early in the 2-year period you cancel.
I thoroughly read the updated Terms of Service - it does say requests for cancellation must be made 14 days before the end of the billing period, but says nothing at all about requests to change the length of the billing period. So I sent an email formally requesting that they change my service to a month-by-month term, and further requesting that service be terminated at the end of the current term (Feb. 20th). I then mailed them a check for $6.95 with "payment in full" marked on the memo line.
Today I received a message from Tara saying "nice try, but payment in the full amount due of $152.90 is expected immediately. If full payment is not received by the time your account is closed, you will be sent to collections with additional fees added."
I had numerous email exchanges with Tara, and one phone call - she has been argumentative, bullying, unyielding, unwilling to reason, even though I attempted to negotiate in good faith, still think I sent cancellation notice months ago, and yet I was willing to compromise by paying for an additional month.
LPC1 is now threatening collection/legal action. I have told them I will not pay. We'll see what happens
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