CI Host/cancellation

The Procedure

CI Host's cancellation procedure is unnecessarily annoying.

In order to cancel services with CI Host, you first visit their cancellation page, which is not hard to find. So far so good.

After you log in, there's a form to fill out which takes about 3 screens; it seems excessively thorough. That's annoying, but understandable, as is the somewhat weird requirement for a "digital signature" that isn't really what is generally considered a digital signature. (Or maybe it was "electronic signature", in which case the term is correctly used but the "signature" itself is still a lame excuse for security.)

2006-06-24 update: The log in now requires only (1) your customer account number, and (2) your last name (which presumably must match the name they have on file); the next page shows all the contact information they have on file for you, which at least confirms that they have correctly identified you. Formerly, it asked for your "account password" (which had stopped working for me, so I wasn't even sure that I had it right) and I don't think it displayed the contact information on the next page.

As part of the procedure you have to accept their "terms of service" (not "terms of cancellation"); it's as if you're signing up for new service, rather than discontinuing an existing service. That's annoying and not very understandable, but it's not the worst part.

The worst part is that after completing the form, you receive the following email (2006-06-24 version shown, very similar to earlier version):

We have received your notice to CANCEL your account with C I Host Please print this. You must submit this form to cancel your account. If we do not receive this form via fax you will continue to be billed and you will be responsible for the charges. You also need to submit either a credit card or a online check to pay for your final bill. We will not cancel your account and release your domain if your account has an unpaid balance. If you are making payment by check please mail the check to: C I Host 1851 Central Drive #110 Bedford, Texas 76021 You may fax us a copy of the check completely filled out and this can be accepted as payment. See fax numbers below. Fax Numbers: United States - 888-241-2294 International - 817-868-7203 C I Host Cancellation Authorization Name:_____________________________________________ Address:__________________________________________ City:__________________________ State:______________ Zip Code:___________________________ Credit Card #_____________________________________ Expiration Date: ___________ Credit Card Type: [ ] Mastercard - [ ] Visa - [ ] American Express Domain Name: ___________________ I authorize C I Host to deduct from the credit card above my final bill for my service as outlined in my original order form for the above domain. In the event that this charge is contested by myself or charged back to C I Host, I agree that I am responsible for any charges incurred by C I Host in defending authorization. I also agree to pay the 5% fee associated with the chargeback should it occur. I also understand that if I am cancelling within the first 30 days of my contract, the startups are still non-refundable, but no hosting fees will be charged to me for service rendered in the first 30 days of my contract. If I am cancelling after the first 30 days, I am responsible for all charges incurred. Signature: ______________________________________________

Reasons for annoyance:

• If they were just going to make me mail/fax in a form to cancel, why didn't they just start out with that rather than having me go through a multi-page web form first?
• Why won't they accept email? We don't currently have a working fax, and I'm not interested in spending any time trying to get one working.
• This implies that there will be a final charge; my understanding is that each month's hosting was paid in advance.
• Why couldn't they at least have everything filled in, since I already gave them all this information on the web?
• Why do they want my credit card information again, even assuming I actually do owe for the rest of the month? They've had it on file for years and have been auto-debiting every month since I first signed up. WTF?

I would also note that the "log in" information would be fairly easy for a malicious party to obtain, since most people wouldn't think to guard an "account number", and is inconsistent with the seemingly-high level of security they attempt to apply to the rest of the process. (Perhaps this is to make up for the fact that they realize their account security is full of holes?) CI Host really needs to implement a proper log-in system for all account management functions.

My Response

Nonono. You will cancel my account *now*. I do not owe you anything; payment was in advance. If you attempt to debit my card again, I will have the charge reversed. You last debited my card for $69.00 on 5/24; this should have covered three months beginning 5/19. (I did not actually receive an invoice for that date, so I don't know the ending date.) According to my calculations, you owe me $28.05 for the unused portion of my quarterly hosting: Hosting Used: 5/19 - 5/31: 13 days 6/1 - 6/30: 30 days 7/1 - 7/11*: 11 days *date of server outage Total days used: 54, out of at least 91 days in quarter Days not used: 37 out of 91 paid for Total due: $69 * 37 / 91 = $28.05 Please refund this to my credit card or credit it to my dedicated server account (ci52482046) immediately, and send me confirmation that you have done so. Thank you, Nick Staddon vbz.net

4 hours later, an email confirming cancellation arrived. Nothing about a refund; probably they have some clause in their terms of service about not refunding unused portions of prepaid hosting. Ok, that's fine, though it would have been nice if they'd explained that, with a link to the document in question for future reference.

Overall, I was very put off by this apparent insistance that I needed to fax something in or they would continue charging my account, though they partly redeemed themselves by cancelling quickly when I insisted. It just struck me as rather weird; do their cancellation forms and their sign-up forms share a lot of code or template-text or something?