June Invoice Change

Hello Community,

As Kevin Kinell posted yesterday, those of you on either our Basic, Unlimited or Premium plans, will notice a charge for June's monthly plan fees on your next invoice.

The typical user on the Unlimited plan will see both a $9.95 charge for May and a $9.95 charge for June's monthly plan fees on their next invoice. Although this invoice will include two monthly plan charges, you will not be charged twice for the same period of service. But we do need to have an invoice that includes 2 month's worth of monthly plan charges (one in arrears and one in advance) in order to transition to pay-in-advance.

Over the past year, since we began charging for some of our services, we’ve monitored very closely Customer Support cases related to billing. We've been surprised by how many users believe they have been paying in advance all the time, even though we've strived to make our Billing Terms and invoices as clear as possible. Some users transitioning to different plans were particularly perplexed or surprised to learn we had been billing in arrears all along. Clearly they were used to online services billing in advance.

Moving forward, this adjustment will reduce confusion around our billing policy and bring us in line with how many online services bill their users, like services for online DVD rental, VoIP phone, Web hosting or even online store subscriptions often do.

Nevertheless, we understand that some of you may be on tight budgets, and would appreciate a little more time to transition. We're doing two things to accommodate those of you in this category.

First, we're delaying June charging until the second week of June. Invoices will be created around the 3rd of June, but we will not begin processing charges until the 8th.

Second, we've created an "opt out" system of sorts that will postpone the transition for an additional month. For users who select this option, the invoice you receive in June will include only May charges, and the invoice you receive in July will include both June and July charges.

Plan changes will be handled the same way they always have: Plan upgrades become effective immediately and result in a prorated charge for the initial month on the new plan (to be charged on the next invoice). Plan downgrades will take effect on the 1st of the following month.

To get the word out about this change, we're updating our billing policy, placing alerts on your Account Dashboard and several billing-related pages, and creating an info page that users on a paid plan will see after logging in. Should you need to access this information in the future, please visit www.auctiva.com/slap/pages/billingpolicy.aspx.


We hope our efforts to clearly communicate this adjustment and the additional time provided will make it as easy as possible for you. If you have any questions, I encourage you to contact Customer Support. I want to reiterate Kevin's appreciation of your understanding during this transition period.

Tony Maxey
Senior Product Manager
Auctiva.com

Well I got to tell you that i'm disappointed in all this. There is no reason to go to a "pay ahead" system as we have a cc number on file and I see no benefit to pay a month ahead. I don't even have a cc listed on e-bay for monthly billing.
Now I'm not one of those that want something for nothing but paying in advance is just not right and if that is the stance of this then I will be looking for a different host for my site. One that has phone service that I can call in and talk to a live person and a site that will not log me out every 10 min. I might even find one that will record my payments right. I find myself thinking more and more that I'm dealing with e-bay here... All I can say is what happened to you guys.. I sure am disappointed.
Doug Mullens
Customcbradios.com
kb9jlr

Yeah, I'm not happy about this either. I stopped pre-paying for online services awhile ago when certain services were not rendered long after I had purchased them. I'm seriously considering cancelling Auctiva now.

This isn't a big deal for me at all. When I rented an apartment, they actually made me pay the rent up front, rather than let me live there for free and pay at the end of the month. Most companies are moving to this structure because they are tired of getting stiffed by deadbeats who use services and then disappear when the bill comes. The auction listing service I used to use before here changed to a "bill in advance" structure last year, and no one freaked out about it. I left for other reasons

I fled the frog pond as well and for 'other' reasons.

I'm delighted that auctiva is finally waking up to smell the coffee with regard to pay in advance. Ultimately those that pay wind up covering the revenue lost to deadbeats with higher fees.

Something tells me there are quite a few Auctiva users changing or canceling their plans after eBay's new gouging fee plan began. I know I did and was surprised when I got the e-mail at the old rate. Support was mighty busy I bet.

I don't understand the rationale for pay in advance when there is a credit card on file. Will I get a refund for the unused portion if I leave?

The rationale for us shifting to pay in advance is really just as simple as what Kevin said in his post earlier....it is aimed at "reducing confusion that arises relating to billing and invoicing, particularly when users change their plan or account type."

Once we are shifted over to advance billing, if someone wants to cancel, if they do the cancellation close to the end of the month then they will have used up the service they have already paid for and it all works out very neat and tidy.

However, if someone feels they have no choice but to cancel partway through the month, they can contact support and request a refund prorated for the unused time remaining in the month. Our terms of service that people consent to when they sign up don't obligate us to give refund for the month someone cancels in, but as a matter of practice, we try to accommodate people.

I don't buy the logic. I doubt anyone has ever been confused about paying in advance or arrears. This screams financial difficulty. It is just another in a long line of disappointments from Auctiva. First it was beginning to charge, then it was pay for support, if you want live chat or a real live person, then it was a multitude of errors with each update. What's next pay per transaction on sold items? Very disapponted.

HenryN,

This is a change to our billing procedure only; it is NOT a change to our pricing structure.

We have a team of developers dedicated to this product who are rapidly developing and rolling out new features and functionality for Auctiva.com. We release new functionality on the Auctiva site every 4 - 6 weeks. We are planning a site update later this month which will include both support for eBay's new item conditions and support for parts compatibility listings for eBay Motors. We have a great deal more planned for this year. Those actions are consistent with our commitment to our customers and indicative of our health as a company.

Yes, as Kevin Kinell posted earlier in this thread, there really has been a tremendous amount of customer confusion caused by our billing in arrears. Most--by a considerable margin--of the support cases we are receiving that are linked to this change are because the filer didn't understand that they where only just now being billed for the month of May.

What a nice, tidy sum for you! You're doubling your income for this month huh? Another way to get more money from us, just like greedbay. What next? Huh? No wonder more and more are leaving and going to other auctions sites. It's just a matter of time.....And POOF! You'll be gone.

I don't really have a problem with this but I am on a tight budget because I am not a big eBay seller. Can you tell me where I can find the "Opt out" so it delays until July? I would like a little bit more time to pay this.

I agree with the above poster. This comes at an especially bad time for me. If possible, I'd like an "opt out" and delay until July as well.

Also - I received no email concerning this (I save ALL Auctiva emails), saw no splash page with the info (I'm on the site every day), and only learned about it this morning when I checked my invoice to see when the PayPal withdrawal would take place to make sure I'd leave the $9.95 in there.

The opt-out box for the billing change has now been removed from the site as we are now well into June (7th).

We did try hard to give everyone notice: we created this thread on the forums on May 20, and we sent emails and began running a 'splash' page to alert people signing on. If you missed all that, we are sorry, but we don't know how it happened.

If you need assistance with your account I suggest you contact support and they will see what they can do to help you.

Im glad Auctiva went to this billing. Its much easier to know I am paid ahead.

For those using Paypal as payment wouldnt it be easier to just keep enough in the auctiva account each month to cover the bill

I do and have never had any drawn from my paypal account.

I fully understand why Auctiva went to the pay before plan. Ebay does this also with out store subscriptions. Its not uncommon and actually rare for a company to bill you after the fact and not before.

I repeat - I RECEIVED NO SUCH EMAIL.

Bill how you will.

auctiva = always inconveniencing their customers for their own convenience

just like ebay

just like paypal

auctiva is such a rip off, chargine $10 a month for EACH ebay account, i guess their programmer arent up to date with technology that can provide the services inkfrog can

auctiva gets worse everyday, nothing changes, no improvements

but they still try to play it off like they care about you , but in fact, they are just playing the same game as ebay and paypal ,

GET IT THRU, THEY JUST WANT YOUR MONEY, AND THEY CAN CARE LESS WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU OR YOUR BUSINESS , AS LONG AS THEY GET THEIR SHARE ( AUCTIVA PROVED THAT LAST YEAR WHEN THEY TRIED TO CHARGE HORRENDOUS PRICES BUT FAILED )

I frankly have no problem with this pay ahead, and we do need to realize that most companies just "do it" without giving an opt-out notice at all. I feel auctiva did care enough to give the opt-out. Most companies are "take it or leave it"


I did at one time head over to frogsville and sent 3 emails to them asking questions that were ones a newbie would ask and have to really dig to find. Each one had a curt response that only sent me to a link of which two did not answer question I asked. cancelling with them was also a 3 step process at the time which was an email hassle (may have changed now)

NOW. . NO. . don't get me wrong auctiva is NOT perfect by any means. I am sure they will tell you I have battled bunches with them. I have been hot and bothered numerous times. They have also sent stupid answers and at times I have sent stupid responses and at times I did not send enough info. for them to really work with. I learned details and persistence are very important.

No.. I do not like paying $10.00 a month, noone likes paying for something they got free before. HOwever, would re-evaluate for sure if went higher - especially until the economy picks up and things sell more.

Just my thoughts. ..

i do not have a problem paying my bill each time,but they said that they informed every one of the change,not true some did not receive the infomation,or they wood not have received so much email on this matter,some times ther site works great and at orther times not so good,it is getting harder for a small seller to make any money with the fees auctiva,ebay and paypal charge not to forget the cost of mailing the purchase out.but when you the only games in town,you pay or leave.