HotDoodle does not turn off a website when fees are first due, but rather conducts a phased shutdown to allow the opportunity to fund an account or turn off the website in response. Notices are emailed to the registered website owner. In later phases, the messages also appear when logged in to the website, but only to website owners and administrators.

Shutdown Phases

• Monthly fees are due, however, the website has entered a grace period and operates normally.
• Midway through the grace period, the website owner is notified by email that fees are due.
• When the first grace period expires, admin users will be warned that fees are due when they login. To all other users, the website will still display its pages normally.
• When the second grace period expires, the website will be locked, which prevents login and registration on the website.  The website will display on the web in a normal manner though without this functionality.
• The website is then suspended and will not display in a normal manner. It can be instantly restored to its normal functionality with the deposit of a $75 reactivation fee and the balance of monthly fees due.
• If no action is taken to pay fees, the website, along with its back up copies will be deleted. The website can only be recovered with an archival tape restoration fee.

Websites can get caught in a “day behind” cycle where payments arrive a few days after the website fess are due.

Here is an example of how this could occur:

• A website is paid up through 3/10. Payment is due on this stated date.
• There is a 5 day grace period before HotDoodle sends any reminders, therefore, on 3/15 a reminder email is sent stating payments were due.
• Then the website owner signs up for an automatic subscription from PayPal on 3/16, paying the website through 4/10.
• So the next month, the website hosting fees are still due on the 10th, will be reminded on the 15th, and the payment will arrive on the 16th, etc.

The most common reason for the "day behind" cycle is that the website owner waits for the website's first billing notice and then starts a subscription -- but that subscription was started after the billing reminder and each month it will pay after the billing reminder.

To break the "day behind" cycle, either:

• Make a one-time payment of the monthly due amount so that the website paid through date will be ahead of the reminder cycle, or
• Cancel the subscription and start a new subscription before the next due date, so that the new subscription pays before the reminder is sent. (In the above example, changing the automatic payment from the 16th to the 10th will fix the problem)