Billing
A payment didn't go through
A card expires, a bank declines a small foreign charge, a new card never got updated. It is common and it is fixable. Here is the whole timeline so you know how much time you have.
What happens, and when
Counting from your renewal date:
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Straight away | We email you: "We couldn't take payment for {your site}". Your site stays up. |
| The next few days | Your bank is asked again automatically. If any attempt succeeds, everything carries on and you need do nothing. |
| After 3 days | If nothing has gone through, the site goes offline. Nothing is deleted. |
| After 30 days | The site moves to your trash. We email you before this happens. |
| After 60 days | The files are erased. We email you when it happens. |
So there are nearly four weeks between a site going dark and it even reaching the trash, and another month after that before anything is erased — with an email before each step.
Putting it right
Billing → update your card. That is it. The next attempt uses the new card, and the site comes back on its own the moment a payment goes through — you do not have to ask us and there is nothing to re-publish.
If the site has already gone offline and you have just updated the card, you may need to wait for the next automatic attempt rather than it happening the same second.
Why a card gets declined
In rough order of how often we see it:
- Expired card. Check the date on Billing.
- The bank blocked it. A small recurring charge to a company they have not seen before is exactly the shape banks stop. One call, or approving it in your banking app, fixes it permanently.
- A replacement card. New number, same account — your bank may or may not forward the charge.
- Not enough available balance on a debit or prepaid card at the moment we asked.
What visitors see while it is off
Nothing of yours. The address stops answering. Nobody is shown a message about payment, and nothing about your business is exposed.
What is not affected
- Your pages, pictures and pending form messages are untouched — nothing is deleted while a site is offline for non-payment.
- Your other sites carry on. A failed payment affects only the sites on that bill.
- Your domain stays yours. It stays registered with your domain company regardless of what happens here.
If it still will not go through
Email us. We can see whether the attempt reached the bank at all, which is usually the fastest way to work out where it is stuck.