Legal Question in Consumer Law in California

Webhost forgets to charge

About seven months ago I received an email from a website hosting company stating that when they re-structured their payment plans I ''feel through the cracks'' and wasn't assigned a new plan. But rather than cancelling my service I ended up getting free webhosting for a little over a year.

Since I received a little over a year of their hosting without being charged the email said if I wished to continue hosting they wanted me to pay the associated back-fees, in addition to a late fee. Of course I did not want to continue with their service and promptly switched service providers. For the longest time I thought the matter was settled.

But just today I received an email, almost seven months later, saying if I didn't pay the entire amount in addition to the late fee they would send me to collections.

My question is whether or not I am responsible for paying these fees when it was their fault for never charging them in the first place.

This situation seems analogous to if a grocery store forgets to charge one for some food, and months after the food had been eaten they realized their mistake and try to charge for the product. But how this would apply to web hosting and the fact they they forgot to charge me I'm not sure.


Asked on 2/20/07, 10:05 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Carl Starrett Law Offices of Carl H. Starrett II

Re: Webhost forgets to charge

If you walked out of the grocery story without paying for the food, you shouldn't be surprised if the grocery story wants there money for the goods you consumed.

You received the website hosting services and you weren't being charged for them. You have a moral and legal duty to pay for the services that you used. I agree that you shouldn't have to pay the late charges, but you do owe the money.

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Answered on 2/20/07, 11:14 pm


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