Changing Account's Plan
Questions Considered:
Understanding Plan Groups
Users can change between plans only within the same group. If plans in the group are different by nature (Unix and Windows), such changes cause losses in user data. To minimize such losses, plans of different nature are either put into different groups or left outside any group. Each plan can be only in one group. Each group should consist of two and more plans. It makes little sense to put one plan to a separate group. You should always group plans based on their compatibility. You must always stick to the following rules:- Don't group plans with different platforms (for example Windows and Linux hosting), or this will lead to unexpected results. A very common mistake is to put trial plans, Unix and Windows2000, into a separate group. This will not allow trial users to switch to pay plans, as they are in a different group, and if users switch from Windows2000 Trial to Unix trial, they will lose the settings that are unavailable under Unix plan, including ASP and ODBC service.
- Don't group E-mail Only plans with other plan types. Users can't switch from E-mail Only to, say, Unix plans, and if they attempt to do so, they will get an error. Instead, users need to create a new Unix account and delete the e-mail only account.
- Don't group Reseller plans with any other plan types. Users can't switch from, say, Unix plan to Reseller plan. Instead, users need to create a new Reseller account and delete the Unix account.
- Don't group plans if they are bound to different servers. Compatible plans keep data on the same box and don't require any reconfiguration.
Starting from version 2.3 users can switch between paid and no billing plans.
Grouping Plans
To group plans:-
Select Plan Groups in the Info
menu:
-
You will be presented with a screen with unassigned plans on the left and groups of compatible plans on the right:
- Check the plans you would like to put into one group.
- Enter group name.
- Click Submit Query. The plans will be moved from the list of Available plans into the Plan Groups list.
- To ungroup plans in a group, click the DELETE button next to the group you want to delete.
- To add a plan to the group, delete the group first and then create a new one, with the plan you wanted to add.
- To regroup plans, you must ungroup them first, and then group them the way you want.
Billing on Changing Account's Plan
Billing on End User Account's Plan Change
- Versions before 2.4
Changing plans closes current billing period. Users are issued prorated refunds and then charged absolute recurrent fees for a new billing period.
- Version 2.4 and higher
If no billing period change is implied, changing plans doesn't close the current billing period.
If recurrent fee calculated based on target plan prices and free units is:
refund for the resource unused on the source plan, users switching to a new plan are:
refund for the resource unused on the source plan, users switching to a new plan are:
charged
refunded
the difference.
Example 1:
A customer is using 3 dedicated IPs one of which is over free in his plan and each billing period he pays $2 of recurrent fee for it. In the middle of one month billing period the user swithches to a plan that charges $4 of recurrent fee for each IP over 1 free. On a new plan the user appears to be using 2 dedicated IPs that he must pay for. The recurrent fee of $4 (= 2 IPs over free x $4 x 15 days / 30 days) to be paid for the rest of the billing period is subtracted from the refund of $0.5 (= $2 x 15 days x 50% of refund percentage/ (30 days x 100%)). As the resulting amount is negative, the user is charged the difference of $3.5 as the recurrent fee.
A customer is using 3 dedicated IPs one of which is over free in his plan and each billing period he pays $2 of recurrent fee for it. In the middle of one month billing period the user swithches to a plan that charges $4 of recurrent fee for each IP over 1 free. On a new plan the user appears to be using 2 dedicated IPs that he must pay for. The recurrent fee of $4 (= 2 IPs over free x $4 x 15 days / 30 days) to be paid for the rest of the billing period is subtracted from the refund of $0.5 (= $2 x 15 days x 50% of refund percentage/ (30 days x 100%)). As the resulting amount is negative, the user is charged the difference of $3.5 as the recurrent fee.
Example 2:
One-month billing period starts on November 1 and a user with 3 dedicated IPs on a plan allowing only 2 for free is charged $4 recurrent fee for the 3rd one. Refund percentage for dedicated IP is 100%. A plan that the user swithces to on November 15 allows 1 free dedicated IP and charges $1 as recurrent fee for each one over free. Thus on a new plan the user appears to be using 2 dedicated IPs that he must pay for. The recurrent fee of $1 (= 2 IPs over free x $1 x 15 days / 30 days) to be paid for the rest of the billing period is subtracted from the refund of $2 (= $4 x 15 days x 100% / (30 days x 100%)). As the resulting amount is positive, the user is credited the difference of $1 as a refund.
One-month billing period starts on November 1 and a user with 3 dedicated IPs on a plan allowing only 2 for free is charged $4 recurrent fee for the 3rd one. Refund percentage for dedicated IP is 100%. A plan that the user swithces to on November 15 allows 1 free dedicated IP and charges $1 as recurrent fee for each one over free. Thus on a new plan the user appears to be using 2 dedicated IPs that he must pay for. The recurrent fee of $1 (= 2 IPs over free x $1 x 15 days / 30 days) to be paid for the rest of the billing period is subtracted from the refund of $2 (= $4 x 15 days x 100% / (30 days x 100%)). As the resulting amount is positive, the user is credited the difference of $1 as a refund.
