[sf-lug] automatic credit card billing and ...

[Michael Paoli]

I'm relatively inclined to agree.

Though I do use automatic credit card billing for *some* things,
I don't trust/leave it to things that are particularly crucial
and would be difficult or costly or infeasible to quickly
correct.  E.g. I don't trust/use automatic credit card billing
for something such as domain renewals.  Items like that I
track/calendar, and renew quite sufficiently in advance (e.g.
typically 30 days or more, some stuff as much as about 6 months
or more).

Also, for the relatively small number of items I do use automatic
credit card billing for, I well track those, so that if there's
a credit card glitch (e.g. they replace everybody's credit card
yet again because some vendor/processor did something stupid and
insecure yet again), I can fairly quickly update all of them, and
and not miss updating any of them, so all of such is quickly on
track again.  And additionally, I track their regular processing,
so if there are any glitches, I quickly catch and correct such
(e.g. once had a glitch between vendor and credit card processing
company/vendor ... had it caught and corrected in quick order - in
that case there was no issue with card or account, but somehow
between vendor and their processor it failed only and exactly that
once).

What I think tends to be especially hazardous, is when folks basically
just set up automatic payments/renewals ... and mostly just "forget"
about it after that ... don't think to update them when card is
lost/stolen/replaced - or even updated/replaced with a new
expiration date or such ... or similarly when folks don't keep an eye
on regular processing ... as occasionally things do/can go wrong - and
if not watched/caught, that can cascade into more problematic/critical
issue/situation.

Generally also good to review statements/billings/etc. at *least*
monthly - if not a bit more frequently than that.  I generally do such
at least twice a month - to allow adequate time for review and
schedulings, and to also accommodate various things that have
various different billing/statement cycles.  Ah, ... if they all
always did their cycles with same timing and such, I might be able
to get away with monthly ... but alas, they don't ... but at least
currently the stuff I deal with is sufficiently consistent in its
timing, that with a well picked twice a month full review, I cover
everything - and in pretty timely manner at that.  Though often
I actually check more like three times a month - as a lot of 'em are
relatively clustered together ... and prompt/early check has me
reviewing and such, on them in quite timely manner ... but alas,
often wee bit too soon/early, and sometimes not all from that
bunch are processed and ready to be reviewed if I check a wee bit
too promptly/early.

> From: "Rick Moen" <rick at linuxmafia.com>
> Subject: Re: [sf-lug] www.balug.org (website, etc.)
> Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2017 01:15:59 -0700

> Quoting Michael Paoli (Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu):
>
>> And ... for only the 2nd time, of the many SNAFUs on
>> DreamHost.com - this one wasn't actually DreamHost's fault -
>> it was an automated credit card billing/payment SNAFU.
>
> You know, that's just a too-common story, not just a Dreamhost thing.
> This is why I distrust autorenew, and (e.g.) try to just keep my domains
> several years away from expiration and never rely on automated credit
> card billings.