Blacknight Free Trial Issue -Does't Automatically Renew- All data lost

Hi there,

I was recommended to Blacknight by a web developer for a new start up. I signed up, incorporated the company and did all that red tape. Registered the Domain name with your good selves and availed of the free trial period for the BaseKit Web Builder.

I hired a developer for the project (through Boards) and away we went. He did up templates, and landing pages with graphics etc.

I got a call from him today as he was seeking to update the site and the site had disappeared

My Order was placed on 22 June where I gave my card details
I got the BaseKit the next day

Account Details
[th]Login:[/th]



[th]Account Name:[/th]


[th]Account ID:[/th]



[th]Subscription ID:[/th]



[th]Subscription Plan:[/th]
BaseKit Website Builder Basic Monthly

[th]Description:[/th]
BaseKit Website Builder Basic Monthly 

[th]Expiration Date:[/th]
Date is N/A.






I received a further email on 23 June stating

This email is being sent as notification that your BaseKit Website Builder Basic Monthly subscription with ID <SNIP> is due to be expire in 13 days.
Please be aware that your subscription is set to auto-renew. This means that in 10 days a renewal order for your subscription will automatically generate and if you have a credit or debit card set up for automatic payments it will be automatically charged for the renewal.




At this stage I understood that the free trial with turn into a paid trial and you had my details to bill me.

Three days prior to expiration of the free trial I received an email stating


To Ensure Your Subscription Does Not Expire:
If you have already made payment please contact our Accounts Department for information on completing the renewal.
If you do not have a Credit or Debit card set up for Automatic Payments, or if you have received an email advising you there was a problem making payment, you will need to make payment for the renewal of your subscription manually.
If you have only just added a Credit/Debit Card to your account, you will still need to contact our Accounts Department to process the payment.







On the day my trial period expired I received an email stating

Your BaseKit Website Builder Basic Monthly subscription for 'BaseKit Website Builder Basic Monthly ()' has expired.
In order to prevent any loss of service, please renew your subscription immediately.
Account Details
[th]Account Name:[/th]


[th]Account ID:[/th]



[th]Subscription ID:[/th]



[th]Subscription Plan:[/th]
BaseKit Website Builder Basic Monthly

[th]Expiration Date:[/th]
06-Jul-2015



You can renew this by logging into your Control Panel and going to the Account section. If you have the auto-renew off for this subscription and wish to renew it please click on Account >> Subscription >> Renew Subscription. Alternatively, please contact our Accounts Department for assistance in renewing your service.


When I log into my control panel the autorenew is still turned on.

As stated I received a call today to say the site was down.

I spoke to Tech who passed me to Billing who attempted to pass me to Accounts who were busy (It was lunchtime so fair enough)

I called Accounts back at 14.15 who took my details, said they would look into retrieving the data and get back to me.

They called me back a little after three to say

1. The data was only backed up for five days after which it was deleted.

2. It was my own fault for not ringing you when I had received multiple notifications it was due to expire.

I told them I had a developer and would now have to pay him to redo this work

3. I was advised that that package might not be appropriate if I have someone to do that work for me and asked If I wanted the basic package at €50 a year.

I outlined that I had been reviewing the emails. They stated that I was set to automatically be deducted and renewed and I was expressly told this. I pointed out that none of the emails said I was required to contact Accounts. I certainly would have done so. It was grudingly accepted that the emails were ambigious or could have been clearer but there was nothing they could do.

I asked that the matter be escalated.

I spoke to your VP. I explained the above background and outlined I had three concerns.

1. The emails had expressly stated I was set to auto renew. I was still set to auto renew and how could I have confidence this would not be repeated.

It was explained that this was a technical error due to the nature of the free sign up package that it was not configured to auto renew and the emails were templates that would have to be examined.

2. The data was lost. I stated I was resigned to this fact and would have to pay the developer for this lost work. It is not going to be excessive - a few hundred quid.

3. I wanted at least an acknowledgment that this was not my fault, a retraction from that positoin and I outlined that to infer it was my fault was not constructive customer service.

I was informed he was going to examine the correspondence and revert tomorrow.

I wanted to put this out there for other Boards Users that have signed up to your service as it is a glaring problem and can lead to lots of lost work due to a systemic error you have