[luckylion]

You typically get multiple reminders. If that's "an error", then that's an error that will happen again and again and again.

That's a problematic customer you don't want unless you're otherwise broke or want to keep them for other reasons (e.g. publicity).

[Symbiote]

Multiple reminders to the same person isn't much use if he's in hospital, and you're ignoring the out-of-office replies.

The time this happened to us, I was pleased the company looked at our website and phoned the receptionist. We paid the bill within an hour, and moved the responsibility to the finance and IT teams.

Maybe there are too many customers who just ignore bills for services they no longer want to use, I don't know, but given these companies usually have a sales team it would seem worth the time to make a call or write a personal email to an existing customer to maintain their custom.

[noAnswer]

I know of a company that missed its yearly Microsoft Exchange Online payment. After four month Microsoft cut of their email. Which one could argue is also a "public notice" because emails bounced. (That did the trick and the company paid immediately.)

You are telling me:

1. Microsoft should have tried to find a different way to contact and reach out.

2. That you would have moved your eMail/Groupware to someone else because of that.

To each their own.

[Symbiote]

A sales person from Microsoft emails us every 3-6 months or so trying to upsell us on a more expensive 365 subscription.

I think their time would be well spent contacting a customer who hasn't paid.

Blocking sending email would also be a more reasonable step before blocking receiving email.

And yes, I'd consider moving.

[dmurray]

Or if your marginal cost is small (eg, if your primary product is software) so a slow or delinquent payer doesn't actually cost you anything.

[luckylion]

At least where I live & work, I have to pay taxes the when I invoice, not when I receive payment, so they cost me 20% of the billed amount, at least temporarily.