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Services are sold by term. A renewal invoice is raised for the next term as the current one runs out. What you control is whether that keeps happening, and how each invoice gets paid.
How a renewal invoice is raised
With auto-renew on, an invoice for the next term is issued to your account and appears under Billing > Invoices like any other. You do not raise it and you do not have to be signed in for it to happen.
How it then gets paid depends on what is on the account:
- A saved default card. The default payment method is charged on the due date. A card is saved by paying an invoice with it, which is also what switches auto-pay on.
- Wallet credit. Credit on your account is applied to invoices without you doing anything.
- Neither. The invoice is emailed to you and you pay each one yourself.
Renewing early
Renew early, on the Lifecycle card, issues the next term's invoice immediately and takes you to your unpaid invoices. It raises the invoice only, it does not take payment, so you still settle it the same way as any other.
Auto-renew
The Auto-renew switch is on the Lifecycle card of the server page, and it appears only while the service is active. On a pending, suspended or cancelled service the switch is not shown at all.
Turning it on applies straight away. Turning it off asks first, with a dialog titled Turn off auto-renew?: the service stays active until its renewal date, then expires without further invoices. Keep auto-renew backs out, and you can switch it back on at any point before that date.
A service with auto-renew off is flagged Auto-renew off in your services list.
When an invoice goes unpaid
Once the due date passes and a balance remains, the invoice counts as overdue. You see that in three places: the Overdue tab on the invoice list, an Overdue flag on the invoice itself, and a Payment overdue banner on the invoice page.
If a service is suspended over an unpaid invoice, its page carries an amber banner reading "This service is suspended. Settle any overdue invoices to restore server controls.", with a View unpaid invoices link.
While a service is suspended:
- Power controls, rebuild, root password reset, console access and SSH key changes all refuse to run, and answer with the lock message.
- Billing controls keep working. Auto-renew, Renew early, changing the plan and cancelling are all still available.
The panel does not tell you when a service will be suspended, or what happens after that. If you know you cannot pay an invoice on time, open a ticket before the due date rather than after it.
Requesting a refund on an invoice
Request refund appears at the top of an invoice once it is paid, and stays there until a request exists on that invoice.
Open the paid invoice
Billing > Invoices, then the invoice you want refunded.
Click Request refund
The dialog is titled Request a refund for the invoice number, and states the amount the request can cover.
Give a reason and submit
Reason for refund is required and has to be at least 10 characters. Then Submit refund request.
The invoice then carries a Refund requested flag, and if the refund goes through it shows an Invoice refunded banner.
Refunding wallet credit
Credit sitting in your wallet is a separate thing from a paid invoice, and it is refunded from Billing > Credit & wallet rather than from here. A wallet refund covers your whole balance: there is no partial wallet refund. See Wallet and credit for the steps.