Late payments FAQs

Last change on 2024-04-04 • Created on 2021-04-08 • ID: GE-BCC1E

If you are a customer who has not paid your invoice on time, you may have some of these questions.

I missed my first invoice, and Hetzner locked my server. Why?

Unfortunately, there is a higher risk for abuse and fraud with new customers. We at Hetzner try very hard to prevent abuse and fraud. So we are extra careful about new customers.

One good way to prevent abuse and fraud is to make sure that customers pay their invoices. So we ask new customers to pay their first invoice after a very short time. If customers then don't pay their invoice, we lock their servers and/or other Hetzner products. Doing this reduces the amount of time a potential scammer or spammer has access to a server, so it prevents a lot of abuse.

If this has happened to you, pay your invoice.

I stopped using my server (and/or) other Hetzner services. But Hetzner still sent me an invoice. Why did I still get an invoice?

We sent you an invoice because you didn't cancel your server or your other products. You have a contract with us that you did not cancel. If you don't want to pay for Hetzner servers/services anymore, cancel them. See also 9.1 in our Terms and Conditions.

For cloud servers, you need to pay for any servers/services that still exist. To stop paying for them, delete them. We at Hetzner do not monitor whether or not you are using your server/service. So even if you do not use them, we will still ask you to pay. Why do we do this? Until you cancel your server/services, no other Hetzner customers can use them.

To cancel your server or other Hetzner products, go here and look under "Cancellation". Select the correct user interface for the product and follow the steps in that article. Make sure to cancel each product or service that you no longer want.

Hetzner locked or cancelled my SERVER/SERVICES. How do I get it/them unlocked?

  1. Pay your invoice as soon as possible. If your account is still active, you can pay using a credit card or PayPal so the payment goes quickly. That will help us reactivate your account more quickly.

  2. Send us a support request via Robot/konsoleH/Cloud Console. In it, ask us to re-activate your account or to revoke the cancellation.

If your invoice is very late, we may choose not to reactivate your server/services. We may choose to keep the cancellation in place. We might also do this if you made late payments in the past. We make the decision on a case-by-case basis.

Hetzner locked or cancelled my ACCOUNT. How do I get it unlocked?

In this situation, we ask you to pay via bank or wire transfer. See below.

How to pay a late invoice via bank/wire transfer

Follow these steps:

  1. Pay your invoice. You can find our banking information on your invoice and use it to pay via bank transfer or wire transfer.

  2. Send us confirmation of your payment via email (billing@hetzner.com) together with the invoice number(s) and your client number. This will speed up the process.

  3. In the same email, ask us to re-activate your account. If your invoice is very late, we may choose not to reactivate your server/services. We may choose to keep the cancellation in place. We make the decision on a case-by-case basis.

Hetzner locked or cancelled my server. Is my data gone?

You MIGHT still be able to get your data. It depends on your situation and how late your payment is.

Pay your invoice. See above "Hetzner locked or cancelled my SERVER/SERVICES. How do I get it/them unlocked?" or "Hetzner locked or cancelled my ACCOUNT. How do I get it unlocked?".

IF we can still reactivate your server, you will then have access to your data again.

Why can't I make a late payment using PayPal or credit card?

There are two possible reasons why we are asking you to pay via bank transfer/wire transfer.

  • reason 1) You are very late paying your invoice. In this case, we have unfortunately lost some of our trust in you, and we have deactivated your account. So it is technically not possible for you to log into your account and make a credit card/PayPal payment.

  • reason 2) Your credit card payment failed multiple times/Your PayPal payment failed once. This is sometimes a sign that the credit card/PayPal information is stolen. We at Hetzner Online must take it very seriously when there is a failed credit card or PayPal payment. Please do not take this decision personally. In these cases, we ask that you pay via bank transfer/wire transfer since this is a more secure method. See above.

Once you make your payment, we will consider revoking the cancellation and re-activating your account. (We may choose NOT to do this.) If we re-activate your account, you may again make payments using a credit card or PayPal.

I missed an invoice because my credit card payment failed. What can I do?

If you still have access to your account, you can try these steps:

  1. You can try to make your credit card payment manually. Make sure all the credit card details are accurate and up-to-date.
  2. If that does not work, you can write us a support request. You can ask us to try charging the credit card again. Or, if you updated information on your card, you can ask us to try it again with the updated information.
  3. If that doesn't work, contact your credit card company and make sure everything is okay there.
  4. You can try to use a different credit card. Log onto your account and enter the information for the new credit card. Then send us a quick support request and ask us to use the new credit card information for your payment.
  5. If steps 1-4 don't work, you can pay via bank transfer or wire transfer. See above.

If you no longer have access to your account, please pay via bank or wire transfer. See above.

Will Hetzner send my invoice to a debt collection agency if I do not pay it?

Yes, but we will first send you a payment reminder in an email.

Using a debt collection agency is a standard business practice. It is part of our general terms and conditions, which you accepted when you became our customer. See 5.4 of our general terms and conditions.

Debt collection agencies will add their own fees on top of what you owe already, making the invoice much more expensive. For this reason, we recommend that you simply try to pay your invoice on time.

Additional questions?

If you have any additional questions, please write a support ticket via konsoleH, Cloud Console, or Robot. This is usually the quickest way for our support team to help you.

If you no longer have access to your account, please write to billing@hetzner.com and give them your last invoice number and your client number. You can also call +49(0) 9831 5050.

The accounting department is open Mondays-Fridays from 8 AM to 6 PM, Central European Time.

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