An ARV or Arvixe charge on your credit card or bank statement is an automatic billing from Arvixe, a web hosting company that sells domain registration, shared hosting, VPS, and dedicated server plans. Most of the time it’s an auto-renewal for hosting or a domain, billed in advance and often for a multi-year term matching your original signup. To stop it, cancel the service inside the Arvixe customer portal, cancel any linked PayPal subscription separately, and dispute the charge with your card issuer if Arvixe refuses a refund.
Why This Charge Hit Your Account
Arvixe automatically renews every hosting plan for a period equal to the original term unless you cancel first. If you signed up for two or three years, the renewal charge covers another two or three years. Under Arvixe’s terms of service, billing occurs up to 15 days before the renewal date on annual or longer plans and up to five days before on shorter plans.1Arvixe. Terms of Service That early window is why a charge can post weeks before you expected anything.
The company says it provides at least 30 days’ notice of renewal pricing before charging on annual or longer plans.1Arvixe. Terms of Service Customer reviews on ConsumerAffairs, however, describe multi-hundred-dollar charges landing for hosting people had stopped using years earlier, with Arvixe declining refunds by citing a rule that cancellations must arrive at least 48 hours before the renewal date.2ConsumerAffairs. Arvixe Reviews Reviewers have also reported large price increases at renewal and charges that continued after they thought they had turned auto-renew off.3ConsumerAffairs. Arvixe Reviews
There is one detail that catches people twice. Canceling a hosting plan does not cancel the domain attached to it. Unless you specifically ask for the domain to be canceled, Arvixe generates a separate invoice of $9.95 or more for the domain renewal.4Arvixe. How Can I Cancel My Account and Receive a Refund
How To Cancel Arvixe and Stop Future Charges
Stopping the billing takes action in more than one place. Arvixe’s help documentation lays out the process:4Arvixe. How Can I Cancel My Account and Receive a Refund
- Log in at customers.arvixe.com, find the active service, click the “Active” button, select “Request Cancellation,” fill out the form, and submit.
- Reply to the cancellation request and explicitly ask to cancel the domain registration as well. Skip this and a domain renewal invoice will still be generated.
- If you originally paid through PayPal, log into PayPal on its own and cancel the recurring-payment agreement. Arvixe’s cancellation does not stop that agreement, and some customers have reported PayPal withdrawals continuing after they believed everything was closed.3ConsumerAffairs. Arvixe Reviews
Timing matters. Arvixe’s terms require the cancellation request to arrive at least 48 hours before the renewal date to avoid being billed for the next cycle.1Arvixe. Terms of Service Once the charge has posted, getting a refund from Arvixe directly becomes much harder.
Can You Get a Refund From Arvixe
Arvixe offers a 45-day money-back guarantee, but it is narrower than it sounds. The guarantee covers only first-time accounts on shared hosting, reseller, or VPS plans. Dedicated servers, SSL certificates, domain registrations, dedicated IP addresses, and software licenses are all excluded, and returning customers are ineligible. Refund requests must go in by support ticket within 60 days of account cancellation, and refunds return to the original payment method. Bank wires, Western Union payments, and checks are refunded as account credits instead.1Arvixe. Terms of Service
For an auto-renewal charge on an existing account, the terms do not guarantee a refund at all. Customers who miss the 48-hour cancellation window are generally told the charge stands.
Disputing the Charge With Your Credit Card Issuer
If Arvixe refuses a refund and you believe the charge was unauthorized or that you did not receive adequate notice, the Fair Credit Billing Act gives you a path through your card issuer. Send a written dispute to your card company’s billing inquiry address within 60 days of the statement containing the charge.5Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges The issuer must acknowledge your dispute within 30 days and resolve it within 90 days.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Do I Dispute a Charge on My Credit Card Bill
While the investigation is running, your card issuer cannot report the disputed amount as delinquent, and your liability for genuinely unauthorized charges is capped at $50 under federal law.5Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges If the issuer decides the charge is valid, it must explain why in writing and tell you the amount owed.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Do I Dispute a Charge on My Credit Card Bill
One caveat: Arvixe’s terms warn that initiating a chargeback may result in immediate suspension of hosting services, and any outstanding balance tied to the chargeback must be paid before services are restored.1Arvixe. Terms of Service If you no longer want the account, that consequence does not matter much. If you still have live websites or email on it, back everything up first.
If the Charge Is Actually Fraudulent
If someone opened an Arvixe account with your card without your knowledge, the company has a separate process. Contact Arvixe support with your name, the charge amount and date, the last four digits of the card, the card type, and the expiration date. Arvixe says it will close the fraudulent account and refund all unauthorized charges. Arvixe also states it will never ask for a full credit card number to resolve a billing issue, so treat any request for the full number as a warning sign.7Arvixe. Stolen Credit Card – Unauthorized Signup
Arvixe operates as a brand of Newfold Digital, Inc., and the terms of service identify the billing entity as “Newfold Digital, Inc. doing business as Arvixe.”1Arvixe. Terms of Service If a charge on your statement shows a Newfold-related descriptor rather than “ARV” or “Arvixe,” it may still trace back to the same account.