Understanding the 7-Day Grace Period

Quick Answer

When a sponsor payment fails or you downgrade from sponsor to free, Heritage Web provides a 7-day grace period where all benefits continue working. This gives you time to update payment methods, select which team members to keep, or reconsider your downgrade decision without service interruption.

Overview

The 7-day grace period protects your business continuity during payment issues or subscription changes. During this time, you maintain full sponsor benefits while resolving payment problems or adjusting to new limits. The grace period applies to both failed payments and voluntary downgrades but works differently for each.

Grace Period for Failed Payments

What Triggers It

Credit card decline
Expired payment method
Insufficient funds
Bank authorization issues
Card reported lost/stolen

What Happens During Grace Period

Day 1: Payment fails, grace period begins
Status Update: Shows "Expired - 7 Day Grace Period"
Email Alerts: Sent immediately and daily
Benefits Continue:
- Contact details remain visible without login
- 24-hour lead priority maintained
- Unlimited pro bono access continues
- Team members retain access
- All features work normally

How to Resolve

Log into your dashboard
Navigate to Account > Payments
Update payment method
System automatically retries charge
Subscription continues seamlessly
Grace period ends, normal status returns

If Not Resolved After 7 Days

Automatic downgrade to free listing
Login wall returns immediately
Lead priority lost (24-hour delay returns)
Pro bono limited to 3/month
Team slots reduce to 1
Must manually re-upgrade

Grace Period for Team Members

When It Applies

Triggered when you lose sponsor status through:

Voluntary downgrade
Failed payment after 7 days
Any reduction in sponsor listings

The Team Member Challenge

Free Account: 1 team member slot Per Sponsor: 3 team member slots

Example scenarios:

2 sponsors (6 slots) → 1 sponsor (3 slots)
1 sponsor (3 slots) → free (1 slot)
3 sponsors (9 slots) → free (1 slot)

What Happens During Grace Period

All team members retain access for 7 days
Warning emails sent to owner and affected members
Selection required: Owner must choose who to keep
Dashboard shows countdown and selection interface

Managing Team Reduction

Step 1: Review Current Team

Go to Account > My Team
See all current members and roles
Note the new limit after downgrade

Step 2: Select Who to Keep

Click "Manage Team Reduction"
Select members to retain (up to new limit)
Prioritize based on:
- Current workload
- Critical roles
- Active projects

Step 3: Confirm Selection

Review your choices
Click "Confirm Selection"
Removed members notified via email
Selected members continue without interruption

If You Don't Select

After 7 days without selection:

System auto-removes members
Last added = first removed
All affected members notified
Cannot be reversed (must re-invite)

Important Notes

No payment grace period for new upgrades — first payment must succeed
Grace period is automatic — no need to request it
One grace period at a time — can't stack multiple periods
Benefits are full — no reduced functionality during grace
Re-upgrade anytime — can sponsor again during or after grace period

FAQs

Q: Can I extend the grace period beyond 7 days? A: No. The 7-day period is fixed. Update your payment method or make team selections within this timeframe.

Q: If I re-upgrade during the grace period, what happens? A: Your subscription continues seamlessly. For team members, if you re-upgrade before the 7 days expire, all team members retain access.

Q: Do I get multiple grace periods if payment fails again? A: Yes, each payment failure triggers a new 7-day grace period. However, repeated failures may flag your account for review.

Q: Can I manually trigger a grace period? A: No. Grace periods only activate automatically upon payment failure or downgrade. You cannot request one proactively.

Q: What if I have multiple sponsor listings and only one fails payment? A: You retain most benefits as long as one sponsor listing remains active. Only team member slots would reduce based on the lost sponsor listing.