Istanbul prices are volatile too, but in lira. I use Turkish providers when possible for local currency pricing, but for anything serious I need EU or US hosting.
Documentation problem is worse across borders. Turkish consumer protection doesn't reach to Delaware-registered companies.
Member
This is why I find best price but always pay with method I can dispute. Credit card > PayPal > anything else. I tell this to all my customers. Many want cheapest price, cheapest method, then cry when no recourse.
Documentation is good. Payment method with teeth is better.
Following this thread. Just got burned by a "lifetime deal" that lasted 8 months. Company "restructured." No refunds.
I had screenshots. They didn't care. Company didn't exist anymore.
SRE perspective: you're all solving the wrong problem. The question isn't how to document for disputes. It's how to avoid providers that generate disputes.
Run their ASN through bgp.he.net. Check how long they've had their IP blocks. New allocations + cheap prices = exit scam in progress. I've seen this pattern a dozen times.
Member
Idealistic. Sometimes the cheap provider is the only one with the price point your project needs. I've run oversold KVM nodes that were fine for 2 years, then the provider got greedy.
Documentation isn't about trust. It's about the inevitable moment when trust breaks.
I use a simple system: every hosting purchase gets a folder in my notes app. Nimbus Note, specifically. I paste:
- Screenshot
- Archive link
- Invoice PDF
- Support ticket numbers if any pre-sales questions
Searchable. Synced. Been doing this since 2019. Accessed it maybe 5 times, but those 5 times saved me hundreds.
Nimbus Note is subscription now. I used Joplin for this until the sync broke. Now on Obsidian with Git sync.
The tool matters less than the habit. Most people do nothing, then panic when they need evidence.
This. The habit matters more than the tool. I use a literal paper notebook for hosting purchases. Date, provider, plan, price, renewal date. Sounds stupid but it's always there, never crashes, never subscription-lapses.
Digital evidence for disputes. Paper for my own memory.
Paper notebook for servers. Peak homelab energy. I love it.
I automated my documentation with a Python script that uses Playwright to screenshot + archive at purchase time. Runs on my home server. Overkill for most, but I buy a lot of VPS.
Member OP
Can you share this? My manual process is exactly the pain I'm trying to solve. A script that captures page state at transaction moment would close the gap I identified.
Specifically: how do you handle the lag between "click buy" and "confirmation page loads"? That's the window where evidence is weakest.
