What happens if you stop paying for ovbq
While ovbq runs, your printed codes never go to a dead page, an ad or our sales page. The few exceptions, such as abuse, fraud, a chargeback or a code you delete, are in Terms section 13. If ovbq ever shuts down, we'll tell you 90 days ahead.
Here is what happens, day by day, if your paid plan ends.
- Day 0Your paid plan ends: you canceled, or a payment failed and Stripe's retries ran out. Saved pauses and access restrictions still apply. We email you the list of codes that will pause.
- Day 7A reminder that lists the codes that will pause.
- Day 25A last reminder, with the same list.
- Day 30Your 2 oldest website-link codes stay on Free, live or paused as you left them. The others show a short notice; any continue action follows the code's access restrictions. That includes call, text, email and hosted-page codes, which need Pro or Business. We email you the list.
- Any dayPay again any time: your paused codes come back at once, oldest first, as many as your plan has room for. Nothing is deleted because your plan ended. A menu page or file we host is kept, not deleted: while its code shows the "This code is paused" notice, any continue action follows the code's access restrictions. If you move to a smaller plan and your files are over its storage limit, they stay up, but you can't add or swap files until you are under the limit.
An example with dates
Say you pay for Pro and have 12 website-link codes on menus and signs. You cancel, and the month or year you paid for ends on March 3.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| March 3 | Your plan ends. All 12 codes keep their saved pauses and access restrictions. You get an email. |
| March 10 | A reminder email that names the 10 codes that will pause. Their saved pauses and access restrictions still apply. |
| March 28 | A last reminder that names the same 10 codes. |
| April 2 | Your 2 oldest website-link codes stay on Free, live or paused as you left them. Scanning any of the other 10 shows a short notice; any continue action follows the code's access restrictions. |
| April 20 | You pay for Pro again. It has room for all 12, so all 12 codes follow their saved pauses and access restrictions. |
What people see on a paused code
A plain page headed "This code is paused", with a button to continue to the saved destination unless an access restriction prevents it. For an unrestricted website link without link rules, the button names the destination's domain, with the full address below it. Other website links may show a generic Continue button, which still follows saved restrictions. There is no advertising and no countdown. It has two small text links: "Report this code" and "Make your own QR code". The second link is left off on Business.
A paused code in your account
Until your plan has room for it again, you cannot edit, pause or resume a paused code, see its statistics or download its scan CSV, and its scans are not recorded. You can still download its QR image as PNG or SVG, or delete it. Its destination and statistics stay in your account.
Take your links with you
Download a CSV listing all your editable codes. Destination fields are empty for pages and files hosted by ovbq; the CSV does not include their content or uploaded files.
If ovbq ever shuts down
If ovbq ever closes, we will email every account holder at least 90 days before the shutdown date. Through that notice period your codes follow their saved pauses and access restrictions, with the exceptions in Terms section 13, and you can download the full list of your codes and destinations as a CSV file, so you can move them to another service or your own domain. We will never sell or hand your codes to another company without telling you first and giving you a chance to export them. This is written into our Terms of Service, section 14.
Why your codes depend on a short link
An editable code holds an ovbq.com short link, not your page itself. That is what lets you change the page after printing. It also means the code needs ovbq to send people on. Codes on your own domain would let you move them elsewhere later, but ovbq does not offer own domains yet. Until it does, the list above tells you what every printed code points to.
Fixed codes from the home page are different: they hold your content directly and never depend on us.
Made your codes with another maker? Read what to check when a QR code trial is ending, or fix a QR code that stopped working.
Saved password and date restrictions stay in effect if your plan changes or the feature is switched off. You can remove either restriction; removing one does not remove the other. A paused code's Continue button still checks later restrictions.