# We pay for the website every month and nothing changes. Is that how it should be? | Illia BizTech > A year of support, an invoice every month. Asked what has been done, the answer is "updates and monitoring". Source: https://illia-biztech.de/en/forum/wir-zahlen-jeden-monat-fur-die-website-und-es-andert-sich-nichts-muss-das-so-sein 1. [Home](/en) 2. [Forum](/en/forum) 3. We pay for the website every month and nothing changes. Is that how it should be? # We pay for the website every month and nothing changes. Is that how it should be? A year of support, an invoice every month. Asked what has been done, the answer is "updates and monitoring". * ##### Asked by SlowRouter675 * ##### Asked on July 2, 2026 We have been paying for website support for a year. An invoice every month, paid every month. In that year nothing has changed on the site that I could point to. The same copy, the same photographs, the same structure. Asked what has been done, the answer is "updates and monitoring". I accept it is possible that work really is happening and I simply cannot see it. How do you tell normal background work apart from being kept on a subscription? #### Answers ![Portrait of Illia Belichenko, technical specialist at Illia BizTech](/_ipx/f_webp,q_75/https://cms.illia-biztech.de/uploads/small_Illia_Belichenko_author_81f88864f0.png) ##### Illia Belichenko ✓ Accepted answer July 3, 2026 Part of the work genuinely is invisible, but its result has to be something you can be shown. Updates, backups and availability monitoring cannot be seen from outside, and that is normal. What is not normal is having no specific answer to the question of what was done in a given month. The minimum worth insisting on is a short list of what was completed and an idea of what is planned for the next period. Without that, work cannot be distinguished from its absence, and six months later the conversation becomes difficult. The second sign is response speed. If a text change takes two weeks, the cause is not the amount of work but the fact that your task sits last in the queue. It makes sense to look at the website together with the supplier once a quarter and decide what comes next. Without that fixed point, support turns into a background cost paid out of habit, and that suits both sides right up until somebody reviews the invoice. ![Portrait of Alina Belichenko, content and social media specialist](/_ipx/f_webp,q_75/https://cms.illia-biztech.de/uploads/small_Alina_Belichenko_author_ae667ebec9.png) ##### Alina Belichenko July 4, 2026 Beside what was done sits a second question, namely what a year without changes looks like from outside. Prices, contact people, references and opening hours all sit where they were a year ago. Someone comparing you with a competitor who has added three projects since January sees the difference in ten seconds. So the quarterly review needs a content list beside the technical one. Three sentences are enough for the email. Ask for a list of what was done over the last three months and a proposal for the next quarter with dates. No accusation is needed, the list answers your question by itself, and if it never arrives you have your answer as well. ##### #### [The quote was 6,000 euros and the invoice came to 9,500\. Do we have to pay it?](/en/forum/das-angebot-lag-bei-6-000-euro-die-rechnung-kam-auf-9-500-mussen-wir-das-zahlen) September 5, 2026 [](/en/forum/das-angebot-lag-bei-6-000-euro-die-rechnung-kam-auf-9-500-mussen-wir-das-zahlen) #### [The confirmation email from our contact form lands in customers' spam. Why?](/en/forum/die-bestatigungsmail-aus-unserem-kontaktformular-landet-bei-kunden-im-spam-woran-liegt-das) September 4, 2026 [](/en/forum/die-bestatigungsmail-aus-unserem-kontaktformular-landet-bei-kunden-im-spam-woran-liegt-das) #### [We received a letter about Google Fonts demanding 170 euros. Do we pay?](/en/forum/wir-haben-einen-brief-wegen-google-fonts-bekommen-und-sollen-170-euro-zahlen-zahlen-wir) September 4, 2026 [](/en/forum/wir-haben-einen-brief-wegen-google-fonts-bekommen-und-sollen-170-euro-zahlen-zahlen-wir) #### [Our shop window carries the company name in German and Upper Sorbian. How do we write it on Google?](/en/forum/auf-unserem-schaufenster-steht-der-firmenname-deutsch-und-sorbisch-wie-schreiben-wir-ihn-bei-google) September 3, 2026 [](/en/forum/auf-unserem-schaufenster-steht-der-firmenname-deutsch-und-sorbisch-wie-schreiben-wir-ihn-bei-google) #### [What counts as a normal cost per enquiry from Google Ads?](/en/forum/was-ist-ein-normaler-preis-fur-eine-anfrage-aus-google-ads) September 3, 2026 [](/en/forum/was-ist-ein-normaler-preis-fur-eine-anfrage-aus-google-ads) **Share** **Topics** * retainer