Is this common practice among hosting companies

I was using a VPS server from WiredTree. It turned out to be too expensive for me, and I was not able to pay me bill right away during a period of unemployment. After being down a week, they deactivated my account and told me i would have to pay a $25 reactivation fee.

Well, I took what little money i had and opened a reseller account with HostGator. Costs MUCH less.

So, I contacted WiredTree and asked for access to my database and files. I got the following reply three days later.

My apologies for the delay in response as the Billing team had been out of the office on December 31st and January 1st for the holiday. Unfortunately, I'm not able to provide any files or reactivate any services until the previous balance and reactivation fee have been paid. Would you like me to create the invoice for $ $82.10 at this time?

Is this common practice from hosting companies? To demand fees to give you access to YOUR files and databases when you are moving from their site to a new site?

All I want from WiredTree is access to my files and databases. I’m not going to upload anything or start blogging from this site. I’ll be in and out in less than 24 hours, probably less. I do not see why you guys are hitting me up for a monthly hosting fee and a reactivation fee for me to do that. They are MY files and databases. All I want is access.