NameCheap.com

[NameVisual]

I own over 100 domain names at Namecheap,com and last year I issued a few charge backs that I tried to resolve with customer support. They are trying to charge me $200 per charge back and they attempted to hijack all my domain names.

I got them to unlock all my domain names that they tried to steal and they told me I couldn't use any of their services until I paid their ransom demand.

I thought it was resolved after I told them I was not paying their ransom and that charging for a charge back is very unethical.

In the last week, I starting receiving more threatening emails informing me to not use their service and after my domains expire, I would have to transfer them out. They didn't like my response to their threat so they are now saying I have to transfer all domain names out by tomorrow or they will once again hijack them from me.

What is everyone's thoughts on this?

Do I need to hire a domain name attorney?

Thank you.

 

[alcy]

I doubt I would have to because they would have just issued me a refund.

that's also in the policies of a given company. its not impossible that some will give you refund if you say you made mistake. but if you expect every company will or has obligation to refund people easch time they buy something by mistake, then their customer service would spend all day on refunds, and people would abuse it. so most companies offer no refunds on most services. except maybe something like godaddy for a domain registration. for few days.

 

[NameVisual]

that's also in the policies of a given company. its not impossible that some will give you refund if you say you made mistake. but if you expect every company will or has obligation to refund people easch time they buy something by mistake, then their customer service would spend all day on refunds, and people would abuse it. so most companies offer no refunds on most services. except maybe something like godaddy for a domain registration. for few days.

GODADDY
REFUND POLICY
STANDARD REFUND TERMS

Products purchased from GoDaddy.com, LLC may be refunded only if cancelled within the following timeframe:

Annual Plans+ - Within 30 days of the date of the transaction

Monthly Plans*+ - Within 48 hours of the date of the transaction.

 

[axus_auto]

We as customers have every right to submit a charge back and we should not be threatened, bullied or extorted for doing it.

This may not be necessarily true?

 

[alcy]

I know whats happeniong to you is not good for you

but when the emotions settle down you have to realize this imo:

you cost them $200 per chargeback for not having read their policies.

I would use this as a lesson instead of putting blame on nc.

 

[MapleDots]

I have a few businesses and often send items out from an online store. Sometimes clients will do a chargeback for an unknown reason to me. They may not like a product and instead of following the TOS and asking for a return authorization they do a chargeback. It is my policy to ban this client from further transaction from the store and because we have all approved paperwork with the client agreeing to the TOS we usually win the chargeback claim.

Not saying you did anything wrong but as a company I will not do further business with someone who tried to circumvent protocol with a chargeback.

I can see Namecheap locking the domains in question until the chargeback situation is resolved. I cannot see them keeping any of the domains (especially the ones not involved) but they surely can lock your account until the dispute is settled. From their point of view you have not paid for a service and therefore the service will be locked. It is highly doubtful they will dispose of any domains because their reputation with domainers would be shot. However they will freeze your account and will want some sort of compensation for the time required to sort this out. Had you followed company protocol or even come to namePros to launch a complaint without using a chargeback then you would have had a claim. Support would not have charged you for the time required to settle the claim pre charge back.

Right now though you have put yurself into quite a pickle and the more you fight it the more its going to cost you. Everything from moving domains to fees and legal. Call someone in charge and handle it amicably and you will be much further ahead.

 

[NoBS]

Let us also remind that taking into consideration your loyalty to Namecheap we have already reduced the chargeback fee to $100.00 for you.

IMO $100 is a fair compromise. Filing chargebacks too soon over little things is not good.

 

[alcy]

GODADDY
REFUND POLICY
STANDARD REFUND TERMS

Products purchased from GoDaddy.com, LLC may be refunded only if cancelled within the following timeframe:

Annual Plans+ - Within 30 days of the date of the transaction

Monthly Plans*+ - Within 48 hours of the date of the transaction.

ok so that's one company.. how about all the other registrars?
besides this gd policy does not apply to everything.. I know for a fact to get refund on doamin reg its only 5 days. if you buy privacy, they'll probably not refund that at all. unless you refund the whole domain.

 

[NameVisual]

This may not be necessarily true?

If the banks

IMO $100 is a fair compromise. Filing chargebacks too soon over little things is not good.

I made every effort to resolve this with customer service before I made a chargeback so it wasn't too soon. If Namecheap replies on here as I have invited them too, they can show the records of my efforts.

 

[NameVisual]

ok so that's one company.. how about all the other registrars?
besides this gd policy does not apply to everything.. I know for a fact to get refund on doamin reg its only 5 days. if you buy privacy, they'll probably not refund that at all. unless you refund the whole domain.

It's 30 days on domain names for a refund on GoDaddy. I have domains registared with them and have never had any problems, eve with all their add on up sells they offer, their customer service always puts the customer first.

 

[alcy]

It's 30 days on domain names for a refund on GoDaddy. I have domains registared with them and have never had any problems, eve with all their add on up sells they offer, their customer service always puts the customer first.

trust me, its 5 days masx to get refund on domain reg with godaddy.

and compared to other registrars its probably the longest.

naemcheap offers no refunds at all. its in their terms. which you did not read. therefore there was nothing to settle or chat with them about prior to your chargebacks. and therefore, chargebacks were against their policies. and therefore they reacted accordingyl.

good luck with your situation though. the subject is exhausted imo.
ciao

 

[NameVisual]

I have a few businesses and often send items out from an online store. Sometimes clients will do a chargeback for an unknown reason to me. They may not like a product and instead of following the TOS and asking for a return authorization they do a chargeback. It is my policy to ban this client from further transaction from the store and because we have all approved paperwork with the client agreeing to the TOS we usually win the chargeback claim.

Not saying you did anything wrong but as a company I will not do further business with someone who tried to circumvent protocol with a chargeback.

I can see Namecheap locking the domains in question until the chargeback situation is resolved. I cannot see them keeping any of the domains (especially the ones not involved) but they surely can lock your account until the dispute is settled. From their point of view you have not paid for a service and therefore the service will be locked. It is highly doubtful they will dispose of any domains because their reputation with domainers would be shot. However they will freeze your account and will want some sort of compensation for the time required to sort this out. Had you followed company protocol or even come to namePros to launch a complaint without using a chargeback then you would have had a claim. Support would not have charged you for the time required to settle the claim pre charge back.

Right now though you have put yurself into quite a pickle and the more you fight it the more its going to cost you. Everything from moving domains to fees and legal. Call someone in charge and handle it amicably and you will be much further ahead.

Let's say you buy a new BMW from a car dealer and then purchase a few extra accessories too. You try to return one of the accessories for whatever reason but the dealer refuses so you issue a chargeback. So they get upset and remotely lock your BMW somehow so you can't use it until you pay them a ransom for charging back something that has nothing to do with the BMW purchase.

 

[MapleDots]

Let's say you buy a new BMW from a car dealer and then purchase a few extra accessories too. You try to return one of the accessories for whatever reason but the dealer refuses so you issue a chargeback. So they get upset and remotely lock your BMW somehow so you can't use it until you pay them a ransom for charging back something that has nothing to do with the BMW purchase.

Depends on if you signed a TOS and it stated the item was non returnable and if you don't pay the bill they have the right to lock your car.

It all depends on what you agreed to before purchase and that is why fine print is a bugger.

 

[NameVisual]

trust me, its 5 days masx to get refund on domain reg with godaddy.

and compared to other registrars its probably the longest.

naemcheap offers no refunds at all. its in their terms. which you did not read. therefore there was nothing to settle or chat with them about prior to your chargebacks. and therefore, chargebacks were against their policies. and therefore they reacted accordingyl.

good luck with your situation though. the subject is exhausted imo.
ciao

We are all entitled to our opinions and I respect your but not when they are threatening to hijack my domain names that have nothing to do with the chargebacks. That is extortion.

Let's say you buy a new BMW from a car dealer and then purchase a few extra accessories too. You try to return one of the accessories for whatever reason but the dealer refuses so you issue a chargeback. So they get upset and remotely lock your BMW somehow so you can't use it until you pay them a ransom for charging back something that has nothing to do with the BMW purchase.

 

[NameVisual]

Depends on if you signed a TOS and it stated the item was non returnable and if you don't pay the bill they have the right to lock your car.

It all depends on what you agreed to before purchase and that is why fine print is a bugger.

It violates due process of law.

 

[NameVisual]

It violates due process of law. If the BMW is paid in full, they have no right to hijack it.

 

[MapleDots]

That is where the law will come in and you will have to get legal representation.

That is where my advice comes in..... take it..... it's far cheaper than legal representation.

Call someone in charge and hammer out an amicable agreement. You don't have to like it but it will be the cheapest scenario moving forward.

 

[NameVisual]

That is where the law will come in and you will have to get legal representation.

That is where my advice comes in..... take it..... it's far cheaper than legal representation.

Call someone in charge and hammer out an amicable agreement.

Thank you, I have tried to resolve this with them and tried even before the chargebacks.

 

[MapleDots]

Thank you, I have tried to resolve this with them and tried even before the chargebacks.

Direct them here.... they will be more than willing to come to an amicable conclusion knowing it is being discussed here. Thats your one ace in the hole.

Good luck

 

[NameVisual]

Direct them here.... they will be more than willing to come to an amicable conclusion knowing it is being discussed here. Thats your one ace in the hole.

Good luck

Thank you. I have invited them to reply here and they just informed me that they won't and will only discuss it on Namecheap.

--------------------------------------


I am inviting you to respond to my thread at NamePros.com regarding your unethical behavior.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/namecheap-com.1065454/#post-6572210
Helpdesk: https://support.namecheap.com/index.php?

Tatiana T.
8:54 PM (4 minutes ago)

to me

Dear Mike,

Thank you for contacting Namecheap Support and for providing us with the link.

We totally understand how much this situation upsets you, meanwhile, we have to ask you to update already existing ticket with our Risk Management department to proceed the further negotiation of this case. Also, we would like to specify that we are going to communicate this case only via official channels of communication and our correspondence via ticket system is considered to be the one.

Please let us draw your attention to the fact that, according to our last update, you were informed that neither your account nor any of the domain names in your account are locked.

In case there are additional questions, you are always welcome to get back to us.


Regards,
Tatiana T.
Customer Support


Ticket Details
Ticket ID: JNS-378-16655
Department: Domain Feedback
Type: Issue
Status: Awaiting Client Response
Priority: High

Helpdesk: https://support.namecheap.com/index.php?


Sales <[email protected]>
8:58 PM (2 minutes ago)

to NameCheap.com

Tatiana,

Yes you informed me that the account is not locked at this moment. However, you have threatened to lock it at midnight and hijack all my domain names that I have already paid for.

 

[NoBS]

Chargebacks are often associated with fraud. For whatever reasons they might put restrictions on your account until they are satisfied your not a threat to their business. Maybe there is a risk you will initiate chargebacks on everything you purchased, costing them hundreds, and all chargeback fees might add up causing their bank/payment provider to increase their transaction/merchant fees (eg 50 cents per sale vs 35 cents) costing them thousands more.

 

[NoBS]

Also if you ever transferred in any domains, they might asses there is a higher risk these could be stolen if chargebacks happen. Registrars have needed to harden up over the last decade and can have a complex set of process in place to mitigate risks.

 

[Name Trader]

Thanks! I never wanted to submit a charge back and I tried to resolve this with customer service but they didn't want to work something out. I even told them I would submit a charge back if it wasn't resolved and they told me to go ahead.

I think they tried to work something out with you but you weren't listening when they offered to halve the chargeback fee to $100 per incident. Which would have made the total chargeback 588.46/2=294.23. The numbers are slightly off, from 3 incidents of $200 = $600. But I'm supposing this is the correct maths?

And what about their renewal notices they sent you. You did not get any of those also? Why not?

Personally. I think you are toast with NameCheap at this point. You'll not get any of your domains back, if they are still transfer prohibited. If the whois of ChineseCigars,com is typical, they are not transfer prohibited at this point. They are transferable. But it still has WhoisGuard protected. So you would need to remove the whoisguard protection first before unlocking the domain and getting the transfer code from NameCheap. If that is successful, then I would suggest transferring as many domains as possible to NameSilo before your account is locked tight again. If this is not successful, Then I would accept their offer of $100 per incident before tomorrow when they told you your account would be locked tight again. Provided the offer is still on the table.

I'm sorry to be the bringer of this bad news to you. But I see I'm not the only one. I hope you still have time to get a satisfactory agreement out of NameCheap before their deadline of tomorrow. They are entitled to make these charges under their ToS. And they will be making the full $200 charge per incident. Not the compromise they offered, which you did not accept (yet). You are the one in the wrong here. You had a chance to remove the whoisguard when they sent you the renewal notices for each domain. Which you simply ignored. They have done everything by the book which they could possibly have done. And you simply have refused their compromise. Which in my view was a generous compromise offered.

Best of luck with removing whoisguard from your domains and hopefully you will get the auth code. With that you can setup a transfer to NameSilo. You should check the whois after unlocking the domain to make sure it's status is not Transfer Prohibited. Once the transfer in place at NameSilo. I doubt, although it might still be possible for them, that they would block the transfer. But if it was me, not NameCheap. I would do everything in my powers to block these transfers, and try to f*ck you over. You are in the wrong here. The safest route would be to pay the $100 per incident and thus rectify your standings with NameCheap. But that offer will probably be off the table if they see you successfully being able to transfer domains away from them. With the intent of you not paying their chargeback fee.

 

[anantj]

I felt misled when they advertise whois gaurd is free. With Namesilo, they give it to you free for the whole time.

Namecheap is not Namesilo. And NC, afaik, always states that privacy is free only for the first year.

 

[anantj]

This was their response after I found out that they locked all my domains and didn't give me due process of law.

What according to you is the due process of law in this case? IANAL but pretty sure the due process of the law here will be their Terms of Service.

Per our check, you have previously contacted our Support Team with the request to cancel automatic renewal and the renewal was canceled as a *one-time exception*. You were asked to double-check the status of this option for the rest of your domain names. It is our understanding that you did not disable Auto-Renew despite the kind suggestion made.

So even after this warning, why did you not disable the auto renew of the whois guard?

We’re also sending out notices about an upcoming auto-renewal to your account email address (the emails are sent on the 25th of each month containing information about the products that will be auto-renewed within the next calendar month) to make sure that no domain names are auto-renewed without your authorization. You can also find these notices under the Unread Messages section in your account at https://ap.www.namecheap.com/dashboard/messages/inbox

Why exactly did you ignore these auto-renewal notices?

As you can read in the email above, they demanded a ransom so I could have my domain names back. This is extortion.

No. This is not ransom. This is a fee that is explicitly stated in the ToS and in reaction your own screwup.

Mistakes or not, I tried to resolve it with them before the chargebacks but they wouldn't give me a refund like GoDaddy or Namesilo would have. We as customers have the legal right to issue a chargeback without being threatened or extorted.

Why do you have this entitlement? Why should they refund you for a mistake you made?

 

[NameVisual]

I think they tried to work something out with you but you weren't listening when they offered to halve the chargeback fee to $100 per incident. Which would have made the total chargeback 588.46/2=294.23. The numbers are slightly off, from 3 incidents of $200 = $600. But I'm supposing this is the correct maths?

And what about their renewal notices they sent you. You did not get any of those also? Why not?

Personally. I think you are toast with NameCheap at this point. You'll not get any of your domains back, if they are still transfer prohibited. If the whois of ChineseCigars,com is typical, they are not transfer prohibited at this point. They are transferable. But it still has WhoisGuard protected. So you would need to remove the whoisguard protection first before unlocking the domain and getting the transfer code from NameCheap. If that is successful, then I would suggest transferring as many domains as possible to NameSilo before your account is locked tight again. If this is not successful, Then I would accept their offer of $100 per incident before tomorrow when they told you your account would be locked tight again. Provided the offer is still on the table.

I'm sorry to be the bringer of this bad news to you. But I see I'm not the only one. I hope you still have time to get a satisfactory agreement out of NameCheap before their deadline of tomorrow. They are entitled to make these charges under their ToS. And they will be making the full $200 charge per incident. Not the compromise they offered, which you did not accept (yet). You are the one in the wrong here. You had a chance to remove the whoisguard when they sent you the renewal notices for each domain. Which you simply ignored. They have done everything by the book which they could possibly have done. And you simply have refused their compromise. Which in my view was a generous compromise offered.

Best of luck with removing whoisguard from your domains and hopefully you will get the auth code. With that you can setup a transfer to NameSilo. You should check the whois after unlocking the domain to make sure it's status is not Transfer Prohibited. Once the transfer in place at NameSilo. I doubt, although it might still be possible for them, that they would block the transfer. But if it was me, not NameCheap. I would do everything in my powers to block these transfers, and try to f*ck you over. You are in the wrong here. The safest route would be to pay the $100 per incident and thus rectify your standings with NameCheap. But that offer will probably be off the table if they see you successfully being able to transfer domains away from them. With the intent of you not paying their chargeback fee.

Thank you for your input but I disagree. It's a good business policy to say that the customer is always right.

There is no way I am paying them $100 per chargeback and pay them their ransom demand.

I never said I didn't make any mistakes but I think they are making some mistakes also. TOS don't always hold up in court and the actual laws supersedes a TOS agreement.