Afternic is scamming me for $400

[Afternic_is_Scam]

I paid for a domain for $400 to afternic.com on Apr 17.
Afternic has failed to transfer the domain to my registrar. about 10 days after I heard nothing from them I threatened them to open a dispute on paypal if they dont refund my money or transfer the domain to me. At that time They unlock the domain and sent me the Authcode, When I started the transfer they rejected the transfer in middle.
I opened a paypal dispute in return and Now they are not transferring nor refunding my money.

Afternic.com is scamming its customer.
Screenshot attached.
i.imgur.com/3bIXmpe.jpg

 

[Kamaz]

I think if you opened a dispute on Paypal, they're unable to transfer the domain to you until you close the case, but if you close it, you can't re open it again!

On Paypal, you have a delay if 180 days to open a dispute, so I suggest you waited until they transfer the domain, and deal with their support first instead of opening the dispute

 

[Afternic_is_Scam]

I dont know the specific domain enough to comment on why it took so long. Sometimes there are delays outside our control but we do work hard to move the domains as fast as possible. Just this week I personally moved a domain for a customer that took me three weeks to get moved. The Whois was in Afternic's name, we had access to the account it was in at another registrar and we had all the codes and domain was unlocked etc. The transfer kept failing, after a lot of work I figured out that there was a problem with the other company and Versign having data that was out of sync, they needed to straighten it out before the name could move. Point being, things happen and it is not always clear why but I do assure you we work on getting the domains to people as fast as possible. I apologize for the delay.

To Address the PayPal dispute - I am sorry again about you not getting the domain quickly but starting a PayPal dispute will result in you never getting the domain name back from us or the money back from us directly and will result in you being banned from using us ever again. Here's why -
You have a dispute with PayPal who can decide to give you your money back. If we give you the domain in good faith and you do not drop the dispute you can wind up with both the domain and the money back from PayPal, we still have to pay the seller - which is an added benefit of using us to sell names we take on all risk. If you sell with us you get paid even if we wind up eating the cost in a case like this.

So instead you want the money back. Worse problem in our eyes, we refund you, you also win the PayPal dispute, so you get our refund plus the money back from the dispute, and we pay out the seller and keep his name since they likely will want to be paid vs getting their name back. So now we paid out 3x for one sale. We won't do that.

So we won't do anything until the PayPal dispute is dropped or decided because then one of the variables is gone. If you win, you get your money back and are made whole but we eat the cost of the payment to the seller and as a result you will be banned for good. We don't want the risk anymore of future transactions like this.

If you lose then we likely would move the domain name to you because we know you cannot both get the domain and the refund through PayPal, we may also just refund you instead, again I don't know the specifics of the domain I do know for certain we would not both keep the name and the money regardless of the outcome of the PayPal dispute, but we will do nothing until it is decided or dropped because we incur more risk until the PayPal refund is settled.

At the end of the day I understand there is a learning curve to buying domains and participating in different market places etc and we would prefer to work it out with you in an amicable way and get you the domain name and not ban you or make your transaction any harder than it has to be. If you will drop the PayPal dispute for the reasons stated above we are happy to work with you on a good resolution for everyone.

I dont believe your excuses, Your company is completely messed up, the staff probably knows they have no future in this company and its a sinking ship so They dont care about customers, According to other people reviews, Your company is too disorganized with very poor management.

If I accept your words, Because according to other members opinion your company have terrible management but you guys are not scammer.I dont want to do business with you, When you get your things together I may give it a try but I dont want to waste my energy chasing for my money and domain . My money will go to other businesses that value their customers. So If I cancel this dispute How long does it take for you to send me full refund? Without charging any fees or other scammy stuff.

Because you guys are famous by not responding to emails, this dispute is my last hope to get my money, If I cancel it and you guys again ignore my emails then I have lost it forever

 

[richface]

To Address the PayPal dispute - I am sorry again about you not getting the domain quickly but starting a PayPal dispute will result in you never getting the domain name back from us or the money back from us directly and will result in you being banned from using us ever again. Here's why -
You have a dispute with PayPal who can decide to give you your money back. If we give you the domain in good faith and you do not drop the dispute you can wind up with both the domain and the money back from PayPal, we still have to pay the seller - which is an added benefit of using us to sell names we take on all risk. If you sell with us you get paid even if we wind up eating the cost in a case like this.

So instead you want the money back. Worse problem in our eyes, we refund you, you also win the PayPal dispute, so you get our refund plus the money back from the dispute, and we pay out the seller and keep his name since they likely will want to be paid vs getting their name back. So now we paid out 3x for one sale. We won't do that.

So we won't do anything until the PayPal dispute is dropped or decided because then one of the variables is gone. If you win, you get your money back and are made whole but we eat the cost of the payment to the seller and as a result you will be banned for good. We don't want the risk anymore of future transactions like this.

If you lose then we likely would move the domain name to you because we know you cannot both get the domain and the refund through PayPal, we may also just refund you instead, again I don't know the specifics of the domain I do know for certain we would not both keep the name and the money regardless of the outcome of the PayPal dispute, but we will do nothing until it is decided or dropped because we incur more risk until the PayPal refund is settled.

At the end of the day I understand there is a learning curve to buying domains and participating in different market places etc and we would prefer to work it out with you in an amicable way and get you the domain name and not ban you or make your transaction any harder than it has to be. If you will drop the PayPal dispute for the reasons stated above we are happy to work with you on a good resolution for everyone.

Joe why don't you just cancel the transaction and refund the money? for $400 dollars you are really letting this drag on buyer is obviously unhappy end this fast and save your company's reputation as a bad rep can sink a business and at he moment focus on limiting your reputation damage the longer this carries on the worse it looks buyer is not at fault here for your technical difficulties. Just type in "Afternic Reviews" on google not a good look mate. PM the buyer and deal with. avoid this whole public display. Free advice paypal payment not required for the contribution.

 

[Arca]

It's easy to blame the buyer but don't forget that Afternic introduced a new and, at the time of launch, nearly completely broken new transaction system in early April, that have caused what seems to be most subsequent Afternic transaction to be incredibly delayed (or still stuck, a month later).

I see a lot of people saying it must have been the seller who cause the delay, but I think it's very likely that this is one of the many transactions that got caught in the mess brought about by Afternic's new transaction system. Even domainers who are experienced with Afternic's platform have been venting about Afternic issues in half a dozen threads here at NP over the last month. So if the process is as frustrating for buyers as it has been for sellers it's not really surprising that this buyer has misinterpreted Afternic as a scam, because when so many things don't work at all, things are incredibly delayed, update emails that should be sent out are not, and when TA Agents often ignore you outright or provide delayed or evasive/unhelpful replies, all those things can come off as a bunch of red flags when you are brand new to the platform. Afternic is a legit platform, but the platform has hardly functioned like one since the new system was launched. That hurts all parties involved both Afternic, sellers, and buyers.

 

[Afternic_is_Scam]

Joe why don't you just cancel the transaction and refund the money? for $400 dollars you are really letting this drag on buyer is obviously unhappy end this fast and save your company's reputation as a bad rep can sink a business and at he moment focus on limiting your reputation damage the longer this carries on the worse it looks buyer is not at fault here for your technical difficulties. Just type in "Afternic Reviews" on google not a good look mate. PM the buyer and deal with. avoid this whole public display. Free advice paypal payment not required for the contribution.

He can refund me, I have not escalated the case to paypal and its still open.
Screenshot
i.imgur.com/jOea0Ru.jpg

according to paypal help page, he should be able to refund the money. I dont know what is afternic intention in holding the money and waiting for paypal desicion, When they refund the money the case will automatically close.

paypal.com/us/selfhelp/article/How-do-I-issue-a-full-or-partial-refund-for-a-dispute-FAQ434

 

[richface]

He can refund me, I have not escalated the case to paypal and its still open.
Screenshot
i.imgur.com/jOea0Ru.jpg

according to paypal help page, he should be able to refund the money. I dont know what is afternic intention in holding the money and waiting for paypal desicion, When they refund the money the case will automatically close.

paypal.com/us/selfhelp/article/How-do-I-issue-a-full-or-partial-refund-for-a-dispute-FAQ434

Initially I thought you were being hasty but I have now come around to your position after reading all the reviews. Don't close the dispute yet in my view until you agree a resolution with Afternic and yes they can refund you while the dispute is opened but if you close the dispute you cannot open one again.

Good Luck Fella.