question Charge for domain cancelled before exp. date?

[Brandon.Domains]

I have a quick question – are registrars allowed to charge you for another full year if you cancelled a gTLD domain before it’s expiry date?

It's about a .report domain from Donuts Inc.

If anyone knows this, it would save me a lot of time reading through the IANA regulations.

Thanks,
Brandon

 

[koskov]

They could charge you only in case there was automatic renewal set up for the domain name. If that was the case, they should've notified you before applying charges.

Have you tried contacting their support? They should be able to issue a refund.

 

[Brandon.Domains]

They could charge you only in case there was automatic renewal set up for the domain name. If that was the case, they should've notified you before applying charges.

Have you tried contacting their support? They should be able to issue a refund.

I asked them to put all domains on manual-renewal ahead of time but they replied that they don't offer this (hence automatic auto-renewal and no way to switch to manual-renewal).

Ridiculous 2 months prior cancellation requirement before a domain reaches its expiration date, otherwise you have to pay for another full year. They said that they incur costs before the expiration date from the registries.

Can they do this? I thought there would be an IANA regulation preventing this.

Thanks,
Brandon

 

[koskov]

Brandon,

I think that ICANN has no regulations on automatic renewals. You should check your registrar's Terms of Service, to see if there is something about automatic renewals. It is really weird that they do not offer manual renewals. If you can't resolve the issue with your registrar, then you might need to contact ICANN, here is the complaint form - https://forms.icann.org/en/resources/compliance/complaints/registrars/standards-complaint-form

However, in most cases (based on my practice), registrars can resolve such issues (just ask them politely ).

Btw, what is the name of the registrar?

Thank you,
Konstantin

 

[Brandon.Domains]

Thanks!

The registrar is united-domains.de - the German version of uniteddomains.com who of course offer auto/manual renewals and don't require you to cancel 2 months prior to the expiration date. Typical Germans overcomplicating things to their advantage thinking that it will make them more money (which of course it won't in the long run).

I have never heard of such practices before and this is the only registrar I have ever used who does this.

Brandon

 

[Brandon.Domains]

Also, to cancel a domain with them you have to fill out a form which you have to print out, sign and stamp, then scan it again and email or fax it to them.

To register a domain you only need a few mouse clicks, of course.

Is it really true that registrars incur costs from registries before a domain expiration date? I only heard that after expiration they have to put up some funds for the grace period but they get it back if a registrant doesn't restore the domain...

I really think they are overpushing this by far

Brandon

 

[koskov]

Also, to cancel a domain with them you have to fill out a form which you have to print out, sign and stamp, then scan it again and email or fax it to them.

To register a domain you only need a few mouse clicks, of course.

Is it really true that registrars incur costs from registries before a domain expiration date? I only heard that after expiration they have to put up some funds for the grace period but they get it back if a registrant doesn't restore the domain...

I really think they are overpushing this by far

Brandon

Yeah, the cancellation process is "awesome".

Registrars are not billed by the registries until domain names expire and are put in auto-renew grace period. You are right, once domain name expires, registry charges registrar for renewal and if domain owner does not renew it, domain name is put into redemption state (in 45 days after expiration) and registrar gets a refund for the renewal.

This process applies to almost all generic TLDs

 

[Kate]

Since you say the registrar is German, in Germany .de domains are usually charged by the month (around €1), and they don't expire, they are constantly renewed. It is their way of doing things. Other European registries/registrars operate in the same way. Austria is a famous example. Even if you don't pay the registrar for renewal, the name won't be deleted. But the registry will take over and chase you :P
Everything is made so that you don't lose your domain names by accident, which can be a good thing or not depending on your customer profile.

 

[bytedo]

Also, to cancel a domain with them you have to fill out a form which you have to print out, sign and stamp, then scan it again and email or fax it to them.

I really think they are overpushing this by far

Brandon

Really? Surely it would be easier and faster for both parties to just do it through settings in dashboard or through customer support.

 

[Brandon.Domains]

Really? Surely it would be easier and faster for both parties to just do it through settings in dashboard or through customer support.

Exactly, but they intentionally complicate the cancellation process to try to bind people for another year. I can't think of any other reason for this, it's certainly not a technical problem.

Brandon

 

[Brandon.Domains]

Yeah, the cancellation process is "awesome".

Registrars are not billed by the registries until domain names expire and are put in auto-renew grace period. You are right, once domain name expires, registry charges registrar for renewal and if domain owner does not renew it, domain name is put into redemption state (in 45 days after expiration) and registrar gets a refund for the renewal.

This process applies to almost all generic TLDs

Thanks again for the info!

Brandon

 

[Brandon.Domains]

Since you say the registrar is German, in Germany .de domains are usually charged by the month (around €1), and they don't expire, they are constantly renewed. It is their way of doing things. Other European registries/registrars operate in the same way. Austria is a famous example. Even if you don't pay the registrar for renewal, the name won't be deleted. But the registry will take over and chase you :P
Everything is made so that you don't lose your domain names by accident, which can be a good thing or not depending on your customer profile.

I've seen this monthly pricing scheme. I think it's just to make domains look a lot cheaper and you have to commit to a full year anyway. You can't register a domain for less than 1 year and if it was a monthly "subscription" and you cancel after 1 month, they would be stuck paying the registry for the remaining 11 months.

Brandon

 

[bytedo]

Exactly, but they intentionally complicate the cancellation process to try to bind people for another year. I can't think of any other reason for this, it's certainly not a technical problem.

Brandon

I think you are right. Would be quite interesting to know what their customer service would give as the official reason if asked.

 

[Brandon.Domains]

I think you are right. Would be quite interesting to know what their customer service would give as the official reason if asked.

Good question. Probably "We don't want you to accidentally cancel your domain" or just "Because it's in our TOS".

Brandon