question Escrow.com -- Should We Be Worried?

[jideofor]

I was just wondering if most companies acquire other companies just to kill them.

Just a few years ago, warrior forum was the king of internet marketing forums until freelancer acquired them and now it's no longer as active as it used to be. The traffic has decreased, the great content has becomes watery.

Hostgator was the love and recommendations of many webmasters across the world until it was acquired and now it's a nightmare. Though freelancer didn't acquire hostgator.

It's obvious that companies that acquired these websites were only fixated on the money they perceived it will bring them but didn't care about the communities that made them stood out nor the bond that existed prior to their acquisitions.

Freelancer acquired Escrow.com and I have seen a few complaints and which was almost nonexistent prior to the acquisition. So I ask: Should we be worried? It's all about embellishing the interfaces of websites after acquisitions like I see them do at warrior forum and already replicating at Escrow.com but the ability to carry on with proven tradition.

 

[domeen]

You should worrie about anything! Are you sure namepros is there tomorrow? Worrie a little about it now

 

[hawkeye]

Freelancer acquired Escrow.com and I have seen a few complaints and which was almost nonexistent prior to the acquisition. So I ask: Should we be worried?

Yup. Too many issues, critiques and complaints about them have been materializing of late. Escrow.com used to be an impeccable trustworthy company, but those days are sadly deteriorating by the hour there now. Been hearing it from way too many domainers, which makes me uncomfortable based on such. I've been looking for an alternative and am in talks with some possibilities. A trustworthy escrow service is 'too' important in this biz. And to watch the best escrow service we had crumble the way it is lately....the writing is on the wall on this issue people.

 

[Beezy]

Yeah, i moved all of my domains away from efty so my clients won't have to deal with escrow.com.

 

[Jackson Elsegood]

Hi Jideofor,
There's always a huge amount of effort involved in bringing two companies together. So far the investment from Freelancer has allowed us to step up our customer support coverage, increase the speed we deliver new features and offer new transaction types. With the exception of Escrow.com now being able to hold domains as well as funds, the processes and principles of our escrow process remain exactly the same.

Jackson Elsegood
General Manager, Escrow.com

 

[equity78]

Yeah, i moved all of my domains away from efty so my clients won't have to deal with escrow.com.

Did you have actual issues with Escrow.com ?

 

[promo]

I just brokered a xxx.xxx$ transaction through Escrow.com. Overall it went OK but a few hiccups soured the experience for all parties. Not acceptable when your chief duty is to provide us service and facilitate the transaction.

1: First of the buyers payment arrived 41$ short of the expected amount, hardly Escrows fault though the buyers broker said it was a new issue that surfaced during the last month on all their payments arriving to Escrow (buyer was from China).

2: It was towards a weekend, so buyer could not complete before end of weekend. As to complete the transaction in a timely fashion, I offered to cover the missing 41$ + 5$ fee = 46$ (I am sellers broker and as such it was a bit unconventional). This was a nightmare to achieve. First I was stuck for an entire hour waiting 15 minute intervals on Live chat. They elect to chat to 10+ people at one time, so I had written pages and pages before a representative got back and answered again. Finally that representative told me I could not do pay them 46$ before getting written consent from all parties (that was me, the seller and the buyer). Waste of time. Finally I wrote their operations manager directly and got a payment link within minutes. Why did I need to waste 3 calls and 1 hour on live chat to get the service I needed?

3: Buyer accepted merchandise and ended inspection period after only a few hours from the push. This was on the weekend, so we expected Escrow to disburse funds Monday. They did not. I contacted them and was told that due to discrepancies between the buyers whois and Escrow information, they needed to perform an additional secret inspection period of 24 hours. Instigated by Escrow.com themselves. I asked why we were not informed (broker and seller) but was told this was a new feature and only internal staff was privy to this information. Finally we were told that since that monday fell on 4th of July, we wouldent have been paid in any regard. Still not reasurring to get so many mixed messages.

4: 24 hours and several emails after this we were paid.

Overall our experience was not positive. Although senior support staff and management were helpful (to a degree, among them Mr. Elsegood). Much time was wasted to accomplish simple service tasks that should have been open and shut incidents. My complaints on the service level was brushed off by management and they seemed more preoccupied defending live chats right to give incompetent and unhelpful "service" than taking the feedback seriously. Both my, the sellers and the buyers experience was that of a deteriorating service, NOT one that ramped up service levels . Sorry Jackson, but that was just not good enough. That this deterioration coincides with a competitors marketing campaign is just bad luck for you guys (or timely marketing wisdom by the competitor), we will be going elsewhere on our next transaction.

 

[frank-germany]

I love escrow.com

 

[joro001]

Hi Jideofor,
There's always a huge amount of effort involved in bringing two companies together. So far the investment from Freelancer has allowed us to step up our customer support coverage, increase the speed we deliver new features and offer new transaction types. With the exception of Escrow.com now being able to hold domains as well as funds, the processes and principles of our escrow process remain exactly the same.

Jackson Elsegood
General Manager, Escrow.com

I really respect your efforts to take the feature set of escrow.com to a new level and in some way you have already achieved this, but ...

FL bought out the warrior forum as the OP said and frankly they seemed to be determined to do all they could to destroy WF as fast as possible in many ways. From sacking all mods overnight with no warning and barely an apology who had given selflessly of themselves for years and having a real understanding of the forum, to constant bug issues with the site which did not exist before, to completely ignoring established members feedback and suggestions, to adding an annoying feed which no one wanted etc.

A forum I used and loved for years has been ruined. Well Alexa and other sites show what has happened, a massive decline in traffic and especially from the USA, UK etc. Traffic and user engagement have fallen off a cliff and only now FL is trying to do things to arrest the ship sinking which feels too little too late.

The background behind this is very important in the discussion of Escrow.com. Fortunately you did not ditch all the old escrow staff like you did with WF although Brandon Abbey going (for unknown reasons) was a big blow and it is clear some of the new staff are frankly not in the same league in terms of speed in dealing with issues that come up, understanding of what needs to be done etc. as the old staff were. The process is now too slow and unrealiable (i've had issues as well although still use your service) and with more and more issues coming to light both here on this forum and on other blogs etc.

Escrow.domains is now being recommended by some seasoned domainers so escrow.com need to make sure they really listen and improve before others jump ship and it is too late.

 

[Brandworthy]

ArmorPayments.com is owned by Payoneer. They are a newcomer to the Escrow arena, but I suspect the tight integration with Payoneer might be of interest to some. Right now they are targeting marketplaces, but I suspect a heavy push coming to domainers also. The process looks more friendly than Escrow's IMO, but I have not used them (yet) so cant comment on their service.

Link to Escrow service: http://www.armorpayments.com/escrow

 

[frank-germany]

there is a problem with escrow.com when you do business with chinese buyers

I sold 2 domains as bundle
the first day the domains were transfered
the buyer resold one of those domain

although the buyer accepted the merchandise
I had to wait for about 10 days for the payment
as the whois data was not matching the buyers details

- on 1 of those domains only -


I understand security
but the buyer had accepted the merchandise!

 

[golan]

competitors marketing campaign

And who are they? You can PM me if dont want to post in public. Thanks.

 

[jideofor]

I really respect your efforts to take the feature set of escrow.com to a new level and in some way you have already achieved this, but ...

FL bought out the warrior forum as the OP said and frankly they seemed to be determined to do all they could to destroy WF as fast as possible in many ways. From sacking all mods overnight with no warning and barely an apology who had given selflessly of themselves for years and having a real understanding of the forum, to constant bug issues with the site which did not exist before, to completely ignoring established members feedback and suggestions, to adding an annoying feed which no one wanted etc.

A forum I used and loved for years has been ruined. Well Alexa and other sites show what has happened, a massive decline in traffic and especially from the USA, UK etc. Traffic and user engagement have fallen off a cliff and only now FL is trying to do things to arrest the ship sinking which feels too little too late.

The background behind this is very important in the discussion of Escrow.com. Fortunately you did not ditch all the old escrow staff like you did with WF although Brandon Abbey going (for unknown reasons) was a big blow and it is clear some of the new staff are frankly not in the same league in terms of speed in dealing with issues that come up, understanding of what needs to be done etc. as the old staff were. The process is now too slow and unrealiable (i've had issues as well although still use your service) and with more and more issues coming to light both here on this forum and on other blogs etc.

Escrow.domains is now being recommended by some seasoned domainers so escrow.com need to make sure they really listen and improve before others jump ship and it is too late.

Hi, thanks for the input. Warrior Forum built me and it was through warrior forum that I came here, it was the love of many Webmasters and IM'ers around the world because of the BOND. Most of the things I know today about internet marketing were all learned there on Warrior Forum. I have been off the place for some years and when I came back Oh My, it was dead. Everyone seem to have deserted the place, I mean seasoned pro who give deep insights into strategies, concepts, ideologies, mechanism and so on.

I took time to evaluate the whole scene which ended up making me sad and worried at the same time. It then dawned on me that MONEY isn't everything. It made me understand why some entrepreneurs say money wasn't their main aim for why they built certain system but because they felt a need to fill the void.

@Eric Lyon, please for the love of the community, do not ever sell namepros to anyone. Money isn't everything. Else we shall another case of dead Warrior Forum. Aside Namepros, I do not see any other domain forum where we can all have same bond and connection--definitely DNF (never really understood that what goes there) isn't the answer

 

[Kate]

Escrow.com have always had issues, I mean the kind of issues normal businesses encounter.
In general they are resolved satisfactorily. I also think the level of service has not been up to par 100% of the time.

But Escrow.com is the one that worries me the least. I would be more worried about the other competitors that are unlicensed, uninsured, unbonded, unaudited.

 

[Jackson Elsegood]

Thanks everyone for the feedback, good and bad. I'll gather the points from this discussion and see where we can make some changes to address them. If you have feedback about a particular transaction that you would like to share you can always contact me via PM or at [email protected]

 

[PNW]

Escrow.domains is now being recommended by some seasoned domainers so escrow.com need to make sure they really listen and improve before others jump ship and it is too late.

NP advert for them when receiving email notification for pm:

Anyway, I'll still be using Escrow.com as they've been the best for me w/ all problems experienced due to buyers.

 

[TampaDomains]

I have done 6 or 7 transactions on escrow and never had a problem. Only a few minor things that were mostly due to me being impatient, lol. But those were usually cleared up quickly upon calling them on the phone number.

My checks arrive 3 to 4 days after closing like clockwork.

 

[jideofor]

I have done 6 or 7 transactions on escrow and never had a problem. Only a few minor things that were mostly due to me being impatient, lol. But those were usually cleared up quickly upon calling them on the phone number.

My checks arrive 3 to 4 days after closing like clockwork.

That looks good bro. My worries is born out of what I saw them do to the lengendary Warrior Forum. You won't understand EXCEPT you were a member of that prestigious forum 2009-2010. It was more active than Namepros and most of the world's best internet marketers were bred, built and nurtured on warrior forum. But today, you can't boast of seeing their trace anymore.

We have to be on guard. They might get it right and before we know it, things might start falling apart. Where shall run to?

 

[tomcarl]

So far, Escrow.com has only gotten better from my experience. Extended customer service hours, revamped/modernized website, BIN buttons. Don't know what there is to complain about.

Discrepancies are bound to occur with any escrow service, what matters is that they are resolved in timely and professionally, I trust Escrow.com for that.

 

[Domain Lead Finder]

xxx.xxx$ transaction

41$ short

This was on the weekend

4th of July,

 

[Templr]

The best method I'very found to facilitate a smooth transaction is to use chat. Email is a nightmare, ops not understanding the basics etc.

My recent transaction was delayed for nearly two weeks because of poor communication and unnecessary bureaucracy.

 

[TampaDomains]

chat is ok, but sometimes they are not too much help. If its important I call and they usually take much faster action.

 

[baseballworld]

Companies do buy other companies all the time for different reasons. Some do it realizing they cannot move any further but do have a way to profit from bleeding them dry or influencing a marketplace that allows them to [profit with a right time sale.

 

[Nile Patel]

My experience with Escrow.com was good in past may be 8 transection total may be upto $20k not big, but my last experience went very bad and i m looking for alternative solution since my portfolio has all liquid name and i want bulk buyer to pay me rather then i sale on auction houses.

I am asking the escrow.com manager here directly if as a buyer i m buying the domain name and seller selling me stolen name and i m closing the transection and after month later registry claiming the name was stolen and take back from buyer, is there any way escrow.com can protect me as buyer?

I have lost $2500 buying two domain name with same buyer one name was hydb.com auctioned here on namepros and second bkbr.com which i deal after i received the first name and was confident on seller. After couple days later registry (namebright.com) took back the name by saying me it was stolen but that names are not stolen since the buyer chargeback with dropcatch.com and dropcatch complain them as stolen and namebright told me it is stolen but show me buyer has chargeback with dropcatch.com chargeback is not stolen, i m still fighting with them and will post about them in new post, lets go back to escrow.com

After this happen i call escrow.com and they said escrow.com can not do anything since the transection cleared by me and i received the domain , i ask here to jackson he told me same thing and told me , i has to submit the court order to get more information about seller, what?

Should any middle company do not has to protect their buyer if the product they getting is bad or not satisfactory? Until this happen i was blind on escrow.com thinking they automatically cover you even in any fraud charges.

Is paypal or any other escrow services like from sedo or godaddy or other big registrar work same way and do not help buyer if the domain they received is stolen, if they do not help , then who help and why we has to use them?

I hope everyone put their input may be it is escrow.com policy and i m not blaming them for their services only asking by law they has to protect us after their service done or not? Only the middle company has seller's bank information and if they do not release due to their client's privacy and do not even answer us , then how the case get solved.

 

[larryscott2559]

I was just wondering if most companies acquire other companies just to kill them.

Just a few years ago, warrior forum was the king of internet marketing forums until freelancer acquired them and now it's no longer as active as it used to be. The traffic has decreased, the great content has becomes watery.

Hostgator was the love and recommendations of many webmasters across the world until it was acquired and now it's a nightmare. Though freelancer didn't acquire hostgator.

It's obvious that companies that acquired these websites were only fixated on the money they perceived it will bring them but didn't care about the communities that made them stood out nor the bond that existed prior to their acquisitions.

Freelancer acquired Escrow.com and I have seen a few complaints and which was almost nonexistent prior to the acquisition. So I ask: Should we be worried? It's all about embellishing the interfaces of websites after acquisitions like I see them do at warrior forum and already replicating at Escrow.com but the ability to carry on with proven tradition.

I think your reading into it a bit much. But or the worst case scenario there is always DN.com

P.S Hostgator SUCKS! I would never recommend them to anyone. I even request that they give me back $30 I spent on their hosting and I never received it even though they said they would refund it.