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.

 

[MapleDots]

@stub you bring up a lot of valid points but the OP is not a regular client of the registrar, he is a domainer and therefore the registrar has to be careful when making decisions. Cutting off domains would have to be an absolute last resort. If I had hundreds of domains with them and talked turned to me not having access to my domains then all trust would be gone. They need to work with the client, they need to tell him he is responsible for a debt and if he does not pay he has the option to take his business elsewhere. Threatening to lock domains is not a good idea.

I think the deadline will pass without a lock, I have more faith in namecheap, I think they will settle it amicably. I think they are owed a fee, the only question is what is fair and in the end this topic will be a lesson for all of us.

 

[NameVisual]

It's now 7AM EST Friday 16th February. So have they now locked down your domains?

The last email they sent me said I now have until February 19th so they are still unlocked. I appreciate them adding more time for me.

 

[NameVisual]

When you transfer, the registration of all the transferred domains will be extended by a year. So your funds were not really wasted. You just have more time before you need to renew again (or to sell them )

Oh I see,that is nice to know. Thank you!

 

[NameVisual]

I very much doubt they will, it would be a customer relations nightmare. Domainers are watching this topic, namecheap can never lock down domains. The blowback from that would be horrendous. If I cannot trust my registrar they will lose hundreds of registrations.

I hope not but they actually did lock all my domains last year and I was able to convince to unlock them. I basically explained that it was really bad business practice to hijack all my domains that had nothing to do with the chargebacks. I told them the BMW car dealer scenario that I posted on this thread and they unlocked them.

 

[NameVisual]

@stub you bring up a lot of valid points but the OP is not a regular client of the registrar, he is a domainer and therefore the registrar has to be careful when making decisions. Cutting off domains would have to be an absolute last resort. If I had hundreds of domains with them and talked turned to me not having access to my domains then all trust would be gone. They need to work with the client, they need to tell him he is responsible for a debt and if he does not pay he has the option to take his business elsewhere. Threatening to lock domains is not a good idea.

I think the deadline will pass without a lock, I have more faith in namecheap, I think they will settle it amicably. I think they are owed a fee, the only question is what is fair and in the end this topic will be a lesson for all of us.

Last response from Namecheap:


Risk Management Team
Feb 15 (1 day ago)

Hello Michael,

Thank you for getting back to us. Please accept our apologies for the delay in replying.

It has come to our attention that you have not transferred all your services to another company yet.

This is our ***final*** notice that you need to transfer out your domain names until EOD Monday, February 19.

Thank you for understanding.

------------------
Regards,
Julia Gaivoronska
CFC Shift Leader
Risk Management
Namecheap, Inc.

Ticket Details

 

[Name Trader]

Last response from Namecheap:


Risk Management Team
Feb 15 (1 day ago)

Hello Michael,

Thank you for getting back to us. Please accept our apologies for the delay in replying.

It has come to our attention that you have not transferred all your services to another company yet.

This is our ***final*** notice that you need to transfer out your domain names until EOD Monday, February 19.

Thank you for understanding.

------------------
Regards,
Julia Gaivoronska
CFC Shift Leader
Risk Management
Namecheap, Inc.

Ticket Details

Congrats @NameVisual. I don't know how you achieved this. But you have won a short reprieve. Another 3 days should be enough to transfer any domains you want to keep. Use it wisely.

 

[Name Trader]

The last email they sent me said I now have until February 19th so they are still unlocked. I appreciate them adding more time for me.

Yep it's nice of them. Congrats.

 

[MapleDots]

Last response from Namecheap:


Risk Management Team
Feb 15 (1 day ago)

Hello Michael,

Thank you for getting back to us. Please accept our apologies for the delay in replying.

It has come to our attention that you have not transferred all your services to another company yet.

This is our ***final*** notice that you need to transfer out your domain names until EOD Monday, February 19.

Thank you for understanding.

------------------
Regards,
Julia Gaivoronska
CFC Shift Leader
Risk Management
Namecheap, Inc.

Ticket Details

How many domains do u have? How big a task is the move?

 

[NameVisual]

How many domains do u have? How big a task is the move?

Well with Namecheap it's down to around 75 now. Not a cheap move at all but I wouldn't transfer all of them.

 

[NameVisual]

Congrats @NameVisual. I don't know how you achieved this. But you have won a short reprieve. Another 3 days should be enough to transfer any domains you want to keep. Use it wisely.

Thank you @stub! Also thank you for all of your feedback and input!

 

[NameVisual]

it was autorenewal?

Yes and there were a lot of them which added up to a lot of money for the "free" whois guard. Money that I didn't have that went on my credit card.

 

[NameVisual]

They said previously they would only lock down the ones affected by the chargebacks. I still hope they don't hold any domains for ransome, that would not be good. I do understand their TOS but they should tell him to move to another company if they don't want his business. They have to be very careful to never insinuate someone could lose a domain. I have to have full trust in my registrar, that is everything, if they ever threaten to take a domain I will be so gone it's not even funny.

Actually they are threatening to lock all of my domain names as they did last year. Not cool. I can understand the domains that are related to the dispute but not all of them.

 

[NameVisual]

Point 1: The support knew what the remedies were in their ToS for chargebacks and supposed that you knew too since you were threatening to make these chargebacks. And I presume you put this forcefully to them, just like you said, "no way", that you were going to pay the chargeback fees and accuse them of holding your domains for ransom. It doesn't leave any room for any discussion if they half their chargeback fees and you don't accept any responsibility for erroneously making these chargebacks in the first place. Which is a completely untenable position. IMHO. You reap what you sow.

Point 2: Was answered by @anantj above. It's not that you have actually lost any money, you just paid early for the transfers. You don't lose any time if you transfer early. You get 1 year added to the end of the current expiry period. Jeez! This is Domaining 101.

Point 3. I think you should take some third party advice on what you think are your valuable domains. Because the 2 examples you gave earlier in this thread, were way off mark. If you like, you could PM me a list of your domains I will run it through Estibot.com and give you the results. I'm not saying Estibot is accurate at predicting the future sale price of your domains. But it would give at least another point of view. Since the evidence so far is you are way overvaluing your domains. You might be able to save some (more) bucks by leaving some domains at NameCheap. Which seems to be the policy you have decided upon.

Well that is very nice of you @stub, thank you! I have a lot with Namecheap though, around 75. I think I will transfer around 20 of them to my Namesilo account and let the rest go.

 

[Name Trader]

Actually they are threatening to lock all of my domain names as they did last year. Not cool. I can understand the domains that are related to the dispute but not all of them.

They have explained that to you. They said that chargebacks were handled on an account level basis, not on a domain-by-domain basis.

 

[Name Trader]

@stub you bring up a lot of valid points but the OP is not a regular client of the registrar, he is a domainer and therefore the registrar has to be careful when making decisions. Cutting off domains would have to be an absolute last resort. If I had hundreds of domains with them and talked turned to me not having access to my domains then all trust would be gone. They need to work with the client, they need to tell him he is responsible for a debt and if he does not pay he has the option to take his business elsewhere. Threatening to lock domains is not a good idea.

I think the deadline will pass without a lock, I have more faith in namecheap, I think they will settle it amicably. I think they are owed a fee, the only question is what is fair and in the end this topic will be a lesson for all of us.

OK. I get you don't want to answer my points individually. Don't you consider this is the last resort already? 50% reduction in costs, 2 deadline extensions, and nothing from the customer but a refusal and abuse? I think NameCheap's trust in the OP as a customer, has already disappeared. Hence them allowing to him to transfers his domains elsewhere. But there needs to be a deadline cut off to these unpaid bills. Are you going to still support NameVisual's PoV after he has transferred the domains he wants to keep, and leaves the domains he doesn't want, they get caught up in the latest deadline, and are blocked. And then NameVisual continues to bad mouth NameCheap about hijacking his domains and ransoming his domains. When he should be appreciating everything NameCheap has done for him?

 

[NameVisual]

They have explained that to you. They said that chargebacks were handled on an account level basis, not on a domain-by-domain basis.

Is that due process?

 

[Name Trader]

Is that due process?

Well I think so. The chargeback debt is done against an account. Not individual domains.

 

[NameVisual]

OK. I get you don't want to answer my points individually. Don't you consider this is the last resort already? 50% reduction in costs, 2 deadline extensions, and nothing from the customer but a refusal and abuse? I think NameCheap's trust in the OP as a customer, has already disappeared. Hence them allowing to him to transfers his domains elsewhere. But there needs to be a deadline cut off to these unpaid bills. Are you going to still support NameVisual's PoV after he has transferred the domains he wants to keep, and leaves the domains he doesn't want, they get caught up in the latest deadline, and are blocked. And then NameVisual continues to bad mouth NameCheap about hijacking his domains and ransoming his domains. When he should be appreciating everything NameCheap has done for him?

Well I think so.

Is a TOS always legal and hold up in a court of law?

What if they put in their TOS that after I give them my credit card number that they have the right to use it however they want like to buy illegal drugs?

 

[NameVisual]

Well I think so. The chargeback debt is done against an account. Not individual domains.

Let's say that you have an online account with iTunes and you have purchased numerous songs and full CD's. You decide to return a few songs and ask for a refund, they refuse so you tell them you will issue a chargeback and, they say to "go ahead". So you issue a chargeback and you get a threatening email that they will lock all of the songs and CD's you purchased so you can't listen to them and charge you $200 to give you back your other purchases. Does that sound legal to you?

 

[Name Trader]

Is a TOS always legal and hold up in a court of law?

What if they put in their TOS that after I give them my credit card number that they have the right to use it however they want like to buy illegal drugs?

I'm not here to answer silly hypothetical arguments. But they can be the biggest drug dealer in the country and spend their money however they see fit. IMHO.

I think most Registrars ToS will hold up in a court of law. Including NameCheap's. They have great attorneys drafting these ToS, and I'm sure they have had their fair share of court appearances over their ToS in court. And you as the customer, do not have the experience unless you hire expensive attorneys also.

 

[Name Trader]

Let's say that you have an online account with iTunes and you have purchased numerous songs and full CD's. You decide to return a few songs and ask for a refund, they refuse so you tell them you will issue a chargeback and, they say to "go ahead". So you issue a chargeback and you get a threatening email that they will lock all of the songs and CD's you purchased so you can't listen to them and charge you $200 to give you back your other purchases. Does that sound legal to you?

As I said above. I'm not here to argue silly hypothetic arguments. We have the facts in this case. And it looks like you are in the wrong and NameCheap are in the right. I can't see them extending the deadline for a third time. Else where will this end?

 

[NameVisual]

I'm not here to answer silly hypothetical arguments. But they can be the biggest drug dealer in the country and spend their money however they see fit. IMHO.

I think most Registrars ToS will hold up in a court of law. Including NameCheap's. They have great attorneys drafting these ToS, and I'm sure they have had their fair share of court appearances over their ToS in court. And you as the customer, do not have the experience unless you hire expensive attorneys also.

I don't think that a TOS can override the laws of the land.

 

[NameVisual]

As I said above. I'm not here to argue silly hypothetic arguments. We have the facts in this case. And it looks like you are in the wrong and NameCheap are in the right. I can't see them extending the deadline for a third time. Else where will this end?

I don't think it's silly at all, at least to me it's not. They are threatening to confiscate all of my property and that reminds me of communism.

I have not done anything illegal and I excised my legal right to issue a chargeback. It does not say anything in my banks TOS that if I exercise my legal right that I will be threatened, extorted and anything I purchased with that company will be confiscated.

 

[Name Trader]

I don't think that a TOS can override the laws of the land.

Which rule of the land are you referring to, specifically? But more often than not the courts will side with the Registrars ToS because they have made a better case to the courts. I don't think calling a Registrar a hijacker and a ransomer, to be good legal arguments, without proof. But I think any Registrar worth their salts can justify their terminology they use in their ToS, and would win the vast majority of these cases in court.

 

[NameVisual]

I don't think that a TOS can override the laws of the land.

The law of the land is we have the legal right, by Federal law, to issue a chargeback for our Federal regulated credit cards.

We have the right to exercise our rights without punishment.