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.

 

[BrandPlease]

This is not directed as I disagree with the OP - haven't read and processed all the details. This is an FYI on charge-backs, hope it give a little info.

Charge-backs are a terrible thing to do, if not 100% warranted. The cost to the merchant is high - but that is only the beginning. The rules, regs, and fees associated with charge-backs are especially bad on "digital goods".

The CC companies like to adjust rates and fees based on the transactions, charge-backs = raised rates = raised rates on everything, for everyone.

Now, when needed, YES, thats why they exist. But, be assured - in the US anyway - you dont have to rush to a charge-back, you are really protected on credit card purchases. Try to work with the merchant.

FYI - NEVER USE DEBIT CARDS if possible - they do not have the same protections as credit cards.

 

[Kate]

I'm a little disappointed in this post @stub. What happened to domainers united in arms? Oh well.

You may have noticed there are other threads, where domainers are siding with each other, when it's clear the registrar is in the wrong.

Please don't take it personally, you seem like a nice person.
But I am going to say something that other people must be thinking now. Exposing your problems in a thread like this is counter-productive, because now members will have reservations dealing with you. What is at stake now is not just your relationship with NC but your reputation in the domaining community.
If you wanted to buy a domain from me and pay with paypal or a credit card, I would decline because I know there is a risk of chargeback due to buyer's remorse. I am not sure I would want to engage as a buyer either.

Honestly, I really don't see where I did anything wrong here since there is no law that states that a chargeback is unethical.

Doing a chargeback without a legitimate reason is not unethical but downright fraudulent. Again, keep in mind some of us have merchant accounts and can easily relate to the other party (NC).

As I said before, I made sincere efforts to resolve the issue and it would have been very easy for Namecheap to do so but, they didn't.

That is ? Unless you do something that could tangibly minimize their financial loss, it's just talk. Sweet words do not alleviate the problem.

Of course there is a problem. You are not even admitting you owe them money. You pulled the rug from under their feet just because you could, and felt entitled. So I think the discussion is leading to nowhere.

 

[NameVisual]

You may have noticed there are other threads, where domainers are siding with each other, when it's clear the registrar is in the wrong.

Please don't take it personally, you seem like a nice person.
But I am going to say something that other people must be thinking now. Exposing your problems in a thread like this is counter-productive, because now members will have reservations dealing with you. What is at stake now is not just your relationship with NC but your reputation in the domaining community.
If you wanted to buy a domain from me and pay with paypal or a credit card, I would decline because I know there is a risk of chargeback due to buyer's remorse. I am not sure I would want to engage as a buyer either.

Doing a chargeback without a legitimate reason is not unethical but downright fraudulent. Again, keep in mind some of us have merchant accounts and can easily relate to the other party (NC).

That is ? Unless you do something that could tangibly minimize their financial loss, it's just talk. Sweet words do not alleviate the problem.

Of course there is a problem. You are not even admitting you owe them money. You pulled the rug from under their feet just because you could, and felt entitled. So I think the discussion is leading to nowhere.

You have judged me all wrong. I did not purchase a domain name and then just submit a chargeback so you are way off. This was a renewal of something in which I thought was free.

Yes, I made a mistake of not reading the entire fine print and the entire TOS, that's obvious.
After the charges went on my credit card, I made sincere efforts to get a refund because there were a lot of renewals all at once so I was not expecting a bunch of whois gaurd charges (my mistake) because I thought they were free.

I have never made any purchase from any company with the intention of submitting a chargeback because that would definitely be fraud. I feel I made a lot effort to resolve this with customer support billing and they didn't want to do anything. Of course, they didn't have too but they could have just taken "the customer is always right" business practice instead of acting like they didn't care that they racked up my credit card with charges I could not pay. After all, it is my credit card, not theirs, even though I over looked the fine print, it would have been nice if they gave me a refund.

I feel you are being very judgmental by saying I am damaging my reputation in the domaining community and assuming that I am out to submit chargebacks to companies just "because I can" as you said. I have never felt "entitled" to do any chargeback as you have assumed, but I feel that Namecheap feels "entitled" to keep my money after requesting a refund and explaining to them that I did not have the money to pay for all the who is gaurd charges.

Anyways, maybe I am not perfect enough for this community since you said "now members will have reservations dealing with you". So be it. I really don't need to be judged and have assumptions put on me because I asked for some input. I wasn't expecting to be condemned by you. Thanks. Have a great day!

 

[NameVisual]

 

[anantj]

Since this is an ongoing issue with Namecheap, I am not going to reveal everything here. However, the domain names that have nothing to do with the chargebacks can not be seized and confiscated.

Can and should are two very different terms. Can? Yes. Should? In this case, actually yes. You are acting exceptionally entitled for a mistake you made and are unwilling to admit to. As a business owner, they suffered a loss and you want them to eat it up. Why?

I posted this thread because I will always consider other viewpoints and I appreciate yours and everyone elses.

You say this but it does not seem to come across that you actually appreciate or even try to understand other's viewpoints. I'm not trying to be harsh but that's just the feeling that I get.

Namecheap already locked all of my domains last year and they choked and unlocked all of them because they know that hijacking and reselling all of my internet property assets would be a very bad business practice and, they would lose in a Federal court.

I literally dare you to try to file a case against them in a federal court. I'm not a lawyer but even I have the basic understand that they'd win... Why make empty threats? Why not actually sue them?

Currently, there is no Federal law that prevents a company from trying to recover their losses but at the same time, it is very unethical and a bad business practice

Wait. I actually can't believe that you just said that. So it is unethical for someone to recover their losses? Isn't that literally what you're doing as well? So it is unethical and bad business practice for you to be doing the same. Right?

And there is no Federal law that states that consumers have to pay a company for fee's that a bank charges them. The company accepted the TOS for the banks credit card merchant service so they have agreed to being charged for a chargeback.

So a business has to abide by the ToS of the Bank but a customer (you) does not need to abide by the ToS of the business? Not sure I understand how you even come to that conclusion.

Regardless if it was right or wrong for me to issue a chargeback, the current issue is that they are threatening, harassing and extorting me for using an option by my credit card company.

Didn't you threaten them with a chargeback (that you eventually did act upon)? So again, it is fine for you to threaten a business but the reverse is not true? That's highly hypocritical of you.

 

[anantj]

Honestly, I really don't see where I did anything wrong here since there is no law that states that a chargeback is unethical. As I said before, I made sincere efforts to resolve the issue and it would have been very easy for Namecheap to do so but, they didn't.

There is literally no law that says penalizing chargebacks is unethical

 

[anantj]

If you wanted to buy a domain from me and pay with paypal or a credit card, I would decline because I know there is a risk of chargeback due to buyer's remorse. I am not sure I would want to engage as a buyer either.

Thanks Kate. That's exactly and literally the thought that just came to my mind. Have reservations now in doing any deals with OP because of this fear

 

[anantj]

After the charges went on my credit card, I made sincere efforts to get a refund because there were a lot of renewals all at once so I was not expecting a bunch of whois gaurd charges (my mistake) because I thought they were free.

I'm seriously asking this question. What exactly entitles you a refund if the merchant does not offer it? Why should you be an exception? Again, a honest and serious question

 

[NameVisual]

I'm seriously asking this question. What exactly entitles you a refund if the merchant does not offer it? Why should you be an exception? Again, a honest and serious question

Nothing entitles me and Namecheap doesn't have to give refunds but after trying to talk to them and explaining that I couldn't pay for all the whois guard charges, it would have been a nice business practice to refund me.

 

[NameVisual]

Thanks Kate. That's exactly and literally the thought that just came to my mind. Have reservations now in doing any deals with OP because of this fear

Noted.

 

[NameVisual]

There is literally no law that says penalizing chargebacks is unethical

You're right, there is no law but it is ethical? Is it ethical for them to charge me more for what they were charged and make a profit? Should I pay them $200 if they were charged $20, $50 or $100?

Banks charge merchants $20 to $100 for a chargeback (I didn't know this before this dispute) so the merchant doesn't want to pay that and that's understandable. But should the merchant expect the customer to pay more than the banks fee? How is that ethical?

 

[anantj]

You're right, there is no law but it is ethical? Is it ethical for them to charge me more for what they were charged and make a profit? Should I pay them $200 if they were charged $20, $50 or $100?

Does support not cost NC? Don't the support staff have to be paid? Isn't that a cost that should be added to their penalty? Also, as previously explained, a chargeback does not cost a business the exact amount of the chargeback. It also increases their cost of doing business.

 

[NameVisual]

Does support not cost NC? Don't the support staff have to be paid? Isn't that a cost that should be added to their penalty? Also, as previously explained, a chargeback does not cost a business the exact amount of the chargeback. It also increases their cost of doing business.

I am also running a business as well so Namecheap is costing me time, cost and losses too.

Yes, their staff has to be paid and they are going to be paid the same amount either way. I don't think Namecheap is giving any employees extra money for this, so why should I have to pay Namecheap extra money and have them profit off something that is supposedly unethical? It seems to me that profiting off of something that is unethical would be unethical in itself. It seems hypocritical to me to recover losses and at the same time cause losses to another business or individual that they don't want done to them.

I'm sure you will say this opinion is also wrong and no matter what Namecheap does is right so there really is no point to debate this. You already made it clear that you believe I am wrong and Namecheap right.

 

[Rinkuji]

I recently buy 5 names with GoDaddy.
Forget to unchecked default Whois Privacy.
Later I see in my mail that they charge me around $2 for my one name as whois privacy.
I talk with their customer care and said "I don't want this whois privacy pls return $2"
They return me $2.

 

[NameVisual]

I recently buy 5 names with GoDaddy.
Forget to unchecked default Whois Privacy.
Later I see in my mail that they charge me around $2 for my one name as whois privacy.
I talk with their customer care and said "I don't want this whois privacy pls return $2"
They return me $2.

GoDaddy has great support and always wants to make the customer happy.

 

[Kate]

But GD will react exactly the same if you pull the same stunt. They are just as ruthless while being polite and professional. There are several threads on the forum about chargeback experiences with GD. It's just that their refund policy may be more lenient. However, it usually is a privilege and not a right. But GD have made a lot of unhappy customers too.
They have also locked down accounts for abusing coupon codes. They are certainly willing to go the extra mile - to protect their own interests (not blaming them though).

 

[NameVisual]

But GD will react exactly the same if you pull the same stunt. They are just as ruthless while being polite and professional. There are several threads on the forum about chargeback experiences with GD. It's just that their refund policy may be more lenient. However, it usually is a privilege and not a right. But GD have made a lot of unhappy customers too.
They have also locked down accounts for abusing coupon codes. They are certainly willing to go the extra mile - to protect their own interests (not blaming them though).

I'm sure they would but they gave the customer the refund, made him happy and that was the end of it. They have a returning customer, someone who will give positive reviews and they didn't have to deal with a chargeback. That way seems much easier to me for both sides.

Every business is going to protect their interest as I am protecting my interest regardless if I was right or wrong. No one is going to take away my property without a fight.

 

[NameVisual]

https://www.screencast.com/t/Uka0Iae4Db

There is no where in the screenshot above that says the whois will not be free after the first year. All it says is FREE and 1 year subscription.

It does not say that a second year subscription is not free. There is no * character that says to check the fine print with *.

 

[maxjohan]

Namecheap been very kindand professional to me. I've never filed for any charebacks and I never plan to, either. But I did register like 8 domain names on a binge once. And I told them I had regged them on impulse and told them about my ADD, and I wondered if they could delete the domains and give credit: They credited my account and deleted my domains.

I was told, it was a one time exception. But I had made the same mistake before with credits. So actually it was a two time exception. So I felt very blessed after this. This was like two years ago. I learned my lesson, as I quit impulse buy #PigeonS__t domains.

 

[NameVisual]

Namecheap been very kindand professional to me. I've never filed for any charebacks and I never plan to, either. But I did register like 8 domain names on a binge once. And I told them I had regged them on impulse and told them about my ADD, and I wondered if they could delete the domains and give credit: They credited my account and deleted my domains.

I was told, it was a one time exception. But I had made the same mistake before with credits. So actually it was a two time exception. So I felt very blessed after this. This was like two years ago. I learned my lesson, as I quit impulse buy #PigeonS__t domains.

That was very nice of them. Namecheap was always nice to me too until the whois charges. I made sincere efforts to resolve the issue to no success and I didn't want to issue a chargeback but I told them I didn't have the money for all the whois charges that I wasn't expecting and I would issue a chargeback if they couldn't give me a refund. Live support told me to "go ahead" so I did. It's an unfortunate situation and it is not helping either side.

I have around 75 domains with them right now and they expect me to transfer all of them out and pay all the transfer fee's. I don't have the money to do that and explained this to them but they are still threatening me to confiscate all of my domain properties.

I admitted to them I made a mistake and I did not know the second year was not free as it does not say anything about that. They automatically turn on auto renew for whois gaurd, offer no refunds for it like other registrars do.

So now I may have to contact my bank again and let them know that everything that I purchased from Namecheap that is already paid for, is being confiscated because of chargebacks that are not related to my digital assets.