RegisterFly asking for money....

[exolis]

Hi,

I registered some domains with RegisterFly more than 2 years ago. At that time, their Pay Pal facility wasn't up yet so they put in about $50 worth of credits in my account so I can use it to register domains. And they would send a request for reimbursement later.

On top of that, I also used a credit card to register other domains but when the bill came I didn't recognize the merchant and so called up the bank for a chargeback.

When I did that, they suspended my account and the domains are no longer mine.

However, they keep asking me for the funds, and with them now defunct, should I pay them?

I don't want to get into any legal trouble.

Appreciate any advice, thanks!

 

[alanchau]

According to them, I owe them $877.20 ...

That's approximately 100 domain names. I don't recall ever registering this much.

Either way, I don't plan on paying them.

 

[snowbird]

After seeing this post, it makes me wonder what they are up to. I think it might be wise for me to close my account with them before they decide to do anything fishy with me as well. I don't have any domains with them but just having an account there seems to be making me nervous now after hearing all these stories.

 

[Kate]

Hi,

I registered some domains with RegisterFly more than 2 years ago. At that time, their Pay Pal facility wasn't up yet so they put in about $50 worth of credits in my account so I can use it to register domains. And they would send a request for reimbursement later.

On top of that, I also used a credit card to register other domains but when the bill came I didn't recognize the merchant and so called up the bank for a chargeback.

When I did that, they suspended my account and the domains are no longer mine.

However, they keep asking me for the funds, and with them now defunct, should I pay them?

I don't want to get into any legal trouble.

Appreciate any advice, thanks!

You did the right thing by initiating a charge back. Their domains were normally bulk transfered to godaddy a while ago - at least the generic TLD. For ccTLDs like .ca etc it's another story - I think they were using a Tucows reseller account for that purpose.
Anyway, your names should now be with godaddy - verify the whois, if it is screwed up you are in trouble.
I wouldn't care about the locked account, besides it's not you that is commiting fraud, it's they who are charging your card for a service they cannot render any more. That is fraud on their end :td:

 

[Ronald Regging]

Hi,

I registered some domains with RegisterFly more than 2 years ago. At that time, their Pay Pal facility wasn't up yet so they put in about $50 worth of credits in my account so I can use it to register domains. And they would send a request for reimbursement later.

On top of that, I also used a credit card to register other domains but when the bill came I didn't recognize the merchant and so called up the bank for a chargeback.

When I did that, they suspended my account and the domains are no longer mine.

However, they keep asking me for the funds, and with them now defunct, should I pay them?

I don't want to get into any legal trouble.

Appreciate any advice, thanks!

Well the simple answer is that if you purchased domains from them and received those domains, then you owe them the money. The fact that they suspended your account for non-payment and that you no longer have possession of the domains doesn't really negate your initial responsibility.

As far as I am aware, the company is still operating, though I'm not sure exactly how.

Even if the company goes completely under, more than likely, your debt will be sold to another company who will be more than happy to ruin your credit while trying to collect.

 

[angisson]

Well the simple answer is that if you purchased domains from them and received those domains, then you owe them the money. The fact that they suspended your account for non-payment and that you no longer have possession of the domains doesn't really negate your initial responsibility.

As far as I am aware, the company is still operating, though I'm not sure exactly how.

Even if the company goes completely under, more than likely, your debt will be sold to another company who will be more than happy to ruin your credit while trying to collect.

they are now a reseller. and yeah I don't really see you owing anything since they took back the domains.

 

[Domagon]

Pay them? No way! ... that's my take on this ... RegistryFly presumably took possession of the domains to satisfy the debt ... and thus he owes them nothing.

Furthermore, RegistryFly, in the eyes of many, are fraudsters; lack credibility - they are the only registrar, to the best of my knowledge, to ever lose their ICANN credentials.

In regard to credit score, etc ... there are all sorts of legal protections one has against debt collectors, especially when the nature of the debt, if any, is not clear and/or the result of fraud, etc.

Ron

 

[Dave_Z]

I thought I read here somewhere that Registerfly is under new management...

 

[Ronald Regging]

Pay them? No way! ... that's my take on this ... RegistryFly presumably took possession of the domains to satisfy the debt ... and thus he owes them nothing.

Well, the OP stated that this was a debt accrued 2 years ago. So really RegFly's current status or recent problems have no bearing on his initial debt.

Also, I don't think that suspending access to the account qualifies as "taking possession" and it certainly wouldn't satisfy the debt. The measure was one taken in order to prevent the OP from using something that he had not paid for. Particularly in the case of a registrar, one could hardly state that denying access to an account, or even taking possession of the domains, would satisfy the debt. If it were not for the OP registering them in the first place, RegFly certainly would have never registered them... So RegFly is stuck with some random domains (that they already paid for on their end) due to a non-paying customer... This hardly sounds like satisfying the debt. Essentially, the registrar is out money for domains they never wanted and probably have little to no monetary value.

Even in the case of a car repossession, the person with the loan is still obligated to pay the difference between the amount owed and the amount received from the sale of the car.

Ethically speaking, the OP has an obligation to pay his debt. Legally speaking... I have no idea.. Will RegFly ever come after him? Well it sounds like they already have... Or someone who they sold the debt to has.

 

[Dave_Z]

Well it sounds like they already have...

From what the OP posted so far it doesn't appear to be. If this doesn't affect
the OP's credit rating or whatever and has no need for the domain names, I'd
just hum, "don't worry...be happy..."

 

[exolis]

Thanks for all your advice, really appreciate it!

Ethically speaking, I should makde the payment, but because they're in such a mess, I'm not sure they would apply the credit correctly.

I tried calling two of their numbers seeking assurance that the payment would be applied correctly but both numbers have been disconnected, apparently since a few months ago.

So I'm kinda in a limbo.... I want to pay but not sure if they will just take the money and do nothing (heard too many horror stories)...

 

[PowerUp]

Thanks for all your advice, really appreciate it!

Ethically speaking, I should makde the payment, but because they're in such a mess, I'm not sure they would apply the credit correctly.

I tried calling two of their numbers seeking assurance that the payment would be applied correctly but both numbers have been disconnected, apparently since a few months ago.

So I'm kinda in a limbo.... I want to pay but not sure if they will just take the money and do nothing (heard too many horror stories)...

They will take the money and spend it on beers and sax. Your best bet is wait until the new management takes over and there's more transparency. If your debt is insignificant, I doubt they will send a debt collector after you.

Personally, I'll not pay since I didn't get to enjoy fully the domains for the entire period. If they have to make me pay, I'll pro-rate it over the period the domains were in my control.

 

[exolis]

Thanks!

I guess waiting for the new management to take over is the only thing I can do for now. But it's also possible they might turn it over to a debt collector agency in which case there might be fees.

Anyways, it's not that significant a sum, just $200, will see if they send me another mail.

Thanks again all for your advice and input!