Seller Not Responding. What To Do?

[sashas]

I'm currently in a deal for a name. Seller and I sent mails back and forth for quite a while before we agreed upon a price.
We decided to do the transaction via Escrow, and I paid Escrow the agreed price on Friday.

Now ever since Friday, since I made the payment, the seller hasn't responded to my emails, and somehow, the name has also been listed at Sedo now (which it wasn't before). I've tried calling the seller, but the number listed in the Whois does not belong to him (some secretary for some other company picks up the phone, always).

What should I do in this scenario? I have a high xxxx amount stuck in Escrow, and the seller is just not responding. My money is safe, of course, but this was a name I didn't want to lose.

Can I do anything about it, since the seller did agree to the terms of the deal, as well as to the Escrow.com agreement?

 

[buckshotdots]

Very interesting, keep us updated. I have never had someone not pay using escrow. I wonder how long your money is "safe but stuck" in their account if the seller does not go through with sale?

good luck, Gary.

 

[johnn]

Call Escrow and cancel the transaction.

 

[sashas]

Call Escrow and cancel the transaction.

thats what I plan to do...
Its really frustrating though. It was an excellent name that I did not want to lose..
I guess its just bad luck...

btw, its not possible to cancel the transaction before the 10 day name transfer period, right?
I'm afraid I might lose out on another deal because of this delay... :yell:

 

[Kate]

Would be interesting to investigate the ownership too.

 

[sashas]

I did that (finally got a domain tools account )

The guy is legitimate. His company has owned the name right from the beginning, and I saw several references for the owner online. There's certainly no fraud here, though I believe there might be greed...it was a good deal for me as a buyer, and perhaps thats why he doesn't want to sell it now.

I'll have to wait and watch what happens here. Will keep you guys updated.

 

[Giode]

That's frustrating! Any idea what spooked him?

Flaky people are a real pet peeve of mine.

 

[Spade]

Sashas,

Personally I would find a contact means to get a hold of this individual. I would then explain that when he agreed to escrow, it is the equivalent of a binding contract, he is under obligation to complete his end of the deal. If he doesn't, you'll be forced to turn this matter over to your lawyers.

If the bluff doesnt work? Cancel escrow and move on....

Justin

 

[LogiK]

Sashas,

Personally I would find a contact means to get a hold of this individual. I would then explain that when he agreed to escrow, it is the equivalent of a binding contract, he is under obligation to complete his end of the deal. If he doesn't, you'll be forced to turn this matter over to your lawyers.

If the bluff doesnt work? Cancel escrow and move on....

Justin

Superb Advice. ^

 

[sashas]

Sashas,

Personally I would find a contact means to get a hold of this individual. I would then explain that when he agreed to escrow, it is the equivalent of a binding contract, he is under obligation to complete his end of the deal. If he doesn't, you'll be forced to turn this matter over to your lawyers.

If the bluff doesnt work? Cancel escrow and move on....

Justin

Thanks Justin. I'll send him an email with this move tomorrow...lets see if it works. I've been trying to find some contact other than his current email, but can't find any. As I said, the phone no. doesn't work, and I figured calling him up would be the best option.

That's frustrating! Any idea what spooked him?

Flaky people are a real pet peeve of mine.

I have no idea. Dude's company has been down since the dot com bust, I believe, but suddenly he finds it in him to put the name up at Sedo AFTER he himself started the Escrow transaction.

I'll try Spade's approach and wait it out. If he doesn't respond in a week, hell, I'll just cancel the transaction and hope the other name I was interested in is still available.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Much appreciated.

 

[bricio]

if you cant get the name in the transaction...
cancel the transaction and ask for a quick refund if it is possible

you told in the first post you paid high $x,xxx for it and this amount is in escrow...
do you think this name would go for $xx,xxx in sedo?

if so, you can lose the name, unless (this is the last opportunity) you could bid on it and try to win the auction and after that you can turn this matter over to your lawyers.

it is just what i thought when you told you didnt want to lose the name

good luck with that

 

[sashas]

if you cant get the name in the transaction...
cancel the transaction and ask for a quick refund if it is possible

you told in the first post you paid high $x,xxx for it and this amount is in escrow...
do you think this name would go for $xx,xxx in sedo?

if so, you can lose the name, otherwise (this is the last opportunity) you could bid on it and try to win the auction and after that you can turn this matter over to your lawyers.

it is just what i thought when you told you didnt want to lose the name

good luck with that

if you cant get the name in the transaction...
cancel the transaction and ask for a quick refund if it is possible

you told in the first post you paid high $x,xxx for it and this amount is in escrow...
do you think this name would go for $xx,xxx in sedo?

if so, you can lose the name, otherwise (this is the last opportunity) you could bid on it and try to win the auction and after that you can turn this matter over to your it is just what i thought when you told you didnt want to lose the name

good luck with that
lawyers.

The name will definitely reach xx,xxx figures at Sedo

I got hold of another number for the owner (had to use white pages. The first time I'm doing some sleuthing around) and will call him tomorrow. If he doesn't , I'll just cancel the transaction. There are other opportunities to be had, if you look hard enough

Thanks again for all the support guys. You've all been really helpful.

 

[Name Trader]

How coincidental. I'm in exactly the same boat as you sashas. I found a domain I like and made an offer via the whois contact. I asked for a price. They gave me a price. I countered with 60% of their price. they agreed and agreed to use Escrow.com. They already had an account there although they pretended not to know about Escrow.com. Since payment. They won't respond to any of my emails. The catch is they are Korean with little English. I keep my sentences very basic. They were communicating in basic English before I paid. Now I send then emails in English with a Google Korean translation. Still no responses. So I'm also about to cancel the transaction and will not only have to bear the cost of the Escrow fee, but also wire transfers in both directions. It makes quite a dent. But at least the remainder of my money is safe and will be refunded

 

[lzy]

Sashas,

Personally I would find a contact means to get a hold of this individual. I would then explain that when he agreed to escrow, it is the equivalent of a binding contract, he is under obligation to complete his end of the deal. If he doesn't, you'll be forced to turn this matter over to your lawyers.

If the bluff doesnt work? Cancel escrow and move on....

Justin

So Escrow's not really a binding contract? Bummer. :td:

 

[Spade]

So Escrow's not really a binding contract? Bummer. :td:

It is - but enforcing a legal contract isn't simple or cheap.

 

[sashas]

How coincidental. I'm in exactly the same boat as you sashas. I found a domain I like and made an offer via the whois contact. I asked for a price. They gave me a price. I countered with 60% of their price. they agreed and agreed to use Escrow.com. They already had an account there although they pretended not to know about Escrow.com. Since payment. They won't respond to any of my emails. The catch is they are Korean with little English. I keep my sentences very basic. They were communicating in basic English before I paid. Now I send then emails in English with a Google Korean translation. Still no responses. So I'm also about to cancel the transaction and will not only have to bear the cost of the Escrow fee, but also wire transfers in both directions. It makes quite a dent. But at least the remainder of my money is safe and will be refunded

Losing the escrow fees and the wire transfer fees is not the issue for me..its the fact that: one, I'm losing a good deal, and two, I'm losing other good deals because I don't have the ready cash with my funds stuck in Escrow. I'd planned to make a quick flip of this name, but now it seems quite unlikely.

 

[sashas]

Update:
I employed Spade's tactic and wrote a very strong email implying that I'd dealt with flaky sellers before, and had taken them to court, and easily won. Told the seller that he should hear from my lawyer soon, and that I'm canceling the transaction and that I know he'd put the name up at Sedo.
Even dropped a John Berry Hill reference

Result? Half an hour later, the owner emails me saying that he'd been away on a trip with his family and had no internet access, and he's sorry for the delay and will transfer the name as soon as he's moved the hosts. This after he'd ignored all my other polite emails, and accepted one of my offers at Sedo (so he was obviously online).

Lesson Learned: Flaky sellers/buyers need to hear of lawyers and courts in a letter with very strong, almost legal writing. That gets them into action.

 

[Spade]

Brilliant. Glad it worked out well for you Sashas.... Dont forget to vote for member of the month... <cough cough>

 

[-REECE-]

Glad to see it worked out for the best!

I love the Jonh Berryhill part.. The guy probably crapped his pants as he googled that up :lol:

 

[sashas]

Brilliant. Glad it worked out well for you Sashas.... Dont forget to vote for member of the month... <cough cough>

you're already at the top of the list

Glad to see it worked out for the best!

I love the Jonh Berryhill part.. The guy probably crapped his pants as he googled that up

I loved this part too...JBH is one scary guy :hehe: