alert The fund can't be withdrawal from Epik.com via Masterbucks wallet

[enamebroker]

It happened on 23rd Aug 2022 and this matter lasted almost one month without any process. Masterbucks.com declined my fund withdrawal and disabled the button of fund withdrawal. And I contacted Epik.com and got no further action even if Rob Monster got involved in it for two weeks. All the time I was told in email by management review.

What is wrong with Epik.com? Do you think it is normal to disable fund withdrawal? How can I get back my fund from Epik.com? Thanks for your suggestion.

 

[enamebroker]

It is pending for two days. So I changed it into Paypal withdrawal. Let me see how long?

 

[Amansaifi812]

It is pending for two days. So I changed it into Paypal withdrawal. Let me see how long?Show attachment 225135

Wrong decision. Now it would take even more time.

 

[enamebroker]

it was said that the fund withdrawal by Paypal is instant!!!

 

[Amansaifi812]

it was said that the fund withdrawal by Paypal is instant!!!

Who said?

 

[enamebroker]

Under checking.

 

[Amansaifi812]

Did anyone else receive their funds? Mine is still pending.

 

[bmugford]

So, let's summarize what is going on...

• Epik locked the Masterbucks funds of customers from withdrawal without advanced notice and with hardly any communication since, especially publicly.
  
  
• As best as I can tell, this started in early September. Those funds have been locked for weeks now.
  
  
• In the little that was said publicly, Brian Royce (CEO) promised an upgraded system.
  
  https://domainnamewire.com/2022/09/29/epik-ceo-says-masterbucks-will-return-soon-with-upgrades/
  
  
• What has actually been upgraded? Withdrawals still appear to be stuck in processing.
  
  
• It appears the "upgraded" system has higher fees, a new burdensome KYC process, and an ever evolving TOS, with some very problematic language. This TOS was introduced while the customer funds were locked, with no ability given to opt-out.
  
  
• Many customers seem unable to use the KYC process. Their documents have either been rejected, or are not eligible to use in the first place. What are they supposed to do?
  
  
• The new "upgraded" system was promised to launch on Monday, October 10th. It did not.
  
  
• It is now going into Friday. How many people have successfully withdrawn money that was requested? It seems outside a handful via Paypal, the rest are stuck in "pending".
  
  
• Of course everyone in authority at Epik has nothing to say about it publicly. Instead they have been working behind the scenes to do things like flag TrustPilot reviews.

Between the lack of withdrawals actually being processed and lack of communication, are we any closer to a resolution now than when this thread started?

Brad

 

[carob]

Many customers seem unable to use the KYC process. Their documents have either been rejected, or are not eligible to use in the first place. What are they supposed to do?

It is possible to report misconduct by Estonian companies:

https://ttja.ee/en/private-client/c...bligations/national-contact-point-responsible

https://www.eba.europa.eu/consumer-corner/how-to-complain

 

[carob]

• It appears the "upgraded" system has higher fees, a new burdensome KYC process, and an ever evolving TOS, with some very problematic language. This TOS was introduced while the customer funds were locked, with no ability given to opt-out.

it seems there were no fees before - customers did transactions on the understanding there were no fees, yet pending transfer of funds from completed transactions, retrospective fees are being imposed. Not likely to be legally acceptable.

The fees in many cases appear disproportionate and discriminatory, both grounds for complaints and contesting.
https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/pricing-payments/index_en.htm

For example:

You must give your consent to any additional payment requested by the trader, for example express delivery, gift wrapping or travel insurance.


A trader is not allowed to charge you for these services unless you explicitly selected them. Using a pre-ticked box on the trader's website does not constitute consent, so you would be entitled to have any payment reimbursed which has been collected in that way.

A lot of unfair bank charges were recovered in the UK after consumer complaints:
https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/everyday-money/banking/how-to-reclaim-unfair-bank-charges

Imposition of retrospective fees and unfair contract conditions might be a matter for the Attorney General of Washington State, where Epik is headquartered.

 

[enamebroker]

I guess nobody got back money from Epik even by Paypal withdrawal. And I noticed this guy is restricted.

 

[enamebroker]

Can anyone suggest if we can withdraw our money from Masterbucks successfully till now?

 

[eternaldomains]

You can apply with passport, it takes few sec

While it may seem like a quick solution, having a blank passport at the end of the passport expiry term is bad news when renewing them. You'll need to travel out of country at least once if anyone wants to go this route. And they aren't cheap (don't know about your country though).

Interesting Estonia fact that might or might not help, by providing an ID and possibly greater EU data rights or contract rights - especially in dealing with overreach or improper activity with data by Epik and Veriffy: you can become a digital citizen of Estonia and establish an EU presence:

https://www.e-resident.gov.ee



They also say they re-imburse fees for Ukrainians.

Can't see a signup fee but last time I heard one it was low xxx.

They won't accept Russians they say.

That's one of the reasons why Estonia is a very delicious target for hackers. It's basically a one-stop collection hub full of international IDs (and likely to be perceived as IDs from "richer offshore people") waiting to be harvested.

They charge a state fee, €100/€120 depending on what option you pick.

Not sure how they arrange stuff like local presence which would be a requirement to form a company and so forth.

Also, they require your fingerprints.

Better off with a UK limited... Maybe not after the brexit but them requiring fingerprints is a no go.

Beautiful country though if you know where to visit.

Fingerprints..... how does one provide fingerprints these days? Can they like "send it through the app" or you still have to travel all the way to Estonia just to thumbprint it (<- if that's the case it'd be ironic for a so-called e-state Estonia wants to be)?

Yes, Epik is going to need to provide a solution for the people who are not physically able to go through the (NEW) KYC process, because their identity documents are being rejected or are not supported in the first place.

Brad

Provided that E bothers to do so. Seeing how they behave these days, that's very unlikely to happen.


At this point maybe we should start referring to any E personnel using double quotes. Like "Brian" and "Liza" for example. Hard to tell if these people really exist now. In the past I've seen a single conman use several different email addresses, names, even supposedly different "personalities" just to scam others so it's possible E's starting to do the same now.

And seeing that only small withdrawals are being sent out this also reminds me of long running ponzis that suddenly bolted off while giving back only a small portion just to appease a few hoping to lure more outside fish into foolishly pumping more money into the crumbling ponzi.

Again, hopefully this is isn't the case, but it still doesn't look good. The patterns are too similar.

 

[enamebroker]

I asked when we can get money after PP withdrawal. The CS Sam said first-come-first-served. But you never know how many before you and what happen in future. No timeline!!!

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

Created a second withdrawal request for the remaining $25,433.
Commission $680.83
Version: 3.21.6/2.73.6

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

There should be no delays in payment, since Masterbucks, after improvements, has probably become a super-automated program, perhaps even with AI.

 

[bmugford]

I asked when we can get money after PP withdrawal. The CS Sam said first-come-first-served. But you never know how many before you and what happen in future. No timeline!!!

Show attachment 225141

There should be no delays in payment, since Masterbucks, after improvements, has probably become a super-automated program, perhaps even with AI.

Why is it that every other payment system can seem to handle payouts in a timely manner, but Epik's system seems like some piece of junk that requires manual approval, even after an upgrade that took weeks.

Brian Royce, the new CEO of Epik, told Domain Name Wire that changes are necessary to improve the system.

“The software was, in my opinion…it had some issues that I really felt strongly about addressing,” he said. “I don’t fly by the seat of my pants; I’m very precise. There are some issues with the software that I immediately identified, and my computer engineering and accounting backgrounds wouldn’t let that go. So I wanted to fix those things.”

For example, he said some payments required manual intervention rather the flowing through automatically.

Again, what has been upgraded exactly?

Brad

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

Epik should be interested in transferring as quickly as possible because they also want to receive fees from Masterbucks.

 

[bmugford]

Epik should be interested in transferring as quickly as possible because they also want to receive fees from Masterbucks.

Epik is a relatively small company. There is no reason they can't approve these transfers in a timely manner.

There is no excuse for dragging their feet.

Well, there might be some excuses. I should say there are no VALID excuses.

Brad

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

I'll have to ask Epik if they got Masterbucks fees from my transfers.
In theory, we should receive money at about the same time.

 

[Sceptre]

My funds are stuck, $20k

Feeling sick to my stomach, these last few weeks have been terrible.

What to do

 

[bmugford]

My funds are stuck, $20k

Feeling sick to my stomach, these last few weeks have been terrible.

What to do

Masterbucks was supposed to re-open Monday.
It is now Friday.

As far as I can tell there were a handful of payments that went out via Paypal.

Has any non-Paypal withdrawal been completed yet? Has anything for a significant amount of money been completed?

I have seen other amounts here like $25K, $55K, etc.

Epik should really just give up on their plans of Masterbucks world domination and competing with Paypal, and instead actually compete with other companies in the domain field.

When I get paid via GoDaddy, Dan, SEDO, etc. it doesn't require a whole rigmarole. The money just goes into my bank account, in a timely manner.

Brad

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

My funds are stuck, $20k

Feeling sick to my stomach, these last few weeks have been terrible.

What to do

Have you tried withdrawing money this week?

 

[Gabriel360]

Created a second withdrawal request for the remaining $25,433.
Commission $680.83
Version: 3.21.6/2.73.6

Have you gotten the first one?

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

Have you gotten the first one?

Don't know. I sent them to 101domain to pay for domains until they told me from there that the money was received.
I don't think so.
I sent the second withdrawal to my Ukrainian bank.

 

[Digital Nomad]

After all of this what's happening now and what happened in the past (for example the hack with unsecured personal data storage such as credit cards), I can genuinely not understand why people still vote for Epik as their favorite registrar, this boggles my mind deeply. They must have had a great experience with Epik in the past, but don't they know all what is happening now? I would proceed with super caution dealing with Epik in any way from now on. Let this be a lesson to everyone, once they screw up, they might screw up again.