What happens if you try to get a Refund from Moniker

[lukedomain]

So after the quality of moniker went downhill a lot ever since they got sold (really unusable interface, most of the buttons don't do what they are supposed to do half the time, loads of stuff in the backend that doesn't work with loads of subpages showing GET_TEXT statements etc, and... most importantly: really long waiting time for support requests) I decided to transfer my domains away from there. After that was done, I pressed the refund button.
What happened now is a pretty good representation of their current level of customer support, so I just wanted to share in case anyone considers using them

So of course the refund button didn't work, so I wrote a first support email on November 12 2014:

Thanks for your e-mail. A new ticket has been created with the following ticket id. Please refer to this ticket id during further support emails or calls regarding the same request.

2014111210008155

You wrote:
> mr XXX
> -----------------------------------
> Hi,
>
I pressed the refund button a couple times but nothing happens. Could you please
> paypal me the remaining balance to XXXX@XXXX please?
>
Luca


Your e-mail will be reviewed and answered as soon as possible.

--
Your Team @ Moniker

Moniker Online Services, LLC
1800 SW 1st Avenue
Suite 440
Portland, OR 97201

so far so good.. they answer me with a couple questions after only 2 days:

Hello Luca,

Thank you for contacting Moniker Support.

We need to verify your Moniker account information for fraud prevention before disbursing the funds to your PayPal account.

Please provide us the following information / or as much as possible:

Customer ID or Domain:
Email address on the account:
Phone number on the account:
Street address on the account:

... and so on. I answered them and... awesome.... done! after only 8 days I get a successful reply! whoa! that's pretty quick for the new moniker standards!

Hello Luca,

Thank you for contacting Moniker Support.We will alert the accounting team to refund the funds in your account to your designated PayPal email.



Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best regards,

Shane

Your Team @ Moniker

....but not so quick. Nothing happens of course... so after a few months (January 27) I check back:

Hi,

so It’s been a few months and I still have not received my refund… seems like you guys got your stuff in order.

When can I have my money Back? Please also close down my account once you have refunded me.

Kind Regards,
Luca

... so now the regular support replying time is back again, and I get my answer after only a whopping 15 days (February 15):

Hello Luca,

Thank you for contacting Moniker Support.We have reviewed your request however, we cannot refund your account prepaid balance. Moniker has currently has a no refund policy, as stated in section 3 of our registration agreement.

"Payments may be made by bank wire, valid credit card, valid debit card, PayPal, or check. All fees are due immediately and are non-refundable—including any fees used to pre-fund your account or otherwise prepaid by you—even if your Services are suspended, terminated, or transferred prior to the end of the Services term."

Your funds are still available to you and can be used as you wish to purchase new domains, SSL certificates, transfer new domains in to Moniker, add privacy and renew any domain in your account.

More information on this can be found by visiting xxx




Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best regards,

Your Team @ Moniker

... cool, thanks moniker! and no... I won't use the funds, even if you try forcing me to stay Worst registrar ever.

My guess is they changed their refund policy in the time they took to answer my support requests. Why would you have a refund button if you don't refund?