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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.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
If you want good advice and feedback I suggest posting all correspondence in their entirety for transparency and clarity reasons. Keep in mind however .. that that could cause them to take even more aggressive action against you. but I for one don't like giving opinions or suggestions without seeing the entire picture and seeing the entirety of correspondence from both sides to avoid bias as much as possible.

That being said .. seriously horrible situation .. I really hope it all ends well for you!

I also suggest you change the title of your thread to something more accurately descriptive ... even if it's something like "NameCheap Is Forcing Me Off Their Platform" .. just having it "NameCheap.com" doesn't really describe your thread with any accuracy.
 
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If you want good advice and feedback I suggest posting all correspondence in their entirety for transparency and clarity reasons. Keep in mind however .. that that could cause them to take even more aggressive action against you. but I for one don't like giving opinions or suggestions without seeing the entire picture and seeing the entirety of correspondence from both sides to avoid bias as much as possible.

That being said .. seriously horrible situation .. I really hope it all ends well for you!

I also suggest you change the title of your thread to something more accurately descriptive ... even if it's something like "NameCheap Is Forcing Me Off Their Platform" .. just having it "NameCheap.com" doesn't really describe your thread with any accuracy.

Thank you.

I have sent them an email to invite them to respond so we will see what they say.

What they are doing is unethical and bullying.
 
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if you want people to help or comment here, you'd need to begin with some crucial info such as why you file multiple chargebacks against a fairly large and reputable registrar like namecheap.

stories of chargebacks against registrars (any registras) are very rare.. at least here.. so I am assuming they are also equally exceptional situations to handle by registrars themselves.. therefore, when they do occur, I can see how they can be mishandled or quickly degeneate for both parties.

all in all, namecheap is known to have excellent support though a terrible interface and prices. other than these issues, they are not spoken of often. which is a good sign.

cheers
gl
 
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Thank you.

I have sent them an email to invite them to respond so we will see what they say.

What they are doing is unethical and bullying.

Well .. what I meant is that if you're going to make accusations like that saying they said X & Y .. then you should post the actual evidence (ie: the complete unedited emails they sent you .. and the complete emails you sent back .. make sure to include dates/times .. although I would suggest not posting full names or complete email addresses unless they are official general company email addresses).

Note that I am in no way saying I don't believe you .. I'm just saying that making similar such accusations here at NamePros always tend to get people divided and grow into heated arguments ... more often than not the arguments are simply based on hearsay and a single point of view on the happenings.

If you post all evidence in their entirety then that gives us all a clearer picture and lets people judge based on the actual hard facts.

Best of luck to you once again .. hope it's all resolved quickly! :)
 
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I see. Let me get as much info as I can. There should be a record of all emails on NameCheap.com.

I thought they would be in my inbox but they are not there. Would customer support be able to show me the old emails?

Here is the last message they sent me:


Hello Michael,

This is a reminder that the services must be transferred until midnight (12:00AM) Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Thursday, February 15, 2018.

The corresponding instructions can be found at https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/subcategory.aspx?type=category&contentid=84&categorytitle=transfer%20to%20another%20provider .
===================================

The domain names are currently unlocked. Please proceed with transfer within the timeframes specified earlier.

Should you have any questions, please get back to us anytime.

------------------
Regards,
Julia Gaivoronska
CFC Shift Leader
Risk Management
Namecheap, Inc.

Ticket Details
Ticket ID: LQH-800-28578
Department: Risk Management
Type: Issue
Status: Escalated
Priority: High
 
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How many of these domains can you reasonably transfer out by tomorrow? I'd transfer out all my valuable domains immediately, and to continue to negotiate for the rest under the argument that it is impossible to transfer them all out in such short a time as "by tomorrow".

How much of these domains worth? It's going to cost you maybe $3k minimum to get a good domain name attorney involved in your case. I think also you are not going to get an attorney to respond by the deadline you have been given.

I don't understand the situation very clearly. You are saying that you did chargebacks on what exactly? On domain purchases? If you have done chargebacks on domain purchases, you probably don't own those domains already. So you can probably count those domains as already irretrievable. How many chargebacks are you talking about? Why have you made these chargebacks?

Look at their ToS. Does it include this $200 charge for customer chargebacks? Does it cover your situation at all? Anywhere? You do realize chargebacks are an anathema for registrars who are looking pretty thin margins, most of the time.

You must have been very aggressive if they have changed from transferring them when they expire to transferring them out by tomorrow. Does either of these two options still require you to pay the $200 fee for each chargeback BEFORE they will allow you to transfer ANY domains?

Maybe there is a lesson to be learned here about always speaking civilly to people you have disputes with. And also to try to look any disptute from both sides PoV. And use rational polite arguments. I've always found that more productive, than locking horns.

I would also appreciate answers to my questions above, if you need any further help.
 
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This email was when they had all my domain names locked and most of them had nothing to do with a charge back.

Posted on: 12 October 2017 01:55 PM
icon_new3d_orange.png

Hello Michael,

We fully understand your frustration. This is an unfortunate situation for both of us, you as well as our company incur losses because of this issue.

Chargeback-related issues are serious enough to be considered in association with the whole account, not just a separate service. Threatening disputes/charges will not help to resolve the issue. Our requirements will remain the same.

It is to our understanding that you refuse to resolve the payment issue. In this case, we have no other option but to proceed with suspending of your services.

Kindly let us know about your the decision.

Looking forward to your reply.

------------------
Regards,
Kate K.
CFC, Risk Management
Namecheap, Inc.
 
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"As for the domain names that are paid, they will remain in your account, however, will be locked for modification as we will not be able to provide you with the domain name services further."


Posted on: 12 October 2017 07:10 AM
icon_new3d_orange.png

Hello Michael,

Your frustration and disappointment with the issue you are facing is completely understandable.

However, as stated previously, payment reversals cause certain damage to our company and chargeback fee is reasonably set to cover it.

Per our check, you have previously contacted our Support Team with the request to cancel automatic renewal and the renewal was canceled as a *one-time exception*. You were asked to double-check the status of this option for the rest of your domain names. It is our understanding that you did not disable Auto-Renew despite the kind suggestion made.

We have to remind you out p. 3 Accounts; Accurate Information; Transfer of Data Abroad of Namecheap Universal Terms of Service Agreement at https://www.namecheap.com/legal/universal/universal-tos.aspx :

"You are solely responsible for the activity that occurs on Your Account, whether authorized by You or not..."

We’re also sending out notices about an upcoming auto-renewal to your account email address (the emails are sent on the 25th of each month containing information about the products that will be auto-renewed within the next calendar month) to make sure that no domain names are auto-renewed without your authorization. You can also find these notices under the Unread Messages section in your account at https://ap.www.namecheap.com/dashboard/messages/inbox

When signing up at our website you accepted our Terms of Service and we have to draw your attention to the following point of our Refund Policy at https://www.namecheap.com/legal/general/refund-policy.aspx :

"All other Services are non-refundable, including but not limited to:
...
Fees for recovery or reactivation of domain names..."

Unfortunately, if the issue is not resolved, we will be forced to disable and remove the domain names involved in chargebacks from your account. As for the domain names that are paid, they will remain in your account, however, will be locked for modification as we will not be able to provide you with the domain name services further.

Please note that we have already reduced the chargeback fee for you taking into consideration your loyalty to our company. The chargeback fee cannot be waived completely. As an option, you may contact your bank with a request to cancel the chargebacks and we will consider reducing the fee further.

If you insist on your decision to proceed with reversal of the charges and refuse to resolve the issue in an amicable way, we will be forced to proceed with the actions specified above.

We look forward to hearing from you.

----------------
Kind regards,
Oksana Mo.
CFC Shift Leader
Risk Management Department
Namecheap, Inc.
 
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How many of these domains can you reasonably transfer out by tomorrow? I'd transfer out all my valuable domains immediately, and to continue to negotiate for the rest under the argument that it is impossible to transfer them all out in such short a time as "by tomorrow".

How much of these domains worth? It's going to cost you maybe $3k minimum to get a good domain name attorney involved in your case. I think also you are not going to get an attorney to respond by the deadline you have been given.

I don't understand the situation very clearly. You are saying that you did chargebacks on what exactly? On domain purchases? If you have done chargebacks on domain purchases, you probably don't own those domains already. So you can probably count those domains as already irretrievable. How many chargebacks are you talking about? Why have you made these chargebacks?

Look at their ToS. Does it include this $200 charge for customer chargebacks? Does it cover your situation at all? Anywhere? You do realize chargebacks are an anathema for registrars who are looking pretty thin margins, most of the time.

You must have been very aggressive if they have changed from transferring them when they expire to transferring them out by tomorrow. Does either of these two options still require you to pay the $200 fee for each chargeback BEFORE they will allow you to transfer ANY domains?

Maybe there is a lesson to be learned here about always speaking civilly to people you have disputes with. And also to try to look any disptute from both sides PoV. And use rational polite arguments. I've always found that more productive, than locking horns.

I would also appreciate answers to my questions above, if you need any further help.

Great idea, I will start transferring my most valuable names out. A few are appraised at $5,000 like Bolivia.io and Uniregistry appraised ChineseCigars.com at $50,000.


The chargebacks were from renewals and whois gaurd which were to my understanding, free. I didn't know they are only free for the first year. At Namesilo it's free for as long as you have the domain name.
 
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who caused the chargebacks and why were there chargebacks.

and how many were there
 
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Great idea, I will start transferring my most valuable names out. A few are appraised at $5,000 like Bolivia.io and Uniregistry appraised ChineseCigars.com at $50,000.


The chargebacks were from renewals and whois gaurd which were to my understanding, free. I didn't know they are only free for the first year. At Namesilo it's free for as long as you have the domain name.

well.. renewals are never free if that's what you mean. and I think whois guard is only free 1st year. its always best to read the fineprint on everything.

all in all, the conclusion here is that companies do get billed for chargebacks so whenever you file one, its like an act of war to them. so not expect them to just sit by and lt you do it without reacting. and if you filed multiple ones, well, you got yourself a few wars going on.

in future, its best to familiariaze yoruself with fees, renewals, what is free and what isn't. and I hope you never file another CB against a registrar. better have them on your side. gl!
 
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as a best practice, its better to ask the company to refund the money if they charged for something you don't agree on or if there was a mistake made - by requesting a chargback pisses a company off because i'm assuming banks and credit cards track the amount of chargbacks.

also, there are usually fee's charged to the company for chargbacks
 
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I did contact live support and asked them to cancel the whois gaurd and give me a refund and they refused.

I felt misled when they advertise whois gaurd is free. With Namesilo, they give it to you free for the whole time.

So I issued chargebacks after I told them i was going to do and as you can see, they attempted to hijack all my domain names. After emailing back and forth, they agreed to unlock them but now they are threatening me again to hijack them back.

One of the chargebacks they won and they kept the domains associated with it until I asked for them back/ They gave them back to me a few days ago but they are locked so they are not really truly returned.
 
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Great idea, I will start transferring my most valuable names out. A few are appraised at $5,000 like Bolivia.io and Uniregistry appraised ChineseCigars.com at $50,000.

The chargebacks were from renewals and whois gaurd which were to my understanding, free. I didn't know they are only free for the first year. At Namesilo it's free for as long as you have the domain name.

I wouldn't put much value in those appraisals. Estibot values Bolivia.io at $1.1k and ChineseCigars.com at $25. I don't see either of them as marketable at all at the prices you have quoted above. I'm not saying anything about the quality of Estibot's valuation either. I'm just giving you an alternative opinion. Where are the customers for these 2 domains?

So you are basing your argument on the fact that you thought whoisguard was free for the second year, when NameCheap's ToS clearly say it cost $2.88/year with the first year free. And this thought was predicated upon NameSilo's policy of privacy always being free. This doesn't sound like a winning argument, to me. So you've done 100 chargebacks of $2.88 each? And NameCheap have charged you 100 x $200. Is that correct? I think you should have eaten the $2.88 per domain rather than a chargeback fee of $200 per domain. IMHO.

NameSilo are a good registrar. I don't know why you just didn't go there in the first place.

I wish you well with you reconciliation with NameCheap, and hope you have a satisfactory outcome.
 
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This was their response after I found out that they locked all my domains and didn't give me due process of law.



Posted on: 11 October 2017 11:02 PM
icon_new3d_orange.png

Hello Michael,

First, we would like to apologize for such a delayed response (we are experiencing an unexpected load of support requests at the moment).

>>> Now you want to suspend service that I ALREADY PAID FOR and STEAL MY DOMAINS I PAID YOU FOR.

Please mind that we consider chargeback not in relation to the domain(s) involved, but in relation to the account. That is the reason why all your domains are currently locked. As soon as the issue is resolved, your domains will be unlocked for management.

>>> Now you want to steal all of my domains too?

As per our original notice, unless the payment issue is resolved we will be forced to suspend your services. However, we would like to clarify that this concerns the services involved in the payment issue, whereas the domains not affected by the chargeback will remain locked in your account. Besides, we will not be able to provide you with further services until the payment issue is resolved.

>>> WHAT? $588.46 for what?

Please refer to our Universal Terms of Service Agreement (clause 16. Billing & Payment; Currency; Termination & Cancellation Policy.) available at https://www.namecheap.com/legal/universal/universal-tos.aspx :

"If for any reason Namecheap is unable to charge your payment method for the full amount owed for the Services provided, or if We receive notification of a chargeback, reversal, payment dispute, or are charged a penalty for any fee previously charged to your payment method, You agree that Namecheap may pursue all available lawful remedies in order to obtain payment, including but not limited to, immediate cancellation, without notice to You, of any domain names or Services registered or renewed on Your behalf. You also agree that all rights to and interest in and use of any Services, content and/or products purchased through Us, including all data hosted on Our systems shall be assumed by Us in satisfaction of any indebtedness by You to Us. We will reinstate Your rights to and control over these Services solely at our discretion, and subject to our receipt of the unpaid fee(s) and Our reinstatement fee, currently set at $200 (US Dollars)."

We fully understand that sometimes chargebacks may happen due to misunderstanding rather than due to malicious intent and that the chargeback fee may seem quite high. However, every chargeback is a serious and irreversible loss to our company regardless of its reason and cause. Except such troubles as financial loss and time loss chargebacks also cause bad reputation to our company which is our big concern and a chargeback fee is a fee to reinstate damages caused by chargeback.

Let us also remind that taking into consideration your loyalty to Namecheap we have already reduced the chargeback fee to $100.00 for you.

As an alternative, you may contact the issuing bank and make them reverse the chargeback. In case we receive chargeback cancellation from your bank, we will consider reducing the chargeback fee for you.

Please advise if you are ready to resolve this issue.

Looking forward to your reply.

------------------
Regards,
Alexandra Kr.
CFC, Risk Management
Namecheap, Inc.
 
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As you can read in the email above, they demanded a ransom so I could have my domain names back. This is extortion.

I have checked other registrars and I have not found any of them to have this in their terms of service.

By due process of law, 99% of the domains I have with them have nothing to do with the charge backs and they are mine.

We as customers have every right to submit a charge back and we should not be threatened, bullied or extorted for doing it.
 
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who caused the chargebacks and why were there chargebacks.

and how many were there
I issued the charge backs for charges that I was not made aware of that are in fine print.
 
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well.. renewals are never free if that's what you mean. and I think whois guard is only free 1st year. its always best to read the fineprint on everything.

all in all, the conclusion here is that companies do get billed for chargebacks so whenever you file one, its like an act of war to them. so not expect them to just sit by and lt you do it without reacting. and if you filed multiple ones, well, you got yourself a few wars going on.

in future, its best to familiariaze yoruself with fees, renewals, what is free and what isn't. and I hope you never file another CB against a registrar. better have them on your side. gl!

Thanks! I never wanted to submit a charge back and I tried to resolve this with customer service but they didn't want to work something out. I even told them I would submit a charge back if it wasn't resolved and they told me to go ahead.
 
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if you call it ransom money then what do you think they should call it when you cost them $200 per chargeback for not reading their terms of service?

its one thign to make chargeback because they charge you for somethign they shouldn't have... and its another thing to make cb for something you misread or did not read.

you made two mistakes: not reading properly about their services, which are free etc.. and then filing chargeback for that, which cost them money.

any registrar would do that. and if you keep doing biz in this way, you will be out of domaining in no time, cause you'll have no place left to keep or register your domains.

take it as lesson and just move on.

all the best.
 
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I wouldn't put much value in those appraisals. Estibot values Bolivia.io at $1.1k and ChineseCigars.com at $25. I don't see either of them as marketable at all at the prices you have quoted above. I'm not saying anything about the quality of Estibot's valuation either. I'm just giving you an alternative opinion. Where are the customers for these 2 domains?

So you are basing your argument on the fact that you thought whoisguard was free for the second year, when NameCheap's ToS clearly say it cost $2.88/year with the first year free. And this thought was predicated upon NameSilo's policy of privacy always being free. This doesn't sound like a winning argument, to me. So you've done 100 chargebacks of $2.88 each? And NameCheap have charged you 100 x $200. Is that correct? I think you should have eaten the $2.88 per domain rather than a chargeback fee of $200 per domain. IMHO.

NameSilo are a good registrar. I don't know why you just didn't go there in the first place.

I wish you well with you reconciliation with NameCheap, and hope you have a satisfactory outcome.
No, I did 3 charge backs I believe and before I did, I tried to resolve the matter with customer support. I guess I am just used to the friendly support at Namesilo and GoDaddy.
 
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No, I did 3 charge backs I believe and before I did, I tried to resolve the matter with customer support. I guess I am just used to the friendly support at Namesilo and GoDaddy.

either that or you never filed chargebacks with gd or namesilo.
try it, and you will find out just how friendly they are.

cheers.
 
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if you call it ransom money then what do you think they should call it when you cost them $200 per chargeback for not reading their terms of service?

its one thign to make chargeback because they charge you for somethign they shouldn't have... and its another thing to make cb for something you misread or did not read.

you made two mistakes: not reading properly about their services, which are free etc.. and then filing chargeback for that, which cost them money.

any registrar would do that. and if you keep doing biz in this way, you will be out of domaining in no time, cause you'll have no place left to keep or register your domains.

take it as lesson and just move on.

all the best.
Mistakes or not, I tried to resolve it with them before the chargebacks but they wouldn't give me a refund like GoDaddy or Namesilo would have. We as customers have the legal right to issue a chargeback without being threatened or extorted.
 
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either that or you never filed chargebacks with gd or namesilo.
try it, and you will find out just how friendly they are.

cheers.
I doubt I would have to because they would have just issued me a refund.
 
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Mistakes or not, I tried to resolve it with them before the chargebacks but they wouldn't give me a refund like GoDaddy or Namesilo would have. We as customers have the legal right to issue a chargeback without being threatened or extorted.

no. I do not believe we have rigth to file chargebacks for mistakes we've made. such as not reading policies properly.

but that's just my take on it.

cheers
 
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