123-reg Auto Renewal Debacle

[danzinsky]

I have just had a very bad experience with 123-Reg after being with them for over 13 years and spending 10's of £1000's with them over this time so feel compelled to offer a word of warning to others!

I set a couple of domains to not auto renew last week (2nd Jan) which were due for expiry on 13th Jan - they were a couple of old .com domains no longer required as I moved all my other .com's to another registrar given the extortionate price at 123. The change was made from the individual domains control panel - not from the renewal section. At the same time I renewed a series of other domains no problem.

Imagine my surprise then, when on Sunday morning I received an auto renewal receipt for these 2 domains - total £52.75 if you please - card already charged.

Surely there has been a mistake so contact customer services by messaging (no way I'm paying on an 0870 to call them) and they won't budge - no refund, nothing. They claim they were still set to auto-renew so that's what they did. They also claim that I should have cancelled the auto-renew at least 8 days before they auto-renew, which is 7 days before expiry - so if you want to cancel the auto renewal you have to do so 15 days before expiration which is a new term seemingly thrown in for good measure.

What made me laugh was when they said they could not offer a refund as they have paid the fees to the registry and they cannot claim a refund from them. When I pointed out that the registry fees are minimal compared to what they charge for a .com I had no reply.

Needless to say I shall be transferring all my domains from 123-reg to another registrar. I shall also be contacting my credit card company - as far as I'm concerned they took payment without my authority.

 

[Alien]

Not sure if you've seen this?

http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/domain-name-registrars/111364-help-some-123-reg-reviews.html

 

[khalid]

They will refund, push for it

See: http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/domain-name-registrars/110752-123-reg-auto-renew-warning.html

 

[danzinsky]

I pushed for it, but just get the stock reply:
_____________________________________________

Thank you for contacting 123-reg on the 8th January 2013.

We are sorry for any inconveniences caused, but as explained we cannot give you a refund for these domains renewals. Payment has been made with your authorization as explained so far.

In order to avoid this happening in the future, whenever you are cancelling a service please contact us on live chat or by creating a ticket asking for us to confirm the cancellation.

If we can be of any further help with regard to this or any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards,

Adina
____________________________________________

It's crazy that they would rather lose a customer rather than try to placate them in some way! As for contacting them every time you make a cancellation to make sure the change has been effected - just bonkers!

 

[khalid]

I pushed for it, but just get the stock reply:

It's crazy that they would rather lose a customer rather than try to placate them in some way! As for contacting them every time you make a cancellation to make sure the change has been effected - just bonkers!

Raise a paypal dispute and have your bank reverse the charge.

You removed the auto-renew and have proof from my thread etc that their system does not work.

In short, you ain't liable. And for you to have to raise a ticket is telling them to check their systems work...tell them to run up your ribs!

 

[Skinner]

RUN!

I lost good names because they couldn't register names, I paid for.

Did I mention RUN!

 

[sunseaski]

123-reg failed to renew my domain name

I paid to renew my domain name zincgutter.com and received an invoice. I bought this name in 2004 and every year I renew it. For the last 8 years I have never checked to see if it was registered at the registry of websites. I found out through the internet that my domain name was now registered to another domain provider and who have it up for sale for 1295 dollars. I asked 123-reg how come they let it expire when they have sent me an invoice for the renewal. They said it was an internet error and failed to register. This domain name is personal to me as you can appreciate. I have gone through the complaints procedure and the outcome is that they refer to their terms & conditions and offer a refund of £11.99

The following is the terms they say fit their excuses. Saying that it is the clients responsibility to verify that the REQUESTED DOMAIN was registered. I requested this domain in 2004 this was just a renewal which 123-reg failed to do. They say go to the person who is selling it, surely this is their job.

TERMS & CONDITIONS
27.4 The Domain Services are limited to forwarding the application submitted by the Client for registration with the relevant naming authority. For the avoidance of all doubt it shall remain the sole responsibility of the Client to verify if the Requested Domain has been successfully registered with the appropriate authority. Upon successful registration, 123-reg will use reasonable endeavours to notify the Client of any renewal dates however 123-reg accepts no liability for the loss of registration of any Domain that has failed to be renewed.
27.3 The Client acknowledges that, whilst 123-reg will use its reasonable endeavours to register a Requested Domain, 123-reg will not be obliged to accept any request to register or continue to process any registration of a Requested Domain where such a Requested Domain has not been capable of registration.

Any advise out there please.