Scam 1and1 billing me for non-existent domains

[ukdomains]

Hi Guys

1and1 have billed for non-existent domains & for domains which don't exist on their tag.

I wasn't aware that you have to cancel the contract as-well.

What i did was use Nominet online service to move the domains to my own tag.

They have got Avarto finance involved who are sending their threatening emails/letters.

I have contacted Nominet, who have been useless taking 1and1's side and saying its in their terms and conditions.

I wasn't aware they perform auto-renewals.

Please help Guys

Thanks

 

[Blossom]

This isn't a scam.

That's why you need to actually cancel things with companies rather than just moving away and/or cutting off the source of payment.

I doubt they will give up since it costs them to renew domain names and they will be at a loss if they cover your charges.

Pay it, make sure everything's cancelled/removed/set to expire and learn from it.

 

[Darren]

How are they able to renew domains which are not on their TAG?

Darren.

 

[dotNetFreak]

I doubt they will give up since it costs them to renew domain names and they will be at a loss if they cover your charges.

I think the point the OP is trying to make is that the domains weren't on the 1&1 tag in which case they would have been unable to renew them and therefore wouldn't have incurred any costs.

Generally if a customer registers a domain with 1&1 and then later transfers it to another provider or to another person/company through Nominet Online Services however fails to cancel the contract within the 1&1 control panel they seem to attempt to charge the customer for a renewal which can't be undertaken. If the customer fails to pay this IMHO "fraudulent" charge they refer it to their debt agency.

Personally I feel that this is against the spirit of the Nominet Good Practise Terms for Registrars however they're still doing it years on.

 

[Blossom]

Didn't see that bit. If it didn't cost 1&1 anything and you're super nice to them, maybe they'll let you get away with it. I don't know, I've never used them.

 

[Darren]

How can they attempt to charge then send out debt collection letters for something that never took place.

Thats like all the domains i have sold to people, to start sending them letters for renewals.

Darren.

 

[dotNetFreak]

How can they attempt to charge then send out debt collection letters for something that never took place.

Totally agree with you Darren, but they do.

http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/domain-name-registrars/59538-1and1-update-beware.html

 

[Darren]

Yes i keep seeing threads of similar nature, not had first hand experience myself.

Why are Nominet agreeing and not doing anything about this.

 

[Darren]

Just emailed Nominet to see what they have to say.

 

[dotNetFreak]

Just emailed Nominet to see what they have to say.

Let us know what they have to say. A colleague had a similar conversation a couple of years ago with Nominet and argued the point but got nowhere.

Perhaps certain good practises don't apply if you have a member of a sister company on the board...

 

[accelerator]

I only have approx 5 domains with 1&1, but recently was thinking of cancelling one, but in the end gave up because I couldn't work out how to do this quickly in their control panel.

What I would say, is that it looks like the way the 1&1 control panel works is via "contracts", whatever they are exactly, so I would advise making sure the contract for the domain is cancelled in good time before renewal is due and then do the Tag transfer afterwards.

I would guess you just need to make sure their automated system knows the domain is no longer billable / (contract is cancelled) well in advance of the renewal being due, and then hopefully the issue will be avoided.

Rgds

 

[dotNetFreak]

They could simply automatically cancel any contract relating to the domain itself when the tag is changed thereby equally solving the issue.

I guess that wouldn't pay as much though.

 

[accelerator]

I don't have legal expertise, but I'm guessing that there may be a legal argument that it is up to the customer to give proper notice to 1&1 that they want a specific contract cancelled. If you just transferred the Tag then legally that could be a problem. If you tried to give notice but simply were unable to because of weaknesses in their systems, I guess that would be a different matter. If the problem is notifying 1&1 that you want to cancel, then I would try and keep a record of all correspondence and end up writing to them if necessary to cancel the contract. Note, this is just my opinion.

Rgds

 

[dotNetFreak]

Surely, they could simply add something like the following to their terms specifically relating to .uk domains:

"In the event a domain name is transferred to an alternative provider by means of a change of the "IPSTAG" then any contract relating to the renewal of said domain name will be cancelled on the date of the effective change."

The fact is they put the onus on the customer to cancel because it makes them money. NO other .uk registrar that I'm aware of does this.

This is of course just my opinion and I'm certainly no expert

Fortunately I've never had the pleasure of dealing with 1&1.

 

[Systreg]

1&1 are pure scammers, what they do is completely fraudulent, regardless of any contract they claim, they can't charge you for something claiming they have paid to have the name renewed, when it's blatantly obvious that it's not possible for them to pay for a domain renewal if the domain has been moved to your own or another tag. It's a bit like walking in to a pub to meet a mate, then you leave immediately to go to a different pub, and the landlord runs down the road after you, claiming you owe him for drinks that you haven't bought.

I can't get my head round how they are being allowed to do this, I'm almost tempted to register a couple of domains with them just for kicks and transfer them away after a period of time and just ignore them when they claim I owe them for renewals, twats.

 

[mojoco]

1&1 are pure scammers, what they do is completely fraudulent, regardless of any contract they claim, they can't charge you for something claiming they have paid to have the name renewed, when it's blatantly obvious that it's not possible for them to pay for a domain renewal if the domain has been moved to your own or another tag.

I can't get my head round how they are being allowed to do this, I'm almost tempted to register a couple of domains with them just for kicks and transfer them away after a period of time and just ignore them when they claim I owe them for renewals, twats.

Register some names to a registrant typo of Nominet at Nominets address. Transfer them away and let them send the debt collection letters to Nominet head office. I wonder what would happen then ??

 

[dotNetFreak]

register some names to a registrant typo of nominet at nominets address. Transfer them away and let them send the debt collection letters to nominet head office. I wonder what would happen then ??

LMAO!

With a contact name of "Lesley Cowley".

 

[mojoco]

LMAO!

With a contact name of "Lesley Cowley".

Haha, even better!

 

[ukdomains]

I moved all my domains away from 1and1 using Nominets online portal. However i didn't know you have to cancel individual contracts for each domain

The response i got from Nominet is listed below :

Thank you for your email and I’m sorry to hear about your experience with these domain names. xxx has asked me to respond to you as I deal with escalations of this kind.

In my experience, the reason for 1&1 continuing to invoice you is because of their contracts and accounting system. 1&1 auto renew everything and always have done, so when you say that, “They are renewing domains without even asking me to renew them” , this would have been part of the terms and conditions that you would have signed up to when you registered with 1&1. You would, I believe, need to cancel services etc directly with them and get confirmation to be sure that they knew you were not going to continue using their services.

Although some domain names may have expired and others moved to xxx, your 1&1 agreement would say that that you have to cancel services PRIOR to expiry date or you will be billed for the term of the service. So for your domains - if you do not actually cancel them with 1&1, you will owe them for another two years even if they drop or are moved away after 3 months. I believe it is the same for hosting - you are due a year up front and you still owe them that money even if you change providers.

If I take xxx.co.uk – you manually changed from 1&1 back in 22/06/2010 using our online services. If you didn’t tell 1&1 it is likely that they would be unaware of this change and still have them in your account, billing included.

I completely understand where your frustration comes from, as you question how they can charge for domain names that do not exist or are not on their tag. I can’t comment on 1&1’s business model, billing process nor debt recovery, and I would strongly advise you looking back over their terms for fees outstanding, and what they can and can’t still charge you for.

I’m sorry that there is little more I can do here as we cannot oblige 1&1 to write off debts they believe that they are owed.

I trust that this explains our position, and please do contact me if you have any further information for me or have any more questions.

I would happily pay but none of the domains exist on 1and1 .

I am paying for a piece of pay well just the invoices.

Nominet needs to get a grip on this.

 

[woopwoop]

1&1 are pure scammers.....

.....I can't get my head round how they are being allowed to do this, I'm almost tempted to register a couple of domains with them just for kicks and transfer them away after a period of time and just ignore them when they claim I owe them for renewals, twats.

I had a long battle with them - they send you between the [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected] emails. They charged me for domains that I had cancelled with them and that were on another tag. I had to cancel my credit card to have it stop.

Nominet were unable to help, and noone at 1and1 seemed to have the know how to solve the problem and stop me being billed. I was charged twice in a row (after believing that they were going to refund the money and fix it after the first month).

They'd hang up on me over the phone because I wouldn't accept their answer of "email complaints, email billing, email transfers". They also stopped replying to my emails. The only way that I'd get a response is if I emailed them the same email 50 times (to fill up their inbox) even then they didn't solve anything but just add to the frustration.