Domain Names - Ca I get a Refund?

Fenris

Sorry if this is the wrong board, wasn't sure where to ask.

I have a domain name that's just been renewed automatically. I no longer need the domain. I didn't need it last year either, but the company (fasthosts) decided to renew it without asking me last year and have done the same again this year! They don't even bother to send an e-mail before debiting the card! I'm not happy that they can get away with this and I have requested a refund but, upon further reading of their T&C's, it says no refunds will be given.

I don't see how they can get away with this. Surely I must be covered under the Sale of Goods act, or Distance Selling Regulations or something? Doe anyone know how I can get my money back?

Needless to say I'll be moving my other domain name away from them asap!

Cheers,
Fenris

nickswift

I have auto-renew set up on some of my domain names which make the renewal fees cheaper... maybe you ticked that box when you purchased the domain?

superscaper

I'm with fasthosts and I'm pretty sure that I've had plenty of warning about domain names due for renewal and reminding me about automatic charging which I agreed to. Are you sure you've given a working contact email address for each domain. The warnings usually arrive a couple of months before the actual renewal date. They quite handily give you the specific date of renewal on your control panel and you can quite easily change the renewal settings in the control panel. The auto renewal is convenient for me as I usually forget but I get plenty of warning months in advance and there's no excuse for not seeing the info in your control panel.

Have you actually checked your control panel to see what your renewal/cancellation options are for that domain. Also have you actually phoned fasthosts, I've only ever found them extremely helpful and friendly.

Badger_Lady

Nice hat, SuperScaper :-D

superscaper

My last renewal warning was in August, so unless they've changed their policies on renewal warnings....

sleep2much

I get 90 days notice

Fenris

No, I have NEVER had a renewal warning from them. Perhaps the people who have had warnings are not on their list to automatically renew? It's actually UKreg the domains are with, although I say fasthosts as it's the same company. My e-mail is correct as I get other mail from them telling me about special offers etc.

I never agreed to automatic re-registration and I don't recall any check boxes asking about it; if I had I would have said no as I wasn't sure how long I'd need the domain for. That said, it was the year before last and a lot has happened since. But as I said, I can't see any reason I'd agree to something like this as I'm never really sure if I can afford something until the time!

Having just looked at the site it is set to automatically renew, but I did not set it as this. I notice they have redesigned the site since I was last there (when I registered a new domain in February this year) and it's not easy to find what you're looking for, IMO. Still, that doesn't change the fact that I had no prior warning that my account was to be debited and that's really the main problem I have with what's happened.

Oh and yes, I can see what supperscraper is saying vis-a-vis the control panel but, once I've paid for my domain name and altered any DNS settings I have no need to visit the control panel again. So it telling me I've got till such-and-such date to renew is about as much use a lead balloon to me as I never use the control panel! And as I think I pointed out in my first post, I wanted the domain to expire as I don't need it. So, why would I look in the control panel to see if it's due for renewal when I know when it's supposed to expire?

And no, I haven't phoned them. I e-mailed them. As they're an internet based company one expects to be able to communicate with them in writing in this manner. So far they've not responded. I don't phone people any more as I want proof of a communication if they say, "Oh, we never said that!" which companies do increasingly these days!

Incidentally, to those who have dealings with fasthosts/UKreg, have any of you been receiving e-mails regarding change of password? I had an e-mail ages ago saying their site had been hacked and they asked everyone to change their passwords (which I did actually forget to do!). Then a couple of weeks ago I got another e-mail saying they were going to send new passwords, via snail mail, to anyone who hadn't changed it. Haven't received anything though and I was still able to log in to the site yesterday.

So, can anyone answer my question? I understand some of you are getting good service and so-on, but that doesn't alter the fact that they took money from me without giving me notice they intended to do so and now I'm out of pocket for something I don't need and I want to get it back.

superscaper

Fenris wrote: »

No, I have NEVER had a renewal warning from them. Perhaps the people who have had warnings are not on their list to automatically renew? It's actually UKreg the domains are with, although I say fasthosts as it's the same company. My e-mail is correct as I get other mail from them telling me about special offers etc.

I bought all of my domains through UKreg and they're all set to renew automatically except for one (I changed it because I didn't want it any more).

superscaper

Fenris wrote: »

Incidentally, to those who have dealings with fasthosts/UKreg, have any of you been receiving e-mails regarding change of password? I had an e-mail ages ago saying their site had been hacked and they asked everyone to change their passwords (which I did actually forget to do!). Then a couple of weeks ago I got another e-mail saying they were going to send new passwords, via snail mail, to anyone who hadn't changed it. Haven't received anything though and I was still able to log in to the site yesterday.

I posted a warning about this myself on this forum. I changed my passwords within minutes of finding out. Seemed extremely risky not to take it seriously. Why haven't you changed it yet if you can still log in?

Fenris

Because I tried to log in with my original password and it wouldn't except it, so I requested a password reminder and it automatically changed from my original password to something inexplicable! Plus, as I already stated they said they would be sending new passwords out to people.

And, I didn't "not take it seriously" I just forgot about it. I have a business to run and sometimes things like this just slip through. It wasn't until I got the second e-mail that I remembered, by which time they said they would be sending out new passwords. Simple enough.

superscaper

Just been checking my emails, they changed their terms to an automatic renewal system with an opt out about three and a half years ago so if you bought the domain after 3 and 1/2 years ago the automatic renewal would definitely have been in the terms. I'm not sure if they've recently changed the terms for notifications.