1&1 Took Me To Collections
Hello people. My disdain for 1&1 domain registrar is not new. I have often tagged them as the worst registrar in the world and rightly so. They have one of the worst interface in my own opinion. They are also second only to GoDaddy in “bait and switch”. This is where a registrar attracts you with nice initial low registration fees and then sticks it to you real hard the next year with super inflated renewal fees.
I had two domains in 1&1, I tried to stop the renewal of these domains but failed because I just could not navigate there interface (I later learned that you need to do it in writing – go figure!), so I simply declined to update the credit card I had on file with them. To make a long story short, they still went ahead and billed me anyway. When they sent me the bill I complained and was told to cancel the account in writing which I did. Four months later, I am faced with a letter from a collection agency plus added collection fees.
Rather than waste my time, I paid since they both amounted to less than 100 dollars. I learnt a big lesson though. To be forever wary of establishments like 1&1. My question is who owns these domains since I cancelled my contract with them but was still forced to pay renewal plus collection?
Below are the emails that transpired between 1&1 and I before the collection
We recently contacted you regarding a declined payment or an expired credit/debit card and have not yet heard back from you. Our records indicate that there is an unpaid balance in your 1&1 customer account: K13941863
A recent payment may not have gone through due to a simple error, such as an expired credit card or incorrect settings in your PayPal account.
Please update or correct your billing information in your 1&1 Control Panel within the next 7 days to avoid any downtime of your package.
In order to do this, please go to https://admin.1and1.com
1. Log in to the Control Panel with your customer ID or a domain name from one of your packages and your password.
2. On the ‘Account’ page, click on ‘User Settings’ > ‘Payment Method’ and select the payment method that you are currently using.
If you are using a credit card, select ‘Credit Card‘ and proceed as follows:
Check that your payment details are correct. If they are correct as is or if you re-enter the same credit card details, please send a reply to this e-mail confirming that you have checked the current information and no update on your part is required. We will then charge the outstanding balance to your credit/debit card.
If your payment details are incorrect or outdated, please update your information and click on ‘Save’. There is no need to contact 1&1 as a new debit will be attempted automatically.
If you are using a PayPal account, please select PayPal and then click ‘Go to PayPal’.
Log into your PayPal account and verify your data under ‘My Account Profile’.
Please make sure to update your information in the next 7 days to avoid downtime. If we do not receive full payment in 7 days, we will freeze your 1&1 package(s) in accordance with our terms and conditions. If your package(s) are frozen it may take up to 1 business day to reactivate them once the matter is resolved.
Please be aware that if this matter is not resolved, you may be sent to a debt collection agency. If the account is sent to a debt collection agency an $18.95 charge will be added to the unpaid balance.
For further details, please find attached a payment reminder note in PDF. It can be opened and printed with the help of the Acrobat Reader. Click here to download Acrobat Reader:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html
If you have any questions, you can e-mail us at 1&1 Internet Inc. billing@1and1.com.
Or you can reach us Monday through Friday (except holidays) 9am to 5pm EST at 1-877-300-8316 when calling from within the US or Canada. International customers can reach us at 1-610-560-1621. Your normal long distance calling rates apply.
We will be glad to assist you in clarifying any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
Your 1&1 Team
1&1 Internet Inc.
www.1and1.com
1&1 Internet Inc. – Citibank, N.A. – Account #: 54348256 – ABA #: 021000089 – Swift code: CITIUS33
Re: Account No. K13941863 Payment reminder
|
Please delete my account. I do not want to auto renew any domain with you.
Thanks
Frankie Aladi
|
Cancellation of package as of 03/25/2009
Contract ID: 13078455
Reference number: K-25377566-45
Dear Mr. Aladi,
You have now started the online cancellation process for a 1&1 package,
domain or feature within a package, contract ID 13078455.
To complete the process you will need to activate your request. In order
to do so, you will receive an e-mail message with a special link which you
need to click to complete the process.
If you do not receive this e-mail and click on the link within 7 days,
your cancellation request will not be concluded and your package will
remain active.
Should you not receive this e-mail message, you can request that it be
re-sent by accessing the cancellation tool at https://cancel.1and1.com.
Log in with your 1&1 customer details and then click on ‘Status/Undo’ in
the left navigation bar. In the summary table locate the ‘Re-request
confirmation’ link alongside the contract ID. Click on this link to have
the e-mail message re-sent.
You will then receive an e-mail confirming that the cancellation is
complete.
If you do not receive an e-mail within 48 hours then your order has not
been processed. Please contact our Billing Team by e-mail at
billing@1and1.com or by phone, Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm EST on 1 877
300 8316 to ensure your cancellation request is processed correctly.
If you ordered any 1&1 software CD, please note that, as required by our
terms and conditions, you are no longer entitled to continue using
licensed software. The software should be de-installed and completely
removed from any computer where it may have been installed. Also, any
copies or backup versions of the software must be permanently removed and
destroyed.
Please note, in addition, that you are required to return all written
documentation received from 1&1 and any software CD which you may have
ordered.
Sincerely,
Your 1&1 Team
www.1and1.com
Confirmation required to complete your cancellation request
Contract ID: 13078455
Dear Frankie Aladi,
We have received a cancellation request regarding your 1&1 package (with
the abovementioned contract ID) through the 1&1 online cancellation tool.
As a final step to complete the process and activate your cancellation
request, you will need to visit the following URL
to proceed with the cancellation of your package.
Please note: If you do not activate your cancellation request within the
next 7 days, your request will be removed from our system and all
components of your contract will remain active.
If you wish to undo or check the status of this cancellation request,
please log in to the 1&1 cancellation tool with your 1&1 customer details
and then click on ‘Status/Undo’ in the left navigation bar and locate the
package by its contract ID. To undo your request, click ‘Undo
cancellation’.
Sincerely,
Your 1&1 Internet Team
1and1.com
Confirmation of cancellation order of 2009-03-25
Contract ID: 13078455
Reference number: 25377566-45
Dear Mr. Aladi,
We have received your cancellation request and confirm that the requested
cancellation action with the above listed reference number will be carried
out as of the date which you chose in the online cancellation tool.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
* Your package will remain active UNTIL the date selected when you made
the cancellation request. Invoices for products that you have ordered
will continue until that date.
* Only the domains you selected will be cancelled.
The current status of your cancellation order can be checked under the
menu item ‘Cancel/Restore Status’ found in the left navigation bar at
https://cancel.1and1.com. Detailed information about the cancellation
process can be found there as well.
Sincerely,
Your 1&1 Team
1&1 Internet Inc.
http://1and1.com
21 Comments »
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Fraud defined:
1. deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage.
A class action suit needs to be brought against 1and1. They are habitual in these illegal tactics. They intentionally make their interface difficult to manage, in order to delete domain names. It takes around a half dozen steps and even then there’s no guarantee that 1and1 will not auto bill you anyway.
1and1 is breaking key elements of their contract with you and most especially their contract obligations with ICANN as a registrar. It is clearly established under the ICANN registrar agreement that a registrar MUST delete any domain after the 30 day grace period and they CANNOT refuse to delete the domain name because of billing issues. 1and1 willfully ignores these rules.
1. Auto renewal is set as default when you register a domain.
2. They go to great lengths to make it difficult to delete a domain name from an account.
3. Even after you attempt to navigate their labyrinth they, in many instances, will attempt to renew the domain anyway.
4. If your credit card on file lapses they will still bill renewal fees against it.
When your domains should be allowed to expire 1and1 is violating its ICANN agreement through forced billing for renewals on domains that were either canceled or had inaccurate billing information, holding domains and not deleting them in a timely manner.
Lastly, after 1and1 has perpetuated this on its clients, they (clients) are sent to collections to pay for this outright FRAUD.
ICANN has turned a blind eye towards this for years. Many complaint reports have been filled with ICANN against 1and1 for this egregious behavior.
1and1 T&C agreement with its clients:
2.2. Domain Name Registration
2.2.1.
“… Should the Payment Account provider fail to honor such debit, 1&1 may, in its sole discretion, release, cancel, or otherwise dispose of or utilize Your domain name as it sees fit, with NO OBLIGATION TO YOU WHATSOEVER.”
Shame on 1and1 and shame on ICANN.
Fraud.
I couldn’t agree more! 1&1 is by far the WORST registrar I have ever used. The amazing thing is that their tech support knows how bad the service is – when I call they even admit it!
I have written a number of blog posts about them as well as submitted surveys and emailed them directly. Never heard anything back. Just more proof that 1&1 does not care about their customers.
With terrible customer service and ancient technology I’m sure they will have trouble in this economy.
Great post and definitely another great example of how terrible 1&1 is!
Oh Jesus, I have a domain with 1and1. I need to cancel my account very soon. Thanks for letting me know a few things about 1and1 like you have to write to cancel your account. How convenient.
I’m so thankful to have never used 1&1 before. I’ve heard nothing but horror stories, like this one, about them.
It’s a shame you ended up paying the renewal + collection to these guys, but I have to agree the time wasted dealing with them probably wouldn’t be worth it anyway.
Never bought a domain with 1&1. I usually buy with Godaddy but recently have started buying with Name.com. I got tired of Godaddy’s fluctuating prices on .org domains. So far I have really enjoyed Name.com and would recommend them highly.
I too have a 1&1 horror story. The entire experience of managing over 600 domains was a totally nightmare. I have slowly moved all but 36 domains away from them. And the only reason that they are still registered with them is because their internal process of changing registrars and or dropping domains is most cumbersome and tedious. I went through the process just as I had with the other 500 or so and they said “the transfer wasn’t approved in time” by the receiving registrar. They said it could take as much as two weeks! Well, they auto-renewed them and still let the transfer happen in which case I paid twice to have the 36 domains renewed amounting to over $500.
I advise anyone who is new to domain investing like I was a year ago to avoid 1&1 at all costs.
And Frankie is right, their customer support knows how bad they are!
I attempted to reverse the charges with my bank and they did minimal investigation of my complaint about their processes and sided with them.
I hate 1&1!!
The BEST registrar on the planet is….Fabulous.com. All others pale in comparison and please, don’t even get me started on GoDaddy!
1&1 is a big advertiser of wired magazine…Hummmm….
The 1&1 ad has a nice cheesy face of the CEO.
Any comments from the CEO?
Will send this link to wired.
thanks
This is truly shocking! I thought that if you failed to pay for a domain renewal the registrar would go through a set process of dropping the domain name. I have never heard of a registrar using a debt collection service for renewal fees left unpaid by the domain owners.
I’m really wondering if I read your post correctly.
I don’t have any horror stories as such, but got saved by the bell. I tried to register a .co.uk domain through the 1&1 UK site some years ago. When I thought that everything was done and dusted, I got an email asking me to send copies of my passport to prove my identity.
I simply told where to stick it, and registered the domain elsewhere.
@Kevin
1&1 makes it difficult for you to cancel a domain renewal. So even if you do not have a credit card on file, they will still renew the domain on your behalf and then send collections after you if you do not pay up.
You can see all the emails above b/w 1&1 and I. The only thing missing here is the collection letter itself which is a hardcopy sent by mail by NCO FINANCIAL SYTEMS INC. on behalf of I&1 The letter was dated July 2 2009 and I paid on July 13th 2009
Ditto, Rob’s story — the same thing happened to me last December only because of 1&1′s super-cumbersome renewal process. I applied for my domain transfers 5-7 days before the domains’ expiration dates, and 1&1 didn’t complete the transfer until after the transfer date. In most if not all cases, I ended being double-billed too.
I don’t know about 1&1 as a domain registrar, but I did use them for a dedicated server webhost for several years, and they were one of the worst hosts I ever dealt with in my 15 years of hosting experience.
I too have had many headaches and arguments with 1and1. I have repeatedly expressed my intense dissatisfaction with there control panel and system for cancellation, as well as just being able to see what expires-when. Almost every day i receive renewal notifications, which i have to print and have an ongoing file of what domains i need to check. And make sure you cancel it before that renewal date, or you are stuck paying for that renewal. In the past they have frozen access to all the domains listed in the account because i didnt pay to renew a couple domains. I have been wanting to transfer all my domains to godaddy for a while, because i like there interface 1000 times more. I have about 1000 or so domains with 1and1 in 7 different accounts, so unless i transfer these prior to expiration, it can be very costly to just do them all at once.
Eric, i appreciate your comment about 1and1′s hosting because i have seriously contenplated trying out a hosting plan for a dedi.
What i do like about godaddy is if i am short funds for renewal, i know i have 18 days from the expired date to still retain the domain before the huge fee is attached if you go past that time period. AND i can deal with ONE domain at a time, not a GROUP, like 1and1 does.
Not as complete as I remember having those guys being a pain in the AR*E. My contact with 1&1 extended to several phone calls, send faxes and no solution after all.
Even worse is, that I started internet business as a reseller for 1&1 like 8 years ago. The last 4 years I spent with convincing people of not becoming customers with them guys..
Finally pays off, huh? Waitin for the day to buy their run down sh!t hole..
regards
I hear you Frankie, they are awful!
I made the mistake of getting a dedicated server at 1&1 about 5 years ago… biggest mistake of my life. The control panel leaves a lot to be desired, but beyond that mess, there was some weird issue with FTP. I’d upload files and that worked fine, BUT, get this, after I loaded files, none of my sites would load for about 5 minutes. If that one site I was loading had some issues, that might be one thing, but ALL the sites on my server were affected. They kept telling me there was nothing wrong, but clearly there was.
Phone support was a joke, sometimes you’d get help, but often nothing. Other than that there was email and I can’t recall the last time I dealt with a company even a fraction of their size that used email for support. Ever hear of a trouble ticket system guys?!? So naturally if they couldn’t help you or simply didn’t want to help you, you just didn’t get a reply. No help, no accountability, complete and utter waste of my time and money.
So I started my search again and found LiquidWeb… can’t praise them enough. They understand customer service. I don’t have many issues, but if anything ever pops up, they fix it right away. What a concept!
Wow. Between this post and Morgan’s posts about leaving 1&1 I can’t believe how fortunate I was to avoid this company years ago. Their marketing was so convincing at the time with their “free” offers and colorful ads. For whatever reason I didn’t pull the trigger. Thanks for help getting the word out about 1&1.
Seriously… if a transfer takes 7-10 days… and you start your transfer 5 DAYS before the domain is supposed to be renewed… how is that anyone’s fault but your own?
If you don’t update your Credit Card, how is that 1and1′s fault? You’re not entitled to be lazy and not mind the store. For the dirt cheap prices 1and1 offers, you get what you pay for. You don’t buy a Fiat and get pissed off at the company who made the car because a Porsche is speeding by you.
As for the poster fantasizing about buying 1and1 after they “go down”, it looks like they have 9 million customers. Keep waiting. See you in the nursing home.
3.7 Business Dealings, Including with Registered Name Holders.
3.7.4 Registrar shall not activate any Registered Name unless and until it is satisfied that it has received a reasonable assurance of payment of its registration fee. For this purpose, a charge to a credit card, general commercial terms extended to creditworthy customers, or other mechanism providing a similar level of assurance of payment shall be sufficient, provided that the obligation to pay becomes final and non-revocable by the Registered Name Holder upon activation of the registration.
3.7.5 Registrar shall register Registered Names to Registered Name Holders only for fixed periods. At the conclusion of the registration period, failure by or on behalf of the Registered Name Holder to pay a renewal fee within the time specified in a second notice or reminder shall, in the absence of extenuating circumstances, result in cancellation of the registration. In the event that ICANN adopts a specification or policy concerning procedures for handling expiration of registrations, Registrar shall abide by that specification or policy.
I’m sure lawyers work their way around all of this but for me it’s fairly simple.
I had a card expire and I also changed jobs and moved. According to 1and1 they will only communicate through email even though they had my phone on file along with a mailing address that would work. I wasn’t ignoring them, I never received any information that I owed them anything. They sent me to collections and I didn’t find out about it for 8 months. I paid the collections charge (along with an $8 fee to the collections agency) but I feel like I was scammed.
I’m with you Aladi. They tried also to bill me for domains that i set for not renew. And they also will send me the deb collectors guys. i’m so scared… If they arrive i will tell them to go lick their shiny a****…
I stop using them sometime ago, after waiting for 8 hours for them to register a domain (!), and more hours to change DNSs and many othe simple things. They intentionally make ir difficult to cancel a domain.
Regarding DayoftheJackal comments he is clearly a joker. Gota love these clowns. 9 million costumers? what a joke! i will tell you how they get their costumers. Most of them are german and they are able to get domains that you do not renew immediately after their expiration limit (not even the 30 days redemption period you get). Also, 1and1 is a “buddy” of Sedo. I suppose you are also a “buddy” of them
Serious, your comment is a great joke! Their dirty cheap prices were in 2007 and you got and still get a dirty service. Go to fabulous, name.com or namecheap to see what a good registrar is.
One of the problems with this industry is that it’s full of “buddies” scratching each other’s backs. Like Rick likes to say, all a bunch of whores.
1and1 is awful! It’s almost impossible to cancel a domain with them. You have to go to a separate site, figure out exactly how to cancel (which isn’t easy) and then it just says “in process” for weeks, until, of course, auto renew time comes up.
They are really quite evil. I learned this the hard way. If you are staring your online business, don’t use 1and1 under any circumstance, unless, of course, you are willing to hire a full time person to deal with them.
1and1 is one of the worst companies i have ever dealt with. Took me about 7 months to get my domain transferred to godaddy. It was an old domain i bought a couple years back and forgot that i even had it. I forgot my password for my account and the email i used, they gave me some much problems and trouble to recover my password. Also they said i owed them $5 from a long time ago (i thought domain would automatically expire, but it doesn’t), so the bastards sent me to collections, those bastards where rude as hell, charged me $27, $5 for 1and1 domain and $22 for collections agency. Then i tried recovering my password I faxed them multiple id, they kept losing everything i faxed, i had to fax it about 3 times before someone finally got it. Then they told me to wait 2 weeks, i waited and finally contacted them. They told me they have nothing on account and don’t know anything about my situation, needless to say i had to go through about 20 people and 3 months to get my password back.
Finally when i got my password back, i decided i needed to transfer it to godaddy, oh man, this was another horror. Took 4 months to get my domain transferred, same thing. Kept losing my domain, most of the time no one knew wtf is going on, always where surprised when i asked about the status of my domain transfer. Agh, one of the worst companies, if not the worst.
NEVER GO WITH 1AND1, there is millions of horror stories online about them