1and1.com Unethical Tactics

[DNportfolio]

I had 3 domains registered at 1and1.com, which I moved over to Moniker quite some time ago. Despite the fact that these domains were no longer registered at 1and1, they have continued to automatically bill me for renewals. I have called about this before and asked them to stop billing me for domains that are not registered with them, yet I received another renewal bill from them this morning.

I called their billing department and found out that my domains, account and credit card info will stay as they are unless I go through their ridiculous account cancellation procedure. If you are having trouble with 1and1's unethical RegisterFly-like tactics, you can cancel your account by going to cancel.1and1.com.

Be aware, however, that you must jump through a few more hoops before your stuff is actually canceled. An email I received from 1and1 after I used their cancel.1and1.com portal:

"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."

I have now completed all of these steps, so hopefully I won't get billed from them anymore.

Please do not do business with domain registrars that use sketchy tactics - you will get burned sooner or later. Supporting this type of registrar can give a black eye to the domain industry as a whole, and by using their services you are encouraging the continued use of questionable business practices.

[katherine]

Sorry to hear that. They are well known for their peculiar billing policies. Certainly not a domainer-friendly registrar

[brianluedke]

I have bad news for you:

I have gone through their stupid hoops. They have a special Web site you have to visit to cancel domains. I have been there, and I clicked on all the links in emails that you need to click on to finalize everything.

Today I get an invoice showing that they are still charging me for domains that have been canceled. I went back to their special cancellation site, and sure enough, it shows them as having been canceled.

Also, I'm still getting charged for domains that have been transferred away from 1and1.

The question arises: if they don't have to pay fees to ICANN for non-existant domains, what do they do with the money? Simply pocket the entire amount charged?

I intend to contact ICANN, my credit card company, and possibly the Better Business Bureau regarding these fraudulent practices. I encourage you to do the same.

The worst part is, I haven't been closely checking my invoices until now. God only knows how long this has been going on!!

UPDATE: I just spoke with their billing. The problem seems to be that they are slow to update their system. If you cancel a domain name, and then it renews a few days later, they will go ahead and bill you. If you cancel it several weeks in advance, you should be good. I have checked a few more of the older invoices and have found no more problems. They did give me a refund for the mistake from this month.

UPDATE: I found another phony charge, but it looks like they refunded me the next month. Don't know why they would charge me in the first place, only to refund me the next month, but at least they did refund.

UPDATE: There's another phony charge, for several domain names that I sold over a year ago! This one was not refunded. I will have to call again.

I had 3 domains registered at 1and1.com, which I moved over to Moniker quite some time ago. Despite the fact that these domains were no longer registered at 1and1, they have continued to automatically bill me for renewals. I have called about this before and asked them to stop billing me for domains that are not registered with them, yet I received another renewal bill from them this morning.

I called their billing department and found out that my domains, account and credit card info will stay as they are unless I go through their ridiculous account cancellation procedure. If you are having trouble with 1and1's unethical RegisterFly-like tactics, you can cancel your account by going to cancel.1and1.com.

Be aware, however, that you must jump through a few more hoops before your stuff is actually canceled. An email I received from 1and1 after I used their cancel.1and1.com portal:

"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."

I have now completed all of these steps, so hopefully I won't get billed from them anymore.

Please do not do business with domain registrars that use sketchy tactics - you will get burned sooner or later. Supporting this type of registrar can give a black eye to the domain industry as a whole, and by using their services you are encouraging the continued use of questionable business practices.

[David G]

It is amazing how 1and1.com stays in the domain business with such policies and is also so large a company (do they also own sedo)?

They say the domain is totally seperate from the so called "package" which is billed even if you transfer or sell the domain inside the package. The domain and package can even have different expiration dates, in fact that is common in my experience with a few names there where the 2 exp dates are months apart.

They also make you jump thru major hoops to cancel or transfer, such as lots of non-electronic signed paperwork and written forms. What a pain!

[GAMEFINEST]

I havent had any issues with them,

if you follow their email request to validate the cancellation, it gets cancelled.

[Banned: dn-101]

C'mon guys! This is nothing in comparison with what their daddys did in the 1940s.

[Asperger]

I've had the same issue with them 18 months ago.The domains they were trying to bill me for were not even in my account.In the end i actualy rang them up and told them in no uncertain way too stop billing me for domains i no longer own.They did.

[Poker]

They suck period....run, don't walk.

[Banned: dn-101]

I just did a quick check of my 1and1 account for the last 2 years. It seems that they overcharged me by $1,200

Time to write a letter to the BBB

[cursal]

agreed. They have caused me pains over 3 domains I got free during a promo, then transfered the names out I wanted to keep and let the others drop.

Nope they billed me instead.

I called, I emailed then I got snail mail and a collection agency wanted money!

Very Bad all around experience.
I said good-bye and good riddance.
I canceled my Account after that day. Got them on the phone to confirm it was terminated.


I'm always amazed they always have 4 page fold-out ads in major computing industry related magazines.

[David G]

If you don't pay the so called package invoice fast they routinely turn it over to a collection agency which will hurt your credit score for years into the future. Maybe that is how some German companies operate what with the old German stereotype of being extremely businesslike and non-personable.

[DomainManMike]

I lived in Germany for a while. .. you know how long it took for 1and1 to give me my DSL?? 3 months!!!!!!! I kid you not! I unfortunately still have an account with them.. but i don't actively manage it thank goodness.

[katherine]

We finally have proof that 1 & 1 = 0

[draggar]

Interesting that I haven't had a single problem with them yet (I'm just moving my domains out because I don't like their UI).

[DomainManMike]

sdsinc:We finally have proof that 1 & 1 = 0

Hahaha sdsinc, well played!

I dread moving the handful of domains I have at 1&1 out of there... thanks guys...

[muris]

It is amazing how 1and1.com stays in the domain business with such policies and is also so large a company (do they also own sedo)?...

http://www.unitedinternet.de/xml/ui/...op&__lf=Static

They are part of a huge group. ...And they will stay there no matter what.
How often do you see 1and1 ads on sedo?

They consumed so much of my time and nerves no words can even describe it.