Network Solutions unauthrozed debits

[rockhillmanor]

Here's a heads up on Network Solutions.

I bought a domain name for X amount of money.
This gave me an email address, website builder, and parked page and free personal hosting.

I clicked OFF for auto billing.

Today my bank account was debited for a hosting package I did NOT even sign up for. Of course I called them with what the heck is going on here?

I asked them to show me where I signed up for a 'Professional Hosting package' and how could they use my credit info when it was clearly marked off under auto billing?

I was told it was all in the privacy policy:?

Within the privacy policy they hide this:
They will charge you a monthly fee for a professional hosting package whether you sign up for it or not AND use your credit card information to do so and override your selection on auto billing.

Talk about deceptive business practices putting this type of unauthorized billing action within the privacy policy that sadly many of us do not read. Not to mention over riding no auto billing.

Apparently they know this is wrong because I told him it was deceptive and I wanted to cancel and wanted a full refund. Which they did without any question.

Go figure. Now we have to go thru the entire privacy policy to find out if they are going to debit our bank account for products we have NOT purchased?

[rockhillmanor]

1492 wrote:
ICANN is the governing committee for top level domain(TLD) names. You can't register a domain name directly with them. Instead they accredit Registrars, who file domain names with TLD Registies. I believe Network Solutions was the original accredited Registrar. Soon followed others including GoDaddy, 1&1, etc. You can find a list of accredited TLD Registrars here.

You do own the rights to your domain name as long as it is actively registered in your name. And doesn't infringe on any similar registered trademark. Another way to "possibly" protect your exclusive rights to the domain name.

Part of your rights as a register of a domain name according to ICANN is that:

"You shall not be subject to false advertising or deceptive practices by your Registrar or though any proxy or privacy services made available by your Registrar. This includes deceptive notices, hidden fees, and any practices that are illegal under the consumer protection law of your residence."

Based on info provided in the OP, this does appear on the surface as unfair business practice, and deceptive as described.


If you have a complaint about a Registrar, you can file it with ICANN.org. Go to internic.net for more info about disputes with a Registrar.

Thank you for this information.

[1492]

ICANN is the governing committee for top level domain(TLD) names. You can't register a domain name directly with them. Instead they accredit Registrars, who file domain names with TLD Registies. I believe Network Solutions was the original accredited Registrar. Soon followed others including GoDaddy, 1&1, etc. You can find a list of accredited TLD Registrars here.

You do own the rights to your domain name as long as it is actively registered in your name. And doesn't infringe on any similar registered trademark. Another way to "possibly" protect your exclusive rights to the domain name.

Part of your rights as a register of a domain name according to ICANN is that:

"You shall not be subject to false advertising or deceptive practices by your Registrar or though any proxy or privacy services made available by your Registrar. This includes deceptive notices, hidden fees, and any practices that are illegal under the consumer protection law of your residence."

Based on info provided in the OP, this does appear on the surface as unfair business practice, and deceptive as described.


If you have a complaint about a Registrar, you can file it with ICANN.org. Go to internic.net for more info about disputes with a Registrar.

[rockhillmanor]

magicbus wrote:

... and when will I see my refund.

If you have online access to your credit card you can probably just dispute the charge right on the CC companies web site as long as it wasn't too long ago.Dave

Sadly it was my debit card.

Just another heads up about this.
I went back in to get my card info off the site and when I logged in a window popped up from the new owners of Network Solutions ="from Web.Com" that said to enter my account I had to click I agree to robo and automatic survey phone calls from web.com! :E

You just can't make up stuff like this! I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of the screen it was just SO unbelievable.

IMHO, JMHO I sure would stay away from this website for anything.

[magicbus]

... and when will I see my refund.

If you have online access to your credit card you can probably just dispute the charge right on the CC companies web site as long as it wasn't too long ago.

Dave

[rockhillmanor]

MrWizard wrote:
there is registration
and there is Hosting

they are different things

the very best way to register a domain name is with ICANN
the international registration agency in charge of such things
it will not be sold or used even IF you are not hosting it anywhere
the last time i checked it was $70 to register a domain name
this is a recurring fee, i believe it was good for two years

then you Host your webpage on any host server paid or free that you choose to use

when you register with an all in one, like go daddy, or network solutions
you don't own the domain name.. they do
check the fine print..you'll see

Thank you for the info.

And yes you are correct, and I AM seeing the ramifications of just that. Tried to transfer my domain today and what a mess and it most likely will never happen. :R

Here's the last update:

Followed up on status of my refund for unauthorized charge today.
Lot's of fast talking to dance around my questions how and why it happened and when will I see my refund.

And then one of the customer service reps said thanks for calling Web.com.:?

Network Solutions was just bought out by Web.com

[MrWizard]

there is registration
and there is Hosting

they are different things

the very best way to register a domain name is with ICANN
the international registration agency in charge of such things
it will not be sold or used even IF you are not hosting it anywhere
the last time i checked it was $70 to register a domain name
this is a recurring fee, i believe it was good for two years

then you Host your webpage on any host server paid or free that you choose to use

when you register with an all in one, like go daddy, or network solutions
you don't own the domain name.. they do
check the fine print..you'll see

[Gene_Ginny]

rockhillmanor wrote:
...
I bought a domain name for X amount of money.
This gave me an email address, website builder, and parked page and free personal hosting
....

I don't know of any registrar that gives all that for the cost of the domain name registration. I don't use Network Solutions for my domain names so I haven't looked at their site in a long time. It looks like their "name registration" includes a package for about $35 that includes those features. Their current web site seems a bit confusing and misleading.

The registrar I use charges about $11 per year per domain name and also sells other services that are priced separately.

On another note, I do not trust Go Daddy. I know of one campground owner that had his domain name sold out from under him to another campground group

[magicbus]

rockhillmanor wrote:


Good idea. I've been thinking those load your own Visa cards might be worth the 1 or 2 dollar fee per transaction.

If you get a Bank of America Visa there is no charge for using their Shopsafe service. We use all the time - individual card number and 3 digit code for whatever $$$ limit you set and the charges appear on your regular bill. After Sirrus auto-charged my wife's Visa after she had decided not to renew we learned our lesson. Now any time we need to give out a card (Visa, Netflix, EBay, boat storage, whatever) we log onto our BofA Visa account and create a "new card" good for one year for $1 more than what they are going to charge. All of our Internet shopping is a new card for slightly over the value but only valid for 2 months. You can cancel, up the limit, or extend the expiration date online with a few clicks.

It isn't so handy in stores, but it covers 90%+ of our credit card usage. Using load-your-own for stores/restaurants is a good idea.

Dave

[rockhillmanor]

Ahhh... so they charged your credit card not your bank account! Now I understand. When you said originally that they debited your bank account it sounded like they withdrew the money from your bank account, not charged your credit card.

Sorry I did use the abbreviation of cc in my last post. Which does mean credit card when in fact I used a debit/credit card. Sorry for the miscommunication.

They DID take it right out of my bank account because I used a debit/credit card. Which the bank will not remove.

I agree that you should be able to remove credit cards from sites. I use Bank of America's Shopsafe which lets you create a card for a specific amount and time period to be used by only one vendor so my Amazon account ends up with many cards that are expired and just fill up the screen. I am able to do it, but it takes me forever to figure out how to clean them up.

Years ago Network Solutions was a good company but I don't think they know how to handle competition.

Good idea. I've been thinking those load your own Visa cards might be worth the 1 or 2 dollar fee per transaction.

What I do now if I find they have saved my card info is log back on and go into settings and edit the method of payment just like you would if you got a new card and then I put a bogus name and info on each line. At least if they go to use it it won't go thru anywhere.

Do you know that if you buy something IN PERSON at Sears, INSIDE their physical brick and mortar store at Sears........

if you go to their website and go to buy something on line, that your card info is already posted and saved there on line, taken from your transaction IN THEIR STORE. I just about put my fist thru my laptop when I saw that one. :R

It's a big machine out there on line and they have steamrolled right over us.

[magicbus]

Ahhh... so they charged your credit card not your bank account! Now I understand. When you said originally that they debited your bank account it sounded like they withdrew the money from your bank account, not charged your credit card.

I agree that you should be able to remove credit cards from sites. I use Bank of America's Shopsafe which lets you create a card for a specific amount and time period to be used by only one vendor so my Amazon account ends up with many cards that are expired and just fill up the screen. I am able to do it, but it takes me forever to figure out how to clean them up.

Years ago Network Solutions was a good company but I don't think they know how to handle competition.

Dave

[rockhillmanor]

magicbus wrote:
I read your entire post and appreciate your heads up regarding NS and their business practices, but my point is when did you give them your account number? Since you didn't sign up for auto bill how did they know where to send a bill? They must have had a bank name or routing number and your account number. Am I the only one confused about how they got this information?Dave

I used my cc to purchase the domain name for a 'one' time purchase.

Almost ALL websites now save your cc info once you have made a purchase.

So when you return for another purchase plug your name in and your cc info will pop right up.

Some leave the Security code box blank leading you to believe that your card can not be used until YOU put the security code in.

Just last week to prove a point I put a random number in the blank security code box of a saved cc info (on something I DID want to pay for)......it went right thru to my bank with the incorrect security code.So much for that protecting unauthorized use!

I have yet to find a way to delete automatically saved cc info off these sites.

I used my cc to obtain my Godaddy domains with out any problems. Yes my cc info was saved on their site for ease of any further purchases. I checked the NO auto billing and they respected my wishes for 8 years.

So I "assumed" Network Solutions would be the same caliper website....apparently NOT. 😞

[tragusa3]

We have autodraft for all of our reoccurring bills. Our solution to feel more comfortable is that we don't allow more than one month's expenses to sit in that account. We skim off the top and move the money to other places.

Not perfect, and we could still have trouble, just not unlimited trouble.

[magicbus]

I read your entire post and appreciate your heads up regarding NS and their business practices, but my point is when did you give them your account number? Since you didn't sign up for auto bill how did they know where to send a bill? They must have had a bank name or routing number and your account number. Am I the only one confused about how they got this information?

Dave

[MrWizard]

i'm not a banker
but i know this much about accounting

if its checking, its deposits and checks
if its accountable
its deposits and debits/payables

even AUTO pay will list as a "DEBIT" on your account

the only thing that evers shows "withdrawal" is removing money from a savings account

no such thing as a withdrawal from a debit or credit card account
unless you are using the cash teller machine "ATM" to with draw cash from an account

anything auto paid is a DEBIT,

the OP's words were correct description
and they Don't take it, they bill it as an auto transaction and the bank Pays it