Yesterday I wrote a post about DomainNames.com being sold. Most assumed it must have been a big sale. Nope, it was purchased for just $2,577. Now the buyer says Network Solutions removed the domain from their account.
Hi, guys
I’m the buyer of DomainNames.com, I did the search via NetworkSolutions.com on 12.Feb, and found it’s in their premium domain name lists with a very bargin price $2,577 (yes, it’s a big bargain but a deal is a deal). Then I ordered it and paid via credit card.
This domain name is under control of New Ventures Services Corp and everyone knows it is NetworkSolutions/Web.com’s warehousing company. All their domain names will be listed as premium domain names for sale on NetworkSolutions.com.
Once I made my order, Netsol sent me a order confirmation email. After 3 days, Networksolutions pushed the domain name into my Netsol account with a confirmation email to notify that my order has been completed, and I have the full control on it. I changed the DNS to my own hosting account.
But NetSol has removed it from my account today without any notifications nor explaination.
I will update further later.
The title should be: netsol stole my name..
Get a good lawyer and take action.
Thinking actually this sounds like the SEDO 3 char .com charade where the seller sold for very low price.
What a dirty business!
Yes, and NetSol must rank, for me anyway, as one of the worst company’s.
I think he has a valid claim to this domain. It was clearly owned by New Venture Services, which is directly tied to Network Solutions. It is the shady wing that just takes domains they want to keep when they expire.
– They owned it and put a price on it.
– He purchased it via a legitimate transaction and ownership was transferred to him.
I am not sure why they think they have the right to reclaim it.
If a pricing mistake was made on their end then tough luck. I can almost guarantee that they would not reverse a transaction from a 3rd party using their system, just because the seller was not satisfied with a price they set.
It is at least worth considering legal action.
Brad
@Brad your domain name DataCube.com is ideal for a blockchain-based data storage solution. It’s a nice name, and I think you may get a hard-to-resist offer for it in the near future from a startup in the aforementioned space. Data storage is a huge market.
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As for domainnames.com purchase being curled back, I think buyer have a good chance of winning a case in court.
Isn’t it amazing how a company will ruin their reputation(or make it worse in their case) over a couple of grand. Of course, they’ll probably use that old nonsense trick and say that the domain was previously sold and the owner forgot to transfer it to their account.
Net Sol will go with this:
In addition, you acknowledge and agree that we reserve the right to reject or cancel your Premium Domain Name registration for any reason including, but not limited to, any pricing errors. In the event your Premium Domain Name registration is rejected or cancelled, for any reason, we will refund in full the amount of the purchase price for the Premium Domain Name as your sole remedy hereunder.
ftp://ftp.networksolutions.com/partners/Agreements/NetworkSolutionsServiceAgreement.pdf
and so now we have the idea of whats a pricing error, and whats selling remorse.
because we dont know what a domain name is worth, we cant really say what an error is.
quora has an interesting summary
Online Standards
When an e-commerce website has had an incorrect price entered into its database, it can end up not only advertising that price but also accepting orders and charging customers’ credit cards for that amount. The central issue here is whether retailers can void the contract created when orders were accepted. The easiest way for a company to deal with such situations is to have website “terms of use” that clearly state the company can cancel orders and refund customers’ money because of pricing errors (or for any reason). Otherwise, a common law doctrine known as “unilateral mistake of fact” applies. This doctrine allows a party to a contract to set aside the contract if honoring it would be “unconscionable,” or if the other party could have reasonably assumed it was a mistake. A $1,000 item advertised for $10 likely would meet this definition.
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/company-advertising-price-wrong-responsible-mistake-73117.html
page
There is a different between error, unforeseen and intentional act; in this regard, it seems NetworkSolution has committed a foreseeable act.
Look I am on the buyer’s side 100%, I have just seen this movie before and that one sided TOS to my knowledge has never lost.
cleaned hand does not need “TOS”.
They had fail to do reasonable process; of doing reasonable business.
Example: 1.) Did the seller communicate the buyer about the issues?
2.) Did the seller returned the money or cancel transaction, when the supposed to be an error transaction?
3.) Seller and buyer have both responsibilities?
4.) If buyer has knowledge of the domain name in questioned; and so as the seller.
This content is a googled TOS version, the TOS under my payment button has no content like this.
I have downloaded the TOS and checked it before clicking the payment submit button.
I did searched keyword like “premium” and found nothing.
This is not right Yinan. Incidents like this give our industry a bad name. I’m not an attorney but you might have legal recourse if the verbiage above is not included in TOS.
Same thing happened to us on SMTP.net a few weeks ago
Happens all the time, was a pricing error. Move along people.
Is New Ventures ACTUALLY affiliated with NetSol? I recently purchased a domain from them and dealt with a lady who called me from a Canadian phone number. I thought it was extremely strange that she took my credit card number over the phone and then the charge appeared on my statement as NetSol, but figured they were just using NetSol to process transactions in lieu of having a merchant account.
” I recently purchased a domain from them and dealt with a lady who called me from a Canadian phone number.”
They have a call center in Newfoundland.
In Nova Scotia too.
Talk to a Cyber Lawyer. That is the only way.
This is a bit off topic, slightly but not far off. I regged a handful of .ae (dot ae) domains for a Chinese client via our reseller account with a large .ae registrar. A few days ago without any notice or evidence or details the AEDA (akin to Verisign but like a poor cousin) DELETED all their domains and asked Chinese buyer to provide evidence as to WHY they registered them. I am just giving this as a warning to anyone thinking of building a website on a DOT AE (.ae) . Do not bother they really are dodgy and that is not sour grapes as they are not my domains. They are I suppose a dictatorship rather than a democracy.
Deal is deal; stop making excuses 🤝
Take em to trial in the name of this industry, i will chip in $
It’s unfortunate that this happens often.
Same thing happened to me with a Snapnames prerelease domain. They just said it was an oversight without clarifying any further. Bad business for sure.
NetSol….ethical….LOL
This is why I refuse to ever use them again after an issue with a domain and namejet, they simply do what serves them best and customer be damned. When you have any deals with any of their sister businesses they will always be bias because they are in control.
Years ago I had a very unique operation of 4 premium domain names that I had to register with Network Solutions was not Web.com (If I write: I had: it is because if your search domain name is free and it was and then go to another register already registered (Supposedly by Network Solutions) then open account with Network Solutions and register the 4 domain names for two years and I receive invoice by email all correct.
When I made a year of registration from my bank to give me notice of a US transfer made by Network Solutions I see email invoice and 4 domain names renewed for one more year (Impossible I had before my first bill with two years each domain of the 4 registered I send to Network Solutions and no answer, send 4 more times and no answer, call by phone ask for Renewal Domains no one, then billing department, answer us do not make invoice is automatic, I ask who is the responsible person and hang phone .
I advise the bank to return a transfer to Network Solutions for undue payment, a period allowed by its policies and conditions.
Surprise, 10 days do not say anything, Bank do transfer, but have not confirmed whether to have received money, a friend SEO / SEM French send to my email a link of Network Solutions to open the link and / or owner of the domains remain stupefied the 4 domains (.com) premium to resgiter be expired, in the same web page of the link to Network Solutions, I see that if you pay certificates to US $ 19 another buyer per domain enter a purchase from US $ 25,000 for each domain ..
New York Lawyers nothing to win Network Solutions Justice give me guilty for having returned renewal transfer, ignoring the two year bill for each domain and the rest of the evidence.
Never change are unwanted by ICANN.
Bait & switch?
Clean hand?
And this is why whenever I buy a premium domain name from any registrar or win an auction from NameJet or SnapNames or GoDaddy I race as quickly as I can to get that domain name transferred away from the related registrars to my registrar of choice, Uniregistry. I don’t trust the other registrars to treat me well as a customer, so I get those domain names out of there ASAP to a registrar where I feel trusted and my names are secured as my own.
Same thing happened to me with Dublin.co.uk listed on Afternic for $298 by DomCollect. I paid for it and then they refused to give me the domain claiming there was a pricing error and then tried to explain how the real price should be $2980 and they can cut me a deal for 50% of the real amount and sell it to me for $1500. Shady people. They can pull back from an online agreement but you cannot. If you have buyer remorse they will shut down your account but when they do this kind of stuff it was only a human mistake.
I think Berkens and Schwartz should chime in.