Namecheap - I have been using them for years. All of a sudden I get a chargeback from AMEX. I called AMEX they reveresed the chargeback. Now Namecheap support wants $200 for a chargeback fee. And won't unlock my account. I have never had a chargeback before in my life, but apparently since this was my first time using my AMEX, Amex thought it was fraud and reversed it. So I had them re-reverse it.

Namecheap support is rude, and cold. They are completely unhelpful in every way and now are hijacking domains I purchased years ago - one is actually needing to be renewed in a few days and I can't!

I have no idea what to do.

AFAIK NameCheap does not accept Amex so you would have paid with PayPal/Google Checkout and funded PayPal/GC from your Amex card. From their end NameCheap would have seen a PayPal/GC reversal. Often these posts are not as they seem - but if it is then I hope you can work it out.

Yea it wasn't amex it was mastercard.

Unfortunately It is - I thought I would help the ex-girlfriend out she wanted me to create her a website for a business she is starting and I thought I would just use my namecheap account.....

This has turned out to be a nightmare.. She just contacted mastercard to reverse the charges - hopefully it will go smoothly...


My guess is since she doesn't typically use the card online and or to purchase domains there fraud department reversed the charges to protect themselves.

Well OK, you've switched your story three times in this thread alone.

First, you claimed you called AMEX and they reversed the charges on YOUR card.

Then in your last post, it's not an amex card but a mastercard. Secondly you switch and say it's your girlfriend's card and not yours(after claiming to have personally called amex yourself). And finally, you claimed the chargeback had already been reversed but then say that your girlfriend recently called to reverse the chargeback but it hasn't gone through.

I guess it is all our fault after all.

I can see how people can be confused by your story there. I've used namecheap for years, still have a ton of domains with them, never had any issues like this. But to be honest, you have to get your story straight and explain it to the namecheap staff. I've spoke to some of them and they've all been friendly.

And a Chargeback doesn't look good for any company, especially when you have to use your staff to look into it and try to fight it. You'll see web hosts as well as other companies charge you after a chargeback was filed, it's not uncommon. But I'm sure you can work it out with namecheap if you communicate properly.

Well I felt it wasnt specifcally necessary to envoke the whole conversation over a forum. I felt providing a a jist of the conversation to be more effective, apparently it wasnt. Anyway hopefully it gets resolved soon... So yes I can totally see how it can be confusing. And I dont want namecheap to incur charges - but neither do I. I know fraud is extremely prev. on the internet today, but I dont want to be charged $200 either, esp when I know its not fraud. Hopefully it gets cleared up. But they gave me no indication they locked my account. I found out when I tried to hit my account. no emails, nothing.

Also, Mastercard did say as of 4:00 today that they reversed the chargeback, but I cant gets a straight answer from Namecheap if the chargeback was actually reversed.

It's standard for most companies to just lock accounts when there is a chargeback. Good luck getting this resolved.

I've hard a problem such as this before with NameCheap and they will continue to have the account locked until they see the chargeback reversed although I'm sure they will not incur the $200 fee if you had your bank reverse it. Just keep trying and fighting until they give in.

Your story may have a couple twists and turns.

However,
The response from the Namecheap representative in this thread confirms their cold/unhelpful behavior.

As someone who did not intentionally file a chargeback,
It's not surprising that you didn't find the culprit the first time around.

again.. why would people even do this kind of sht. You misuse other people's credit card, cheat, cause problems to company and then come here and claim to be a victim. WHT really became a place for all "humble and insulted" to put pressure on a company.Come on guys, even if this is the only way to fall on your feet, show respect and make up at least a good and not contradictory story!
Don't give up, Namecheap!
..to be continued..

A "chargeback" is initiated by the card holder. Possibly the ex-girlfriend who didn't recognize the item on her statement. If a credit card company suspects fraud they either don't authorize it in the first place - or after the fact they will contact the card holder (the ex-girlfriend) for confirmation.

Correct Techno. The OP's story is full of holes.

oh ha ha ha do i smell a scammer?

However,
The response from the Namecheap representative in this thread confirms their cold/unhelpful behavior.

It may seem or feel that way. But seeing Richard's other helpful (and sometimes unwanted) posts in other threads, will that "totally" confirm how cold and unhelpful they are?

While I myself wouldn't necessarily reply that way, it's a choice how to respond. Just as the OP had a choice how to post about it in an online forum.

Both parties will deal with the results of their choices. But...both will live on, yet NameCheap will continue having a "stellar" reputation among those they choose to help.

As long as both are treated with respect, maybe. Heh.

I suppose you will need to pay that for them to unlock your domain names, unless you do not need them.

I think you should wait to reply namecheap staff about your request,maybe they are in process.


Regards,

Update:

I love how forums just assume everyone is cheating... its amazing how times have changed...

Anyway here is the update for anyone who cares (which seeing the responses most likely not). My friend the cc owner received a letter which I can send to this so called owner of namecheap via postmail or email. that states the chargeback has been successfully sent to namecheap this happened about 2 months ago. But and here is a big but. Naturally NAMECHEAPS support email WONT accept the attachment saying the pdf is to large, I have tried to scan this freaking letter to the lowest resolution and it STILL rejects it. I then sent an email explaining this she ignored that question all together and stated they don't have a fax machine and they still wont unlock the account until they see the chargeback, but all my proof shows the chargeback occured.

For all of those naysayers yes my "story" was full of holes I tried to explain it in the shortest amount of time possible as I was aggrevated.

Long story short they still haven't unlocked the account - the reversal took place months ago and their support emails apparently dont accept attachments, I have tried pdf, jpeg, gif, png none works.

As my prior domains I had purchased with my own cc were about to expire they locked those from allowing me to renew, finally as of like April they officially expired in Jan, they released them to the general public where I was successfully able to purchase them with godaddy.

I have used namecheap for many years without problems until this incident. Luckily I have no more domains registered with namecheap, and I wont be using them for any purchases now or in the future. I would just like to be able to clear my name with the company but they are extremely unhelpful.

Post your pdf on a website and give them the link.

If I am totally honest I had a similar experience with Namecheap 3 years ago where I purchased a domain and paid via PayPal from a different IP address (I changed service providers). PayPal being the wa**ers they are reversed the transaction and Namecheap locked my account. Still to this day I do not have the domains back, I just played them at their own games and reversed every transaction I made with Namecheap by contacting my bank directly. Unfortunately for me I lost a high traffic domain which expires this August but I will just re-register it when I can lol...

Namecheap are by far the worst registrar I have come across, I will never use them again and I know most will sl*g me off for saying that but thats my opinion, fair enough most people will probably never experience this with Namecheap but for the ones that do it can be quite painful.

Sorry to burst your bubble icanectc but you will probably never get your account or domains back, good luck though.

P.S

If you paid for the domains legit and the funds cleared from your paypal/bank then Namecheap have no legal grounds to hold your domains, a domain name is considered an asset in a court and is considered theft and fraud if someone steals it from you. Take Namecheap to a small claims court...

Update:

I love how forums just assume everyone is cheating... its amazing how times have changed...
Well, you have to admit, from all appearances, it looks like you just came onto the forum for the sole purpose of bitching about NameCheap. We don't know anything about you - you certainly don't seem like you want to help anyone but yourself - and maybe you are a direct competitor to NameCheap.

We don't know you, so we are somewhat suspect - because similar stuff happens all the time on this and other forums.

Look, NameCheap isn't perfect. I've had some minor issues with them years ago - but I've had minor issues with pretty much most of the major registrars... stuff happens. You deal with it and then move on. But that is why you add several years on to your more valuable domains. So that when things happen - you don't lose your domains.

Richard has been on this forum for years and he has been very helpful. But, you have to appreciate, that from a business point of view, just one scam or chargeback can wipe out the profits from a lot of legitimate sales.

So, yes, sometimes businessmen may become a bit hardened or jaded. Especially when you start out this post with ever changing facts - i.e.: AMEX to MasterCard, MY card to the girlfriend's card.

If it was my special domain that I really, really needed - I would be sending that information you have by FedEx as soon as possible.

But that's just me - because I would take responsibility for using a "third-party" credit card on my account.

Just a thought...

Update:

I love how forums just assume everyone is cheating... its amazing how times have changed...

Anyway here is the update for anyone who cares (which seeing the responses most likely not). My friend the cc owner received a letter which I can send to this so called owner of namecheap via postmail or email. that states the chargeback has been successfully sent to namecheap this happened about 2 months ago. But and here is a big but. Naturally NAMECHEAPS support email WONT accept the attachment saying the pdf is to large, I have tried to scan this freaking letter to the lowest resolution and it STILL rejects it. I then sent an email explaining this she ignored that question all together and stated they don't have a fax machine and they still wont unlock the account until they see the chargeback, but all my proof shows the chargeback occured.

For all of those naysayers yes my "story" was full of holes I tried to explain it in the shortest amount of time possible as I was aggrevated.

Long story short they still haven't unlocked the account - the reversal took place months ago and their support emails apparently dont accept attachments, I have tried pdf, jpeg, gif, png none works.

As my prior domains I had purchased with my own cc were about to expire they locked those from allowing me to renew, finally as of like April they officially expired in Jan, they released them to the general public where I was successfully able to purchase them with godaddy.

I have used namecheap for many years without problems until this incident. Luckily I have no more domains registered with namecheap, and I wont be using them for any purchases now or in the future. I would just like to be able to clear my name with the company but they are extremely unhelpful.

It's a bit late in the day to try and clear your name when all of these irregularities in your story have already come to light. You've even claimed we hijacked your domains?

People can see this post for exactly what it is and what you are. And for the record, we receive many PDF documents and scanned images each day for many number of purposes.

As you know, we also offer an alternative email address for documents to be sent to should you encounter difficulties.

And lastly, we have a fully working fax system and receive many faxes a day.

Of course, all of the above methods actually rely on someone actually sending the document in the first place. So please take your lies elsewhere.

If I am totally honest I had a similar experience with Namecheap 3 years ago where I purchased a domain and paid via PayPal from a different IP address (I changed service providers). PayPal being the wa**ers they are reversed the transaction and Namecheap locked my account. Still to this day I do not have the domains back, I just played them at their own games and reversed every transaction I made with Namecheap by contacting my bank directly. Unfortunately for me I lost a high traffic domain which expires this August but I will just re-register it when I can lol...

Namecheap are by far the worst registrar I have come across, I will never use them again and I know most will sl*g me off for saying that but thats my opinion, fair enough most people will probably never experience this with Namecheap but for the ones that do it can be quite painful.

Sorry to burst your bubble icanectc but you will probably never get your account or domains back, good luck though.

P.S

If you paid for the domains legit and the funds cleared from your paypal/bank then Namecheap have no legal grounds to hold your domains, a domain name is considered an asset in a court and is considered theft and fraud if someone steals it from you. Take Namecheap to a small claims court...

From what I gather from your post, it seems you'd prefer we had more lenient anti-fraud systems? Which would risk both cardholders who have had their card details compromised, Paypal accounts that have been hacked and our credibility with our merchant bank?

Let's be realistic. Fraud is a major problem for any large internet retailer / service provider. We have measures in place to protect ourselves and to protect the consumer. If, as it appears in your case, it isn't fraud but a case of the system catching a rare false positive then follow our very simple steps and your account will be unlocked.

Trying to be clever by reversing transactions at bank level does nothing to appease your situation. A little understanding of the problems registrars have when dealing with fraud and understanding the blame lies with those who commit fraud would go a long way.

Matt,

A little trust goes a long way too, I called Namecheap multiple times when I had problems, sent off identification, over 10 emails etc etc, i was a fully verified business member on paypal and still namecheap refused to unlock my account. But of course it does seem from your responses that Namecheap are always right, they are just an innocent business trying to help protect us from fraud right?

NO!, Namecheap support are rude, unhelpful and do not care as long as they receive a paycheck at the end of the week. Until I reversed the transactions at my banks end Namecheap was uncooperative, it was only when they realized that they was not getting nothing from me that they started to 'try and help'.

And actually reversing the funds at bank level done a lot to appease my situation, it stopped me losing money which I felt pretty good about, if you think we should show leniency on the companies just because it affects their financial situation think again, if a company frauds me out of money I will always do everything I can to affect them in EVERY WAY POSSIBLE.

Matt,

A little trust goes a long way too, I called Namecheap multiple times when I had problems, sent off identification, over 10 emails etc etc, i was a fully verified business member on paypal and still namecheap refused to unlock my account. But of course it does seem from your responses that Namecheap are always right, they are just an innocent business trying to help protect us from fraud right?

NO!, Namecheap support are rude, unhelpful and do not care as long as they receive a paycheck at the end of the week. Until I reversed the transactions at my banks end Namecheap was uncooperative, it was only when they realized that they was not getting nothing from me that they started to 'try and help'.

And actually reversing the funds at bank level done a lot to appease my situation, it stopped me losing money which I felt pretty good about, if you think we should show leniency on the companies just because it affects their financial situation think again, if a company frauds me out of money I will always do everything I can to affect them in EVERY WAY POSSIBLE.

Absolutely, and so does telling the truth. I'm not going to say we've never made a mistake, we're just human as are you. However, you state:

1) You called us multiple times.

How? We do not offer inbound phone support. We may call you back for verification purposes but all inbound support is via our helpdesk or live chat.

2) You emailed us multiple times.

This would generate a 6 digit helpdesk ticket ID. If you could supply some of those, I can verify and check on your specific issue.

3) Our support staff are rude and only care about their paycheck.

This is the most absurd claim I've heard in a while. Our team, and note the word I use is team, are the best around and it is a pleasure to work with them. They are the type of people that work later and come in off shift because they enjoy working for NameCheap and enjoy helping our customers. They go the extra mile not for their paycheck, but that's because our culture is about.

As a failsafe, we have a QA department who work with newer staff members and monitor our operations. 'Rudeness' on the scale you suggest would flag up in seconds on their radar.

4) We fraud you out of money.

Let's be realistic here. From the small amount of information you've volunteered, it seems your account was locked because you failed fraud verification steps. If we were in the business of frauding people of out money (I believe the correct term is de-frauding), well, we wouldn't be in business. Our growth and repuation definitely suggests otherwise.

Absolutely, and so does telling the truth. I'm not going to say we've never made a mistake, we're just human as are you. However, you state:

1) You called us multiple times.

How? We do not offer inbound phone support. We may call you back for verification purposes but all inbound support is via our helpdesk or live chat.

2) You emailed us multiple times.

This would generate a 6 digit helpdesk ticket ID. If you could supply some of those, I can verify and check on your specific issue.

3) Our support staff are rude and only care about their paycheck.

This is the most absurd claim I've heard in a while. Our team, and note the word I use is team, are the best around and it is a pleasure to work with them. They are the type of people that work later and come in off shift because they enjoy working for NameCheap and enjoy helping our customers. They go the extra mile not for their paycheck, but that's because our culture is about.

As a failsafe, we have a QA department who work with newer staff members and monitor our operations. 'Rudeness' on the scale you suggest would flag up in seconds on their radar.

4) We fraud you out of money.

Let's be realistic here. From the small amount of information you've volunteered, it seems your account was locked because you failed fraud verification steps. If we were in the business of frauding people of out money (I believe the correct term is de-frauding), well, we wouldn't be in business. Our growth and repuation definitely suggests otherwise.

mdrussell,

I hate to break it to you but your support agents are extremely rude. Just because someone fails YOUR fraud verification doesn't mean fraud occured. Sorry if my bank does a reversal that IMPLIES no fraud occured. Just because I have an account in my name doesn't mean I can't use another persons credit card to purchase a domain for them on their behalf.

Yes you are right registrars have to do their best to prevent fraud as domain purchases have become near common place. But to contact your so called fraud dept for help all they state is you owe us $200. Because of a chargeback against a mastercard. Happens ALLL the time. More anad more credit cards do checks against typical purchases and automatically do chargebacks when its outside of that persons spending habits. Ever try to use a Bank of America Checkcard in a city other than your home city after a few purchases it gets declined. The same situation happened here with Namecheap but instead of assuming (inncent until proven guilty) I am treated as a fraudster.

I have sent MANY emails to NAMECHEAP about this pdf document it just wont be accepted. Apparently your support agents dont know of this alternative email address. If you post it I will gladly send it over asap. They also dont believe you have a fax number either as they refuse to provide it. So just how am i supposed to prove my case if your so called best of the best support agents refuse to actually help me get them the proof they so want? Seems the way NAMECHEAP handles support (limiting file attachment sizes, no phone support, no apparent fax number either,etc) its designed to be as unhelpful as possible.

Fine if I cant get your help with handling this situation I will chalk it up as a loss. At least I am now with a real registrar who has a phone # to handle any issues that could arise. And I got all my domains NAMECHEAP.com hijacked from me for a $200 ransom. And you won't ever have my business again. And it's apparent as because I am a fraudster you don't want my business anyway so I guess its a win-win!

icanectc,
why do you keep on updating your contradictory story instead of providing ticket ID as Matt asked you? this is really ridiculous. you are mixing up your credit cards, blaming company in hijacking, calling non-existent numbers, can't provide even ticket where they refused to give you fax number or where they are rude with you.. I understand that you lost some money and your anger might be fair but will you please show respect if not to name cheap then to us? Please make a clear story or let the thread die.

icanectc,
why do you keep on updating your contradictory story instead of providing ticket ID as Matt asked you? this is really ridiculous. you are mixing up your credit cards, blaming company in hijacking, calling non-existent numbers, can't provide even ticket where they refused to give you fax number or where they are rude with you.. I understand that you lost some money and your anger might be fair but will you please show respect if not to name cheap then to us? Please make a clear story or let the thread die.

First of all I never said anywhere I called Namecheap.. I know they dont have a phone # That was some other dude.

I dont have the ticket information anymore. Unfortuantely I moved and no longer have access to the ISP email address when that account was closed. I believe my login information for namecheap was the same handle I use here but I haven't gone anywhere near namecheaps sites since all this happened. I am sure the powers that be of namecheap that can see this thread can look into it, if they so desire. I have looked at other threads and they do seem to get quite ornery.

Yes I used I in my original explanation because I felt it was easier and quicker to get to the situation. I thought it was AMEX because she used her AMEX card to setup the actual server account with the web host. I didn't remember that we used the mastercard as the transaction happend like in october the accoutn didn't get suspended until like after christmas. but could be getting the dates mixed up. You are right though it should just die. I got my domains back unfortantely for my friend her domains are still in the suspended account and wont be up for renewal for a while longer. So I am trying to at least help her get her domain back up and running. But for as long as this is taking I could jsut wait till october when its up for renewal again....

First of all I never said anywhere I called Namecheap.. I know they dont have a phone # That was some other dude.

sorry for this then.

icanectc,
why do you keep on updating your contradictory story instead of providing ticket ID as Matt asked you? this is really ridiculous. you are mixing up your credit cards, blaming company in hijacking, calling non-existent numbers, can't provide even ticket where they refused to give you fax number or where they are rude with you.. I understand that you lost some money and your anger might be fair but will you please show respect if not to name cheap then to us? Please make a clear story or let the thread die.

NotanAngel,

I haven't commented further because people can see this thread for what it is. We have two people posting in this thread suggesting we commit fraud and hijack domains, yet one of these people's story has changed massively when under scrutiny (I wonder how his story changed with our fraud department?) and the other person who claims to have called non-existant phone numbersand hasn't verified any ticket IDs.