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Thread: Fraud?
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09-15-2008, 10:53 AM #1Newbie
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Fraud?
Hi,
I'm new here but have run into a problem with Name Cheap's fraud department. A few months ago I had used my Grandmother's credit card to renew 3 domains with namecheap. The other day they sent me notice that my account was locked due to fraud. Long story short the issuing bank of the credit card had reported it as an unauthorized transaction to them (namecheap).
Over the weekend and this morning the bank, myself, and my grandmother have all cleared that up and the bank is now very well aware that it wasn't fraud. The problem is that namecheap refuses to hear anything of it and keeps telling me that I have to pay their $200 charge back penalty fee regardless of the reason be it legitimate or a bank mistake.
Has anyone else ever dealt with this kind of issue with them? They seem to be entirely unwilling to do anything other than tell me that the issue can not be disputed and they will be getting $200+ the renewal fees.
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09-15-2008, 11:33 AM #2Web Hosting Master
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Do you have the ticket id? Either way, if a chargeback has been issued against us, it is unfair to expect us to eat this when it certainly is not our mistake. I am not familiar with your issue without seeing the ticket but you should be calling your back and have them revoking the chargeback.
Matthew Russell | Namecheap
Twitter: @mattdrussell
www.easywp.com - True Managed WordPress, made easy
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09-15-2008, 12:59 PM #3Newbie
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Thanks for responding.
At this point the bank is going to take care of the matter financially and do whatever they need to do to on there end. The problem now is "how" is the problem taken care of? Do they need to call someone and make a payment, send a fax, etc, etc, etc? Because I can't seem to find any contact information aside from the ticket system and so far no one has provided me with any contact details or steps to resolving the issue.
You can't possibly tell me that a legitimate business doesn't have a way to actually speak with a real, live person? Particularly when the issue involves the fraud department...
Oh and I do have a ticket number if you want to PM me I'll send it to you in reply.
Thanks.
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09-15-2008, 02:13 PM #4Web Hosting Evangelist
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I would like to know what happens if the bank reverses the charge back, does the merchant (here namecheap) still have to pay the charge back penalty?
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09-15-2008, 02:43 PM #5Newbie
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Not sure. The bank just handed me cash to cover the amount of the penalty and fees I'm being hit with by paypal and they are forwarding things to their legal department to see if they have any recourse with the merchant.
Guess it doesn't matter to me one way or another as long as I'm not hit with wrongful or absurdly high chargeback fees. At this point it is an issue between Bank of America and Name Cheap.
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09-15-2008, 05:30 PM #6Web Hosting Master
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The bank itself initiated the chargeback?
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09-15-2008, 07:03 PM #7Web Hosting Master
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Sounds VERY odd to me. May I ask which bank this is? I have never heard of a bank issuing a chargeback without the customer initiating and further without a signed affidavit.
In regards to the fee NameCheap wants to charge, I see it very reasonable as every time NameCheap gets a chargeback they risk their relationship with their credit card merchant processor.
Simply PM them or ask a ticket be escalated to management.
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09-15-2008, 07:21 PM #8Disabled
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How did you pay Namecheap? Was it through PayPal or was it direct with a card?
There are a couple banks in the UK that will issue a chargeback on a credit card transaction, if the transaction is "not normal", without the card holder knowing anything untill they go to use the card next.
Paul
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09-15-2008, 07:38 PM #9Web Hosting Master
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A few months ago I had used my Grandmother's credit card ...The other day they sent me notice that my account was locked due to fraud....the issuing bank of the credit card had reported it as an unauthorized transaction to them (namecheap)
Typically it's the customer who marks a transaction as fraud not the credit card company. I suspect that Grandma got her monthly statement, didn't recognize the charge, and contacted the credit card company to reverse it. The credit card company reversed the transaction & charged NameCheap a hefty chargeback fee.
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09-16-2008, 02:27 AM #10Web Hosting Evangelist
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Just for your information, you can file a charge back any time, even a year after the transaction.
I really would like how high the charge back fee is. I'm pretty sure it's way below the $200, it's just one off those occasions to make some money. Similar to the redemption fee which gives the registrar often a profit of 100 to 300%.
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09-16-2008, 09:50 AM #11Disabled
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I think that you need to be honest and you need to provide all information they are required. So just initiate the process of verification and give them all information they want.
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09-16-2008, 07:35 PM #12Web Hosting Master
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To give you an idea, the registrar I worked with gets charged $100 per domain chargeback. They then levy a $200 fee (I think) for such on whoever did that with them.
One could argue they're making money out of it. But very few understand how much a PITA it is when one works on a chargeback, or even a redemption request, and it isn't necessarily wrong to be "compensated" for the trouble of handling such.
Then again, all this won't happen if someone, in this case, tried to resolve the issue with the merchant first before doing a chargeback.
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09-17-2008, 12:58 PM #13Web Hosting Evangelist
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It was a long time ago when redemption requests had to be handled manually. Now a day that can be fully automated with every registry which is on EPP.
So if the registrar implemented it the right way on there end a redemption renewal isn't any different than a normal renewal, just a higher price.
But I know that there are still many registrars doing this through the online tool.
For the charge backs there is manual work involved and it's fair enough to charge the client for that.
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09-18-2008, 01:04 AM #14Newbie
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Sorry didn't get back in the thread for a couple of days. I'll try to answer the questions I can.
1) The bank itself initiated the chargeback? -
Yes and no. My grandmother called and said she didn't recognize the charge on the card but needed to ask a few people (like myself) if we knew what it was. The bank did their thing upon the question being asked BEFORE being authorized. It's a small town bank they all know who she is. They don't ask her for any kind of authorization other than to hear her voice on the phone. Yeah, I know very "back-woodsy" and unprofessional.
2)How did you pay Namecheap? Was it through PayPal or was it direct with a card? -
Via a direct credit card.
3) Techno -
Close, she contact the bank to ask what the charge was about and they took it upon themselves to "protect the interest of their customer" and initiated the charge back procedures.
4)I really would like how high the charge back fee is -
Ah see this is where the next piece of the "puzzle" is going to be coming in. I'll explain in a moment.
5)SiberForum -
They have all the information they have requested. And what does honesty have to do with it? This was never an issue of honesty.
6)One could argue they're making money out of it. But very few understand how much a PITA it is when one works on a chargeback, or even a redemption request, and it isn't necessarily wrong to be "compensated" for the trouble of handling such. -
Actually according to the credit card company it is wrong to be "overly" compensated.
So here's what's happening. As I said before I paid the money they asked and the bank reimbursed me for it because it was their fault the charge back happened. Like I said my grandmother called in asking about a charge on her card and they were off and running.
But the "drama" doesn't end there. The credit card company has stepped in and said that $200.00 is an excessive amount to charge to recover costs associated with a charge back fee. From what I understand a company can recover the fee charged plus a small additional percentage. They can not however charge you $200 for a charge back fee that costs them no where near that.
I don't know what the next step is for them (the credit card company) but they are going to "advocate" to recover the money paid to namecheap (minus a reasonable amount).
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09-18-2008, 08:42 PM #15Web Hosting Master
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What governing law or legal decision says that, though?
Your grandmother's credit card company can believe it's "wrong" for NameCheap to charge more than what they were dinged for, and NameCheap (or any provider) can also believe they should be compensated for the troubles of dealing with it. But domain registrars, like any business, risk losing their merchant account/s when experiencing chargebacks, which can also ruin their customers' ability to pay to renew or register domain names.
While many people don't read their agreements, it doesn't excuse them from their contractual obligations:
http://www.namecheap.com/legal/reg-agreement.asp
PAYMENT. In the event of a charge back by a credit card company (or similar action by another payment provider allowed by us) in connection with your payment of fees for any Service(s), you agree that we may suspend access to any and all accounts you have with us and/or your Primary Service Provider and that all rights to and interest in and use of any domain name registration(s) services, website hosting, and/or email services, including all data hosted on our systems shall be assumed by us in satisfaction of any indebtedness by you to us. We will reinstate your rights to and control over these Services solely at our discretion, and subject to our receipt of the unpaid fee(s) and our reinstatement fee, currently set at $200 (US Dollars). Charges for the Service(s) which use our credit card payment processor will be identified on your credit card statement as "Domain Name Registration."
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09-19-2008, 12:06 AM #16Newbie
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Honestly Dave I appreciate your thoughts on this and to some extent I agree, but only to some extent.
And really all I know is what the bank and the credit card company have both said about it. Name Cheap wouldn't discuss the matter other than to repeat ad nauseum that there could be no discussion of the issue and pay the fees or else my entire account would be locked down including several domains that had nothing whatsoever to do with the incident.
But like I said it's in the hands of others from the bank (BOA) and the credit card company (MC). Both of them seem to think there are grounds to stand on to "fight" the charges.
In the meanwhile I'm still using Name Cheap as my domain registrar because I like their service, but this whole experience leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Anyhow I'll keep people posted as to what happens (if anything) with all of this.